New ‘Rent-a-Mom’ Service Helps Brooklyn Hipsters Deal with Life, Laundry, and the Loneliness of Being an Adult in the City

If we do our jobs right as parents, to a certain extent we are making ourselves unnecessary. Eventually our children will be able to feed and clothe themselves and keep jobs and be happy, healthy, emotionally well-adjusted young adults. A young adult, on his or her own, doesn’t really need a mom to come over and fold laundry or bake a pie, but that doesn’t mean that isn’t a nice thing to have every once in a while, which is why this one New York woman is kind of a genius for marketing herself as a “Rent-a-Mom” to her 20-something neighbors in Brooklyn.

According to Yahoo Parenting, Nina Keneally is a 63-year-old mother who recently relocated from Connecticut to Brooklyn. Her sons are 27 and 30, and they are off doing grown-up things, so Keneally is putting her mom skills to use for other young people.

According to her website, Need a Mom, Keneally’s tagline is “When you need a mom … just not your mom,” and she specializes in providing idealized mom-esque services without mom-esque judgment. She’ll do your laundry or make you a snack or bake a pie, but she’ll also listen to you complain about whatever problems you want, for as long as you want, without offering any judgment, criticism, or unwanted advice. 

So basically she does what a real mom would do, but without being “judgmental about your hair, your wardrobe, your friends, your vegan diet” or comparing you “to your sister Maggie or your cousin Jake.” And not everyone has a mom at all, let alone a mom who would drop everything to come listen to stories about their days. Keneally’s service does seem like it could be comforting to a lot of people.

She’ll also take you to the doctor, edit your resume, or just sit and watch a movie with you. Or she’ll buy presents for your actual mom, and wrap and ship them off so you won’t get in trouble for forgetting her birthday and being ungrateful.

This is actually starting to sound like a pretty sweet deal, especially for a Millennial in the big city who doesn’t want to hear about what she’s doing wrong when she just wants someone to listen to her problems. Keneally reportedly charges $40 an hour for her mom services, which is a lot to pay for some laundry, but pretty inexpensive when compared with a therapist. Most therapists won’t make you hot chocolate and fold your laundry while you complain about your job. For that you need a parent, just maybe not your real parent.

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