Wonder In The Weeds

It’s just me this week. Faith is out being a busy Gen Z human (working, auditioning, and she got cast in a show!), so you get me and a couch full of snoring dogs. I came on to talk about the thing she and I have been trying to record about for weeks: creativity, and what happens to it when the world feels too heavy to make anything at all. I’ve been a writer my whole life, first for myself, then b...

Comparison is the thief of joy, but knowing that has never once made me stop doing it. This week Faith and I get honest about how comparison hits differently at 24 and at 50. She opens up about measuring herself against her dad and me at her age, chasing milestones that keep moving, and comparing herself to a “fake version” of who she’d be if she’d made different choices. I share what my twenties...

I keep referencing “explicit parenting” on the show, so this week I finally explain what I mean. It started with a little book I wrote over a decade ago, Explicit Parenting: Tips from the Trenches for Raising Good and Happy Humans. It pulled together everything I know as a teacher, doula, childbirth educator, and trauma therapist, plus what I’ve lived as a wife and mom. Over the years it turned in...

What happens to a country when curiosity disappears? I’m by myself on the couch this week, sitting with something that’s been frustrating me lately: how little curiosity and nuance there seems to be in the world right now. Everywhere I look there’s an extreme view on one side, an extreme view on the other, and almost nothing in between. We assume the other person is evil or dumb instead of stoppin...

This Week’s Weeds: There’s No Buffering Yourself From Empty Nest Grief I’m flying solo this week (Z is off chasing the theater dream; she’ll be back), and it’s fitting because this episode is about exactly that: my kids not being here. Here’s the thing I got wrong about empty nesting. I thought the women who struggled were the ones who’d lost themselves in motherhood. I made sure that wasn’t me: I...

Welcome to another episode of Wonder in the Weeds! This week it was just me. No Gen Z counterpart in the chair, though I promise we talked about her plenty. I just got back from five days on the road. I drove two of my three adult kids out to Colorado to see family, called the third one from the car so it would feel complete, and somewhere along those thirteen hours I realized this is exactly the...

Welcome to another episode of the XYZ Podcast! This week, I sat down with my daughter and Gen Z co-host, Faith, to talk about financial literacy from our two very different generational perspectives. It feels like everything is incredibly expensive all the time lately. We decided to sit down and discuss the stark differences in how we learned about personal finance, credit cards, and staying afloa...

Nearly a year after sending my daughter Faith off to college, we're finally sitting down to talk about what that transition really looked like — the messy, uncomfortable, growth-filled truth of it. In this episode, Faith and I dig into what we're calling the "weeds of the week": growing pains. From both sides — me as a mom and a parenting professional, and Faith as the one who actually lived throu...

Are tech companies paying therapists to train their automated replacements? In this episode of Wonder and the Weeds, I expose the troubling reality of artificial intelligence infiltrating the mental health space. From electronic health records pushing AI note-taking to the alarming rise of social media self-diagnosis, I examine why human connection cannot be automated. Discover the critical differ...

In this episode of Wonder in the Weeds, I sit down with my daughter, Faith, to talk about the realities of being a woman in the world today. As a therapist and a mother, I started noticing the deep societal conditioning that taught me to constantly read a room and accommodate others to keep the peace. I brought Faith on the show to get her take on this as a 23-year-old navigating the dating world....

Welcome to Wonder in the Weeds, the show where we talk about how we are living, thriving, and surviving in a world full of constant change, challenge, and grief, and learning how to live and love right in the middle of it all. Today, the weeds are feeling pretty heavy. We are talking about the sheer exhaustion of just being a woman in the world today. I am raising two daughters, navigating a huge...

Are you prepared for the quiet that comes when your kids finally move out? In this episode of the Wonder and the Weeds show, I am opening up about the very real, often unspoken struggles of becoming an empty nester. It is not just about missing your kids; it is about figuring out your own identity when your day-to-day role as a manager of their schedules disappears. I am sharing my recent experien...

