Finding Joy in Motherhood, Janet Quinlan

Many new parenting styles create an imbalance in the child/parent relationship.  When we adopt a parenting style that is child-led and emotion driven, we do a disservice to our children by hyper focusing on how they feel and what they want rather than teaching them how to think and how to feel and express their feelings in an appropriate way while learning the good habits or virtues that are the f...

New crayons, new backpacks, a special breakfast for the first day of school - these often accompany a new year as our children go back to school.  But…whether you see it or not, whether your children say it or not – and they probably won’t – here’s what they really want and need for success in school and in life. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/m...

This episode airs on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of Jesus – when Mary was taken up into heaven to be with her son. And so while so many moms in my audience are going through the chaos of back-to-school, I thought I’d record this episode as a reminder to all of us, that we have in Mary, the mother of Jesus, the perfect role model of the woman, the wife and mother, and the friend...

I think it’s important to see the cultural shifts that affect our families. Shifts in what used to be some issues for a few, now are so common place that EVERYONE suffers or deals with them. Serious issues are now considered normal or easily accepted and have become commonplace in our families. As soon as we make something common place – something we’ve said or thought so many times that we just t...

School success for your children depends on what happens inside the classroom AND outside the classroom.  In this replay episode I talk about the most important habits to teach your children so they can love school and achieve all they're meant to achieve. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @ja...

As Michael and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, and as our 2nd daughter gets married, I had an opportunity to reflect on what really makes a great marriage.  This episode talks about the #1 secret to great marriages. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

One of the biggest problems we have is that we have "dreams" or "expectations" about how our life, relationships, the behavior of our children, and our home culture should be.  They're just fantasies with no clear actions to create them.  Setting goals helps us act in the here and now to create the life we really want. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, ho...

Whatever form "evil" takes in your life - sadness, anger, unmet expectations, St. Josemaria's advice to "Drown Evil in an Abundance of Good" works! Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

We seem to always want to attack or find fault with people – with ourselves, with our husband, our children, our parents or in-laws. But if we take the “personal” away from assessing the situation, it’s so much more neutral.   And when a situation is neutralized, we can let go of the flight or flight emotions we have and we can actually find solutions to a problem – rather than just blaming and ho...

You can find my parenting course, "Virtue-Based Parenting" at janetquinlan.com/parentingcourse Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

In this episode, I explore the dangers of labeling our children. As parents, when we label a child that label becomes a part of his or her identity because they look to us to know themselves - we box them into a specific behavior rather than helping them explore all parts of themselves. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com...

The first step in creating your best summer for yourself and your family is to decide the results ahead of time.  In this episode, I teach you key routines to have in your home that will create a general structure for your family life, while also giving freedom for lots of play. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow m...

Who are you as a wife and mother?  When you die, what do you want your husband and children to say about you?  It's important to think about whether or not we're showing up in the world and in our family as we'd like to be remembered. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlanco...

Why did you want to become a mother?  I don't think many of us ask ourselves that question.  It's just a rite of passage for many.  And yet, the enormity of raising humans is an endeavor that forces us to identify our "Why".  If not, we won't enjoy the process nor will we reap the benefits of sacrificial love. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home manage...

Many different people have expressed this thought - you become who you surround yourself with.  We taught this concept to our children as they were growing up and choosing friends.  However, it isn’t just for our children and the friends they choose. It’s for all of us in many different ways. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinla...

Did my motherhood shape my faith, or rather, did my faith shape my motherhood?  I’m not sure I have the answer, but after that retreat when I understood that I wasn’t just marking time here, that I had a mission from God, I knew that when I embraced my vocation with a joy and fervor I had not done before, vocation and faith worked together to change me and to grow in virtue and love.  Check out my...

Self-care has gotten a bad rap, and I think that’s because we’ve blurred the lines of self-care and over-indulgence. We can’t live in either extreme – putting yourself so last that you’re not even on your list nor putting yourself 1st all the time to please all your whims and desires so that all you think about is yourself. So, let’s look at self-care from a reasonable,  moderate perspective. Chec...

Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

How do you find joy in motherhood or in your marriage? It's not by depending on yourself or expecting that your children will be perfect. We find hope and joy by seeking it. Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

Part of forming a family of your own is figuring out how to be in relationship with your spouse's family of origin.  This episode is from "Fairest Love" Podcast where I was interviewed on how to accept and embrace the "in-law" relationship - from both sides! Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Foll...

Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

Our brain and it’s job to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and conserve energy is what creates the feeling of resistance - the force against the change or thing we need or want to do. And we need to just identify it that way – notice it, name it, find a way to move through it.  Saying to ourselves, "Oh, this is just my brain resisting, but my brain doesn’t always know what’s best for me.  I can mov...

How do we express our love for our spouse?  Do we wait until Valentine's Day and do what the world tells us - cards, flowers, and candy or is there a deeper, more meaningful way that love requires expression? Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching

I was thinking about what episode 200 could look like and I decided to keep it simple. My marriage probably isn’t much different than most of yours.  We started off with rose colored marriage glasses and then the struggles came – and we had many.  And they were serious and didn’t resolve quickly - probably just like your marriage. My children aren’t special unicorns.  They weren’t always perfectly...