Don't Mom Alone Podcast

What is your ministry? Of course, motherhood is its own type of ministry, but did you envision something else as your “ministry”? Whether you had plans you’ve set aside or not, working at something you’re passionate about outside of your home can quite the challenge.  My guests this week are Angel Ricchuiti and Brittany Turner. Both are moms of 4 and both want to use their giftings and experience...

Admit it, you’ve seen a girl somewhere and thought, “I can’t believe her mother let her out of the house wearing that.” But if you’ve parented a teenage girl, you know it’s just not that simple.  How can we connect with our daughters and let them know we’re on their side even if we are not on board with certain trends or styles? My guest this week is author, speaker, and mother of four girls, Kari...

What would you do if your kid told you they saw porn? What would you do if you discovered porn on your child’s device?  My guest this week is mom and founder of NextTalk, Mandy Majors. Her daughter was exposed to pornography at age 9 at school and she didn’t see it on a cell phone. That was a wake-up call moment for Mandy and she made it her goal to teach other parents how to talk through the quic...

Who do you call when it feels like your world is falling apart? Do you share your struggles with trusted friends or is it hard to open up about what is going on in your life?  Toward the end of her first marriage Kristen Glass broke a habit she’d had for years - struggling silently. For years she suffered alone, carrying shame for her actions and circumstances that left her feeling condemned and i...

Is Back-to-School time a mini fresh-start for you? With all the fresh supplies we get a chance to think again about who we want to be and what our daily life can look like.  Get sidetracked with Cynthia and me this week as we discuss rhythms we are creating for the fall. Cynthia discovers AI and we talk habits, opening our homes for connection, scrapbooking for our younger selves, and new business...

Maybe you’ve wondered if you are addicted to your phone? Or if your kids are addicted to their devices? Is addicted the right word to use?  Between work and school and life it is nearly impossible to live without some screen interaction, but what if we could change our relationship with our screens? What if they are not something we are powerless against, but something we can put in their proper p...

What are your digital fears? What are the things you are afraid will happen if your child interacts with technology regularly?  We all have digital fears to varying degrees, but anxiety isn’t our friend when it comes to strategies to keep our kids safe in the digital landscape. My guest this week is CPA turned tech expert Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes, an organization devoted to kee...

We’re baaaaaack! How was your summer? Maybe you're like us...a little laughing, crying and even vacation freak-outs. Around here you're never alone. Listen in for a fun conversation with our friend Cynthia Yanof as we chat about summer adventures and the transition to Fall.  We’re talking about expectations as moms. How sometimes things turn out better than expected and other times we grieve the l...

What helped you feel ready for a new school year as a kid? All the supplies purchased and organized? The perfect first-day outfit?  What helps you feel ready for school now, as a mom? How can you advocate for your kids and support their teachers? My guest this week is Dallas-based therapist and speaker Dr. Kelly Jameson. She shares a great set of tools to help us advocate for our children and inte...

What percentage of the anxiety you feel comes from parenting?  We are often most anxious about the things we care most about. That is normal! We love our kids and want to nurture and protect them, but we know anxiety isn’t helping us. My guest this week is counselor and parenting expert Sissy Goff. Her new book,  The Worry-Free Parent, is designed to help us recognize how anxiety makes its way int...

Have you felt that you’ve lost a part of yourself since having children? Maybe even “lots of”  or “all” the parts? Motherhood changes us - and it should - but we need to consider our own emotional health and well-being just as important as that of our kids. My guest this week, mom, and author Alli Worthington, encourages us to be set free from mom-guilt by dropping some common “good mom”-myths. Sh...

How do you give your kids independence? At what stage do you let kids try and fail?  At the heart of parenting is this job: to give our kids the skills they need to live without us. We know that and we still might spend hours in their rooms trying to help them get to sleep or keeping up with their gym clothes or assignments. We bring our own fears or suppositions about the future to bear on their...