In this second part of my story, I share the physical and mental hurdles I faced after my hysterectomy. For years, I carried a literal weight around my neck that caused chronic pain in my neck, back, and shoulders. I used to believe that a breast reduction was just about vanity or that I lacked the financial resources for it, but I eventually realized it was about my ability to live my life. My pa...

Welcome to Wonder in the Weeds. In this episode, I am opening up about a deeply personal, ten-year battle with the medical system. Starting in my late thirties, I dealt with severe pain, heavy bleeding, and extreme swelling. Despite staying highly active with spin classes and yoga teacher training, multiple doctors repeatedly dismissed my concerns. They often blamed my weight and told me to simply...

Welcome back to the Wonder in the Weeds podcast! I am Cristie, your Gen X representative, and I am here with Faith, your Gen Z representative. In this episode, we are discussing a major life event: buying a new car. After Faith's old car completely died in the driveway, she had to find a reliable replacement fast. We talk about the entire experience from our two different generational perspectives...

In this deeply personal episode, I am opening up about my own experiences with grief and change. After recently emptying my nest and moving to Minnesota , I noticed how big life transitions can bring old losses right back to the surface. I lost my dad to cancer when I was four and my mom to cancer when I was a young mother myself. I share what it feels like to navigate parenting and big milestones...

In this special Valentine's Day episode of Wonder in the Weeds , we take a brief pause from the heavy news cycle in Minneapolis to find a little joy in the fire. We’re breaking down our favorite on-screen romances, analyzing why mutual respect creates the best chemistry, and discussing the "female gaze" in media. Finally, we end with The Wonder : a spotlight on the incredible resilience of the Min...

In this episode, I am exploring a difficult but necessary question: How do we find joy when the "weeds" of life feel overwhelming? I discuss the vital difference between reacting to an acute crisis and sustaining yourself for the long haul. I share what I am witnessing on the ground, including the incredible mutual aid groups delivering food, walking kids to school, and supporting neighbors in nee...

Join the Women of Wonder community: A safe space for connection without the algorithms. Welcome to "Wonder in the Weeds" with trauma therapist Cristie Ritz-King. ➡️Join Our community: https://wonder.myflodesk.com/womenofwonder In this episode, I am setting aside my planned topic to address the Supreme Court case regarding transgender girls in sports. This is not just a headline to me. It is person...

It has been a difficult start to the year. Between navigating the emotions of an empty nest and processing the intense events unfolding locally in Minneapolis, the "weeds" of life feel particularly overgrown this week. In this episode, we discuss the feeling of living through a firehose of crisis events and how to maintain your mental well-being when the news cycle feels relentless. We explore the...

Is the war between Gen X and Gen Z real, or is it just the algorithm at work? In this episode, we explore the "generational divide" and question whether the internet is manufacturing conflict to keep us distracted. We address the surprising feedback from our first episode and discuss why short social media clips often misrepresent the true relationship between mothers and daughters. From there, we...

If you are about to buy a new planner or sign up for a gym membership because you feel like you need to "fix" yourself, press pause. In this episode, I explain why the commercialized version of New Year’s resolutions is often just a trap designed to make you feel like you aren't good enough. I spent years (and thousands of dollars) trying to organize and plan my way into being a "better" person, b...

he holidays are supposed to be the "most wonderful time of the year," but what happens when everything familiar has changed? In this episode, I share my personal experience of navigating our first holiday season after moving cross-country. We are facing the unique challenge of welcoming our college-aged kids back to a house that isn't their childhood home. I open up about the "weeds" of this seaso...

Are Warner Bros and movies as we know them over? We break down the Netflix vs. Paramount acquisition battle, the death of movie theaters, and why we are going back to buying DVDs. Full Summary: In this episode of the Wonder in the Weeds podcast , we dive into the chaotic news surrounding the potential acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. Is Netflix about to buy HBO Max, or will Paramount Skydance...

It feels like the world is on fire right now. If you are trying to raise kids through political disorder, crisis, and constant bad news, you are likely feeling overwhelmed. In this episode of Wonder in the Weeds , we’re talking about how to parent when everything feels unstable—and why the answer isn't on your phone. STOP DOOMSCROLLING. The news cycle is designed to keep us anxious, but it doesn't...