Adult Conversation Podcast

Today's guest will inspire you, for a lot of reasons. "Sarah" (not her real name) tells us a raw and relatable story about losing herself in marriage and motherhood, honoring who she really is, and the sacrifices she made to choose her own happiness. Her story is one of survival, religious extremes, divorce, and taboo. "Sara" talks about what happens when you realize your spouse and religion are incongruent with who you are, the moment that gave her the clarity she needed, and her rebirth back to herself. For those of you who listened to the last episode about divorce and marriage, this is a bit of a different take on things. Neither way is the "right way," but this episode will have you rooting for a brave mom who broke free and embraced the forbidden for herself and her kids.

Join me for a doozy of a show where me and my guest, Jennifer, talk about the big D. Jennifer is a no bullshitter, straight shooter who has been through a divorce herself, has a popular podcast all about it, and has written books on the subject. She's here today to unpack divorce – and marriage – to help save us from any unnecessary pain and suffering, and also to help those who might need some clarity (whether they know it or not). She tells us all about her truly unique story, her regrets, her hot take on who should come first once you have kids, her choices that backfired, and what "doing divorce right" really means. I honestly feel like this episode could save some marriages because of the real deal things she urges us to contemplate when considering divorce. Also, I think some of you won't agree with all of it. But ultimately, there's just so much truth here including a question that might change everything in your marriage. Jen also lays out what us married moms don't understand about divorce, and gives tips on how to basically not find yourself in a divorce. As usual, there are also lots of laughs, some singing, a Hamilton reference, swearing, and oversharing on my part.

Today we're getting real about parenting (and living) with chronic illness. Fellow podcaster, Monica, stops by to tell us her unbelievable story and what she's learned the hard way as a parent with multiple health conditions. I share my own struggles, and the two of us talk candidly about humor as a coping strategy, shifting our parenting standards to really low, and how we feel about having to do that. We also discuss marriage guilt, sex life changes, upswings vs. downswings, the insanity that is being your own medical detective, the paralyzation that contradictory advice can cause, and the problem with "mind over matter" and toxic positivity. We both have a hilarious revelation about optimism, and Monica shares about the ultimatum she gave her husband after the passing of a close friend. If you have a "supplement graveyard" (that's a pile of half-used supplements), then this episode is for you.

Buckle up for a passionate discussion with Beth Berry from "Revolution From Home," as we do a deep dive into what needs to be burned to the ground in modern motherhood. I absolutely love Beth's honest and progressive take on how us moms are being brainwashed (and how we're complicit… shit), the consequences of continually saying yes when our body says no, and why our isolation is so problematic for us as women, but not for the powers that be. You'll also find out if she agrees with me that being solicited to volunteer at your child's school is basically a form of mother exploitation, and that "toxic volunteering" is a thing. So join us and learn why the opening scene from Beauty and the Beast where Belle sings through the town is the key to happiness, and also why the motherhood revolution begins in your own home.

In this validating, relatable, and just funny episode, my family friend and dad of two, Jim Bialick, stops by to give us an inside look at his quick education in stay-at-home parenthood. Jim and his wife recently swapped roles, with Jim trading in his high-level job in D.C. for cleaning up vomit and shuttling his girls to ballet. One day, I got a private message from Jim that said, "I have a new perspective as now the stay at home parent. Nobody needs this many snacks and kids are more full of shit than politicians." I loved hearing his take on the parts of parenthood he hadn't seen before because he was the working parent. Selfishly, it was super satisfying to hear this strong, professional dad talk about how in just a short time, he'd been brought to his knees by two small people. I asked him if he would come bare his soul on my podcast so that all of us stay-at-home parents could feel seen, and thankfully he said yes! So join us for today's episode where Jim shares about being iced out by ballet moms, the loneliness of no adult contact, his existential crisis in the minivan, and much more about what happens when your clients go from being Presidents to preschoolers.

In this episode, we discuss a topic that is so necessary to our mental health as mothers: what to do with all that pesky rage? Author, Hunter Clarke-Fields, explains what is happening to us when we lose it, and how we can be less reactive. She talks about the importance of assessing our own baggage from how we were parented, in combination with improving our communication skills, and how that can rewire our brain – and its response to anger. She also opens up about inheriting her father's temper and how it directly affected her mothering and her relationship with him. And then we cover how the incessant demands of motherhood effect our ability to think rationally (i.e. we can't when we're having a stress response), which plays an interesting part in homework battles. We also laugh about a too-real quote from a mother in the 1800's, the seemingly flawed design of humans, and Hunter's crazy ass paintings! She also gives us her take on spankings.

In this "very special" episode, we talk about grief and motherhood with someone who has a pretty heavy story about losing her own parents. With lots of dark humor and openness, Caity speaks out about what it's like to parent without your own parents in hopes that others dealing with loss amid motherhood will know that they're not alone in the bittersweet messiness that is grief. Just so you know, we laugh quite a lot and we also discuss other important topics such as Chick-fil-A vs. Raising Cane's. Caity also talks about agreements she unknowingly made following the death of her mother, how grief has affected her physically, and the destructive way she was allowing herself to have emotions (which I'd never even considered). We explore what it's like to make (or not make) mom friends while carrying such a huge emotional burden, and feeling like you're too much for people. Join us as we put some pieces together, and shine some much-needed light on a topic that's not often talked about.

The Ghost of Christmas Future, a.k.a. Kathie, stops by and gives us her mother-of-seven-grown-kids perspective about intricate family dynamics at holidays, boundaries she's set, and the cost of choosing yourself and your family over what you've always done. You know, stuff that no one really talks about publicly. She and I quickly go from deep and serious, to laughing and heckling each other, to disagreeing, to both being moved by Kathie's exceptional vulnerability. Sorry for the whiplash, but it's worth it. Kathie also makes me lose my shit with her take on "meaningful" gifts, and then we both confess the same holiday fail and how we handled it differently, and she shares the holiday tradition that her adult kids missed when she stopped doing it.

Podcast favorite and professional declutterer, Rebecca Mezzino, comes to discuss how to give yourself the gift of sanity this holiday season. I admit my biggest holiday struggles and we come up with lots of tactics to avoid the exhaustion and frustration so a joyful holiday can be had by all, namely us moms who are worn down from all the magic-making. Rebecca and I sort out how to specifically delegate tasks to your spouse (and she has a whole system for this), how to limit the work that doesn't bring you joy, how to change your gift-buying habits, how to cut your wrapping in half, how to put your domineering family members to good use, and basically how to curate a holiday that doesn't leave you flattened. I also share my plan for a do-less holiday "experiment" that will be implemented this year, and Rebecca shows her extraness with a funny detail about how she keeps surprises hidden from her family. I'm giving you this episode early enough in the season so you have time to implement its takeaways, before you get stream-rolled.

Today's guest is here to shake us out of the confusion around how to handle our kids' screen time. The podcast welcomes its first dad/man, Jordan Shapiro, who wrote a super helpful book about how to navigate this new era of relentless technology as a parent, The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World. It's got facts, research, history, and other sober analysis, along with plenty of parental anecdotes that aren't fear-based, and dare I say are oddly comforting. In this episode, Jordan talks about the benefits (and also pitfalls) of screens in our kids' lives, and how us parents are doing a disservice to our children by vilifying it. You might actually feel like apologizing to your kids after you hear what he has to say about it. Ask me how I know. We also discuss theories behind and ways we can better guide this generation and their screen use, Jordan's own digital rules and boundaries for his kids, and the screen time change I made in our home that I thought would ruin our lives. So if you want to feel better about your kids playing video games, this episode is for you. I know the "wooden toys only" parents are freaking out right now.