Failing Motherhood

Many parents today find themselves in the sandwich generation where stress, guilt and burnout is real. My guest today, Michele Magner, has earned her MBA and Master's certification in gerontology and is a Gerontology PhD student at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She's a certified life coach, certified dementia practitioner, and certified conscious aging facilitator and an adjunct prof...

Which one are you?  Which one is your partner? Not only does the second half of your parenting life begin when you understand you're parenting a strong-willed child, but your self awareness sky rockets when you realize you're a Worrying Warrior. Your next step is to evaluate whether you're parenting with a "Just tell me what to do" parent or an "It is what it is"...

Have you ever wondered what life after a divorce would even look like? Today's guest, Paige Dempsey, is an anti-anxiety Dating and Relationship Coach for women.  In Paige’s words, she got married late and divorced early. She’s been a step mom, mom of a child with her ex, and a solo mother by choice.  At the same time as her and her husband were separating, her best friend was diagnosed with c...

Say you're sorry. "I'M SORRY! GAAHHH!! " they ROAR from the other room.  Lessons were learned, right? Often when parenting strong-willed kids, the messages we're trying to send, the skills we're trying to model and the lessons we're trying to teach get lost at sea in a battle of control and BIG emotions. Instead of checking the box to make ourselves feel better,...

Have you ever thought these things while attempting to play with your kid(s)? I’d rather be doing something else.  I should want to do this.  This is boring. OR This is too much.  I feel guilty bc of how much I hate this.  This is not fun. This is not easy.  How do I get this to stop? You’re not alone, and my guest today, Sara Olsher is going to share a brutally honest take at the real life challe...

Have you found using timers at your house to be HIT or MISS? Either it helps tremendously or meltdowns ensue?  What gives? I'm breaking it all down on today's episode- both the DO's and DON'T's so you understand exactly what's needed to make your use of timers as effective as possible. Not only do I share key insight into reducing whining, clinging, and complaining, b...

Happy Valentine's Day!    This episode is guaranteed to help you tap into more self-love. I'm talking to Dr. Tracy Dalgleish , psychologist, couples therapist, and relationship expert. She's the host of the podcast, "I'm not your Shrink", and author of "I Didn't Sign Up For This". Tracy starts by sharing her frustration with a family ski event not going...

Whether you’re trying to decide whether to have another child, hoping to salvage your marriage, on your way to creating or owning your own business, or are just desperate to not feel so alone without family support - this is your episode. Steph Pellish is a wife, a mom of 4, owns 2 businesses, and  has always been a dreamer with big ideas. After feeling lost and lonely, Steph has built a community...

What if it's not what you think it is? Two weeks ago I listed the 11 most common fears/challenges experienced by parents of strong-willed kids.  In this episode I address each one. The work is in NOT letting these fears take hold of the way you parent, but rather gain awareness and understanding while you get to the bottom of what's really going on. Listen to that episode first, then cir...

Do you wish you had more mom friends?  You're not alone. Unfortunately villages don't just happen. They're created! Today’s guest, Emily Siegel , is a friendship mentor, podcast host, working mom of two adorable little boys, and the leader of The Connected Mom Life Community.  She helps busy moms create the circle of friends they crave because she firmly believes we weren’t made to...

Hard, frustrating, exhausting - is an understatement. Your lived experience as a parent of a strong-willed child is one many can't understand, including yourself sometimes! There are very real dynamics, fears, and perceptions that make showing up moment to moment extremely difficult, and it's impossible to solve for them without being able to name them first.    This episode is going to...

Today's guest, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, is an author, TV personality, and cohost of the popular podcast For Crying Out Loud. She co-created and hosted the late-night comedy parenting show Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder-Taylor for NickMom on Nickelodeon. She’s the author of Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay; Naptime Is the New Happy Hour; It’s Not Me, It’s You; I’m Kind of a Big Deal;...

