Family Looking Up

This generation of parents is on the forefront of dealing with the  topic of technology in a way that no previous generation has had to.  Studies are only beginning to come out that show what effect smart phones actually have on children. 

Ken Ball is a retired school teacher, a husband, and a father who started his own company "Together Unplugged" to help families retrain their brains on how to interact and communicate with each other.  He shares the latest statistics, his own personal classroom observations, and wisdom about the effects of smart phone use on children in this fantastic episode.

Mridu Parikh is a productivity speaker and coach who met with us and taught 3 easy steps to being able to focus and increase your productivity each and every day.  She says that even if people are afflicted with a “distracted brain” there is still hope. Brains can be re-trained to be able to focus. Mridu created an acronym (ACT) that she uses to teach her clients some easy tools that have an incredible impact on re-training their brains and increasing their productivity!  

To hear all of the details about the ACT methods that Mridu taught us, click on the link and listen to the episode.  It’s lighthearted and incredibly valuable.

Tracey is the author of Be the Mom, in which she shares advice on how to avoid what she describes as the seven most common “mom traps.” 

Tracey identified the seven most common “mom traps” in an effort to help her daughter as she embarked on the journey of motherhood.  The book is written in an encouraging tone that makes you feel like there is a possibility of learning to avoid these “traps” as we learn to recognize them for what they are.  The problem isn’t us. It’s our attitude.

To say that Tracey is fun and easy to talk to is like saying that the Rockies are “biggish”.  I cannot begin to say how much we LOVED our conversation with her. Her laugh and wit are infectious (And if you listen closely, so is her accent.  Beth unknowingly switched into a Kentucky drawl halfway through the interview!)

In our society, the role of father is often demeaned as "not necessary" and VERY optional.  On this fathers day we speak with Jason Kreidman from "Dad University" about the importance of fathers and the unique gifts that dads bring to the family.  Jason helps us to see how moms can better appreciate the differences that dads bring and how moms can better include dads in family life.  

According to a 2017 survey taken of college counseling centers by Inside Higher Ed, “over the last decade, anxiety has overtaken depression as the most common reason college students seek counseling services.  Not only that, but there has been “a doubling of hospital admissions for suicidal teenagers over the last 10 years.”

OUR expert on this subject, for this episode, is Haylee Bladen.  Haylee agrees that there is a definite rise, not only in teens being diagnosed with anxiety, but teens having clinical anxiety.  She has created “Whole Kids Emotional Wellness”, a counseling center where she, her husband, and a host of other counselors provide counseling and life skills for teens, schools, and much more.  

As a parent of multiple teens whose emotional stability is, at times, all over the map, what can I do to help my teens to deal with the anxiety they may feel?  Haylee talked us through 5 Anxiety Busting Tips that we can teach our kids to help them deal with anxious feelings that are bound to rear their ugly head.  If you would like a detailed explanation of each of these, just click on the link above to listen to the interview.

Cindy Kaplan is a certified Parenting Coach and talked with us, in this episode, about the battles that we may not need to be fighting.  This interview was an eye opener in many ways for me.  She talked about the idea of gaining clarity in our parenting to be able to decipher what things we needed to be solid on and what things were truly not worth the battle.  According to Cindy, we become clear by deconstructing all of the societal and family beliefs and standards that we have simply drunk in without knowing what we have absorbed.  Then, and only then, we are able to really tune into ourselves and be clear on what really matters to us most as well as really see what and who makes up our family.   Rather than thinking “Who are the children we want to have?” we can ask “Who are the children we actually have, and what are their actual needs?”

Cindy does an amazing job outlining how we can gain that clarity and WHY it’s so important to do so.  She also talked about these points:

• Why looking at our “triggers” in parenting is crucial
• The possible causes of children not meeting our expectations
• What the key is to stopping a power struggle with your child
• The difference between boundaries and rules and why it’s important

Dinnertime is incredibly hard for most moms. We get that!  We have done several episodes on family meal time, ways to include kids in the kitchen, and hacks for making things easier.  All of these have given such terrific and incredible information, but I don’t think any of them have been as good at giving a guilt free look at the normal mom.

Leigh Anne has raised her family and clearly knows the burden it is for moms.  I was so impressed by her “down-to-earth” approach to making dinner, her understanding that every mom is at a different level, her assurance that it’s perfectly normal to not be a foodie, and her tips for making dinnertime less of an ordeal in a mom’s busy day.

She’s a mother of four and has been a food blogger for nearly a decade. Her blog offers tips and resources to help make cooking easier.  Also, prepare for some serious laughter in our intro where we talk about Beth’s expansive and articulate vocabulary and where we play “Never Would You Ever”.

What dreams have you had that have never been realized?  Maybe you have secretly held them close to you for years, maybe not.  Do you have dreams that you would like to pursue, but you don’t know where to begin?

CrystaLee Beck is a business owner and business coach, she is the co-founder of The Mama Ladder International where she helps to empower mom entrepreneurs.  She visited with us about moms, about dreams, and about how moms can actually take the steps to pursue and succeed in those dreams!

CrystaLee identified the 3 components that a successful business needs to have if a mom is thinking of pursuing it.

1. She needs to have some skill in that area.  Seeing their own skills is something that a lot of moms struggle to recognize.  CrystaLee identified several ways moms can overcome this obstacle and be able to recognize their own skills and gifts.  Listen to the interview for a full description.
2. It needs to be something that she is passionate about.  A LOT of work is going to go into a successful business.  She had better feel it is worth it!
3. It needs to be something marketable.  

Listen in to hear all the terrific tips and ideas!

This Mothers Day we want to celebrate moms as they really are!  We also want to LAUGH! Laughter is the greatest gift we could possibly give our Mom Squad on this special day.  As we have lived the mom life we have found that all moms have FAILS every day, but having FAILS does not equal FAILURE.  

In fact, any woman who is willing to live life and take on mothering (no matter how it comes to her) is a SUPERHERO!  

This job is not for the faint of heart.  It is for those who are willing to lay their hearts on the altar.  Those willing to try their patience WAY past breaking point (often several times a day).  Those willing to “herd cats” everywhere they go, to look like an idiot in public on a VERY regular basis, and to try to teach the most ferocious creature on earth (the toddler) how to go wee wee in the potty.  Those also willing to hug and kiss every owie, to listen, to love more than they thought humanly possible, to read, to sing, to encourage, to uplift, to cry when things go wrong, and to soar as they watch those little ones fly!

Here’s to MOTHERS with ALL gifts and ALL struggles.

We hope you enjoy this week’s episode where some of our Mom Squad called and emailed us to tell of their best and funniest Mom Fails!  THIS is real momming, not the glossy June Cleaver version. The down and dirty, trying our hardest, messy, “How is there only one shoe??” , “I’m losing my mind but still here and still making dinner” - version.  We hope it brings you laughter and perspective as you celebrate your best achievement: Being a mom.

If you would love to travel more with your family but just don’t know how to make it happen, then this episode is for you!

Jessica from “Flying With Four” is with us this week discussing how she (a kindergarten teacher) and her husband have found ways to take their four kids (ages 9-2) on multiple trips inside and outside of the country each year without breaking the bank or their sanity!

If you would like to hear her ideas on the differences between lodging such as Airbnb, VRBO, and hotels, we’ve got you covered.

How about the 5 things she never goes on a trip without?  Listen in!

If you’ve ever wondered which credit cards give the best mileage perks or which hotel chain has the best member benefits, she spills all.

We know this episode won’t disappoint!