Making Peace With Mom

Make peace before it's too late. That's the message of a new book by best-selling author Iris Krasnow, who uses her own experiences and those of 100 other women to draw conclusions about how women can improve — or, at worst case, repair — their relationships with Mom.

On the eve of Mother's Day, the author of "I am My Mother's Daughter" appeared on The Saturday Early Show to share some of her advice for changing this most complicated of relationships.

In her book, Krasnow asserts that "Ditching old baggage and learning to love our mothers must come before we learn to love, and know, ourselves." In other words, you can't divorce her, and you can't kiss and make up at her funeral, so work it out.

Krasnow, a journalist and assistant professor at the School of Communications at American University in Washington, is married and has four sons. She has written a number of self-help books, including "Surrendering to Motherhood," "Surrendering to Marriage" and "Surrendering to Yourself."

Nevertheless, the self-help expert had problems of her own, including a difficult relationship with her own mother, a Holocaust survivor and a colorful character in her own right. They reconciled when Krasnow was 50.

The women interviewed for her book come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Chynna Phillips talks about her renewed relationship with Michelle Phillips, her once-neglectful rock star mother. A social worker nearing 70 learns to cope with the 96-year-old mother who still treats her like a child. A lawyer who is a lesbian works to gain the acceptance of her mom, a Trinidadian immigrant and victim of spousal abuse.

Mother's Day is a good time to take a look at the things that bind us together and, too often, pull us apart. So, take a look at this excerpt from
"I Am My Mother's Daughter."