The Mom Hour

From picky eaters to snacking tweens, independent lunch-packers to dinner woes, this month’s Voices interview episode is packed with tips for feeding your family nutritious meals without the guilt. Hosts of the popular podcast  Didn’t I Just Feed You?  Stacie Billis and Meghan Splawn join Sarah to talk about their measured, nonjudgmental, and totally do-able approaches to family meals. T...

A listener wonders if she’s raising a mini-hoarder and we talk about kids who have a hard time parting with their stuff; a mom of elementary-aged kids asks us to talk about after-school grumpiness; a new mom of twins helps us reminisce about infant nap schedules; and a longtime listener asks about mass violence in the media and how we talk to our kids about it. It’s another episode inspired by you...

Preschoolers and violent pretend play, navigating changing relationships with grown children, advice for a mom whose 15-month-old is starting a preschool program, and thoughts on talking to our kids about inclusiveness and representation: We’re taking your questions and offering our advice in this week’s episode. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: You can find all of our listener questions episodes  h...

It happens every year: Meagan and Sarah get to the end of summer and just feel the need to take a pause and check in. Today’s More Than Mom episode gives us that space to catch up about our summer travels, share some highlights (and also commiserate about end-of-summer woes), and reflect on the last couple months. We also respond to a listener suggestion to discuss procrastination and how it affec...

That feeling when summer has all but killed your morning mojo and you’re BEGGING for a fresh start? Yep, we’re there. Sarah’s kids are newly back in school and Meagan’s are gearing up, so this episode is all about resetting our mornings. We talk about what has worked in the past, what needs a reset this year or will be changing completely, and offer our best tips for getting out the door on time,...

Encouraging literacy and reading aloud to kids is something we all know we “should” do, and most of us do our best. But depending on your stage of motherhood and the age of your kids, this is easier said than done. In this special episode of The Mom Hour, Meagan and Sarah offer specific been-there-done-that tips for incorporating reading and literacy into home life for moms of kids at specific age...

Sarah has a new middle schooler and needs all the tips, which Meagan is happy to share. And many of you are launching new kinders or early elementary kids this year, something the two of us have done a combined eight times (!!). In Episode 221 Sarah leads a pep talk with tips for parents with kids starting elementary school and Meagan takes a turn with advice about middle and high school. Join us!...

Do you remember the libraries of your past? We do. In fact, we have enough to say about the transformative power of libraries to fill an entire More Than Mom episode! From our earliest library memories (grouchy Mrs. Young!), to junior high school library adventures (that book was NOT appropriate for 11-year-old Meagan), to an accidental nap in dreary old England, we look back at our lives through...

Donating used items, keeping track of library books, getting kids to put their own clean clothes away, and staying on top of the monthly budget: These are a few of the home management / life / adulting systems that are working well in our homes right now. In this episode we talk about what’s working and why, how these systems necessarily change (and how nothing works well forever), and which areas...

Imagine you’re a mom of two, successful entrepreneur, and self-confessed Type A personality…and then you find out that you have a chronic condition that will cause you to be in pain and sap your energy–daily–possibly for the rest of your life. How would you react? What would you let go of? And how would you re-adjust expectations of yourself and the world around you in order to continue to thrive...

The fear of missing out is real, and it preys on new moms in particular. Whether your FOMO flares up when you see other moms’ lives play out on Instagram, or you feel it most when it seems like everyone else’s kid is on a path to greatness, we can relate (and we’ve been there). In this episode, Meagan and Sarah look at the types of FOMO that come with motherhood, how we’ve personally experienced t...

Remember  Sliding Doors ? Today’s episode asks the question: “Where would we be if…”. Meagan and Sarah talk about the points in our lives where different decisions might have led us down dramatically different paths, and imagine what life would be like in these hypothetical alternate realities. Buckle up, friends! LINKS MENTIONED: Like learning more about us, our personalities, and our pasts?...

Concerns over safety and privacy are one thing (and worth discussing), but what about the broader implications of kids growing up with a digital identity shaped by their parents long before they were old enough to have a say? This week Meagan and Sarah talk about how we make decisions about what to share online (and on the podcast) about our own kids and how things shift as kids get older and tech...

