--- description: 'Princeton Mom' Susan Patton tells women: 'work will wait, your fertility won't' title: 'Princeton Mom' Susan Patton goes on the Today Show to tell women to marry early image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Mother-In-Law From Hell Was on the _Today_ Show  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 11, 2014 10:07 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 11, 2014 10:07 PM CUT “Princeton Mom,” Susan Patton has not said what advice she’s given her sons, who both graduated from Princeton, but she can’t seem to stop giving their female peers some choice counsel. She has thoughts about getting plastic surgery in high school (“If you enter your college years not in your best form…you’ll hamper your own chances for personal happiness”) and campus rape (“it’s all on \[girls\] to not put themselves in a position where you’re abused or mistreated by a man.”) Just call her some woman’s future demon mother-in-law. Patton went on the Today Show Tuesday morning and gave host Savannah Guthrie an earful about how young women should waste no time finding a husband. “Work will wait, your fertility won’t,” she told Guthrie. “I’m saying double down, spend 75% of your time planning your personal happiness, putting in place the things you need to ensure you reach your personal goals.” (It’s not a new theme for Patton who’s been recycling versions of this advice everywhere since last year when an essay she wrote on the topic for the [_Daily Princetonian_ ](http://dailyprincetonian.com/opinion/2013/03/letter-to-the-editor-advice-for-the-young-women-of-princeton-the-daughters-i-never-had/ "undefined")went viral.) To get more of these nuggets of wisdom, or if you’re a glutton for punishment, you can check out her book _Marry Smart_. **MORE:** [“Straight Talk” The Princeton Mom Should Give to Young Men](http://time.com/8116/straight-talk-the-princeton-mom-should-give-to-young-men/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/20336/the-mother-in-law-from-hell-was-on-the-today-show/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/20336/the-mother-in-law-from-hell-was-on-the-today-show/"},"headline":"The Mother-In-Law From Hell Was on the Today Show","datePublished":"2014-03-11T22:07:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:59.850Z","description":"'Princeton Mom' Susan Patton tells women: 'work will wait, your fertility won't'","url":"https://time.com/20336/the-mother-in-law-from-hell-was-on-the-today-show/","keywords":["Living","feminism","Marriage","today show"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/20336/the-mother-in-law-from-hell-was-on-the-today-show/","name":"The Mother-In-Law From Hell Was on the Today Show"}}]}] ```