How do you connect with your spouse? And how often?  It’s easy for us to get busy parenting and adulting and then take our marriage relationship for granted. We may think we’ll focus on it when things slow down or the kids aren’t so needy, but actually, a healthy marriage is a great help to our kids.  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from he...

What do you do when your kids are a little sassier than necessary?  How do you respond? Can we shape their responses? When does it really matter? To answer those questions we need both perspective and wisdom.  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from her wisdom. Bonus! My guest for these 6 weeks is both wise AND funny.  Join me for conversation...

Who are your close friends? What do you do to cultivate friendships in your life? Friendship as an adult can feel like we’re unicorn-hunting, clinging to some childhood ideal or tv show standard. But real life friendship requires risk and it can come and go in seasons. And it is so worth it.  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from her wisdom....

What do you feel when your child is struggling? How do you decide when to step in?  Whether it's fighting for your attention from a new baby or struggling with a new skill there are times for us to intervene and there are times for us to let our kids be uncomfortable. Yes, because we’re limited, but also because, as our summer of mentorship guest puts it, “If I want to raise kids that can stand al...

12What do you do when your kid lies? What about when your kid doesn’t make the team? Is this your failure or theirs…or is it something else?  We’re taking time this summer (as usual) to be mentored by an experienced mom and benefit from her wisdom. Bonus! My guest for these 6 weeks is both wise AND funny.  Join me for conversations with wife, mom, author, and podcaster Cynthia Yanof. We’ll answer...

How does your child’s behavior reflect on you?  That’s a trick question -  it doesn’t. But it’s easy for us to feel that it does. Parenting a neurodivergent child can heighten those feelings of guilt or shame when our child doesn’t behave in an expected way or when traditional forms of discipline or parenting simply don’t work. Pile on top of that everyone’s summer activity and vacation social med...

If your God-given assignment is to work outside of your home or the WFH life,  how do you manage the schedules and responsibilities and feelings that accompany those places?  Mothering well is always hard - whether you work outside of the home or not. But moms who do work outside the home can feel a particular kind of difficulty caught between wanting to be the best mom and the best at work. My gu...

What do you feel when you hear, “It’s summertime”? Dread? Excitement? Anxiety? All three?  No matter how many summers you’ve been mom-ing it’s the same - there will be fun and boredom, magical moments and fighting and we’ll be tired of it and wish it wouldn’t end. Join me this week as we talk about how to ENJOY summer, navigate sibling conflict, and much more.  Clips from these original episodes:...

What are your patterns of prayer? Has it been hard for you to fall into a rhythm of prayer? We know that prayer matters and works. It changes us, it opens our eyes to where God is at work around us. We want to pray for our kids, for ourselves, for others we love - why does it feel so difficult to jump in? My guest this week is Natasha Miller, The Praying Mama, and our conversation is full of encou...

What’s The Thing you knew that you couldn’t talk to your parents about when you were growing up? Emotions you had or mistakes you made?  As moms we want to connect with our kids, we want to be their source of truth and guidance as they grow, but how do we cultivate that sort of connection and trust?  My guest this week, mom and author Kristen Hatton, helps us set the stage for walking alongside ou...

What do modern manners look like? Manners are simply social behaviors or habits - you can have good ones or you can have bad ones. But it's been 101 years since Emily Post first published her book on manners and etiquette and it only seems as though lately we, as a society, have regressed in our social behaviors.  My guest this week, Lee Cordon, has long felt called to make an impact on this gener...

What is a place you’d rather not go? One that sounds nearly unbearable. The DMV? The school pick-up line?  What about going into a serious medical diagnosis or a financial crisis?  Following Jesus is no safeguard against difficulty in life. God may give you an assignment that feels impossible and overwhelming. That is where my guest this week, mom and author/speaker Cari Trotter, found herself in...

Have you ever seen a “magic towel” that swells and “grows” when you put it in water? Have you shrunk a shirt in the laundry? At different times in our lives God assigns us a space that we have to shrink or swell to occupy. This could mean giving up beloved roles, or taking on responsibilities we don’t want. How do we respond when we find ourselves in these situations?  My guest this week is Courtn...