45 Left or Right Podcast

When we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving in Ensenada, Mexico this year, people thought we were nuts. I thought maybe we were, too, but we ended up having one of the best family vacations ever. Instead of turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, and possible awkward conversations about politics around the dinner table, we went for the freshest seafood I've ever had, digging holes in...

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Kathleen Nadeau, a dynamic clinical psychologist and leading expert on ADHD in women and girls. She is the Founder and Co-Owner of The Chesapeake Center, and has her Bachelor's, Master's and PhD in Psychology from the University of Florida (Go Gators!). Women in our society have been given an impossible role to play in that they generally work full-time outside of th...

In Episode 23: "A Closet Full of Participation Trophies,"  I delve into the topic of participation trophies and the generational debate surrounding them, with a focus on our hardcore Gen X experiences. We are the forgotten generation, the latchkey kids. We drank out of water hoses. We ate dirt. We were largely unsupervised. We lived through recessions, the AIDS epidemic, The Cold War. The Boomers...

Episode 22: "What is Executive Function? Parenting ADHD with Michael McCleod" is Part III in the ADHD Series for 45 Left or Right Podcast. In this episode, I spoke with Michael McLeod, an expert in ADHD and Executive Function. Michael has 17 years of experience with youth, and travels all over the world educating parents, kids, teachers and school districts on well-researched methods for improving...

Part II of my ADHD Series, "Oh, She's Just Flighty" talks about the traits of girls who have ADHD. They can be aloof, daydreamers, be overly emotional, be fidgety, have trouble focusing, be disorganized, or messy...and these traits are attributed as a personality rather than a collection of symptoms for a girl with undiagnosed ADHD. I talk to my friend, Amy, whose 8 year old daughter, Alex, was ju...

This is Part 1 of my ADHD Series! I hear the term, "ADHD" all of the time, but I only knew it to be what hyperactive, disruptive and impulsive boys were like when I was growing up. I've heard grumpy adults cry that it isn't a thing, and that kids who were unruly just need stronger parents. Well, it is in fact a thing, a thing that can disrupt the social, academic and emotional functioning of kids,...

Jeff and I celebrated our 22nd Wedding Anniversary on September 1st, so I thought it was a perfect time to record an episode not only about the history of marriages and how wedding anniversaries have been celebrated since the Middle Ages, but it is the ideal time for us to tell the tale of our first little airplane flight together before our 1st Wedding Anniversary. A story that ends with us landi...

I have been asked many times what it was like to be a woman in the military, and this episode is a small sample of what it was like. I tell stories of discrimination, judgement, glory, and, also being treated equally. It was a challenging, sometimes enraging, empowering, and sometimes, lonely time. I tell stories that include all of these things! Did you know that woman have been serving in the mi...

After a few weeks off for "vacation," I'm back with a new episode! I put vacation in quotes because it was a lot of traveling, and hectic, but we also did a lot of fun things. This episode is about back to school, and how some kids struggle more than others with this kind of transition. I interview my friend, Nicole, who has taught everything from 1st Grade to Middle School, and has seen hundreds...

Recently, we traveled to Colorado and went whitewater rafting, and though we had a great time, I found myself more hesitant to get in the raft. In my 20s, I would not even thought about it--"Let's go rafting! Woo hoo!" I looked back into the risky things I did earlier in my life, and wondered whether or not I would do them now. On this episode, I tell some stories about the risks I have taken in m...

This is a RERUN! Enjoy! In my first flight as a Pilot-in-Command as an Army helicopter pilot, I got lost. I eventually ended up in my favorite little airport in Troy, Alabama, and consoled myself with some very delicious nachos. I was well over my head in college loan debt, and those nachos were my dinner. This experience made me think about how we make decisions when we are in our late teens and...

Puppies. Aren't they adorable? They are innocent, loving, and generally come with no baggage, except they are not housebroken! Then they grow up to be dogs, and if you haven't messed up too much with training them, are also adorable, loving and selfless. Jeff and I have had several dogs together, including 3 that were our original babies, our current dog, Tex, who came with some funny fears, but i...

