The Juggling Act

Does it sometimes feel like every time you have a big day coming up at work, your toddler has a nightmare night’s sleep? You end up dragging yourself into work wondering how on earth you're going to string two words together. It's like they come with some sort of crazy ability to read your calendar and really push you to your limits! After the first 12 months of a baby’s life, you think you should...

It can be difficult as a parent to know whether your child is meeting milestones at the right time, particularly when it comes to speech. Some children are just late starters and can take a while to utter their first word, while others seem like born broadcasters! So how do you know if you should wait or seek professional advice? Sarah and Mel share their experiences and the challenges around know...

This week, Sarah and Mel talk about the sweet and wacky things we find ourselves doing and saying as our kids head off to sleep each night. Psychologist Belinda Williams joins us with advice around how to let go of being perfect and accept being 'good enough'. We met the mum so obsessed with Bluey she launched a podcast about it! Dr Jodie Lowinger is in the studio to talk about how we can turn anx...

We all try our best to make sure we're teaching our kids to be kind and polite, but let's be honest, they're not always going to be perfect angels! We are all learning and making mistakes. But when they misbehave in front of others, or even worse, do something to a friend's child, it feels terrible. It's hard not to feel responsible for their behaviour, but in reality, there's only so much you can...

Becoming a parent often means your anxiety reaches a whole new level.  With newborns we worry that they’re eating and sleeping enough, growing, meeting milestones. Then they head to daycare and school and you worry that they’re being taken care of, making friends, being kind. Now, imagine being able to take those anxious feelings and make them work for you. Dr Jodie Lowinger is a clinica; psycholo...

When journalist turned communications advisor Mary Bolling was pregnant and on maternity leave, she listened to A LOT of podcasts to help her feel connected to the world outside of her nappy / feed / exhaustion bubble. Her friend Kate was also a big podcast listener and when they were on mat leave with two kids each, they realised they were talking less and less about what podcasts they loved, and...

That desire for perfection can start to drive you mad after a while. Trying to be the perfect mum, the perfect boss, the perfect co-worker, sister, partner, ugh! It’s just not feasible and the pressure can start to impact you physically and mentally. But it’s so hard to get off the treadmill and accept that what you do and who you are, is absolutely fine. Psychologist Belinda Williams from The Bum...

Do you often find yourself doing and saying unusual things to get your child to go to sleep? Then suddenly you've fallen into a habit of doing it and a year or two down the track you can't even remember how it started?! Sarah and Mel know the feeling all too well! In this ep, they reveal the funny and sweet things they say to their children right before they nod off. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

This week, to celebrate International Women’s Day and this year’s theme of “Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, we meet the incredible mum who is helping our girls find their place in the professional world. We chat with baby sleep consultant Maryanne Sayers about juggling sleep issues and your return to work. We get all your COVID vaccine questions about pregnancy...

From Vogue Australia, hosted by Jesinta Franklin and Remy Rippon, introducing the new 8 part podcast called Baby Steps. Baby Steps is a no-nonsense pocket fertility guide for anyone trying to have a baby. Jes and Remy talk to the experts on everything from obstetrics, fertility, miscarriage, loss and explore everything from IVF to egg freezing. Search Baby Steps Vogue Australia wherever you get yo...

Sarah has a family dog and Mel's kids have been begging her for one for years. She finally caved (sort of), and got them two guinea pigs. While the poo and cage cleaning is not exactly fun, she's been surprised by the difference in her kids. Sarah and Mel discuss the pros and cons of family pets and share their experiences. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever feel like you constantly say ‘no’ to your kids? My daughter has just started telling me that’s all I say, and I feel like I’m constantly replying with ‘you’re too little to do whatever you want’. But what if you just said ‘yes’. 'Yes' you can do whatever you want. Would it make life easier or would you ultimately raise spoilt brats? Jennifer Garner and Edgar Ramirez star in a new film...

