The Sober Mom Life

You’ve made it deep into your first sober summer when everything in your daily life is about to shift: it’s time for your first sober vacation. The change in scenery, the days of travel, and the upending of your daily routine can feel daunting. You might also be worried if a vacation can even feel fun without alcohol (spoiler alert: the answer is yes!).  Today I’ll walk you through how to pre...

The Sober Mom Life is 4! Whether you’ve been here from the beginning or this is your first time listening to the podcast (welcome!) I just want to say thank you. Thank you for making my dreams come true, for creating this incredible community of sober moms with me, and for trusting me with your stories. It has been an honor every step of the way.  In celebration, today I’m bringing back...

As we enter the 4th of July weekend I want to remind you that no matter how hard it feels right now, your sobriety is bigger than one weekend, or one holiday, or one party. The choice you’re making to leave alcohol behind will absolutely feel hard in some moments - let it feel hard! You can face the discomfort, I promise. And also - let yourself also feel the joy of the freedom, clarity, and hango...

My sober podcasting pal Casey Davidson, host of the Hello Someday Podcast , is back on the pod! Together we’ll tackle a common sober first: your first sober work conference. Casey has had tons of experience at work conferences, both while she was drinking and while she’s been sober, and she’s full of advice.   Casey will share about the conference experience that served as a wakeup call...

One of the biggest sober firsts of the summer is the 4th of July. In a society that turns to alcohol for celebration, it can feel challenging to swim against the tide and choose sobriety this Independence Day. But I promise - you’ve got this!  This episode is special! It was my very first solo episode of the entire podcast in 2022. I was so impressed with the tips that little baby sober Suz s...

Real Sober Mom Erin’s childhood revolved around her father’s alcohol addiction and she made a promise to herself: that would never be her. Amidst her parents divorce during high school, though, she developed a new opinion: Alcohol felt like it gave her control. And that felt good.  From the beginning, Erin knew that she drank differently than others. Once she started she didn’t want to stop....

Few sober firsts can feel more daunting than your first sober wedding, but I promise - you can do this! In today’s episode we’ll talk through what you can do before, during and after a wedding to prepare yourself for this big sober first.  Want to go deeper in preparing for your first sober wedding? Check out my Substack.   Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe...

Real Sober Mom Bailey chose sobriety not as a ‘punishment’, but as a gift to herself.  After a lifetime of difficult relationships with her parents, Bailey became a mom herself. Fear and postpartum depression consumed her because she was terrified of repeating the cycles that had played out in her own family and with her own mom.  Bailey sought help, and through her work with an excellen...

As we enter the summer concert season (at least here in the midwest) I want you to know: nothing beats a sober concert. They are the best. Seriously, you owe it to yourself to experience a concert without alcohol, especially if an artist you love is performing.  The truth is you’re never fully present when alcohol is involved. The music flies by while you’re thinking about your next drink, or...

Courtney joins me for another installment of SobrieTEA and we are two episodes into the Summer House reunion. It’s… a lot. So much so that we’re dedicating this entire episode to our reunion thoughts.  We’ll talk about everything having to do with the Amanda and West controversy. Is West a pathy? (what is a ‘pathy’?) What kind of furniture was Meija building at West’s house (and how serious w...

Day drinking is romanticized as ‘the ultimate summer freedom’, but in reality? It’s a recipe for disaster, and it’s ruining your summer.  Today we’ll talk about how Big Alcohol has tricked us to feel an allure to day drinking, what day drinking really does to your body and mind, and what you’ll gain in your summer days when you stop putting day drinking on a pedestal and leave it behind.&nbsp...

After years of feeling like a socially awkward pre-teen, alcohol arrived in real sober mom Laura’s life. It seemed to give her the courage to embody the persona of a ‘hot fun party girl,’ and with it, she left her sense of awkwardness behind. From there on, ‘booze and boys’ took priority over everything else in Laura’s life.  The party didn’t stop when Laura entered her professional life. It...

Fridays on the pod are now dedicated to all things summer! Sober summer, that is. Each week we’ll talk through a different summer experience so that you’ll feel ready to face it without a drink.  Today we’re tackling how to prepare for your first sober barbeque, or cookout, or any daytime non-pool gathering where alcohol will be present. We’ll talk through how to prepare yourself before, duri...