In Episode 14: "Summer Summer Summer Time" of the "45 Left to Right Podcast," freelance journalist and host Darisse Smith celebrates summer! She tells stories from her own childhood, especially her favorite vacation her family took to North Carolina. They took a spontaneous detour into whitewater rafting, and this became her favorite summer memory. Darisse talks about returning to North Carolina a...

In this episode, Darisse explores the evolving significance of birthdays as we age. The birthday parties Darisse's Mom threw for her in childhood were epic, and childhood milestones come in rapid fire--"10" is double digits, "13" is when you become a teenager, "16" you can drive a car, "18" you become an adult, and so on. As you get older, though, the milestones become further apart, and less exci...

Darisse uses the hobbies she has had in her life to tell the story of her life, or at least, some highlights of it. She talks about how triathlon united her and her husband, Jeff, when she was deployed to Iraq, and he was left behind in the United States, far away from any family. She has had some unhealthy hobbies, like drinking, that led to some amazing friendships. A weekly neighborhood ritual...

Our hobbies are not trivial things we do to pass the time. They are often the only way to express our passions throughout our lives.    #Hobbies #HobbiesTellAStory #HobbiesAsWeAge 

Mental Load. This has been a buzzword on social media, and in conversations between fellow Moms for a long time. But what is it? Darisse Smith asked her friends to provide audio clips of their mental loads, and this really illustrates the volume and variety of what Moms must manage daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally and yearly. Explore the 'Mental Load of Mothers' in the latest episode of the 45 L...

In Episode 10: The Pull of Motherhood, Part 2, Darisse discusses the sometimes difficult yet rewarding journey of stay-at-home moms in the Episode 10 of the 45 Left or Right Podcast. Darisse interviews her best friend, Claire Lamp Yule, a dedicated homeschooling mom who is navigating the challenges and triumphs of motherhood in midlife. This episode offers a contrast to Episode 9, where Darisse ta...

In this episode, Darisse interviews her best friend, Dr. Emily Balanky, about trying to manage both motherhood and a full-time career as an OB-GYN. Emily shares her journey navigating a highly demanding career with a challenging schedule while raising three daughters with her husband, Matt. Emily offers insight into the creative solutions and decisions she and Matt have made to balance professiona...

After I yelled at a rude young guy at the gym last week, I thought about how more irritable I have been in my 40s. Just 5 years ago, I would have seethed silently to myself as I worked out, but I never would have lectured him in his rude ways. With every slam of the weights at the bottom of his deadlift, I found my blood pressure rising, and I just could not handle holding it in anymore. This dude...

In this episode, Darisse tells the tales of sleep medication confusion, like getting lost in her own tiny bathroom, or not being able to find her side of the bed. Darisse has not slept in a couple of decades, and, she's guessing, neither have you. What about aging makes insomnia more common, despite neediing more sleep? Darisse sorts through all of the copious and largely ineffective volumes of sl...

Two experienced baseball, soccer, martial arts, parkour, etc. Moms discuss how hard it is to get their kids to all of their games and practices fully uniformed and on time. The search for cleats, socks, belts, gloves, soccer balls, bats, shin guards and even yes, cups, is stressful, and unnecessarily difficult at times. Coordinating their kids' multiple sports schedules could be a full-time job, a...

I tell the sad story pf my unsuccessful stalking of playground Moms when we first moved to Southern California, and their subtle ways of ignoring my delightful personality as well as my desperation for friendship. As we age, it becomes much more difficult to make friends, especially if we have children. Making friends when you are a parent translates into a complicated matchmaking process--not onl...

45 Left or Right Podcast is hosted by Darisse Smith, a former Army helicopter pilot, freelance journalist, and middle aged Mom, wife and general person. On this episode, Darisse discusses her neverending search to find a lifelong career, from where it began in college, and after feeling purposeless after transitioning out of the Army. Darisse tells the story of pursing jobs in medical Sales, Custo...

Join host Darisse Smith, a former Army helicopter pilot, freelance journalist, Mom, wife and yes, someone who is middle-aged. This show will talk about all the highs, lows, lefts and rights of parenthood, long-term relationships, aging and the challenges and benefits of being to the left and right of age 45. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.