Kaley Cuoco on being a mom: ‘I have no plan and I’ve read zero books’


Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey are expecting their first child very soon. I’m going to guess in March or early April. They announced in October and had a big baby shower in January. Kaley has posted a lot and been pretty visible at award shows and filming her latest series. Kaley talked to Entertainment Tonight about their upcoming parenthood and it turns out she’s not a planner and hasn’t read any books to prepare. She says she “trust[s] the process.”

Last October, Kaley Cuoco announced that she was expecting her first child!

The actor made the news public in a heartwarming Instagram post, which revealed that she and her partner, Tom Pelphrey, were having a baby girl.

“Baby girl Pelphrey coming 2023,” Kaley wrote, adding that she was “beyond blessed and over the moon.”

Needless to say, fans were absolutely thrilled for Kaley and Tom, who went public with their relationship a few months prior, in May.

Now, Kaley has opened up about her pregnancy experience in more detail, admitting that she has absolutely “no plan” whatsoever when it comes to being a mom.

“I have no plan and I’ve read zero books, so that’s the type of mom I will be,” she told Entertainment Tonight this week.

“I’m not a prepper. I’m just not that way. It’s gonna be great, I trust the process,” she said, before suggesting that she finds the depths of parenting information available on the internet far too overwhelming.

“I’m just like, ‘It’s gonna be great.’ But that’s how I’ve gone through life. I think nowadays we get so caught up, right? We didn’t even have all this stuff at our fingertips and now it’s almost too much,” she said.

And Kaley went on to reveal that Tom is actually the total opposite, having done enough research for the both of them.

[From Buzzfeed News]

I’m very much a planner/prepper/preparer for everything, so I can see the value in Kaley’s tactic. Too much planning and info have definitely caused me to psych myself out in the past and be more nervous and anxious than I would have been otherwise. That said, I’m talking about, like, flying with my pet and not having a whole human baby. So probably a little bit of pre-reading wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for Kaley. But she’s right that people have been doing this forever without a million books and articles and it does sound like Tom has it covered for the both of them. In the article, Kaley also says that they wrote her pregnancy into the storyline of her new show and talks about how well she was treated on set throughout. I hadn’t thought much about how her pregnancy would affect her pending projects, but I guess if they’re filming it will come out later this year.

Photos via Instagram and credit BauerGriffin/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images

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18 Responses to “Kaley Cuoco on being a mom: ‘I have no plan and I’ve read zero books’”

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  1. Mcmmom says:

    There is something to be said for that approach. I read a few (not a lot) of books and the best thing I ever did was to toss the books and get to know my babies. My babies were pretty good about telling me what they needed, when I was in tune with them. They were all very different, so what worked best with one didn’t necessarily work with the others. I remember talking with a pediatrician friend when my eldest was an infant and he said, “there is very little you can do with good intentions that will screw up your child. Kids are designed for first time parents.”

  2. Emmi says:

    I think this is a good approach for people who have been around newborns and who love their parents and think they did a good job. I don’t have kids and don’t want any. But I always thought if did at some point, I’d just copy/ask my mom and maybe read a book or two when the toddler stage arrives. My bff on the other hand doesn’t have the best relationship with her mom and read a ton of books. Her OBGYN at some point said “Put down the books. You’re going to be a great mother.” I would have needed to STUDY about newborn care though. Now that I’ve seen it up close, I’m more relaxed but there was so much I didn’t know. Like … babies can’t drink water? What? 😀

  3. Lady Keller says:

    Good for her. Every baby is different and every family is different. What works for one won’t work for another. I drove myself crazy with my first reading endless books, and dont get me started on the unsolicited advice from older relatives.

    Think the stress of too much information can be harmful at times. It’s not like she can’t access the best professional advice at the drop of a hat. Enjoy your pregnancy, enjoy your baby.

    • Seraphina says:

      Yes to everything you wrote.

    • DouchesOfCambridge says:

      I agree. My life with my newborn was so much better when I just started to listen to my mom and look at how experienced she was instead of mechanical parenting with a book. Books are great and can give us a general direction – “dont feed the baby grapes” and “no uncooked carrots when they have no teeth” lol (because some mothers are really clueless – my living proof is my sister in law… anyway), and other high level safety education for newborns. but real life with baby happens when we get to know them by watching, learning to understand them.

