In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about a Disneyland trip that went completely sideways, disappointment, timing, comparison, faith, and the reminder I keep coming back to: you do not want to arrive early. I share what it felt like to watch the tiny queens get sick on a trip I had planned and saved for, how hard it is to hold gratitude and sadness at the same time, and why I still believe nothing is wasted. If something feels delayed, disappointing, or not how you planned it, this is for you.

00:00 Back After a Traumatic Disneyland Trip
01:09 January, Birthdays, and Cheer Nationals
02:11 When the Tiny Queens Got Sick
03:26 Why the Trip Felt So Devastating
05:14 Disney Outfits With Meaning
06:25 Getting Back to the Podcast
07:47 Everything Has a Time
09:08 Pace Yourself
10:11 Nothing Is Ever Wasted
12:22 How Loss Changed My Life
13:30 Feeling Irrelevant Online
16:06 It Is Not Your Time Yet
17:14 The Airport Timing Analogy
20:25 Why I Did Not Go to Azusa Right Away
22:57 The Disneyland Weekend That Changed Everything
25:29 You Do Not Want to Leave Early
26:32 Comparison and the Wrong Plane
29:05 Finding Joy in a Hard Trip
31:02 Everyone Is Carrying Something
32:43 It Is a Bad Moment, Not a Bad Day
33:23 Disappointment Can Direct You
35:03 What Is Coming Next
36:03 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about toddlers, teenagers, the terrible twos, threenagers, and why I think we need to stop labeling tiny people before we actually understand them. This one starts with Christmas break chaos and the Olympic sport of getting school program seats, then moves into parenting, emotional regulation, meltdowns, food preferences, repair, and seeing hard moments as discovery instead of deficit. If you have ever felt overwhelmed by a stage your child is in, I hope this feels like permission to pause, breathe, and look again.

00:00 Last Day Before Christmas Break
00:25 The Christmas Program Seat Olympics
02:31 Christmas Break and No Cheer
03:13 North Pole Visitors Took Over
04:10 Every Other Week Podcast Rhythm
04:30 Running Away From Comparison
06:05 Why We Need to Talk About Toddlers
06:49 Terrible Twos and Threenagers
08:38 The Street Example Parents Always Use
10:17 The Target Meltdown
11:55 Adults Still Get Disappointed Too
12:57 Stop Setting a Negative Tone
14:25 Deficit or Discovery?
16:06 Teenagers Get Labeled Too
17:15 I Hope You Have a Daughter Like You
20:12 What Labels Make Us Miss
20:34 The Corn Story
23:03 Running Away Is Communication
24:06 Parents Can Change Their Minds
26:31 Stop Labeling the Age Group
29:38 What I Would Say About Throwing Toys
31:03 Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
33:17 A More Compassionate Way to Parent
36:05 Choices, Magic, and Starting Over
36:53 Deficit to Discovery
40:33 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m back, baby, and we are talking about holiday Hoovers, boundaries, self criticism, and three Bob Goff reminders I could not keep to myself. This one is for the besties heading into December already bracing for comments, family dynamics, joy stealers, or the internal voice that keeps beating them up. You are not a piñata. Some people think they are being helpful. And somewhere, someone else may be praying for different rain, but that does not make your prayer less important.

00:00 We Are Back, Baby
00:40 Why I Let the Podcast Fall Through the Cracks
01:28 Wicked, Lego, and the Little Shelf Update
02:25 Bob Goff and the Holiday Hoover Conversation
03:43 Christmas Movies, True Crime, and Memes
04:40 Instagram Subscription and Cameo Updates
06:19 Disneyland, Nationals, and Holiday Plans
06:47 What Is a Hoover?
08:08 Being Okay When Not Everyone Likes You
09:27 They Don’t Know They Have Horns
12:10 Boundaries When You Still Have to Interact
13:39 In One Ear, Keep What You Need
16:15 Stop Hitting Yourself
21:43 When Other People Treat You Like a Piñata
23:40 The Bride, the Farmer, and the Rain
25:38 When Someone Undervalues Your Gift
29:05 Praying for a Different Kind of Rain
31:09 Three Reminders for December
32:33 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m doing a bestie Q&A about motherhood, routines, Disney, eating disorder recovery, marriage after kids, self regulation, and parenting tiny humans without making everything a power struggle. I talk about waking up early, prepping for back to school, letting kids say no, dinner battles, adjusting from one kid to two, and why no one knows what they are doing, but you know your tiny person. This one gets tender in places, especially around food, grief, fear, and recovery, so take care of yourself while listening.

