Voices of Your Village

We’re just not meant to do this parenting thing alone, yet so many are. I firmly believe that kids should be raised in the village. But, how do you build a village? In this episode of Voices of Your Village, we explore the different kinds of villages, how to find and build your village, and how to be a valuable member of that village. If you’re struggling to do it all, tune in today to find out wh...

This episode of Voices of Your Villages answers one of the most common questions I’ve gotten as a sleep consultant over the past six years, which is, “How do I teach my kid to fall asleep independently?” There are tools to navigate this. I dive into what to do to achieve this at the different ages and stages. It doesn’t matter how your kiddo is currently falling asleep, as long as it’s safe and it...

Awesome! Your kiddos know what they are feeling, but now what? What do they do with those feelings? How do we support them through their feelings while building their ability to do so solo one day? Enter coping strategies. Wait? Aren’t they called coping mechanisms, Alyssa? Aha, yes, there are coping mechanisms that help you feel calm again that are short-term fixes, but coping strategies are long...

On this episode of Voices of Your Village, I sat down with Nicole DiGiacobbe about fostering a loving sibling connection between her kiddos. I get a lot of questions from folks about raising siblings and if this is possible, and if so, how. The answer is “yes,” and Nicole shares what she puts into practice to achieve this. How do we prepare our oldest kiddo for the arrival of a new baby? What are...

In this episode of Voices of Your Village, we are getting real about mom guilt - that inevitable feeling felt by so many mamas out there. I got to hang out with my friend Kristen, stay-at-home mama of four, and who you may know as oldjoy on Instagram, and chat all about this hot topic - what it is, why it’s happening, and what you can do about it. If you are all-too familiar with these kinds of fe...

Did you know that I am obsessed with moms? Maybe it's because I was born on Mother's Day, but moms have just always had a special place in my heart. This year I asked partners to answer three questions. They each sent me their video responses and we put together a podcast of the complete answers from everyone as well as a video of a snapshot into folks answers. The video can be found at https://se...

In this special episode of Voices of Your Village, I got to interview the most incredible woman I know: my mama. We chatted about her experiences in motherhood. What was it like raising five kiddos? How did her childhood influence her parenting style? Did she always know she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom? What was most challenging and most rewarding? What would she tell her younger mama self? Tu...

In today’s episode of Voices of Your Village, we dive into how to foster a relationship where you are someone your child can be vulnerable with. We go into what to say to your kiddo instead of something like, “It made me sad when you hit me,” while also still being able to set and hold boundaries and keep them accountable for their actions. We also get into how managing our own anxiety and practic...

In today’s episode of Voices of Your Village, our sleep consultant Rachel gives us the low down on newborn sleep. Newborn sleep can be tricky because it is so vastly different than sleep in older babies. How often should they nap? Where should they nap? Can they safely sleep on their stomachs? What about in an adult bed? Is there anything that be done to get more nighttime sleep? What about nursin...

In today’s episode of Voices of Your Village, we wrapped up our adoption series discussing foster care with Renee Henderson. Renee has been a foster mom to 15 kiddos and adopted three. Share gets raw and real about the challenges of the foster care system, what to expect, and how she has navigated it. This episode is honest, and can hit ya right in the gut. What are the financial logistics? How is...

We talk a lot at Seed and Sew about emotional intelligence, emotional processing, and helping our tiny humans build their toolboxes. But what does that actually look like? What are the steps and how do we help facilitate these skills in our kiddos? In today’s episode of Voices of Your Village, my CEP co-creator, Lauren Stauble, joined me to break down our method step by step. We dove into each pha...

In this today’s episode of Voices of Your Village we dove into part III of our adoption series with adoptee, Kayla. Kayla got real and vulnerable about her experience being adopted, what it was like as a black person being adopted into a white family and living in a predominantly white community. She shared the circumstances of her adoption, her relationship with her biological mom and siblings an...

You’re at the park and your kiddo hits another child. Or you’re at a play date and your tiny human spits at one of their peers. You feel embarrassed. You feel pressure to respond a certain way because other parents are watching. You feel triggered when you’re the one on the receiving end of your child’s physical outburst. How do you respond in these moments? In today’s episode of Voices of Your Vi...