    • BeanieBean says:

      I can over-research/over-think anything & I’m trying to change that this year. I’m going for less stress & go-with-the-flow. I might even try CBs ‘half-assing’ it approach from another post.

  4. SquiddusMaximus says:

    I think it’s important to remember that we are exposed to so.much.information about motherhood and childcare, even unconsciously, that it’s not like she’s walking into this blind. Just the nature of living in the metaverse, and it’s certainly not a bad thing. I had my first a year ago, and I cracked open my books exactly zero times. I did have a pregnancy app, and now I use my baby app to remind me of when to, like, start brushing my Squidling’s teeth.

  5. L says:

    If you read the right books, they are amazing.
    I don’t subscribe to this “it’s been done forever” philosophy. Oh yes, but I want to do better. I want to love and raise my kids with emotional intelligence, and positive education. If you’ve grown up with that, good for you. But I’ve had to learn it because I do NOT want to raise my kids the way I was raised.

  6. Elsa says:

    Good for her. I guess? I could never do that. I love to research everything and be prepared for whatever happens. By arming myself with knowledge, I can relax and go with the flow. But that’s me. Each to their own.

    • BeanieBean says:

      That’s so interesting! For me, I can’t do enough research and that increases my anxiety. I start worrying about not knowing enough, not reading enough, but what about this? what about that?

    • Christine says:

      Elsa, I was exactly like you, until I was pregnant, and read What to Expect When You are Expecting. At the time (2009), there was a bit about what to do if you go into labor when you are alone, and have no supplies, and they actually suggested finding old newspapers and laying them on the floor, because the inside of a newspaper that was only read once will be clean-ish. I am not remotely squeamish, ever, but I had to stop reading books about labor and delivery and all the rest of it after that. My mind started concocting really dire scenarios, much darker than giving birth on old newspapers.

  7. Yup, Me says:

    She has enough money to bring in help, get support, hire therapists etc. if and when things go sideways.

    I’ve found that reading books helped me clarify for myself what approach I wanted to take as a mother/parent. There’s a lot of great stuff I got from my parents/family (and that my husband got from his family), but a certain amount of reading/studying highlighted things that weren’t so beneficial for us that we didn’t necessarily want to pass along if we could help it. It also gave us a starting point for conversations.

    Getting to know your child should always be #1, but many of us do not grow up taking care of younger siblings and cousins so becoming a mom is a kick in the ass we aren’t expecting. And when things get hard and we are stressed out, all those old family habits and patterns start coming up and being acted out.

    Also – Toddlerhood. That is all.

  8. Mom of 2 says:

    I didn’t read anything before my first. I used some reference types books and read a lot of articles once they were born, as stuff came up. It worked for me.

  9. Jj says:

    I had a lot of plans and my babies said no to all of them hahaha

    • TwinFalls says:

      This.

      Also, though, it does take a village imo. A healthy relationship with extended family, a good obgyn and pediatrician, and sure then you can get away with just winging it.

  10. ama1977 says:

    I don’t think you really can prepare by reading/researching, because your individual baby is an unknown quantity. I had one who wouldn’t nurse, wouldn’t sleep, was the classic “fourth trimester” fussy baby, then my second latched the second they put her on my chest, slept like a champ, and as long as she was fed and clean, didn’t really fuss (but MAN did she get mad if she was hungry and she didn’t eat immediately!! Cluster feeding her was…something!) I had to figure out what worked with each of them, just like I’m doing now with a teen and a tween.

    I think if you’re the kind of person where more knowledge soothes you, there are lots of good resources and helpful information available, but I also see Kaley’s point about the information overload. There was too much when I had my kids, 10 and 15 years ago, and there isn’t any less right now. And like everything, knowing which sources are credible and which are not can be challenging.

  11. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I can’t stand planning, or making lists, scheduling…blech. I enjoy spontaneity and revel in jumping in the car and just going. So when I found out I was pregnant way back when, realizing I knew absolutely nothing about babies, I read and read and read. And read some more. I was having another human being. That’s kind of important lol.

  12. equality says:

    She seems close to her mom and will likely also have a trained nanny for advice.