00:00 Late Night Q&A Energy
01:11 Lying to Myself About Tomorrow
02:13 Do We Need an Intro Post?
03:42 Disney Bounding and Budget Girlies
05:33 Tips for Waking Up Early
09:01 How I Met My Bestie Cindy
10:59 Would I Move to Another State or Country?
12:07 Mr. Coffee Machine and Quick Questions
15:21 My Favorite Motherhood Mantra
17:43 Pros and Sacrifices of Being a Parent
24:35 Back to School Routine Prep
28:08 Avoiding an Eating Disorder Relapse
31:57 Parenting Differently Than I Was Raised
37:24 My Biggest Fears as a Mom
39:31 Dinner Battles and Tiny People
42:30 Did Our Relationship Change After Kids?
46:10 What Got Me Into Disney?
48:08 Self Regulating When Everyone Is Melting Down
51:15 Favorite Worship Songs Right Now
52:07 Adjusting From One Kid to Two
55:06 The Goodness of God This Week
56:20 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about therapy, inner child healing, inner teen conflict, small habits, and what it has looked like to start rewiring my brain one tiny choice at a time. We also catch up on D23, Disney, cheer season, summer rhythms, and an upcoming surgery, but the heart of this one is learning that structure is not always a prison. Sometimes it is care. If you have ever felt stuck between who you want to become and the old patterns that keep pulling you back, this is a soft place to land.

00:00 Weeks in a Row Is Basically a Habit
00:22 I Got Invited to D23
03:56 Surgery, Disney, and Life Updates
05:20 Cheer Season and Summer Rhythms
08:16 Doing the Work in Therapy
09:13 Mantras Are Not Enough Without Tiny Choices
10:12 The Inner Conflict I Have Been Feeling
11:51 Inner Child and Inner Teen Conflict
13:23 Small Habits and Actually Enjoying Your Life
14:13 My Morning Routine Right Now
18:27 When an Optimal Day Feels Peaceful
19:30 Why Structure Can Feel Like Rebellion
21:25 I Get To, Not I Have To
23:04 Structure Is Not a Prison
24:27 Caring for Myself in the Present
26:06 Stop Calling Yourself the Hot Mess Express
27:17 When Pain Forces a New Pattern
30:31 You Are Safe Now
32:20 It Might Not Be Who I Am Yet
34:05 You Are Not the People Who Hurt You
36:04 Choosing One Small Loving Thing
38:25 Learning to Live Harmoniously Inside
40:20 Changing the Way We Talk to Ourselves
41:19 Why My Insides Were in Conflict
42:25 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about rejection, slow seasons, faith, boundaries, work changes, and the reminder I keep coming back to: no means new opportunity. I share what it has felt like to be in a season where things are shifting, content creation is slower, relationships are changing, and therapy is helping me learn that being strong is not the same as being brave. Sometimes the brave thing is saying no, blocking the number, circling the wagons, and trusting that the path is being cleared even when it feels confusing.

00:00 Welcome to the New Shelf Corner
01:00 Thank You for Being Here
02:07 When Life Feels Uprooted
03:08 Sharing Without Owning Everyone’s Reaction
04:16 A Season of Cinching
06:12 When Work Gets Slow
07:08 Scarcity Mindset and Closed Doors
09:28 When the Plan Changes
12:04 A Path Being Cleared
13:29 No Means New Opportunity
14:46 Relationships Have Seasons
16:25 Strong Is Not the Same as Brave
20:18 Growing Into a New Season
23:05 When Slow Feels Like Something Is Being Taken
26:33 Your Yes Is Coming
29:17 Saying No So a Better Yes Can Come
34:40 You Are Not Alone in the Waiting
36:39 Being Brave Enough to Block
38:56 JOMO and Circling the Wagons
40:31 Slow Growth Is Still Growth
41:48 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about social media comparison, consumerism, aesthetic identity, and why your real life was never meant to be judged by someone else’s curated video. We start with Savannah Bananas, margaritas, and a date night that did not need to be fancy to be perfect, then we get into car kits, lip gloss, doom scrolling, content creation, and editing your environment. If you have ever looked up from your phone and felt worse about your home, your body, your people, or your life, this one is for you. You are not an aesthetic. You are a kaleidoscope.