This week I dove into part two of our adoption series. I had the opportunity to connect with birth mom Annaleece. She shared her experience with her pregnancy and the circumstances that led to her decision to place her birth daughter for adoption. She got real and vulnerable about the logistics of her adoption, why she chose a facilitator, how she connected with the adoptive family and the emotion...

Daylight savings time is just around the corner and to help you prepare, I will be highlighting how light plays a vital role in sleep and how we can manipulate that to get the desired sleep patterns for your tiny humans. I will be discussing two different options: the "plan ahead" or "respond after" so you can chose whatever feels right for you. I also created a FREE Daylight Savings Time guide ju...

In this week’s episode of Voices of Your Village we dove into the first part of our adoption series and answered your questions about the logistics of adoption, open and closed adoptions, and the legal and financial aspects of adoption. I had the opportunity to chat with adoptive parent Shelby Dickinson. She shared her experience adopting her son and dug deep into the cultural narrative around ado...

You tell your kiddo that it’s time to stop playing and get ready for dinner. They respond, “No! You’re stupid!” Or “I hate you!” Or some other frustrating and triggering response. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and react quickly. But in today’s episode of Voices of Your Village I’m diving deeper into the root of those moments and how to best support your kiddos even when it feels really...

Ya’ll had nap questions and we answered them! I connected with my colleague and fellow sleep consultant, Teresa Stewart, to tackle daytime sleep. There are many factors that play into daytime sleep from the circadian rhythm, to sleep pressure, to “sleep regressions” and more. Teresa breaks it all down, from the newborn days to dropping naps completely. She gives tips for working with childcare pro...

What really happens when we sleep? Why do we need more sleep when we are sick? How does sleep serve our bodies and brains? In this week’s episode of Voices of Your Village I’m diving into all things sleep! I’m sharing the science behind sleep and how vital it is to our health. I’m breaking down the different phases of sleep and how we cycle through them. Tune in today to learn what exactly happens...

You’re pregnant or you’ve just had a baby. You want to breastfeed but it’s so different than you expected and you have so many questions. How much should my baby be nursing? Do I wake them up in the middle of the night? How do I know if we have a good latch? Are they getting enough milk? How often do I need to pump when I’m away from my baby? How does supply and demand work? In this week’s episode...

Your kiddo is facing a challenge with speech and language. Or they aren’t able to process their emotions. How do you best support them? Are there other factors to consider? In this week’s episode of Voices of Your Village I’m talking about something I call the triangle of growth. I dive into the three parts of the triangle of growth and how they impact each other. I discuss how these three systems...

Having family as part of your parenting village can be amazing. But how do you navigate those awkward situations when Grandma oversteps or you disagree with how Grandpa is handling a situation? In this episode of Voices of Your Village I was jazzed to chat with Desiree Fortin, a triplet mama living with her husband and kiddos in her parents’ home. Desiree and I dive into navigating parenting along...

When we experience trauma, it can lead to anxiety. So where do we go from there? How do we stop living in fear? In this episode of Voices of Your Village I share the pain and fear I experienced after being raped and the steps I took to get out of the anxiety cycle. I dive into self-awareness, recognizing triggers, and the coping strategies I implement when I can feel anxiety in my body. I share ho...

Body positivity is a buzzword on social media. What does it really mean? What is healthy eating and what do healthy bodies look like? What is the best way to approach the idea of healthy eating, especially as it pertains to our tiny humans? In this episode of Voices of Your Village I was jazzed to chat with Anna Sweeney and Meg Steffey Schrier about all things body positivity and healthy eating. W...

2018, what a year! Am I right?! Holy moly, you guys, I cannot believe how much happened this year. In this Voices of Your Village episode I am diving into all the amazing things of 2018, the hard stuff this year, and what we have in store for 2019. I mean, for starters, this podcast didn’t even exist a year ago. We get to chat about that and so much more in this episode. Thank you so stinkin’ much...