Hands Off Parents

This week, Steph and Abby got lucky enough to welcome a living, breathing listener of the show as a guest: Aaron Reese -- and he's a dad! Of Twins! The three chatted about everything from sleeping issues, to international travel with two babies in tow, to the sainthood of his wife. What Steph and Abby learned (kinda happily, though not to be jerks) is that dads have lots of guilt too! Any dads who want to dump some guilt down, post on any of their various social pages @handsoffparents.

This week, Abby wanted to get some advice from Steph about whether or not she's messing up two kids at once. How do you encourage one kid to make good choices while not making the other feel bad because he's already making them? Do you scold the one and praise the other, praise the one and then reward the other or do you reward the one and... dah!!! Steph offers some good thoughts on the topic--this is not just about twins but siblings as well. What do you think about this? Send them an email at [email protected] or leave a comment on their FB page!

This week, in between the rambles, Staph and Abby try and figure out what it means to "have rules." When implementing them and setting boundaries--such as no TV--who is really being punished? What is a strict rule anyway? Like no eating food from the garbage can or... is that OK to break sometimes when no one is looking? Also, it's Mother's Day and the ladies chat about the things they want most. Sleep. That's all they want. They also want you to share Hands Off Parents with the other parents in your life!

This week Steph and Abby welcomed Lydia Hance to the show! Lydia is the mother of a one-year-old and also runs a dance company (and dances often in shows), and the ladies were wondering, so like, how does that all happen? Lydia's approach: incorporate the kid into your craft! Check it out, share with your friends, and rate us on iTunes!

Not only were Steph and Abby lucky enough to get the very pregnant Katy Hamor Cartland on the show, but they got her on LITERALLY the day before she was to give birth to her new baby girl. As you are reading this, she is no longer pregnant and chugging that bottle of wine she told the ladies she was planning to bring in her hospital overnight bag. The three ladies talk all about the excitement and fear of new motherhood, having a second child with a toddler in the house, and that time Katy moved to France with a 6 month old. Congratulations to her!!!

This week Steph and Abby welcome Maryocéane Guy (AKA Mary) to the show to discuss a number of crucial topics. For one, Mary is a single mom with an adorable 3-year old. She is also an amazing person, with an absurdly-leveled head about it all and a great approach to parenting. She chats about what it's like to be a single mom and how you date with a child (not go out on dates with your child, obvs). Do you put your kids on your Tinder profile or leave that bit of info until later? Also, the three talk about posting images of your kid online in general and then Abby gets all sci-fi/doomsday on everyone. It's a lovely conversation that Steph and Abby wished could have gone on forever! Hopefully you do too. And then you can write that on iTunes.

When thinking about this week's topic of conversation, Steph and Abby decided that no topic was to be their topic, as this is true to parenthood. As such, they cover a wide variety of parenthood dilemmas: Pooping on the floor and stepping in it (the kids, not them), the meaning of Easter (which they both get very, very wrong), kids eating parsley, and '90s alternative music. In the end they decide: "Everything Zen" is a horrible song but a great motto in life.

Hey, so sometimes bad things happen: Like miscarriages. This week Stephanie bravely discusses her (very) recent miscarriage. It's sad, but she's OK (kinda). She and Abby discuss the societal taboos with this topic, and this launches them into a conversation on trolling websites, Hillary Clinton, and that HBO show about rich white ladies. It all makes sense, sort of. Or not. They want your stories too! Send them to [email protected].

This week Steph and Abby tried to have some semblance of a conversation about boundaries: how do you handle when kids are mean to yours, when should you call a teacher, when your child tells you something happened, do you take it as gospel and get involved? But during this highly important topic, they keep getting interrupted by their kids. Talk about boundaries! This conversation is all over the place just like parenthood. Oh, and, Abby is trying to potty train two 3-year old boys and it's the worst ever. Like them on Facebook and make them feel better about life @handsoffparents.

This week Steph and abby are joined by mom and all-around superstar, Jill Patir. Jill chats with the ladies about her bouts with anxiety and OCD, and how they manifested after her first child. To add insult to everything, Jill also recently dealt with a horrific bomb scare situation in her son's daycare and shares her harrowing experience. All of this is serious and they don't laugh or make jokes about their kids at all (JK!)