The Mom Hour

Lindsey Hein is a lifelong runner with more than 16 marathons to her name, including several Boston Marathon finishes. She’s also mom to four busy boys, ages two to eight, and host of a popular podcast for runners. In this month’s Voices episode Lindsey chats with Meagan about training for races with four little kids, how her podcasting side hustle grew into a network of shows (including a parenti...

We’ve noticed something: the end of school and start of summer always makes it suddenly clear how dang much our kids have grown. They’re smarter, they’re taller, they’re more capable, and all that means…it’s time to level up! We think summer is a great time to teach new life skills, reset chores and responsibilities, and also grant expanded freedoms to growing kids. In Episode 315 Meagan and Sarah...

Having a house rule gives parents a shorthand for handling the same small annoyance the same way, every time. Will it stop your kids from fighting over the coveted “fishy cup” or arguing over whose turn it is to set the table? It will not. But it WILL allow you to consistently apply the same judiciary process (and one that feels right to YOU) each time kids start to go at it, which can cut down on...

So many firsts, so many outgrown outfits, so many unforgettable mom-moments, and so much MESS. Join Meagan and Sarah as we walk month-by-month through a baby’s first year of life, sharing our personal memories as well as general thoughts on what makes each month unique. If you’re beyond the infant years, we hope this will offer a little trip down your own nostalgic memory lane; if you’re in the mi...

From swimsuits to fitness programs, nail polish to meal delivery, we admit: we’re influenceable. But there’s a lot to unpack about the concept of influencer marketing and influencer culture in general. In today’s More Than Mom episode Meagan and Sarah talk about about the silly stuff (like the kind of ads the algorithm INSISTS on delivering us) and also the more substantial (like the ways in which...

We’ve talked a lot about how little kids (and their parents) experienced schooling disruptions over the past year. But college students, their families, and their instructors also went through a major shift in how higher education is delivered and experienced. Today’s special bonus episode features a conversation with Hsiao-Yun Chu, Ph. D., a college professor, mom of two young children, and longt...

Having a functional kitchen relies on a number of factors, many of which are outside our control (funny floor plans, small spaces, or that weird area between where the open dishwasher blocks off access to that one cabinet? yeah, things like that). But as moms of many kids who have occupied at least as many kitchens in our combined histories, we’ve also realized there are some things we can do to u...

As this incredibly strange and stressful school year winds to a close, parents are looking ahead to next fall and wondering: Should I send my 5-year-old to kindergarten, or wait a year? Will my first grader remember how to make friends since she’s been behind a screen all year? Will the struggle that was virtual learning mean my kid never learns to love school again? These are understandable worri...

If you have mixed feelings about Mother’s Day, you’re not alone. For some, it’s a reminder of loss or grief, unmet expectations or missing people we love. For others, the social media buildup and commercialized clichés create expectations that can lead to disappointment. And even for those who don’t completely dread Mother’s Day, it can be hard to articulate what we  really  want to the...

Are we “car people”? Turns out, yes and no. After 25+ years of driving, Meagan and Sarah have many stories and a few opinions on what we want in our four-wheeled rides. From first cars to true lemons, minivans to post-divorce pre-mid-life-crisis splurges, this More Than Mom episode is an ode to our vehicles. We also chat about the process of procuring a new car, how much haggling at the dealer is...

Big news: Sarah is joining the Parents Of Teenagers club! In honor of Sarah’s oldest turning 13, Meagan taps into wisdom gained from over a decade of parenting teens and gives Sarah the real story. We unpack some stereotypes about teens (they’re moody! they’re smelly! they’re obsessed with their phones!) and find out what’s totally true, what’s sometimes true, and what might very much depend on th...

Whether it’s a career pivot, a creative passion, a relationship change, or just one of life’s unexpected twists, most women find themselves in a season of reinvention at least once. Today Meagan and Sarah are here with a surprise bonus episode, chatting about the idea of reinvention, how it intersects with motherhood and raising young kids, and how Meagan’s new podcast celebrates women reinventing...

