Psychotherapist Elaine Barrington runs two therapy groups for moms over forty who are dealing with leaving work, or changing work or making life changes when becoming a mother to kids for the first time. I talk with Elaine about how younger mothers and older mothers have different ideas about their identity, how there is no blueprint to parenting, and how it’s really your being as a parent — who you are — that’s what makes the difference to your kids.

This episode of Baby Crazy is sponsored by Village Workspaces. With coworking, private offices, and a podcast recording studio, it’s a great place to record your podcast, work on any creative project, or meet some great people and share ideas. In West LA and Santa Monica, check it out at villageworkspaces.com. And on Instagram at @villagepodcasting and @villageworkspaces.

Jerry Cammarata was the first male teacher in the history of the New York City Board of Education to be granted paternity leave. I talk with Jerry about why he did it, what he learned, and what other men can get out of gaining more valuable time with their infant children. We’ll also talk about the reissue of Jerry’s book, The Fun Book of Fatherhood, A Paternity Leave Dad, Tale of a Pioneer, originally published in 1974.

Paternity leave is common around the world - but still, not so much in the US. In the 1970s, Jerry’s move blazed a trail for men. There were no human resources mechanisms in place, no procedures, and Jerry’s four-year leave was unpaid.

Priya Rajendran is a mom, a software engineer, and technology veteran, who lead the team that built the Wallet that now powers all of PayPal’s Mobile apps. She is the founder of S’moresUp which helps manage your family life right from your mobile phone, helping with kids' chores and schedules. Priya and I talk about work-life balance, why when mom is happy, everyone’s happy, and how to make the 24/7 schedule of a startup work when you are a parent.

I grew up in India and I was a classical dancer. I gave up dancing for the past twenty-five years and I just picked it up again. I do think that it's very important to spend some time for yourself to do the things that you like. -- Priya Rajendran

In this episode, I’m chatting with my good friend Rob Jacobs. We've been dads for a while and as you'd expect, just when you think you know it all there is more to learn. Rob quoted John Wooden, the legendary coach, in our interview: It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

We reveal the real story of parenting young children after you are forty (and older!) and discuss the value of wisdom and getting rid of the baggage experience can bring. Rob is also going to tell you about UnSit, his company designed to get you up and moving at work.

Key Takeaways

• why sleep is previous for parents

Trina Greene Brown has been recognized as a Black Feminist Rising in 2017 by Black Women’s Blueprint. You may know her from her podcast Parenting for Liberation. Trina brings fifteen years of experience as a youth organizer in ending violence with her personal role as a parent of two Black children. She calls herself a proud Black-feminist Mama-activist. She has contributed to On Parenting for the Washington Post, and in 2019, her writing will be featured in two anthologies centered on intersections of motherhood and activism.

This episode of Baby Crazy is a free-range conversation between Lee Schneider and Sam Lamott. It begins with a discussion of art and failure, and soon zeroes in on how fathers are imperfect but vital role models.

We ask: How can we be fathers without the labels, without the definitions, without worrying what other people think?

As Sam says, What matters to him is that his son will see him thrive, “because at the end of the day I am this young man's first role model. He'll have way cooler or more impressive role models down the road I'm sure, but I'm the first one. I'm his template essentially.”

Check out Sam's project Hello Humans.

Krista Rizzo, a transformational life coach, joins Lee on the podcast to talk about strategies and ideas for being a better over-40 parent.

If you've wondered how to equally divide the "work" of parenting, how to value your partner's contributions to your childrearing efforts, and the best advice Krista has given to her clients, this is the episode for you.

About nine years ago Krista started a blog titled “Why Am I Yelling.” At the time she was the mother of a five-year-old and pregnant with a second child. She realized that there was a lot to learn about all the different styles of parenting. Turns out -- no surprise, right? -- there isn’t a single “right way” to be a parent. So where does that leave us? Confused? Well, let’s shine some light on this. Krista is going to share some of the knowledge and advice she gives to clients on the podcast.

In this episode of Baby Crazy, we're talking with Dr. Dona Matthews about intelligence in kids. We’re asking what is intelligence? How do you define it, encourage it, and develop it?

Dr. Matthews is a developmental psychologist and author -- with Dr. Joanna Foster -- of Beyond Intelligence: Secrets for Raising Happily Productive Kids. She has taught child and adolescent development at the University of Toronto and Hunter College, City University of New York, and writes a parenting blog for Psychology Today. She has been involved in teaching, writing, counseling, consulting, and conducting research on children and adolescents since 1985.

Some of us live near grandma or parents and friends who can give us advice about our kids. For those of us who don’t, who can you ask who has years of experience and the most up-to-date information? You can try calling your pediatrician every few minutes. You can read all the books you can get your hands on. Or you can try Moms on Call.

Jennifer Walker and Laura Hunter were on-call nurses for a busy pediatric practice in Atlanta. They realized parents needed help with their questions and they needed fast answers. They found during their in-home visits that parents often had the same concerns — like “why do babies fuss? or “why is my baby crying?” So they made a folder in simple outline form and that was the start of Moms On Call.

Now, three books and two apps later — plus a worldwide consulting practice through various digital communications (phone, email, video conferencing)— Moms on Call has become a consultation service for parents who need practical, real-life answers they can put into practice now.

Here's my interview with Jennifer Walker.