In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m reflecting on empowerment, control, and the kind of relationship we actually want with the tiny people in our lives.

The reminder is simple: no one knows what they are doing, so maybe the goal is not to control our kids into becoming who we think they should be. Maybe the goal is to empower them in the ways we wish someone had empowered us.

This one is about parenting, personal growth, ego, pride, and choosing the empowerment moments over the power place.

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about spanking, discipline, emotional regulation, and why I’m learning to humanize my tiny people instead of parenting from fear, ego, or other people’s opinions.

I share the moment that made me rethink spanking, what I’m learning about giving kids tools instead of shame, and why so much of parenting starts with the fact that we’ve never been parents before. We’ve only been parented.

This one is about gentle parenting, boundaries, mental health, repair, and doing our best in real time.

00:00 Welcome Back To After Hours

01:23 Riding The Waves Of Emotion

02:10 Therapy And Unresolved Trauma

03:07 Dating Episode Tease

03:28 Boundaries Before Dating

05:30 Today’s Topic Is Spanking

06:54 Growing Up With Spanking

08:18 The Moment That Changed My Mind

11:29 What Does Spanking Actually Teach?

14:17 Ego, Opinions, And Parenting

17:11 Discipline, Punishment, And Teaching

18:28 The iPad Car Meltdown

20:19 Naming The Emotion

23:31 Other People’s Opinions

25:13 Finding Better Alternatives

31:14 Humanizing Tiny People

38:58 You’ve Only Been Parented

46:13 It Is Never Too Late To Repair

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about protecting versus projecting in parenting, with a little help from One Tree Hill and the emotional baggage of Dan Scott.

I get into motherhood, gentle parenting, body image, childhood trauma, the rules we inherit, and the question I cannot stop asking myself: is my parenting happening to my kids or for my kids?

This is not about having it all figured out. I’m practicing, learning, catching myself, and trying to raise tiny humans without handing them fear that was never theirs to carry.

Grab your bevie and come hang.

00:00 Welcome Back And One Tree Hill

02:35 Mom Labels And Dan Scott

04:44 Motherhood Is Part Of Me

05:36 Body Choices And Talking With My Girls

07:12 Parenting As An Adventure

07:37 Stop Putting Moms In Boxes

09:45 How Do You Know You Are Ready?

12:30 Protecting Or Projecting

13:39 The Moment That Changed My Parenting

16:28 Is Parenting Happening To Them Or For Them?

19:33 The Shower Story And Not Discounting Kids

22:01 Dan Scott And Projected Dreams

23:46 The Dog Bite Story

28:00 Giving Kids Freedom To Build Trust

33:21 Ask What Do You Mean By That?

39:08 Build The Barrier Of Self Love

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about responding instead of reacting when our kids have big feelings. We get into bedtime, Target tears, iPads, communication, boundaries, and why I’m trying to see crying less as manipulation and more as a tiny human asking for help.

I’m not sharing this as someone who has it all figured out. I’m learning in real time, apologizing when I need to, and trying to give my kids tools for their toolkit instead of shame for their emotions.

00:00 We Made It To Friday

00:41 McDonald’s Coke And Catching Up

02:36 Daddy’s Bed And Bedtime Chaos

03:53 Letting My Kid Be The Parent

06:24 When Kids Cry From Disappointment

09:30 The Target Toy Story

13:10 Reacting Versus Responding

16:10 Why First Responders Don’t Just React

18:07 Big Feelings Need Tools

21:12 Parenting Is A Human Relationship

23:23 When I Needed A Walk

24:32 Why We Hold Kids To Adult Standards

29:10 What If A Boundary Gets Broken?

31:30 The iPad Trust Conversation

38:57 Marriage, Miscommunication, And The Folder

43:33 Healing Your Inner Child By Responding Better

48:01 Responding Instead Of Reacting

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about parenting, projection, and the moments when our kids remind us that they are not tiny versions of us. They are tiny humans with their own thoughts, feelings, choices, and stories.

I share what I’m learning about pausing before I jump in with advice, asking better questions, and creating a safe place where my kids can come to me without feeling like I’m making everything about what I would have done.

It is parenting, but not just for parents. It is communication, trust, mom guilt, personal growth, and doing our best in real time.

00:00 Welcome Back, Rabbit Trails Included

01:31 Feeling Blue And Wanting My Kids Close

03:19 Kids Are Always Listening

04:35 Venting, Gratitude, And Mom Guilt

06:32 Finding Safe Spaces With Mom Friends

08:41 Why Are We Surprised Kids Do It Differently

09:55 When I Made Her Story About Me

11:34 Asking What They Actually Need

13:17 The Duck Duck Goose Story

15:34 Protecting Or Projecting Our Fear

18:43 Sugar, Dessert, And Clarifying Expectations

21:41 Faith, Devotionals, And Personal Standards

25:23 Letting Kids Choose Their Own Path

27:04 The Exhaustion Of Wearing A Mask

31:03 Building A Safe Place To Come Back To

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about resilience, distance learning, emotional regulation, and the pressure to bounce back before we have actually processed what happened.

After a chaotic day with school pickups, Wi Fi issues, meetings, and one very frazzled mom moment, I started thinking about how often we praise kids and adults for being “resilient” when maybe what we really need is space to feel, name, and move through what is hard.

This one is about metacognition, grief, parenting tiny humans, and why healing does not need a timer.

00:00 Welcome Back After a Hot Minute

01:08 Holiday Chaos and Taking Time

02:13 The Word Resilience

03:53 Distance Learning and School Whiplash

05:09 The Wi Fi Spiral

07:27 Why Resilience Set Me Off

08:32 When Resilience Becomes Toxic

10:18 What Are We Really Praising?