Whether it’s pulling out the puke bucket juuuuuussst in the nick of time, or speeding across the room while pregnant to save a toddler from a toppling accident, we all know that feeling of doing what needs to be done in the moment without so much as a conscious thought. Call it quick-thinking, mom-heroics, or just another day in the life of parenting young kids, but these are moments that deserve...

Hobbies outside of everyday work, life, and parenting ebb and flow as your season of life changes, but it’s fun to think about what creative pursuits you’ll add back in as time opens up. In today’s More Than Mom episode Meagan and Sarah speak from the perspective of moms whose kids are getting older, and who are pursuing hobbies in our own (often very different) ways. We talk about what hobbies we...

Conversations about friendship in motherhood often center around those ride-or-die besties that you just can’t imagine life without (which,  as we discussed last week , isn’t always helpful). But as pandemic life has shown us in all kinds of ways, regular interactions with acquaintances, co-workers, fellow school parents, neighbors, and other “friendlies” are also really important to feeling...

In a year that changed nearly everything about how humans connect and communicate, it’s no surprise that friendships in motherhood have changed. Some deepened over the past year, as the pandemic gave us new ways to bond (and hard stuff to get real about). Some fell away, strained by distance or differences. And pandemic or no pandemic, not every close friendship is created equal, and they all go t...

Our habits around media consumption are as unique as each of us is–and, when you think about it, there are quite a few little details that go into how each of us decides  when ,  how , and  where  to listen to a podcast or pick up a book–not to mention the actual  what  of the content itself. Today’s More Than Mom episode is a look at how Meagan and Sarah currently co...

Imagine being 13, the daughter of an influential megachurch pastor…and  pregnant . That’s how Sarah Jakes Roberts began her journey to motherhood – and she grappled with feelings of shame and questions surrounding her self-worth while wondering if she could ever afford to “dream big” again. Today, Sarah is a happily married mom of six kids, a pastor and sought-after speaker, and five-time boo...

One year ago, springtime plans got canceled, Easter dinners and baby showers and birthday parties and all the rest vanished from our calendars one event after another. As we shake off winter and look at the spring of 2021, there’s something in the air. We know we’re not out of the pandemic woods, but there’s a feeling of optimism that was missing last year, and we’re leaning all the way into it. I...

Desiring a family culture of travel and adventure is one thing; pulling it off–and paying for it–is another thing altogether. But just because you’re not jetting off to international destinations doesn’t mean you and your family can’t cultivate that adventure spirit in meaningful ways. In today’s episode, Part Three in our series on family travel, Meagan looks back at many years of family adventur...

Have you ever dreamed of taking your family on the road? It’s tempting–especially with the changes to work and school many families have experienced this past year. Chelsey Christiansen is a full-time working mom, and she and her husband and toddler son currently work and travel full-time out of their fifth-wheel camper. In today’s episode, Part Two in our three-part series on family travel, Meaga...

Taking small kids on a trip is daunting: Where and how will everyone sleep? Can a rental cottage be baby-proofed? How will little ones used to a schedule and the structure of home deal with time zone changes and grandparents whose house rules differ from what they’re used to? In Part One of our three-part series on family travel, Sarah looks back on her extensive experience traveling with babies,...

Planning meals for the week is one thing; pulling them off is another altogether. In this fourth installment of our popular Week Of Real-Life Dinners series, Meagan and Sarah share what we served and ate the week of March 8, 2021. From springtime twitterpation that led to spontaneous fast-food tacos, to a reptilian kitchen squatter, things did not go as planned for us that week–which is part of th...

It’s always a toss-up: when discussing a new topic, will Meagan and Sarah be EXACTLY ALIKE (to the point that it’s almost weird) or TOTALLY OPPOSITE? Turns out when it comes to our fantasy kitchens, we have a lot in common. Join us for a fun More Than Mom deep dive into the kitchens we grew up watching on television and in movies, thoughts on current home design trends and how we feel about them,...

A stay-at-home mom wonders how best to re-enter the workforce, and another listener has questions about how to talk about working motherhood with our young kids. A mom of big kids wants our opinions on when it’s OK to leave them home alone–and how best to get started. Listener voicemails about house rules around swearing and the conflicting emotions of motherhood round out another Listener Questio...