This week, Kee and Kelly are deep in the trenches of mornings that start with tantrums, bedtimes that end in battle, and the very confronting moment your child starts repeating your own parenting back to you. And honestly, the mirror they hold up is brutal.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
Play School: Rainforest Rangers
Remarkably Bright Creatures - Netflix
Crash - Netflix

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kee Reece Searles @keereece
Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kelly was pretty sure she was one and done. Mostly. Probably. Maybe.

This week, she’s feeling unexpectedly clucky, and Kee is helping her unpack the very messy middle of deciding whether your family is complete. There’s the body clock, the fear of regret, the cost of another child, the trauma of postpartum, the sibling guilt, and the strange grief that can come with closing a door you’re not sure you wanted open anyway.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
ESR - Should I Have Another Baby?
The Cut - I Feel Bad I Don’t Want A Second Kid

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kee Reece Searles @keereece
Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kelly finally made it to Paris… and it somehow managed to be even more magical than she imagined. But not every part of the trip went smoothly, with one travel moment pushing her completely over the edge.

Meanwhile, Kee’s week spirals into full party-prep chaos thanks to a mystery illness, missing decorations, and the very intense politics of four-year-old pass the parcel.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
Shrinking - Apple TV
TRTL Travel Pillow
Medik8
Amandaland Season 2 - Stan
Kids Playing Pass The Parcel

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kee Reece Searles @keereece
Kelly McCarren @kelly_mccarren

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Mother’s Day comment from the Minister for Women lit up every group chat in Australia: are we really being told the earlier our babies go into childcare, the better?

Kee and Lize unpack the guilt, the impossible maths, the daycare scramble, and the quiet truth so many parents are living with - childcare isn’t the problem, but having no real choice is. Because “just go back to work” hits differently when the village is expensive, waitlisted, or doesn’t exist.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
Our Kids Our Choice: Expand the CCS
Parents Work Collective - Give Parents One Year

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kee Reece Searles @keereece
Lize Ratliff @lizaratliff

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kee is joined by Lize Ratliff while Kelly is living her best life in Paris, and this episode has the full motherhood spectrum: the tiny sentence that makes you feel like you might actually be doing something right… and the 6am meltdown that brings you straight back to earth.

Because motherhood can be a beautiful birthday moment one minute, and grapes in the wrong bowl the next.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
Flik Flak Switch Watch for Kids
Holme Beauty Base Primer
Secrets of The Bees - Disney+

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kee Reece Searles @keereece
Lize Ratliff @lizaratliff

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mother’s Day sounds simple enough… until it isn’t.

This week, Kee and Kelly get into the joy, grief, pressure and weird expectations wrapped up in one very loaded Sunday. From wanting to be celebrated, to complicated relationships with mums, to the small moments that can make the day feel beautiful, brutal, or both.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
A History of Mother’s Day
An Ode to “Other Mothers” - Kee Reece

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kelly McCarren ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@kelly_mccarren⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Kee Reece Searles @keereece

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A chaotic work week, a Facebook Marketplace find of dreams, and a cat emergency that made Kelly look like she’d fled a crime scene - just a regular week really.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
Maison Balzac The Everything Bottle
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kelly McCarren ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@kelly_mccarren⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Kee Reece Searles @keereece

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a word for the strange, disorienting shift that happens when you become a mum and realise you’re not quite the same person anymore: matrescence.

In this episode, Kee and Kelly unpack the science behind how motherhood changes the brain, and hear from the shitters about what changed for them too: bodies, friendships, work, confidence, rage, softness, identity, and the sudden inability to hear a story about a child without crying.

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
Make Matrescence Mainstream
It’s hard to describe what it feels like to become a mum, but it has a name: matrescence
Pregnant women's brains shed grey matter to prime them for motherhood, study suggests

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kelly McCarren ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@kelly_mccarren⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Kee Reece Searles @keereece

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One wrong move and it’s game over. This week, Kee and Kelly get real about the phase no one warns you about: relentless four-year-old whinging, clinginess, attitude, and the kind of morning meltdown that can start with honey being in the wrong shape.

Underneath the chaos, there’s also the quieter ache of motherhood - watching your kids grow up in real time. The independence, the big feelings, the sudden realisation that your baby isn’t such a baby anymore.

If you want to play along each week (and read other parents’ peaks/pits), come join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eatsleepshitrepeat/

 

LINKS TO EVERYTHING WE MENTIONED
The Remember Balloons - Jessie Oliveros
Metalia Studios
Philé Quilted Robe
Kelly's Mother's Day Gift Guide
LOL: Last One Laughing UK - Prime Video

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kelly McCarren ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@kelly_mccarren⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Kee Reece Searles @keereece

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years, Kelly thought she was just a bit dizzy, a bit tired, a bit dramatic. Then she discovered POTS, a little-known condition that can leave you lightheaded, foggy, faint and feeling absolutely awful, especially after pregnancy.

In this episode, she breaks down what POTS actually is, how she finally joined the dots, and why so many women might be brushing off symptoms they’ve been told are “normal.” Because sometimes the thing you’ve always shrugged off as “just how I am” turns out to be something else entirely.

 

HOSTS & PRODUCERS
Kelly McCarren ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@kelly_mccarren⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Kee Reece Searles @keereece

AUDIO PRODUCTION
Madeline Joannou - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mylk Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.