I think a good mom is an awake mom. At least for me, I’ve always been a kinder, better person awake than sleep-deprived!

Loeb frames “good” motherhood less as a moral ideal and more as a practical, humane condition: being rested enough to be emotionally regulated and patient. The line pushes back against cultural expectations that equate maternal devotion with self-sacrifice and chronic exhaustion. By grounding the claim in personal experience (“for me”), she avoids prescribing a universal rule while still making a pointed argument: sleep is not a luxury but a foundation for empathy, steadiness, and kinder behavior. The humor in contrasting “awake” with “sleep-deprived” underscores a serious message about caregiving sustainability and the legitimacy of prioritizing one’s basic needs.