The Mom Hour

Back-to-school season usually means a refreshing change of schedule and, for many parents, fewer hours with kids in the house. This year, the way we use our homes for school, work, and leisure look very different–but that doesn’t mean we can’t harness some of that familiar fall energy and tackle clutter in a new way for a new reality. Join Sarah and longtime listener/community member Mandy Yang fo...

We’re kicking back for a casual chat this week, taking time to update listeners on some of the behind-the-scenes events in both our lives lately. From the details of Sarah’s move to what’s coming up this fall on the podcast, from Meagan’s annual end-of-summer malaise to her anticipation of a revamped time-blocking system for fall 2020, these are the little (and big) conversational rabbit holes we...

An eight-year-old with a “can’t-do” attitude and a ten-year-old who struggles to bounce back after little setbacks (two more in an accidental series of questions that we’re affectionately calling “boys with bad attitudes”): Meagan and Sarah have thoughts–and personal experience–for the moms of these kids. Then Sarah weighs in on a question about how to use an “okay to wake” clock with a clever thr...

How to make friends and cultivate community after a move; contemplating a third baby and wondering if the older two will  ever  play together nicely; answering questions about puberty and other growing-up topics; and dealing with a five-year-old who is never satisfied: Meagan and Sarah take four listener questions in this week’s episode of The Mom Hour. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Check ou...

If we’ve learned anything since March, it’s that little things can make a big difference in our moods. In Episode 273 Meagan and Sarah revisit the idea of small comforts for unprecedented times, little pleasures that can’t solve a global pandemic but do offer a quick pick-me-up. From recent Etsy finds to a new fitness tracking gadget, pretty kitchen towels to a return to yoga, you’ll come away wit...

With schools across the country increasingly moving in the direction of online-only attendance in the fall, many moms are asking:  “How do we make this work?”  While homeschool pods, cutting back hours at work and other creative solutions may be a temporary solution for some families, there are many others for whom these options are not on the table. And there’s no doubt that moms are un...

The messes start even before the baby is born, and they don’t stop…they just change form as the years progress. In Episode 272 Meagan and Sarah look back at some of the most epic messes of our mothering years–from diaper blowouts to parking lot puke, glitter explosions to stinky wadded up socks, we’re getting gross today, all in the name of making you laugh and feel like you’re not alone (whatever...

After listening to moms around the country share their feelings about schools re-opening (or not), Meagan and Sarah continue the discussion we started last week by looking at the challenges facing families this fall. We touch on the core drivers of school decision-making–academics, childcare, kids’ social-emotional health, and community health–and talk through the pros and cons of some of the like...

Virtual, on campus, hybrid, or homeschool? For many families, it isn’t even a choice; it’s whatever the local district decides. For some families, opting out, changing schools, waiting an extra year, or enrolling in an independent study program are options that are still on the table. For everyone, it’s an extraordinarily confusing, stressful, and uncertain time to be looking ahead at Fall 2020. W...

Remember makeup? And going places? We miss it. Join Meagan and Sarah for a light and fun more-than-mom-ish conversation about how our makeup style has changed from our teen and young adult years through today, which looks and trends from the past make us cringe, some products and techniques we’re playing with lately, whether and how staying at home has changed our daily makeup approach, and more....

Regression. Clinginess. Tantrums. Bedtime battles. Mood struggles. We’re hearing from moms all over the world about the toll that 2020 is taking on children, from toddlers up through teens. We’ve had so many posts and questions in our Facebook group that for this month’s Voices interview we decided to bring back Dr. Erin Lanphier, a child psychologist, therapist in private practice, and university...

No matter what’s going on in the world around you, the people need to eat. In Episode 268 of The Mom Hour, Meagan and Sarah break down the process of feeding a family when you’re going through a major life transition (or, say, a global pandemic). We talk about why meal plans are even MORE crucial in chaotic times, how to get fruits and veggies into the kids even when you’re serving up convenience...

