Become A Calm Mama

What does “success” really look like in parenting? What is the end goal? What are we doing all this for? In this episode, I’m debriefing a huge step in my parenting journey and sharing two keys that have shaped my experience as a parent and my relationship with my kids.  Yesterday I dropped off my oldest son for his first year of college – and transitioned him one step further on his journey...

As we gear up for a new school year, I’m sharing some of my own tried-and-true routines and rhythms for simplifying your daily life. We’re talking mornings, afternoons, dinnertime and more, with tips geared toward families with elementary and middle school age kids.  You’ll hear tips that worked for our family, why I made those decisions and how they helped me to establish a peaceful and easy...

Today, I want to introduce you to (or bring you deeper into) the transformative world of inner child work. By soothing and addressing the pain and unmet needs from our own childhoods, we can discover profound healing and self-compassion.  I’ll walk you through some simple exercises you can try to be kinder to yourself and explore how the concept of your child's inner child can help you bring...

The new school year is starting soon, and I want you to be ready! In this episode, I’m sharing my back to school checklist - not for school supplies and new clothes, but to set you up for more peace this school year.  I hope this will help you to feel like the leader in your life and give you more room in your life for fun, ease and joy. Your Back To School Checklist This is my 3-step process...

We hear a lot of names for parenting philosophies (e.g. gentle parenting, positive parenting, compassionate parenting), that all share the same foundation of compassion and connection. Today, I’m sharing the concept of therapeutic parenting - what it is and how it relates to the parenting style I now teach to moms like you. I first heard the term “therapeutic parenting” when I was really strugglin...

I see a lot of moms burnout by the end of the summer, and while this episode isn’t specifically about burnout, it is about our capacity as parents and what to do when you’re too tired to deal with what’s going on with your kids. As humans, we have limited capacity. Think of it like a 2-liter bottle. When the bottle is full, there isn’t capacity to add anything else to it. If it’s only half full, t...

It’s summer - kids are off school, they’re spending more time together and you’re probably seeing a lot more sibling squabbles and fights.  And it’s frustrating, right? You spend all this time thinking of fun activities and outings, you do the planning and prepping. Then, when you get them to the location, they’re fighting, arguing and bickering.  I know that this is a problem for most p...

We’re a few weeks into summer, and you might be starting to feel like you’re in the doldrums. If you’ve been feeling frustrated, disappointed or sad that your summer isn’t going quite the way you hoped it would, this is the episode for you. I’m talking about how to do a summer reset and get things back on track. Why Your Summer Sucks We have a lot of ideas about what summer will be like, and then...

Traveling with kids can feel more like a business trip than a vacation sometimes. You get excited for a break and a change of scenery, but you’re not necessarily off duty when it comes to parenting. In this episode, I’m sharing why vacation feels like so much work sometimes and my top 5 tips for vacationing with kids. Why Is It So Hard? Your Expectations Often, when we plan a trip, we think of it...

There is a trend in families right now to be more compassionate with their kids. I love it. But compassion is not the same as permission. There’s a big difference, and the two approaches create different results.  In this episode I’ll explain the difference between compassion and permission in parenting, why you might find yourself slipping into permissive parenting and how to get out of that...

This episode is coming out on the day of my oldest son’s high school graduation. I’ve been thinking, writing and feeling a LOT of feelings lately.  And some of what came out was a poem that I’d like to share with you, titled A Very Long Goodbye. You can hear it in the episode or read it on the blog . My son is about to arrive at the threshold. We’ve been walking this path together for a reall...

“Fix it, change it, stop it, solve it” is a phrase I use often in my coaching. When you say it out loud, it captures that feeling we have as parents when our kids behave in a way that leaves us feeling overwhelmed, angry or worried.  It’s an emotional and physical response to what our kids are doing, and our brain jumps in and tries to fix, change, stop or solve the situation. Your Kid’s Big...

