Belle Burden: The Burden of Being the ”Good Girl”

Belle Burden was, by her own account, the good girl. Quiet, compliant, the kid who wrote her own book report and did her homework on Friday afternoons. Then one night in the second week of the 2020 lockdown, a stranger left a voicemail: your husband is having an affair with my wife. By 6 a.m. her 20-year marriage was over, and the life she thought she could count on stopped making sense.

In her memoir of the event and its aftermath, Strangers, Belle traces how she got to this place - and how she found her way back.

They get into the stuff we all carry: why "being good" can quietly cost you yourself, how kids notice far more than we give them credit for, and why it's never too late to tell them the truth.

Dr. Becky wrote up her thoughts on how to get the "good girl" tendency out of your own emotional driver seat.

*

Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible:

• Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more
• LMNT: Get a free gift with your purchase at drinkLMNT.com/goodinside
• Pampers Easy Ups: Start your potty training journey with Peppa Pig Pampers Easy Ups
• Little Spoon: Get 50% off your first order at littlespoon.com/rattled with code RATTLED

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.