Moving while momming is no small task–and we’ve been there, trust us. Meagan has mastered the art of the DIY cross-town move to a new home with a whole bunch of kids; Sarah’s moves have been fewer and farther between, but also farther in distance and bigger in scope. Join us as we continue last week’s discussion about big moves and get into the details of actually packing up and relocating your fa...

Do you dream of packing up the family and moving somewhere new? Or starting fresh in a different home or neighborhood? Maybe the idea of a move isn’t yours, but has been introduced by a job change or prompted by family circumstance. In this first of a two-part series on big moves, Meagan and Sarah talk about fantasy moves, aspirational moves, and making the decision to actually move our families....

In hindsight, was the worry worth it? That’s the question Meagan and Sarah are looking at in this week’s episode, as we bring back a popular series all about things that stressed us out as less experienced moms. From nutrition and discipline to kids’ friendships and developmental milestones, we look at the worries that kept us up at night and how it all turned out in the end. Join us! LINKS MENTIO...

For the first time in generations, many of us are reexamining how often we shop, where we get our groceries, and what household essentials we might be able to make at home instead of running out to buy. But this month’s Voices guest Kris Bordessa has been teaching families how to live more sustainably for years. Hear Meagan get Kris’s take on the bake-your-own-bread craze, why so many adults feel...

We may be staying closer to home this summer, but we still want to feel good about the way we look! Join Meagan and Sarah for an update on our warm weather wardrobes, from which pieces have served us in past summers to what we’re eyeing for purchase this year. We talk about tops and bottoms, undergarments and swimwear, shoes and accessories. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Tops Sarah’s favorite t shirts...

As we’ve seen in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, there is still so much work to be done around racial injustice. For white people, that’s often accompanied by confusion and uncertainty that can keep us stuck in a loop of discomfort and defensiveness. But if we want things to change, we need to be part of the conversation – even if that means risking our own comfort and challenging the st...

Summer 2020 isn’t going to be like any other summer in our memories–and it’s not going to look like whatever we’d dreamed up in midwinter before the pandemic hit. Still, Meagan and Sarah have ideas for how we’d like to set up ourselves and our families for healthy routines, regular self care, and (is it possible?) even some fun outings this summer. Join us for a look ahead at the next few months a...

Allison is a minister in a church, finding new ways to lead her congregation while awaiting her second baby; Alison deals with the guilt of laying off foodservice employees and permanently shutting down a location of her café business; Starlynn owns an in-home daycare serving front-line families while navigating changing rules and regulations. All three are also working moms with all the demands o...

With most of us staying at home for an unforeseen amount of time, managing our households to run efficiently and calmly is crucial to keeping the family machine plugging along and helping us create a positive mental space. From meal planning to cleaning schedules to keeping things organized, Meagan and Sarah will share 10 small habits that have the power to transform at-home life from frazzled, ch...

Naming a new human is a big task–and a fun one, we think! Looking back over our combined eight experiences naming babies, Meagan and Sarah talk about how we decided on names (and whether our partners agreed on our favorites!), what went into middle name decisions, and which names we left on the table. We also explore how our kids have grown into their names, including unexpected nicknames, trends...

Janice’s husband works in China and hasn’t been able to travel home to Australia since January; Kassidy and her partner have merged their combined five kids under the age of seven and are learning to live together while figuring out new ways to do their jobs; Stephanie returned from maternity leave just before the pandemic, resuming work as an ICU nurse in one of the country’s early hot spots. All...

As the country begins to open up–slowly, differently, uncertainly–one family’s decisions about how to re-enter the world will look different from the next. Can we have confidence in our own decisions while holding space for others to interpret guidelines differently? Are criticism and judgment online a symptom of quarantine fatigue, or the beginning of a toxic new norm? And can the experience of n...

Maddi works full-time in a warehouse picking product to be shipped for GAP while her three little boys try to make sense of the changes in their lives; Sarah is pregnant with her second child and working to meet the needs of vulnerable children in her community; Robyn is a 20-year elementary school teaching veteran learning the new ways of distance learning with her fourth grade class. All three a...