Reframing Me - Self-Development & Parenting Teens for Midlife Moms

Thank you so much for being here! Lately, my algorithm has been feeding me content on fashion psychology, and I am obsessed! I needed a fun topic for today, and keeping in line with my intention to be a bit selfish in October, I thought we'd have a conversation about it because it is so fascinating to look at how fashion reflects our identities and communicates - intentionally or unintentional...

This week on Reframing Me, we’re talking about identity, but not in a “find yourself” or completely reinvent your life kind of way. We’re starting with the way identity is actually built: through our roles, relationships, experiences, the feedback we receive from other people, and the parts of ourselves that get reinforced over time. After a night seeing Olivia Rodrigo with my daughter, I found my...

Thank you for being here! It's nearly October, and after August and September being focused outside - getting a routine in place, everyone's schedules together, all of the pieces in their places, I need a breath. We all know what November and December bring - and so October is a good time to take that breath - be a bit selfish even - focus on us. Reframe the idea that selfish is bad - that...

Welcome back to the show! Thank you so much for being here!! As our kids get older, the conversations we have with them get harder. Sex, drugs, alcohol, consent, body image, mental health, relationships, safety, world events, and all of the things we wish we could protect them from forever. In this episode, I’m talking about why the goal isn’t to have one perfect “talk.” It’s to create a family co...

Thank you so much for being here!! If I could apologize to the woman I was before…. If you could apologize to the woman you were before, what would you say? Can you forgive yourself for not knowing what you know now?  On the first non-sweltering day of September, I was excited to wear my white jeans. Well, white jeans 1, Jen 0. I spiraled, criticizing every bit of my appearance and losing my...

Welcome back to the show! Thank you for being here! I am back in the classroom for my 26th year teaching college, but this year is especially exciting for me because after six years of teaching only online, I am back in the in-person physical classroom, and I am loving it! I cannot believe how much that one change has resonated through my whole life!  I started the semester of my family commu...

Thank you so much for being here!  We don’t get to choose everything that happens in our day, but we do get to choose how we greet it. We get to choose how we see something. We get to frame every situation we encounter. We get to frame our lives. Realizing that, how do you want to frame today? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thank you so much for being here! It's hard to believe it's been four years since I had my last middle schooler... the wounds are still fresh y'all (haha! - I'm just being "dramatic"). As someone who spent six consecutive years with one or two kids in middle school - two boys, one girl - all different personalities, I consider myself to be a credible expert, so let me share with you 20 tips for su...

Thank you so much for being here! What does it really mean to be a good person? I am inspired today by Dolly Parton’s legacy of kindness and generosity. Has our culture’s obsession with self-improvement distracted us from the most important kind of growth. Through everyday choices to lead with empathy, compassion, generosity, and integrity, we each have countless opportunities to make the world ar...

Thank you so much for being here!! Sending a child to college changes more than where they live. It changes the parent-child relationship, and the way we communicate has to change with it. Supporting independence doesn’t require disappearing, just as staying close doesn’t mean monitoring, interrogating, or solving every problem. Strong relationships with college-aged kids are built by learning how...

Thank you so much for being here! How much do you edit yourself to fit others’ expectations of you? Do you let others’ expectations define you? How often do you find yourself editing who you are to be who others want you to be? Or behave how others want you to behave? Or look how others want you to look? Maybe the part of people pleasing we don't talk about enough is the part that recognizes that...

Thank you for being here!  I am grateful for this day. I am grateful for this moment.  Most gratitude that we show is situational. It's reactive. That's gratitude because of our circumstances. Intentional gratitude is something entirely different. Intentional gratitude isn't asking, "What happened today that I can be grateful for?" It's asking, "How can I experience today from a place of...

Thank you so much for being here!  A favorite assignment I give my Family Communication Students is to observe their own family dynamics, applying concepts they've learned. After spending four days with 20 family members in a one beach house, I realized that there are some basic family concepts that could definitely be applied. So let's revisit some of the more applicable family communication...

Welcome back!! I'm so happy you're here! You don't need to attend every emotional event you're invited to. I have come to realize that there is nothing wrong with declining an invitation and opting to stay home and do nothing - in fact, it's kinda my favorite activity! Similarly, I've also come to realize that we need to protect our peace and siphon our energy, and so we absolutely don't need to a...

Thank you so much for being here!  I'm reading Matt Cook's book Beyond Wanting, and I may only be five chapters in, but it has already made such an impact on me. As someone who has both studied identity communication and practiced manifestation for years, I am shook to see a link between the two that I really hadn't before. Approaching it through his Be-Do-Have model, I discuss approaching id...

Available NOW - listen to the free introductions of my NEW courses - Re: Identity and Re: Purpose - both are available now on the Kajabi app/website. Listen now Re: Identity click here Listen now Re: Purpose click here Thank you so much for being here!! It's July! Time to a) Panic that "the summer is almost over" (it's not!); b) Spiral that I haven't reached enough of my January goals; c) Take a b...

Available NOW - listen to the free introductions of my NEW courses - Re: Identity and Re: Purpose - both are available now on the Kajabi app/website. Listen now Re: Identity click here Listen now Re: Purpose click here Thank you so much for being here!! What if your body has been trying to tell you something your mind can't quite hear? In this episode, we explore the basics of somatic practices, t...

Available NOW - listen to the free introductions of my NEW courses - Re: Identity and Re: Purpose - both are available now on the Kajabi app/website. Listen now Re: Identity click here Listen now Re: Purpose click here Thank you so much for being here!! I saw a post that said how people often make the mistake of expecting our friends to fill all of our friend needs, when really, the happiest peopl...

Send us Fan Mail Available NOW - listen to the free introductions of my NEW courses - Re: Identity and Re: Purpose - both are available now on the Kajabi app/website.  Listen now Re: Identity click here Listen now Re: Purpose click here How many ideas have you had that never became anything? What idea have you buried that still whispers to you from time to time? Is it time to let it rest – or dig...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here!!! This week's episode is a reminder that endings and beginnings often exist side by side. After losing the state championship lacrosse game in golden goal overtime, my son's high school sports career came to an end - as well as my role as a sports mom, and my family's identification as a sports family. With graduation this week too,...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here! In the U.S. (and especially living at the beach!), Memorial Day is the "official" launch of summer! And never is our unappreciation of our bodies as great as it is during the summer. Can we say that we love our body... and mean it? What if instead of crititicizing all of our flaws based off of narratives that have been planted in our hea...

Send us Fan Mail  Thank you so much for being here! In honor of my oldest's graduation from the teen years, here are the top 20 things that I learned about parenting teenagers. Not as someone who has all the answers - because clearly I do not - but just as someone who has not only survived the teen years for one child, but actually loved them!! My favorite parenting stage, so far! It's c...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you for being here! There’s a conversation happening right now between wellness culture, aging, fitness, femininity, and identity, and I think many women are quietly struggling with it more than we admit. In this episode, I talk honestly about the emotional side of body change in midlife. Not from a “diet culture” perspective or a “just love yourself” perspective, but from a...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome! Thank you for being here! There’s a phase of motherhood that no one really prepares you for. It’s not the chaos of little kids, and it’s not the emptiness of the empty nest. It’s the in-between—when your teenagers are starting to launch, and everything is quietly shifting. In this episode, I explore the tension we all feel between staying connected to our kids and allowin...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back! I'm so happy you're here! This is part 3 of my Things I wish I knew sooner series - #s 41 through 50. I just turned 50 last week, and to count down, I stepped drastically out of my comfort zone and started recording and posting reels/TikToks every day of things I wish I had known sooner - things that would have made my life a lot easier. In that process, I...