Celebrity Celebrity Family Celebrity Parenting From Carol Brady to Lorelai Gilmore: 10 TV Moms Who Gave the Best Life Advice Ever Lorelai Gilmore, Tami Taylor and more share their maternal wisdom, which we're celebrating this Mother's Day 2023 By Maggie Malach Maggie Malach Maggie Malach is the former staff editor, digital platforms at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2020. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 6, 2021 12:35PM EDT Close 01 of 10 Jane Chapman, Big Little Lies HBO Jane and her son Ziggy are in a tough position when he's accused of bullying a classmate, but Jane leads by example, believing that he's telling the truth and encouraging him to tell her what's really going on: "Amabella's been a really good friend to you. It's our turn to be a good friend to her. It's not fair that she keeps getting hurt. We have to protect her." 02 of 10 Mary Andrews, Riverdale Jack Rowand/The CW When it comes to parental role models, the town of Riverdale seems to be, um, lacking. Lucky for Archie, his mom always has his back, even when it comes to his aspiring boxing career. As she told him: "The world is such a scary place, maybe it's not the worst thing to know how to fight, to be able to defend yourself. If this is your path, I want to support it and you — as long as you do it right." 03 of 10 Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls Lance Staedler/The WB Of course Lorelai has the best breakup advice ... because she's Lorelai Gilmore: "Get back in your pajamas, go to bed, eat nothing but gallons of ice cream and tons of pizza, don't take a shower or shave your legs or put on any kind of makeup at all and just sit in the dark and watch a really sad movie and have a good long cry and just wallow. You need to wallow." 04 of 10 Claire Dunphy, Modern Family John Fleeno/ABC Okay, so Claire's advice is more for the parents than the kids, but it's sound nonetheless: "Raising a kid is like sending a rocketship to the moon. You spend the early years in constant contact, and then one day, around the teenage years, they go around the dark side and they're gone. And all you can do is wait for that faint signal that says they're coming back." 05 of 10 Tami Taylor, Friday Night Lights Bill Records/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank The fan-favorite TV mom is an endless fountain of wisdom, including with this quote, which we should all live by: "There's no weakness in forgiveness." 06 of 10 Kirsten Cohen, The O.C. Everett Kirsten had her moments of questionable parenting (like when she didn't want her future adopted son Ryan Atwood to sleep in the house), but she was there when it mattered. She even guided Ryan's childhood friend, Theresa, telling her: "You don't have to make the decision that makes the most sense." 07 of 10 Lucille Bluth, Arrested Development Everett Lucille was often harsh — especially to her own kids — but it would be remiss to not include one of her tips. Take this advice as you will: "You want your belt to buckle, not your chair." 08 of 10 Eleanor Waldorf, Gossip Girl Everett Remember at the start of Gossip Girl when Eleanor was kind of the worst mom? Well, as the show progressed, her character became a much more maternal figure; she even passed on some sage advice to daughter Blair: "Sometimes you have to allow yourself to be weak in order to grow stronger." 09 of 10 Ashley Marin, Pretty Little Liars Eric McCandless/ABC Family/Getty Ashley was by far the coolest mom on Pretty Little Liars, and she had some pretty wise words for Hanna to boot: "Just because somebody hurt us once, doesn't mean we have to permanently delete them from our phonebook. Things change. People grow." 10 of 10 Carol Brady, The Brady Bunch ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images Trust Mrs. Brady to impart wisdom that women of any age can use: "You mustn't let the boys upset you."