Failing Motherhood

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 & the doubt in your own abilities. Is...

Libby did all the research. Read all the books. Met all the people. Wrote all the birth plans.  But each one of her kids' birth stories turned out wildly different than the last! In this episode, you'll be captivated as she chronicles each detail, showing how even the most detailed planning and preparation cannot prepare you for your child's story. Most importantly, she wants to rem...

Babita Spinelli, LP, JD is a world-renowned private practice (in person & online) psychotherapist/psychoanalyst.  Her services include couples therapy, family therapy, and parenting coordination.  She specializes in divorce support & recovery, high conflict couples therapy, blended families & co-parenting therapy. So... she seemed like the person to ask, "ARE CHILDREN OF DIVORCE I...

Melissa Pennel describes 3 things in her life with defining BEFORE & AFTERS - Getting sober Losing her mom unexpectantly (her best friend) Becoming a mom She shares her experience of grieving the path of a kid-free life (even though her pregnancy was planned), enduring the overwhelming fear of "abnormal" growth in her baby's development throughout her pregnancy, how she's p...

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 realized she was missing obvious signs her...

" You know what you signed up for !" Erin hears this all the time, and she's like, "Just because you knew what you were signing up for, doesn't make it easy- just like parenting.  Also, DO WE THOUGH?" After 4 deployments & 8 moves in 13 years, Erin now knows a thing or two about resiliency, transitions, & having grace. Her motherhood journey started off with a...

Working from home? Wanting to do literally anything else other than parent 24/7?  Nike Famojuro is here to share her wisdom.  Nike is a time management & productivity strategist for moms, the Founder of MOMLEADER, an author & TEDx speaker.  A time management coach by trade, after becoming a mom she quickly realized all the old tricks weren't going to work. In motherhood, your time is...

Licensed Professional Counselor & mom of 4 boys, Tessa Stuckey is here to share she still doesn't have it all figured out. BUT- she HAS written a book called "For the Sake of Our Youth: A Therapist's Perspective on Raising Your Family in Today's Culture." In her work with teens, she began seeing a trend of suicidal ideation in teens with no mental illness.  As a mom of...

Prior to becoming a mom, Jenny Elliott spent over a decade in Corporate America at a Fortune 100 company.   She kept working after becoming a mom. THE HORROR!!!!  Kidding of course.  But boy did she doubt herself.  Plus, it's just not that easy.  Feeling unprepared for motherhood, Jenny's transition back to work was rocky at best and she experienced an identity crisis when realizing work...

Rebecca Walsh never intended to stay home with her kids.  She was dead set AGAINST homeschooling. Now, her 16-year-old daughter Alaina joins her to share their journey of homeschooling full time.  She shares her fears of lack of socialization, the curriculum overwhelm, figuring out how to manage a routine rather than a schedule, and so many other lessons learned along the way. Highlights from thei...

" If he wasn't happy then I didn't feel happy ." Leslie MacNabb shares her journey of self-care & recovery after her partner found treatment for alcoholism.   She shares the in's & out's of loving someone in an active addiction and how she found the answers and community she so desperately needed. Leslie's definition of codependency- The idea that I could...

Keep your Kleenex nearby as this episode tugs on ALL the mama heartstrings. Dr. Sue Collins details her early motherhood journey of finishing the Bar exam, entering a marriage she shouldn't have been in, and risking it all to get out.  As she watched her son's heart BREAK over his relationship with his dad, she overcompensated.  She didn't know what else to do. Her son is now 35, an...

One of every mama's biggest fears is a life-altering medical diagnosis for their child. Kristin Roth details her journey from woozy with wounds to fierce mama bear.  Both of her sons have been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and she was trained by firehouse with the high stakes protocol to keep their levels regulated. "You are essentially trying to be a human pancreas with the tools of a...

Headphones on, friends.  We're getting real (and sweary).  Brace yourself for the belly laughs you need right now. Arianna Bradford felt like she was failing motherhood so much she created the Not Your Average Mom Project and wrote a book about it that fights back.  She believes... ...being human is not a reason to be ashamed.  ...we can't be good at something we've never done befor...

Any perfectionists listening? Sandra Etherington , a Myers-Briggs personalities expert, shares how diving deeper in getting to know herself and her kids' personalities has helped her combat her perfectionist tendencies, customize her parenting approaches, and given her tools to move forward. She explains the differences between the Enneagram & Myers-Briggs, how learning our kids' pre...

SO. MANY. THINGS. complicate this already hard job.  In this episode, my good friend, Joslyn, shares what FAILURE looks like and feels like at her house - her son's picky eating, not challenging him enough, too much screen time, can't figure out her daughter's sensory triggers, not liking to play.... PLUS, she shares the added challenges of working to navigate motherhood when her ow...

Your plans.  Your expectations.  Your identity.  BURN IT ALL & Start from scratch.  Welcome to parenthood. Jack Pryor (husband of Laura Pryor, interviewed in episode 1) joins us for a Father's Day episode for MOMS and DADS alike! Along with sharing his own metamorphosis into parenting, Jack reflects on the parenting instincts he was given, why he hates parenting advice, and how therapy ha...

"6 years ago, I had a series of 24 hour stress seizures.  I was told I had to learn new ways to cope with my anxiety or I'd possibly have a heart attack.  At the same time, my then 8 year old son started having panic attacks.  I felt like a massive failure." Anyone else struggle with anxiety? Chantel Allen, certified life coach, shares her story as well as very tangible explanations...

If you've ever lost a pregnancy, you are NOT alone.  Kierra Butcher is a mama to 3 daughters and 5 angel babies.  The loneliness of her seasons of loss were crippling when she had no one to talk to and no where to turn. The added pressure, guilt, grief, and fears following her into motherhood created daily breakdowns she dubbed "bad mom o'clock".  After vicious bouts of postpar...

Our nation is on fire.  People are hurting.  Let's talk about it. Rachel Tran is a biracial mama of 4, homeschooling pro, patron saint of baby-wearing, and fierce advocate for her kids.  She breezes through the stories of how 3 of her kids have had life-threatening medical diagnoses and how each of those whirlwinds have made her into the mama she is today. While she could likely teach us a lo...

" I'm not cut out for this."  "I don't know what I'm doing."  "I'm a bad mom. " These thoughts can fuel an overwhelming feeling of Imposter syndrome - in which one doubts one's accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud".    Sound familiar ? Dr. Emee Vida Estacio is a chartered psychologist &a...

My beautiful friend, Laurenne, joins us today to share about her lowest low in motherhood.  Just when she thought she couldn't go on, a trip to Trader Joes and a new tea set breathes life and the thought starts to actually sink in that she might just be the right mom for her daughters. I'm so grateful for Laurenne's vulnerability and wisdom, it is exactly the heart of what this podc...

On the very first episode of Failing Motherhood, I am joined by Laura Pryor , LIMHP, LPC, PLADC  /  EMDR Level I & II Trained Clinician  /  Brainspotting Therapist  /  Lovely human  /  Conscious parent. Laura shares just how much motherhood did NOT line up with her expectations, how she's grown through the process, and how she is ENOUGH for her daughter. She infuses so many nuggets of the...

Welcome to Failing Motherhood! However you found this podcast... you belong here. In this short trailer, you'll hear who I am, why I'm starting this and what to expect.  For more on Danielle Bettmann, visit ParentingWholeheartedly.com SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE CLUB! www.parentingwholeheartedly.com/community We want to hear from you!  Do you have a story you could share on Failing M...