The Covid vaccine arrived in Australia mid Feb, with frontline health and quarantine workers, as well as those in aged care first in line. But what about if you’re pregnant, or trying for a baby? Will kids ever get it? How do they know what the long term effects will be? So many questions!  Luckily we got Professor Peter Collingnon -  an Infectious Diseases physician and microbiologist - to join u...

Those first few days, weeks, even years with a baby can be a real struggle if they’re not good sleepers. It can also be incredibly confusing as a first-time parent to know what to do! Routines, baby-led weaning, swaddles – what do all these things even mean?! Then when you’ve got to go back to work, ugh, it feels like you’ll never be able to manage. Well, help is here! Today we're joined by Maryan...

There are a lot of conversations about girls at the moment and whether or not enough has been done to give them equality in the workforce during their lifetime - especially today, International Women's Day. Today's guest says that she wants her daughter to grow up in a world where she has choices about where she works and what she does, but feels there are still not enough role models for them, pa...

This week, Sarah and Mel chat swimming lessons - how hard do you push if they’re really hating it or can we just teach them ourselves? Lady J / Julia Morris shares her nice-but-not-very-bright life advice and reveals how she lets go of the working mum guilt. We meet a single mum who has packed up her house and hit the road with her two kids on an outback adventure in an old campervan. Bondi Rescue...

Ugh guilt. We all know it's such a wasted emotion but sometimes it's really difficult to keep in check - especially if you've spent the morning yelling at the kids to leave the house. Mel and Sarah get candid about the struggles of getting to work, that dreadful feeling when you've had one of 'those' mornings' then have to switch into work mode, and how we can try to stop with the self-flagellatio...

I didn’t know this, but Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach was shut down for the first time since WWII in March last year due to Covid. But it’s now back in business, and that means the team from Bondi Rescue are back. I can’t believe the show is in its 16th season, and during that time there have been a lot of changes – on and off the screen. One of the biggest changes this year involves Daniel McLaughl...

During Victoria’s lockdown, single mum Carol Owen realised that her lockdown life looked pretty much the same as her normal life. So she decided to do something about it. During the second lockdown, Carol and her two boys, Wesley and Monty,  packed up their South Gippsland home, put their things in storage and set off in a 1992 campervan - affectionately nicknamed the Wocomo Turtle - and hit the r...

She is the queen of TV – and Instagram. If you don’t follow her, you need to, stat. She’s hilaire. And she makes life look super easy, and super fun. Julia Morris is the host of I’m A Celeb (as well as a million other credits to her name), and now she’s dishing out nice-but-not-very bright life advice on everything from parenting to work, in a new audiobook on Audible, called 'Julia Morris makes i...

Living in a country surrounded by water, with backyard pools, lakes, rivers and dams everywhere, it's so important that our kids learn to swim. But sometimes it can become a chore if your child really hates the water. Sarah and Mel talk about whether you should push it, or give them a break and maybe teach them yourself when they're ready. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Sarah and Mel talk about how quickly girls seem to be losing their innocence before they become aware of their body and how they look to other people. We are joined by a travel expert to find out how to holiday with a large family and still enjoy it. Author and social researcher Maggie Hamilton joins us to talk about whether we’re raising our children to live isolated lives. Lisa Wipfli...

Car sickness in children can make it very tough to go anywhere, especially right now when road trips are really are our only option! For some parents, even short trips can be a nightmare with kids. So how do you handle it? Sarah and Mel share their experiences in today's ep. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The kids have been back at school for a couple of weeks now and we are slowly getting used to making lunchboxes again (god how boring is it, and washing all the bits is the pits!). But it can still be super stressful to get the kids out the door, especially with many companies transitioning back into the office. We are joined on the pod today by Lisa Wipfli who shares three kids with Nova Sydney b...

Living through a pandemic this past year has taught us all easily we can get by without seeing anyone. Literally, everything we want or need is available on our smartphones. But that also means we’re missing out on social interactions, and for some people, that could mean loneliness slowly creeping into their lives. So what does that mean for our children, growing up with all this technology and l...