00:00 Welcome to the Other Side of My Room
00:38 Savannah Bananas Date Night
02:23 Hot Dogs, Margaritas, and Living on the Edge
04:17 Why the Lawn Seats Were Perfect
08:18 Sports, Tiny Humans, and New Paths
09:35 Technical Issues and Showing Up Anyway
12:04 You Are Not an Aesthetic
13:00 Consumerism and Filling a Void
13:54 Car Kits and Comparing Your Life
15:11 Being Yourself in Different Settings
17:19 Kids, Social Media, and Lifetime Effects
19:07 Want Versus Need
20:16 The Instagram Comparison Spiral
22:12 Doom Scrolling Still Feeds You
23:20 Trad Wife Content and Planned Reality
26:58 Gratitude and Editing Your Environment
28:39 Looking Up From Your Phone
31:44 When Did Hand Sanitizer Become Your Value?
35:29 Who Am I Buying This For?
38:36 Aesthetic Became Identity
43:25 You Are a Person, Not a Trend
46:22 Treat Your Phone Like a Tool
47:13 Why I Keep Showing Up
49:11 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about parenting, projection, activities, milestones, and the way we can accidentally box our tiny people into who they used to be. From cheerleading tryouts to learning differences to realizing I had missed how much one of my girls had grown, this one is about stretching kids without pressuring them, letting them change, and remembering that their timeline is not about us. And honestly, it is for us too. You are allowed to be more than one thing. You are allowed to change your mind.

00:00 Audio Only, But Still Here
00:39 Speaking From Personal Experience
01:39 Cheerleading and Tiny People
02:15 Parenting Projection
02:33 When We Box Kids In
03:16 Milestones Are Different for Every Child
04:37 Comparing Siblings
05:16 Peer Pressure at Amusement Parks
07:29 You Are Allowed to Grow and Change
09:01 Kids Changing Their Interests
10:31 Protecting Them From Disappointment
11:26 Learning Differences and Parent Teacher Conferences
13:04 Stretching Without Pressuring
14:33 Running Their Own Race
15:28 Your Season Was Not Today
16:30 Boxing Ourselves In Too
18:08 When Mom Identity Gets Too Heavy
20:03 Your Best Is Enough This Week
21:40 You Are More Than One Thing
24:51 Do Not Hold People Hostage to Old Versions
26:28 Adults Change Too
28:30 Tiny People Need Choices
30:22 Winning, Losing, and Building Character
31:56 Seeing the Growth You Missed
32:44 Just Because It Is Uncomfortable
33:37 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about grief, losing my mom, Mother’s Day, and the moment my body basically said, babe, we cannot keep moving around this anymore. This year, my mom’s birthday hit differently, and I realized my grief has changed because I have changed. I talk about nervous system exhaustion, motherhood, mental load, self care that does not always look cute, and learning to honor what grief needs now. If you are grieving something or someone and your old way of coping is not working anymore, you are not alone in that.

00:00 Jumping Right In
00:21 The Intro Music Is a Bop
03:42 Cheer Coach Meeting and Tiny People
07:13 Born in the 1900s Stanley Stickers
08:02 My Mom Was Not on Vacation
09:32 My Mom, Codependency, and Generational Healing
13:04 I Moved Around the Grief
15:02 Scheduling Time to Cry
16:25 When My Body Shut Down
17:59 The Responsibility of Motherhood
19:03 The Nervous System of It All
20:09 Self Care Looks Different Now
23:01 My Grief Has Changed Because I Have Changed
24:30 I Could Not Grieve Like My 20s Anymore
27:37 Learning Not to Set People Up for Disappointment
31:03 Grief, Mother’s Day, and Changing Needs
34:38 You Are Not Meant to Be Cirque du Soleil
36:59 We Had to Stop Stepping Around It
39:10 If No One Has Told You Lately

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about raising girls’ girls, kindness with boundaries, jealousy, comparison, and the way insecurity can make us act like people we do not even like. I share why I was not always a girls’ girl, what younger me had to unlearn, and why I want my tiny queens to know that someone else’s compliment is not their criticism. This one is for the moms raising tiny humans, the women healing old friendship wounds, and anyone learning that kindness is not weakness.

00:00 Back in the Closet
01:15 One Bar Left to Give
01:43 Going Live Again
02:16 The Under Eye Filler Comment
04:46 Showing Up Anyway
05:38 Mr. Coffee Sent the Machine
07:09 My Mom’s Birthday Week
08:01 The Girls’ Girl Video
10:14 I Was Not Always a Girls’ Girl
12:02 Exposing Younger Amanda
14:37 Tearing Someone Down to Feel Chosen
16:31 Healing the Hurt
18:38 Feelings Are Not the Boss of Behavior
19:17 Preparing Girls for the World
21:25 Kindness With Boundaries
24:07 The Pollyanna Jam Example
28:40 Their Encouragement Is Not Your Discouragement
30:18 Not Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
34:28 What Being a Girls’ Girl Means
37:18 Jealousy, Growth, and God’s Timing
41:30 Kindness Is Not Weakness
43:30 You Can Change the Sheets
45:52 Yesterday You Is Not the Whole Story
47:27 If No One Has Told You Lately