The Real Mother Effort Podcast

We're keeping it light this week with a game of Never Have I Ever…Mom Edition. I'm confessing to ten things I've done as a mom, from little white lies to feelings we don't always admit out loud. Grab your coffee or a cocktail and play along. You might recognize a few of these. Pretending places are closed and taking a few extra minutes before going home. Sick-day dilemmas and pretending to sleep t...

What have you accepted as "just the way it is," even though you wish it were different? In this episode, we're talking about the beliefs that can leave us feeling stuck in motherhood, work, and our own lives. From sharing responsibilities at home to feeling better in our bodies and making room for personal goals, we explore how to recognize real constraints while leaving room for possibilities we...

We make a lot of important decisions in parenting, work, and life without knowing exactly how they'll turn out. In this episode, I'm sharing something I'm still figuring out myself: how my growing interest in women's health might shape the way I support moms. I talk about the discomfort of uncertainty, the pressure to appear like we have it all together, and how we can trust ourselves to move forw...

Sometimes the things we've always done keep running in the background long after our lives have changed. We get used to thinking, "This is just how I am" or "This has always worked for me," without stopping to notice whether that's actually still true. In this episode, I'm talking about what happens when an old way of doing things, or even an old belief about who you are, doesn't quite fit the ver...

Taking care of yourself sounds great in theory, until it becomes one more list of things you have to remember, plan, schedule, and manage. In this episode, I'm looking at why some of the things that support us feel like constant work, while others become such a normal part of our lives that we barely have to think about them. I talk about: Why "taking care of yourself" can feel like another job Th...

A lot has changed in my life as my kids have gotten older, but most of it has happened so gradually that I don't always stop to recognize just how different things are now. In this episode, I'm taking a step back and talking about where I am in life and motherhood right now: with my kids, my body, my work, and even the amount of space I have to think about myself again. In this episode, I talk abo...

Life is really full for me right now. We're a few weeks into the school year, schedules and activities are back in full swing, my husband is heading toward a major work deadline, and there isn't a whole lot of extra time lying around. But I've realized that I'm still finding small ways to do things that make me feel good without waiting for life to calm down first. In this episode, I'm sharing fiv...

A few weeks ago, I was having a really tough week. Everything felt harder than usual, I was overwhelmed by my normal responsibilities, and I was convinced the problem was something I needed to manage, organize, or think my way through. Turns out, I was looking in the wrong direction. In this episode, I'm sharing what that week made me realize about the connection between our physical capacity and...

The busiest part of the year has a way of sneaking up on us. One minute it's pumpkin spice season, and the next you're juggling school events, sports, work deadlines, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and approximately 900 decisions. In this episode, I'm sharing five things you can do now to make the next few months easier on yourself without turning August into a full-blown holiday planning retreat. Episo...

When something in your week isn't working, it's easy to jump straight to a new calendar, routine, meal plan, checklist, or app. But sometimes the system isn't actually the problem. In this episode, I'm walking through a simple way to diagnose what's really causing the friction before you spend time building another solution you'll have to maintain. We'll look at four different types of problems th...

The first few weeks of school can feel like a full-system restart. Earlier mornings, lunches, homework, activities, dinners, bedtime, and somehow we expect all of it to be running smoothly from day one. In this episode, I'm sharing a different way to approach the back-to-school transition using the Minimum Viable Product idea: start with the simplest version that works, give everyone time to get b...

Sometimes the things that make the biggest difference aren't big at all. In this week's episode, I'm sharing five small changes that have quietly made my days run more smoothly lately. They're simple, practical, and probably not the kinds of things you'd expect, but together they've taken a surprising amount of friction out of everyday life. In this episode, I share: The kitchen hacks making plain...

In this episode, I'm reacting real time to an Instagram reel joking that Millennials are skipping the midlife crisis and heading straight to annual trips to Europe.   It hit a nerve with me…and lots of people who showed up in the comments to clap back. I thought it would be fun to talk through why this hit such a nerve for Millennials, and how the travel mindset has shifted so much in just one gen...

We put hard work into so many parts of our lives, but not all of them deserve the same level of effort. In this episode, we're talking about how to decide when to hit the easy button, when "good enough" is genuinely good enough, and when the harder path is worth choosing because it supports something you deeply care about. This isn't about doing more. It's about making sure your effort is actually...

In this episode, Lauren is giving working moms the pep talk they deserve. This isn't a tactical episode or a step-by-step strategy. It's an homage to the work moms are doing every single day at work and at home:   the visible and invisible work. Lauren breaks down why the end of the day can feel so exhausting, even when nothing "major" happened. It's not just the tasks. It's the constant shift bet...

Half the year is over, and before you spiral about what you haven't done yet, this is your reminder that July is actually a great time to reset. In this episode, I'm walking you through a midyear review that goes beyond checking in on the goals you set in January. We'll look at how life is currently being managed, whether your time is reflecting what matters to you, and what adjustments could make...

The spats about how to load the dishwasher, fold the towels, make grocery runs…they are little but can add up to a lot of resentment over time.   It is about living with another person who has different habits, standards, and priorities. Add kids, work, and approximately 9,000 daily logistics, and suddenly these things can feel like a much bigger deal than before kids! In this episode, I'm talking...

If you have a to-do list that never seems to get shorter, a brain that won't stop keeping score of everything you haven't done yet, and zero idea what to actually tackle first when you get a free few minutes, this episode is for you. Today I'll walk you through exactly how my system works, why I built it, and the core philosophy behind it that applies no matter what app or method you use. Episode...

If you're someone who typically skips straight to "I can figure this out myself,"   this episode is for you. I just hired a macros coach, and it's not because I didn't know what to do. I've had years of experience and know a lot about nutrition. I hired a coach anyway, and in this episode I breaks down exactly why,   and how that decision reflects the way I approach every area of my life. I'm a fi...

We just got back from 10 days in Europe with our three kids under 11, and I am spilling everything: the real cost, the real planning process, and what it actually looks like to move a family of five through two countries where nobody speaks your language and the coffee shops sometimes don't open until 1pm. If you've been dreaming about a trip like this but have been telling yourself it's too expen...

You have zero energy left, the babysitter has been arranged, and you are already negotiating with yourself about whether you actually have to go. Whether it's a professional conference, a work happy hour, or a retreat you signed up for with the best intentions, showing up to events when you're already running on empty is genuinely hard. Lauren gets it, and she still goes anyway. In this episode, s...

If you've ever gone into summer feeling genuinely excited about all the fun you're going to have, all the things you're going to do, and all the projects you're finally going to tackle, and then reality hit you like a truck somewhere around the second week of June…this episode is for you. The truth is that summer looks really different when you still have a job to go to. Working mom summer comes w...

The RME makeover is officially here, and Lauren is getting into the real reason she did it. This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at the ownership decision-making that drove the whole thing, and why this way of thinking applies to way more than just having a business. Show Highlights: The RME podcast makeover is live!  Nothing was broken. So why did she do it anyway? What happens when you build...

It's the week before Mother's Day, and if you're being honest, the day is already starting to feel like one more thing to manage. This episode is for the mom who has already handled everyone else's Mother's Day gifts, has already coordinated the plans for that day, and is deep in the chaos of May on top of it all.  Lauren gets into why the day so rarely lives up to what we picture, where that expe...

If your bar for a good week is "nobody cried and nothing fell apart," you're not alone, and that's actually kind of the problem. Lauren gets into how those honest, therapeutic mom conversations we all love are doing something we didn't intend: slowly normalizing survival mode as the standard. This episode is about recognizing where your bar actually is right now, giving yourself credit for what yo...