The Almost Empty Nest—Letting Go, Redefined: Parenting Teens and Finding Yourself Again—with Small Jar Coach

“I have so much to do.” “I wish I had more time.” The concept of “doing jail” is that you are STUCK DOING.  In this episode we explore our "need" to do and why it is such a driving force for us. And also that we can feel a discomfort of NOT doing. Join me to learn how to break out of doing jail. 🎯  Want to take this work deeper? Save your seat for the next free masterclass—cli...

Let's face it, sometimes we get mad.  But sometimes as moms, we hold ourselves to a ridiculous standard: that we shouldn't get mad.  How often have you beat yourself up for getting mad.  Or bottled the feeling up, because you didn't want to react. But let's question this for a moment....what if we should be mad? 🎯  Want to take this work deeper? Save your seat for the next fre...

They say people pleasing behavior often stems from instability in a relationship.  And as our kids grow up and seek independence, instability seems inevitable. But what hasn't changed is that we want our kids to be happy, so we do everything in our power to try to make our kids happy....only, it doesn't seem to work a lot of the time.  So the question for us as moms is: do we keep puttin...

We have these precious moments—days, months, years—left with our children at home and we’re gritting our teeth. In this episode, I share that the most transformative lesson that I have learned during this journey of motherhood is about who I am and the lens that I use to interpret the circumstances of my life. I invite you to consider that it's possible to re-write this narrative, s...

Anxiety feels like an inevitable part of raising teens. They are pulling away, and we're losing control. We're losing our ability to help keep them safe, healthy and to ensure they reach their full potential. In this episode we explore how to manage this challenging emotion, and to build compassion for both our children and ourselves as we navigate this transition. 🎯  Want to take this...

You have 100....days or weeks to graduation...hours that they come home to visit. This is it.  In this episode we explore the reason why it's really so hard to let go. 🎯  Want to take this work deeper? Save your seat for the next free masterclass—click here to sign up: https://www.thesmalljar.com/class . 💪 Curious about coaching with Small Jar?  Check out our Mom 2.0 coaching prog...

There are so many reasons why parenting feels hard. For each of our children...each of our families, the reasons we may list are different. But there is actually one reason that is common to all of us, and it's not what you think. 🎯  Want to take this work deeper? Save your seat for the next free masterclass—click here to sign up: https://www.thesmalljar.com/class . 💪 Curious about coaching...

Feeling unconditional love--it's easier said than done. We tend to think about loving our children unconditionally...but if we're honest with ourselves, while we know in our hearts we will always love our children, sometimes our expectations of our children lead us to show up in ways that might make our children question whether, in fact, our love is conditional.  So if it's hard to deli...

Join me in this episode as I explore a topic we're often not comfortable talking about. The thought of our kids finding love is lovely...until it isn't. Heartache. Heartbreak. Sex. Safety. Consequences. So much about our teen's love life can bring up really uncomfortable feelings for us as moms. The anxiety and fears about the worse case scenarios. The frustration that our kids may not be listenin...

Every goal, requires you to make a decision. But there are many reasons that keep us from making decisions....fear of failure...fear of discomfort...the responsibility we feel for our families. So we often stay stuck, because it feels safer to not take big risks than to risk failure or negatively impacting those we love.  In this episode we explore the factors underlying our decision to stay...

This is a very personal episode for me. Join me as I share my journey with breaking my wine habit. It was something that I had struggled with for a long time. I knew I wasn't an alcoholic, but somehow felt completely unable to not pour a glass (or two) of wine at the end of the night. I tried everything, without success...until I discovered life coaching and everything changed--not just with my wi...

As moms, we feel so much pressure to help our kids... We feel responsible. To help them succeed. To make them happy. We are overwhelmed with "shoulds" and "have tos".  There is no end to the worry....the guilt.  In this episode, we explore how to relieve mom guilt, and open up a new world of possibility to create the results we want. 🎯  Want to take this work deeper? Save your seat...

