To feel like a very inadequate mother after reading this?

The author went to Marlborough College! Which is not only extremely expensive (£50k Pa I think) but also hard to get into academically. Likely the mum was one of these incredibly wealthy women who can devote themselves to their children and studying what interests them that doesn’t need to increase earning potential (ie classics). So you are comparing yourself to a very different family!

reverse snobbery is only a way for people to make themselves feel better, it's sad for the kids really.

I think it is wonderful her mother is credited for passing on her knowledge and interest like she is a person in her own right.

Of course that true. But you can get warm hearted and loving academic parents and cold hearted and disinterested anti-intellectual parents. It's not a binary

What I wrote missed out very very important factors others are mentioning such as that a loving home is far more important than books read etc, and also that cold but academic mothers can end up being pretty awful.

This sort of mother is generally speaking part of an older world where this sort of passing on of knowledge was not uncommon.

Now, mothers who are expected to work full time outside the home, or need to, or want to, may be too busy for this and their children more caught up with tv, their phones or gaming and many activities.

In fact, imo, there is little concept of how much the sort of mother in the OP used to do. I am guessing, judging from her knowledge, she was middle class, at least reasonably privileged, and well educated though. Not that learning other important tasks for life as taught by less fortunate women were not very important as well.

I can't imagine being so anti - intellectual that I would refer to this as pretentious.

Without knowing more though, is that because the author was referring to matters relevant to the book?

Eg. If I wrote a book that drew on a passion my dad shared with me, I may have referenced that in the acknowledgements even though he was many other things to me too

This is what I came to say!

Exactly. Nowhere In that passage does the author mention any Mothering qualities - love, kindness, warmth, nurture - just the fact that her mother recommended books to her. We had a full, towering bookcase as kids and were always encouraged to read and my mum( and dad) did help to foster a great love of reading in me but my mum, had and indeed has many other wonderful, over riding qualities as a mum. The majority of parents are their child's first teacher.

Yes, very much so.

My parents actual hated history because of the way they were taught it school- learning the names and dates of kings and queens by rote.

Whereas I had a great History teacher and actually quite enjoyed the Y9 and GCSE syllabus. Local history and a site study of a historic building. Modern World studies looking at Israel/Palestine and the NI conflict (totally different perspective gained on that from the Catholic perspective) and touching on the first Iraq war which had just kicked off. Medicine through the ages. Britain 1815-51- industrial revolution, the struggle for more rights for the general population and voting. All still highly relevant now. DPs agreed that they'd have probably found it interesting if taught like that.

Do other people find they learn as much from their children as the other way round? I love the way my children pull me into their interests and shape my life in new and unexpected ways

It's not pretentious or wrong to teach your child academic and intellectual things.
Nor is it inferior or shameful or better to teach your child practical skills.

We all bring different things to the mix as parents. And different children need different things from their parents too. And that's fine. That's what makes the world so interesting.

I can almost guarantee your partner won't be worrying about these things. Don't take on too much, getting kids to school is often enough to test the patience of a saint. Love them, listen to them and help them when they ask, that's all they need. We have the internet now anyway!

Are you worried, more broadly, about a lack of culture in their lives?

Confidence is, IMO, a key to a happy & successful life.

Yabu. You have taught your children something nobody else has- my kids know how to add strange harmonies to songs, how to listen for instruments coming in, how to pull a joke out of a situation, how to look out for other people, how not to compare yourself to others and appreciate what you have (honestly, I think it’s a good achievement, star of the week had me having to pull that one out early in their lives!). Also how to make a mean rocky road or make a hot chocolate when they’re not having a good day! Get your kids to read Percy Jackson if they want a bit of Greek mythology!!! Hugs op, we beat ourselves up too much!!

eta I’ve also taught them to shop around for the best prices, my son checks all toy shops for Lego now then goes with the best price!

I taught mine to have confidence by being a confident person
You will be surprised at how far confidence can get you especially coupled with common sense
That no decision is a wrong decision. It just comes with a certain set of consequences

I have shown them things like cashback sites and how to look for discount codes and how to get what they want for the least possible price.

I also show them everyday that I love them and when they are around even as adults they get lots and lots of cuddles.

Please don't let this make you feel inadequate!!
Find me another mother who did these things - it would be a big search - and yet all these chidlren survive, do well in life, feel loved, contribute to society.

You must ask yourself why you feel so inadequate that reading this can cause you concern. It is k,as another poster has pointed out, pretentious horse manure.

Be proud of who YOU are and of all the love you give your children;

There’s a whole longstanding thread about this: “but we took you to stately homes”. Doing the stuff in the OP is fine but it’s not the most important thing by any means.

I think as parents, we should teach our DC what we are interested in and then let them make their minds up if they want to pursue this when older.

But equally, we should take an interest in what our DC would like to know, find out about it together and teaching each other in the progress.

I think we are very lucky that a huge amount of knowledge is readily available and free.... in the past children had to rely on their parents & school for books, visits to diffrent places or simply finding out names & more for the things we see around us.

Are you worried, more broadly, about a lack of culture in their lives?

My mother taught me to be house proud, thought me to cook a bit, taught me to bake a bit. Set a good example around work ethic. She developed a keen passion in learning and education. We aren’t in contact for other reasons that relate to other people that she cannot accept who they are, but the things she did well, she did great.

I’ve had no need for Greek mythology or Chinese but the skills my mother gave me I’ve put into use every day of my life.

what's on earth is sad about it?

You have a very reductive vision of "reading"