We don’t often talk about fun ways of improving behavior, but today’s episode will give you some strategies to do just that. I’m talking all about how to be a more playful parent so that you actually enjoy your kids more. We also all want to feel connected and create joyful memories with our kids.  The moments we remember most are the ones that were emotionally charged. The memories aren’t ab...

On this episode of Become A Calm Mama, we’re going beyond the problems with modern motherhood from last week’s episode and into the details of parenting on your own terms.  There is a lot of pressure to fit into society’s expectations, but the way we’re told to measure performance in motherhood can actually be harmful to our kids and to us as moms.  The goal isn’t to “perform” as a mom o...

Why are modern moms so burned out? What is the problem with modern motherhood that has us feeling overwhelmed, inadequate and guilty? In this episode, I’m talking about the big picture and the expectations around motherhood to help you understand why you feel so overwhelmed.  Because it's not just that your kid is spitting out their food or not cleaning up their room or didn't put their shoes...

As we move through the journey of motherhood, the way we experience Mother’s Day, and what we need from it, changes. Today, I’m reflecting on my own experience of how Mother’s Day changes over time and connecting to different stages of motherhood.  Different stages of parenting are challenging in different ways. When they’re younger, what we want most might just be a break from our kids, but...

Today I'm tackling the topic of screens, screen time limits, devices, all of it. And I am going to help you feel better about your kids’ device use. This is a master class on managing screens in your family. So grab a pen and paper and get ready. Let’s be honest - we all love screens.  I love lots of things, like nature, my friends, my kids, my dogs. And I really like being on my phone and wa...

Are you struggling with picky eaters at your dinner table? Do you find yourself making separate meals for yourself and your kids? As a parent, mealtime can be stressful, especially if your kids refuse to eat the food you serve them. Mealtime can be more enjoyable for everyone - including you.  On this episode of Become A Calm Mama, we’ll explore why some kids are picky eaters, while others ar...

Getting your child to bed (and asleep for the night) is often easier said than done. And while it can be super frustrating for us as parents, it’s pretty hard for our kids, too. One of the best ways to overcome common sleep struggles is by helping our kids master self-soothing skills.  Today, you’ll learn why getting to sleep and staying asleep is so challenging for kids at different ages and...

I recently got back from traveling across the country to visit New York City with my two teenage sons. There was one moment in particular on this most recent trip that sums up the experience of discontentment and motherhood and how I’ve been able to start moving toward more contentment.  I hope that this story and the tools I share today will help you move toward more satisfaction with your o...

In today’s episode, I’m walking you through all of the developmental stages of your child’s life, all the way from birth through adolescence to 18 or 19 years old. This is going to help you really understand what's normal at different stages or ages, what kids are struggling with and how you can support your child's development. Developmental Stages The information I’m sharing today is based on th...

Today’s episode is part three of a three-part series all about parenting stress cycles. If you haven’t listened to parts one and two, be sure to go back and check them out. In this episode, I’m teaching you how to reframe the way you view your child’s behavior so that you don’t get as stressed in the first place. What are you making it mean? It’s very common in our society to judge kids and their...

Today’s episode is part two in a three-part series. Last week, I talked about what a stress cycle is and how it shows up in your parenting. If you missed it, you can listen here .  Today, we’re taking it to the next step: When you’re in a parenting stress cycle, how do you get out of it? The first step is to deal with the stressor, and this is the one that most of us are already pretty good a...

I want to let you in on a little secret. You don’t yell because there’s something wrong with you (or your kids). You yell as a response to stress and what your brain perceives as a threatening situation.  In this episode, I’m talking about the stress cycle - what it looks like, why it happens and how it shows up in your parenting.  Before we get into the details, I want you to first imag...

Did you know that gentle parenting is one of the most popular hashtags on TikTok? It’s a philosophy that many parents are attracted to, and I’m excited to talk more about it today - what it is, my experience with it and the common challenges to gentle parenting that you might have experienced. What is gentle parenting? Gentle parenting is an approach to parenting where you validate your child's em...