As mothers navigating the transition to the empty nest, many of just want to feel better in our lives. One of the reasons many of us don’t even bother setting big goals for ourselves is that we feel stuck in some kind of pain, and so this negative emotional experience crowds out dreaming or goal-setting. In this episode, we explore how to take control of our emotional life, and that when we learn...

As a mom of children leaving the nest, do you even bother setting big goals for yourself? As women in our 40s and 50s, it can be challenging to pursue personal goals given a number of challenges unique to us in this time of our lives. Explore with me how to think about who you have the opportunity to become in this next chapter of your life.   🎯  Want to take this work deeper? Save your...

Most of us can’t wait for our kids to come home. We’ve missed them so much. Their empty room is finally filled again. We get to revisit all of our beloved traditions. We fill the refrigerator with their favorite foods. We envision the joy of spending time with them. The relief of having them safe under our roof again. It’s amazing.  Except….when it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong….we love our kids....

One of the interesting aspects of being in this time of life in our 40s and 50s…is that there is such an incredible opportunity in front of us…to create something new for our lives, but that it often feels incredibly difficult for many of us to move toward this opportunity for a variety of reasons. We might call it lack of motivation, anxiety, worry about our children... In this episode, I talk ab...

The college process is complex, competitive and stressful.  We want desperately to support them and help them be successful through the process, but somehow we are left feeling anxious and frustrated. In this episode we explore how the way we and our children view this process can often leave us at odds...and how we can begin to make the process a little easier on our children...and ourselves...

As your child leaves the nest, it's not uncommon for us as mothers to feel anxious about the worst case scenario. No matter how many times you try to tell yourself it will all turn out ok, it’s often hard for our brains to accept that possibility with any degree of comfort. In this episode, we explore new ways of thinking about our anxiety so that we can begin to move toward acceptance and li...

There are times in life when it feels easy to find joy...and other times, where joy and peace seem to allude us. We try to capture joy by doing things that make us happy. But this doesn't work in the long run. We also try to change the circumstances of our lives, particularly other people, to try and feel better. This also rarely works. In this episode, we explore the three ways to create room for...

When you are in emotional pain, it is so hard to find the energy to focus on your goals and move forward.  There are so many reasons that we might be in pain. I can’t possibly do justice to all of them in one episode. In this episode, rather than focusing on any one emotion of pain, we address how we respond to our pain…and also, why it’s so hard to find the lessons that our pain might be tea...

As our kids become young adults, there is so much new territory for US as parents to navigate. Where is the rule book? Please, someone give me a strategy that works without fail.  Because look, we’re all human. And even experts must struggle in the relationships they have with their own teens and young adults. Because it’s one thing to execute a strategy when there’s no emotion. When you don’...

It's not just about the money.  The "side hustle" is an incredible opportunity to pursue something you are really passionate about. As we contemplate the empty nest, so often we rush to fill our time so that we don't feel so...Empty.  Stuck. Bored. Frustrated. Resentful. But have you considered that the possibilities in front of you are infinite?  It's not just about getting a...

It doesn’t matter if the college drop off will happen in a few weeks or a few years….it doesn’t matter if it’s your oldest or your youngest…there is something about the college move-in day that can fill us—as mothers—with absolute dread. As you imagine standing on the green, about to say goodbye. What comes up for you?  Most likely pride,  love and excitement.  But also potentially...

So often over the past 17+ years, I have longed for more peace in my life. There is something about having children that makes you wonder what you even spent your time doing before you had kids. Given how overwhelming and busy our lives have been for the past 15, 20, 30 years of raising kids…one would think that we would fully embrace the moment when circumstances of our lives became still an...

As our children grow up and leave the nest, we have an opportunity to re-focus on our professional careers. But when we think about job satisfaction, we tend to focus more on what we don't like about particular jobs rather than really taking a step back to understand what job satisfaction really means for us. In this episode, we take a look at how to create job satisfaction for ourselves--and perh...