My friend Jess of A Sober Girl’s Guide is back to tell us all about her proactive sobriety support app: Bestday .  Bestday shifts the question away from ‘why am I not drinking?’ to ‘Why am I wanting to drink?’. The app’s customized daily ‘risk score’ will help you proactively prepare for the moment when a craving might hit. This kind of clarity can make all the difference in sustained long te...

The next 12 weeks of The Weekend Reset will be dedicated to all things summer! Sober summer, that is. Each week we’ll talk through a different summer experience so that you’ll feel ready to face it without a drink. Because trust me, a sober summer might be one of the best summers you’ve had since childhood.  Go deeper with my Sober Summer Series on my Substack, Sober for Good! I’ll expand on...

As the child of a parent in recovery, today’s Real Sober Mom Meagan was always aware of the dangers of alcohol. It served to keep Meagan away from drinking… until college, of course, when suddenly everyone was doing it.  In college and grad school, Meagan kept drinking to a weekend activity. Slowly but surely, though, it found its way into the role of her daily ‘best friend’ during a heavy pe...

We are smack dab in the middle of what I call ‘Maycember’, and the tidal wave of end of school year events feels unrelenting. Are you feeling the pre-summer pressure, too? You’re not alone!   I really lean on my parenting motto throughout May: Half Ass, Whole Heart. By choosing sobriety, you’ve gone a long way to showing up with your whole heart for your kids. The other stuff? ‘Half ass’...

Juliet Warner’s road to sobriety began at age 20 with her first stint in rehab for opiate addiction. For 8 years, she was in and out of rehab and treatment facilities as she struggled with the push and pull of addiction. At 28, her sobriety solidified when she committed to the steps in AA.  Yet, she always wondered - would she be able to drink ‘normally’ someday? Alcohol hadn’t been central t...

As moms, we give of ourselves from the moment we get up until the moment we put our heads on the pillow. In the midst of all that chaos, your needs are in there, too! Yet, if you’re anything like me, your needs are probably the first to get set aside. That’s how alcohol found its way into motherhood: In the gap between our needs and the lack of resources we had to meet them.  You deserve so m...

Sure, you can do sobriety alone, but it’s so much more fun to do it with a community.  Cafe leaders Jen and Amanda join me on the pod to give you a sneak peek into what you can expect to find in a sober community. Whether you’re interested in joining The Cafe or joining another incredible sobriety community, let this be your sign to give it a go!  These connections are unlike any others...

Work Conferences are a big sober first for a lot of the women in The Cafe, and I have to admit I didn’t fully understand… until now. I just got back from my husband’s work conference in Texas and wow. There was So. Much. Drinking.  If a sober work conference or work event feels daunting for you, then this episode is for you. We’ll talk about why these events are so alcohol-drenched, and appro...

Kelley Kitley grew up in a world where alcohol wasn’t only normalized… it was the family business. As a kid, she lived above her family’s bar and she could not wait until she was old enough to experience what this drinking thing was all about. Now a licensed clinical social worker with 13 years of sobriety under her belt, Kelley helps women navigate their own relationships with sobriety, and she g...

We’ve been sold the idea that moderation is the goal, and that moderation is the ‘right way’ to drink. …But what if moderation isn’t the goal?  What if you allowed yourself to see past all of the guardrails and rules that you’ve set for yourself in an attempt to control this addictive substance? What could be on the other side in a world where you leave all of this behind?  In this episo...

We’re back from the spring Sober Mom Life retreat in Mexico, and I don’t even have words for how wonderful it was. Seriously, these retreats just keep getting better and better. The women were absolutely incredible and the sense of community we created together is going to last way beyond that weekend.  If you’ve been curious about what actually happens on our sober retreats, then listen in!...

Something happened last Saturday that absolutely rocked me - I was verbally assaulted by a stranger, all while I was with my daughter. (You guys, it was 8:30am. How could someone even have the energy to be so angry that early in the morning?) It really shook me up, and I feel so immensely grateful that alcohol had no part in my weekend. Due to my sobriety, I was able to show up for my daughter, an...