On this day in history, where were we? One year Sarah was stuck inside with littles in 115-degree Arizona heat; another year Meagan was directing her kids in a play. One July day many years ago, Meagan’s four boys all fit on the same park swing; on another, more recent one Sarah sent a nervous kindergartener off to a full day of summer camp. Looking back at photos from the past, we reflect on the...

Today is pure fun–a game of  Would You Rather…? , in which Meagan and Sarah challenge each other with choices between wildly impossible scenarios. Which one of us would rather have a permanent three-year-old and which would rather have a permanent 18-month old? You’ll have to listen to find out! LINKS MENTIONED: Last summer’s episode where we also played Would You Rather… Follow us on Instagr...

Now that our kids are getting older, we have the opportunity to ooh and ahh over other people’s babies, and we’re here to talk about it. From how we are with our nieces and nephews to whether holding babies really makes our ovaries twinge, we look at the role of auntie, experienced/helpful friend, and even future grandparent (!!) and how they differ from the way we were with our own babies. Join u...

When starting a family didn’t go as planned and money was tight, singer-songwriter K.C. Clifford felt like she had no choice but to surrender to the devastating possibility that she would never become a mom. Then, just days after finding this acceptance, she got a phone call that changed her life. Join Sarah and K.C. for a real and raw conversation about the heartbreak of infertility, the hope tha...

We’re known by many as fun-haters (see  Episode 10  for the backstory!), but does this still hold true four years later? We revisit the fun-list today–everything from pushing kids on the swings, to parades and carnivals, to craft projects–to see whether our opinions have changed. PLUS Katie Addiss joins Sarah to talk about what we’ve been reading, what makes for a great beach read, and w...

We’ve been to the beach and the pool with little kids…and survived! From what to take with you to how to carry it, from how to sit comfortably to the best ways to stay entertained, we’ve got you covered. Episode 214 is full of practical tips and our favorite products for beach days and pool trips with kids. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: What To Sit On Meagan loves this  beach chair  and&nbsp...

Meagan opens up about dating as a divorced mom after being partnered up for the better part of two decades, and Sarah has many questions. If you’ve ever wondered about dating apps, dating as a single parent, or starting a relationship with someone you’ve already Googled, this More Than Mom episode takes us all behind the scenes. Enjoy! LINKS MENTIONED: I Swiped Right For Your Dog: Adventures In Da...

It can be as small as trying a new food or as big as starring in the school play; helping our kids feel the thrill of adventure doesn’t have to mean putting them at risk or forcing an indoor-loving kid outside. In Episode 213 Meagan and Sarah talk about why creating a family culture around adventure is important to us AND tackle some of the obstacles to living a life of adventure when you have sma...

Introducing a new baby to a freshly-minted big sibling can be daunting, and it’s only the beginning of parenting siblings. Join Meagan and Edit Your Life’s Asha Dornfest, who are both now parenting teens and young adults, for a look back at how they managed new baby transitions with older siblings  and  how sibling relationships continue to evolve in new ways. This episode is part of a h...

That product you’ve been searching for to do just that thing you need? We found it. Okay, well, we found a few of them…and we’re still on the hunt for a few more. In this More Than Mom episode, Meagan and Sarah share a few “perfect things” and a few more that we’d love to find. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: This episode was inspired by an episode on the same topic on  The Girl Next Door Podcast ,...

Take a girl with a great eye for design and an entrepreneurial streak, add a just-out-of-high-school introduction to motherhood, and sprinkle with some good-old Midwestern pluck and determination, and you’ve got a great reinvention story. Our guest on today’s Voices episode is Emma Hicks, founder of  Camp Climb , a gathering for women entrepreneurs and creatives. Emma and Meagan talk about th...

Creating family culture around vacations, whether we let our kids skip school for family trips, how to (and whether to) stick to sleep routines on the road, dealing with kid meltdowns while traveling, and budgeting tips for family travel–we’re taking your vacation-related listener questions in Episode 211. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: All our Listener Questions episodes are on  this page Join ou...