11:33 I Want My Kids to Be Strategic

13:09 Let Yourself Feel It First

15:01 Grief and Bouncing Back

18:02 School Looks Different Right Now

19:06 Asking Why Behind the Behavior

23:11 Metacognition and Parenting

26:08 Why Resilience Can Become Stuffing

30:49 Mental Health Needs More Space

33:31 Praise the Process, Not the Snapback

36:32 Ask Questions and Check In

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about other people’s opinions, identity, worry, and the way we can spend so much energy imagining what people think about us.

From lunchroom anxiety to college campus fear, mom group insecurity, social media comments, laundry piles named Eduardo and Celine, and finally buying the Doc Martens, this one is about learning to stop handing your identity over to people who do not get to own it.

Not a rulebook. Just a long voicemail between friends about resting, reflecting, responding, and remembering that worry is a bully that does not pay you back.

00:00 Laundry, Crinkles, and Closet Joy

03:10 Going Deep in the DMs

04:17 Other People’s Opinions

05:31 Lunchroom Anxiety

06:37 College Campus Fear

08:47 Mom Group Insecurity

10:05 Be the Invitation

11:05 What Opinions Really Are

12:21 Social Media Comments and Identity

13:25 Your Identity Belongs to You

16:15 The Laundry Pile Analogy

18:25 Worry Is a Bully

20:41 Stop Searching for Identity in People

22:21 Work on Your Opinion of Yourself

24:12 Kids, Disagreement, and Difference

26:29 Take Back the Power

32:07 Rest, Reflect, Then Respond

35:29 Wise Words Versus Cheap Opinions

37:03 Buy the Doc Martens

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about motherhood, identity, and the middle ground between “I am barely surviving” and “everything is Pinterest perfect.”

This one came from hearing people say mom content online makes motherhood look terrifying, like becoming a mom means losing yourself completely. So I’m getting into feeling unequipped, having two emotions at once, the refillable cup, mom guilt, kids seeing us as people, and why being a mom is not your whole identity. It is a title.

Not a rulebook. Just a long voicemail between friends, learning out loud and doing our best.

00:00 Thursday Chaos and a Self Check In

01:00 Two Emotions Can Exist at Once

02:25 Welcome to After Hours With Amanda

04:04 Peach Tea, Puppy Exhaustion, and Sleep

06:45 What Mom Content Makes People Feel

08:08 The Teaching Class Story Setup

09:27 The Two Extremes of Mom Culture

11:11 What Are We Feeding Our Minds?

12:06 Your Parents Don’t Decide Your Future

13:40 Daniel Tiger in the Taco Bell Parking Lot

14:45 You Don’t Have to Be a Perfect Parent

16:31 You Don’t Have to Like Every Kid

18:55 The Classroom Moment That Shook Me

24:47 Boxing In the Identity of a Mom

26:33 Your Kids Are Getting to Know You Too

29:11 Motherhood Has an Ebb and Flow

33:37 Being a Mom Is a Title

38:22 You Get to Choose Your Identity

40:16 What Kids Remember Is the Love

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about feeling underqualified as a parent and why “I don’t know what I’m doing” does not have to mean failure.

I’m sharing the story of leaving the hospital with London, realizing no magical parenting knowledge had arrived, and wondering why it was harder to adopt a cat than leave with a baby.

This one is about parenting without ego, learning alongside our tiny humans, apologizing when we need to, and becoming a safe place for our kids instead of pretending we have all the answers.

00:00 Closet Chaos and Tech Issues

01:43 What This Episode Is Really About

02:16 Pregnancy in Sacramento Summer

04:03 First Baby Expectations

05:20 Leaving the Hospital With London

06:44 Wait, They Just Let Us Leave?

07:44 The Cat Adoption Comparison

09:03 You Are Not Qualified, and That’s Okay

10:59 Pots and Pans Do Not Make You a Chef

12:22 Giving Parents and Kids Grace

13:41 Learning With Your Tiny Human

15:31 No Room for Ego in Parenting

16:47 Seesaw, Not Hierarchy

19:01 When I Felt Out of Control

23:07 Your Child, Your Journey

28:24 Parent, Friend, or Tour Guide?

32:13 Apologies Matter More Than Ego

37:22 Teaching Kids They Can Tell the Truth

40:47 Embrace Not Knowing

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about parenting, school pressure, milestones, and the quiet spiral that can happen when your child needs extra support.

This one started with an email from Page’s school, and it made me think about expectations, identity, emotional growth, and how easy it is to make our kids’ progress feel like a reflection of us.

I’m sharing stories about Hooked on Phonics, potty training, academic pressure, raising tiny humans as individuals, and why I want to teach my girls not to just “get over it,” but to get into it and walk through it.

00:00 Welcome Back and X Games Mode

01:38 Staying on Topic, Somehow

03:57 Oreo Thins Are Superior

05:27 The School Email Spiral

07:26 Hooked on Phonics and Nilla Wafers

09:39 Expectations Start Early

10:39 My Own School Pressure

13:51 The Academic Pressure Nobody Warned Me About

14:59 Page’s School Meeting Email

15:55 Kids Are Individuals

16:18 When Did We Start Measuring Kids Like This?

17:25 Pacifiers, Milestones, and Parent Anxiety

22:27 Emotional Milestones Matter Too

23:17 Potty Training, Pee, and Perspective

27:00 The Pressure Behind Every Milestone

30:06 Their Stress Is Real Too

33:02 Expectations Are Not Identity

35:10 Don’t Get Over It, Get Into It

36:08 No Room for Ego in Parenting

38:42 Raising Daughters Without My Mom

40:18 Happiness, Joy, and Knowing Who You Are

42:31 Tools for Their Toolbox