Tis the season for under-stimulated kids, over-stimulated parents, an influx of gifts and stuff everywhere!   If you have the urge to throw everything away right now, you’re not alone! If you’d love to have LESS at your house but feel guilty for getting rid of perfectly good (educational even!) toys, this episode is for you. Today I’m sharing the benefits of less toys for you and your kid(s), your...

Originally Aired: September 8th, 2020 If nothing prepares you for parenting... how can you possibly be prepared to parent a child with special needs? After trying everything & realizing her son wasn't able to get the help he needed, Paulette risked everything to leave her home country of Puerto Rico. After devoting her all to her son, Paulette felt like the ultimate failure when she reali...

Originally Aired: October 6th, 2020 Keeping a brand new human alive when you've never done it before is... A LOT. When Grace Henke 's daughter could not stop screaming, she took her right back to the hospital their first night home! Supplementing, lip/tongue ties, constipation, gas, panicking about milestones is all overwhelming enough, let alone the constant comparisons to others &...

Originally aired: October 13, 2020 (Ep. 26) "You want your parents to be involved in your child's life, but at what cost?" Both of Jamie's parents are alcoholics and are still in a gut-wrenching divorce that's been going on for years.  She has been working daily to break the chain of trauma, and what once crippled her has made her so much stronger. "It was a scary thi...

Parents to a 4-year-old strong-willed son and an almost 2 year-old daughter, Omaya + Andrew are here to share the biggest mindset shifts they internalized that made it possible for them to go from constantly splitting up their family to avoid setting off their strong-willed child to watching their sibling relationship thrive and taking both kids hiking as a solo parent! They reflected on what they...

No matter the occasion, when buying a gift for the kid(s) in your life, you want to WOW them without breaking the bank or seeing your investments lying in the "toy graveyard" 2 months from now, taking up space or making a mess, never to be played with again.   I GOT YOU! I've compiled a huge list of mostly unconventional items your strong-willed child will lose their mind for , and...

Today I am talking to Dr. Sara Reardon (@the.vagina.whisperer), board-certified pelvic health physical therapist and founder of an online on-demand workout platform for your pelvic floor and core. She's here to talk about all things pelvic floor,  dropping basic knowledge we all wish someone would have told us by now but no one has.   Together we work to normalize the conversation, not the pa...

Think of literally anything. There's a fantastic children's book on it! Books can be used to meet your strong-willed child's need for control through a power reversal role, as well as teach them important social-emotional life skills! I've compiled 29 of my very favorite books I highly recommend to my clients, and have categorized them by  - Offers Control, BIG Emotions, Best f...

Today's topic is a heavy one; dark and possibly triggering ...but we don't leave you hanging. It's not one that I would advise playing in the car with kids around, but it is necessary listening if you aim to be an aware, conscious parent in today's society. Alexandra Ford ( previously Stevenson ), a former trafficking victim turned activist, started her anti-trafficking work at...

It's HARD + SCARY to unlearn, re-learn, and teach new ways of being with your child as a united front with your partner, improve your child's behavior, and become more and more confident by the day (ESPECIALLY with strong-willed kids) ! What sets the families apart that succeed in truly changing their lives for good? There's much more insight to be gleaned from the actual journey to...

Motherhood is hard for everyone, so how do you know when what you’re experiencing is not what everyone is experiencing?  Today’s guest, Becky Gleed is a busy working mom of two fun, spirited girls, a licensed marriage and family therapist and a certified perinatal mental health professional ! She owns and operates a private mental health practice right outside of Washington, D.C. specializing in p...

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK FOR GOODNESS SAKE! There are likely more than a handful of very legit reasons why doing this hard thing feels even harder for you right now.   Are you aware of them enough to know how to overcome them? IN THIS EPISODE, I SHARED... Often underestimated, proven ways your progress has been held back  Why some of the approaches you've been working so hard to implement aren&a...

NOTE: This episode will not answer every question you have in hopes of finding the *perfect* formula for managing screens and video games at your house.  However, I guarantee you will see them in an entirely new light one hour from now, no matter your child's age. Mx. Ash Brandin, EdS (they/them) has been a public school educator for over a decade. . After years of research and starting  thei...