Simple Families

I frequently hear from women who are diagnosed with ADHD after entering motherhood. Those who are diagnosed with ADHD often struggle with executive functioning. In short, executive functioning is our ability to plan, organize, and coordinate life. And as you know, parenthood has a way of pushing our executive functioning skills to the max. In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Yakini Pierce of ADH...

I find it confusing when we are told that as parents we need to set boundaries. We need to hold our ground. But so often when we do that, we end up in power struggles.  Power struggles can happen in any relationship. They are especially common in the parent-child relationship. It happens anytime the parent and child both want their way…and they refuse to back down. As a parent, I don’t want you to...

Today, we are discussing interoception. If you don’t know what that means, you aren’t alone. You might be surprised to learn you know more about it than you realize. Interoception is sometimes called the “Eighth Sense”, it’s the sense of the entire condition of the inner body, including hunger, temperature, pain, and the need for the bathroom. I’m joined in conversation with Occupational Therapist...

The COVID vaccine is going to be available for younger children in the coming weeks here in the U.S.. I don’t know about you, but this has been on my mind for some time. Today, I’m sharing my decision-making process. This episode may or may not resonate with you–and that’s okay. In this chat, I’m joined by NYC pediatrician Dr. Kelly Fradin. I walk through my own decision with her and she answers q...

Parenting is one of our most important jobs in life. But we also don’t get formal performance reviews like we do in the working world. Sometimes that can leave us guessing.  How am I doing? You want to know, right? Since there isn’t a formal review process, we tend to look to the world around us to evaluate ourselves. One common way that we decide whether or not we are doing a good job is by looki...

Today I’m bringing you a live recording — Your simplicity questions answered!

We just moved into a new house. We’ve been renting for almost a year and found a permanent spot right down the road. Even though it’s not a far move, it’s been a big move. Big life transitions like this can feel really out of control. There’s always unexpected stress. Unexpected tasks. Unexpected emotions.  If it feels like you are constantly “Putting out fires”. Jumping from one crisis to the nex...

Back-to-school season can feel busy and stressful–especially this year. In today’s episode I’m answering some of your back-to-school questions. Heads up, next week I’ll be starting a one-week special offer on Simple Families Foundations. The post Back-to-School Q&A appeared first on Simple Families.

As adults we are accustomed to a certain type of communication. Usually, it involves spoken word and it’s fairly civilized. That’s not always the case when it comes to communicating with our kids.  Our children are still developing the ability to regulate their emotions and tolerate frustrating circumstances. The result is that often they communicate with more emotion than we are used to as adults...

We all need to move. But in this busy world, it doesn’t seem easy to make time and space for movement. As our culture has become more sedentary, this topic is increasingly important for all humans–but especially for parents. Our children’s brains develop through movement. My guest today is Katy Bowman of Nutritious Movement. Katy is sharing a bit about the history of movement and how changes in ou...

Starting the day…it can feel like a lot. It can be busy and overwhelming. There are so many things that need to get done and so little time to do them all. I know in many parts of the world people are preparing to go back into the world and back to school. Maybe you’ve had a break from the morning hustle and you are about to get back into the swing of things. Or maybe the morning hustle has been j...

Many of us have been decluttering our homes for some time. But what about our brains? Mental clutter is real. Parenthood can feel heavy. We are tackling the 10 reasons that parenthood feels cluttered and overwhelming. If you are committed to self-care but aren’t sure where to start, I want to invite you to join us in The Mental Unload. Visit Simplefamilies.com for more info. The post Mental Clutte...

One of the most common concerns I hear from parents is this: “My kids don’t listen to me!” Generally, what this means is that you ask your kids to do something and they don’t do it. Maybe you ask them several times. Perhaps you ask them several times with an increasing sense of urgency until you are finally screaming. Today, we are going to break down what it really means to “listen” and a two-ste...

Minimalism looks different for everyone. When Christine Platt found minimalism she expected it would involve moving towards an all-white, barren aesthetic. But in search of an intentional life, she has built a home and lifestyle that is unique to her individual needs and culture. Christine, also known as the Afrominimalist, encourages us to search for our “why” and create a home and life that is t...

Get dressed. Brush your teeth. Say thank you. Eat your breakfast. Sometimes we sound like a broken record. We feel like we are prompting and reminding our kids to do things all day long…and sometimes we are. It’s exhausting! That’s what we are talking about today. I’ll share my tips and tools for success. For my 7-year-old boy For my 5-year-old girl The post Reminders appeared first on Simple Fami...

What if I get rid of something that I might need someday? How will my kids react? Making a big lifestyle change can feel scary. Moving towards simplicity is no exception to this. In today’s episode, we are discussing common fears around living a simpler life. The post Fears of Simplicity appeared first on Simple Families.

You should know this by now. I’ve asked you a hundred times. How could you forget?  Today we are going to talk about consequences, punishment, and discipline. How do we raise kids to take ownership and care for themselves and their belongings? Today I’m going to give you some things to think about and some things to do.  The post Consequences appeared first on Simple Families.

I’m going to start today off with a quote:  “We’re often afraid that if we give our kids an inch, they will take a mile. Every single grain of rice in their bowl must be eaten up, every toy in its proper place, every “I” dotted and “t” crossed. We believe this is comforting to our kids, knowing that their parent will always be steady and unchanging. We mean what we say and say what we mean. Rarely...

If you’ve tuned into the news at all in the past year, you’ll know that there’s a heck of a lot of controversy around science. Whether we are talking about climate change, masks, or vaccines you’ve probably come across disputes and wars of words on scientific topics. I think back to a generation ago, where we had to break open an encyclopedia or visit a library to look deeper into a scientific top...

There are many ways in which society has constructed parenting to be far more complicated than necessary. The result is parental overwhelm. As parents, we all have the same goals. Raising happy, healthy, successful kids. In order to reach those goals, we commit ourselves to doing anything and everything possible. We want to give our children the world—even if we compromise our own well being in th...

Summer used to be synonymous with time-off and relaxation. But times have changed and many parents now feel a sense of dread and overwhelm around the unstructured time that comes during the summer—especially after spending over a year at home. Today, we are talking about finding balance this summer.  Summertime. It used to be synonymous with relaxation and time off, but the past generation has see...

I’ve seen numbers that say over 90% of women are unhappy with their bodies. Our body image, or the way we perceive our own bodies, is impacted by family, friends, social media, the news, and more. Many of us entered motherhood with pre-existing body image challenges, and pregnancy and motherhood can exacerbate that. Today I’m joined by Dr. Lexie Kite from Beauty Redefined, and we are chatting abou...

In this episode, I’m doing a quick-fire Q&A. I have a long list of questions from you all and I’ll be moving through, answering a variety of questions. We will be covering whether or not I have a junk drawer, parenting kids with bad attitudes, capsule wardrobes, defiance, video games, camping, lots of questions about partnership, and much more. Simple Families Foundations NY Times Hormone Surge of...

For the longest time, I was a budget-resister. As a minimalist, I don’t buy a lot of stuff so I didn’t think I needed a budget. But I was wrong–moving towards a consistent, air-tight budget has been one of the most intentional changes that we have made in our family. Today I’m chatting with author and financial educator Tiffany Aliche, also known as The Budgetnista. She’s sharing her tips and reso...

“It’s just too much.” My daughter, who is newly 5, said this to me for the first time this week. She asked me to come clean up her room with her and when I walked in she sighed and said, “it’s just too much”. We don’t have a lot of toys, but she manages to accumulate stuff. Although this was the first time she has put this into words, her behavior has been telling me this her entire life.  Rarely...