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Today is our very first episode and our series that we were calling big tedious task of the week. 

Big Tedious Task =  The really seemingly menial, tedious little things that every other mom seems to have no issue with, but you feel like it's equivalent to climbing Mount Everest.

One of the challenges with ADHD or a neuro divergent brain, is that it doesn't think in order. Instead of past present and future. Everything is now. 

Moms with ADHD get overwhelmed with the everyday tedious housework and household tasks because they do not know where to start.

We will be covering these big tedious tasks for three reasons:
1. To actually help you understand why these tasks are so tough for you.
2. To help you give yourself more grace.
3. To help you naturally start to think of ways that you can do menial household tasks to make them work for you rather than against you.  

The task we cover in this episode is: Matching Socks.

In it, I will give you two hacks for making this big tedious task much easier on your brain and your sanity. 

By the end of this episode, you will feel freedom when you think about doing the sock laundry, and your wheels will be turning for what other tasks you can make easier on yourself. 

To submit an idea for the next "Big Tedious Task," email us at [email protected]

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

1. It can feel vulnerable and uncomfortable when you learn something major about yourself and it's all you want to talk about—like, for example, a brand new ADHD diagnosis. 
2. Looking back at your life through a new lens is an important part of integration and healing. 
3. Steph has always been a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, and shares her lightbulb moment when she realizes that maybe it's because it was a bit neurologically autobiographical—a "lost" girl trying to find her way back home after stumbling down a rabbit hole. 
4. After a month on ADHD meds, Steph talks about how her life has shifted and how she's better able to focus and stay on top of challenging tasks. 
5. A big part of diagnosis is tuning into the way your system works—celebrating when things are working well and noticing the things that feel difficult. 
6. Steph talks about how she's able now, as an adult, to offer herself compassion in a way she couldn't during her childhood. 

In this solo episode, Steph shares an update with her ADHD journey, including her progress on medication and some of her strategies for managing symptoms. She talks about how getting a diagnosis sheds light on past experiences through a new lens, and how it's impossible not to look at everything through this new perspective. As a lifelong fan of Alice in Wonderland, Steph talks about her epiphany realizing why exactly she's always been drawn to this story of a daydreamy girl trying to find her way home. 

Follow Steph's Substack at: https://stephsprenger.substack.com/p/when-you-finally-see-yourself-clearly

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

 Welcome back to the ADHD in Motherhood Series. It's been a ride. Today, we cover:

1. The process to getting an ADHD evaluation can be tricky, which sort of feels like a sick joke when you're already struggling to complete tasks you don't like. 
2. Be prepared to feel big feelings after your diagnosis: anything ranging from grief to relief. 
3. You may experience the regret of wondering what would have happened if you'd been diagnosed sooner—there is a grief that accompanies looking back at how many years you may have needlessly suffered. 
4. To take meds or not to take meds is a loaded issue. We discuss what it looks like when our brain is truly not working optimally, when our neurotransmitter regulation is not effective without medication. 
5. Sometimes things aren't black and white: we can live our healthy lifestyles, eat well, move our bodies, practice meditation, go to therapy AND take medication. We all get to make the right decisions for our body and our needs. 

In episode 3 of our series for ADHD moms who feel like they are failing, Stace and Steph compare their diagnosis stories and reactions—there were some big surprises along the way. We talk about the big, confusing feelings after diagnosis—which can range from grief to relief—and how we processed them. And we dive into our feelings on medication—both prior to our diagnosis and how our opinions have shifted since then. 

To support this messy growing ADHD mom community, subscribe to the podcast! 

If you want to share your story with us, we'd love to hear from you:
[email protected] 

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

1. Let's talk about the positive qualities about women with ADHD—because, yes, we have our own superpowers!
2. We had a major breakthrough about our "Remember her?" moments when we are longing for our pre-mom selves: Of course we miss the person we used to be before all the things we struggled with became magnified. 
3. Motherhood + ADHD can wreak havoc on self-esteem, and it's important to remember the things you really love about yourself instead of focusing on your flaws and struggles. 
4. We do a deep dive into the qualities we both identify with that may be because of ADHD, not in spite of it, like creativity, intuition, hyper-focus, and ambition. 
5. Some of our favorite characteristics about ourselves may be directly related to ADHD—enthusiasm, joy, and laughing often. 
6. You are not alone! There are other women like you out there, and some of them are pretty amazing—see our list of badass celebrity women with ADHD.
7. Go find your "good parts!" Make a list. You'll be glad you did. 

In Episode 2 of our series for moms who feel like they suck, through the lens of ADHD, today we celebrate the good stuff. We were so excited to learn about some of the positive qualities many women with ADHD share. We'll go down the list of celebration-worthy traits to offset the things we struggle with, and we hope you'll walk away feeling a little better about your own superpowers, the things that make you amazing. Women with ADHD are fantastic, not in spite of their diagnosis, but sometimes because of it.

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

**TO JOIN US AT THE NEW MOON VIRTUAL RETREAT, CLICK HERE: https://www.motherplusser.com/new-moon-retreat**

1. We are so excited to share the first episode in a 5-part series for moms who basically feel like they suck at this whole motherhood thing. 
2. Stace and Steph look at motherhood through the lens of ADHD; getting a diagnosis opened Steph's eyes to a major puzzle piece as to why she has always felt like a failure at motherhood, an "impostor mom."
3. We represent the moms who feel like there is just "something different" about us—the moms who don't fit into the cookie cutter model and feel like we've been pretending and hiding. 
4. When you feel like you are getting motherhood all wrong, it triggers guilt and shame in a major way—motherhood magnifies all your insecurities like nothing else. 
5. We've learned a lot about why women with ADHD tend to "go off the rails" in motherhood—many of the characteristics of ADHD make being Parenting Project Manager extremely difficult. 
6. Are you the mom who forgets spirit week, the lunchbox on the kitchen counter, the overflowing laundry basket, the school fees, the early release schedule? Yep, us, too. There may be a good reason for that. 
7. Mess, forgetfulness, distraction, disinterest, overwhelm—there are reasons why we feel guilty, ashamed, and ambivalent. And it's not "all our fault" because we are bad moms. 

In Episode 1 of a new 5-part series for moms who feel like they are failing motherhood, Stace and Steph examine motherhood through the lens of ADHD and realize there are some real reasons why we struggle so much. The characteristics of ADHD and the way an ADHD brain functions chemically provide a new way of looking at the things we suck at, the things we hate doing, and that niggling feeling that we just aren't doing this motherhood thing quite right. Join us in this series for moms who feel like impostors, the moms who feel like they are a square peg in a round hole, as we explore our journey with neurodivergence.

For Steph's ADHD diagnosis episode, click here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mother-plus-podcast/id1596164287?i=1000641967619

**TO JOIN US AT THE NEW MOON VIRTUAL RETREAT, CLICK HERE: https://www.motherplusser.com/new-moon-retreat**

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

1. Stace and Steph welcome Jamie DeLuccio, astrological intuitive, yogi, and women's circle facilitator, back to the podcast for a follow-up episode. 
2. As always, we are all about permission on this podcast! Understanding your birth chart and how astrology can impact your life is the ultimate permission slip to understand and accept who you are. 
3. Jamie teaches us how following the lunar cycles can give us an accessible introduction to learning astrology. 
4. We talk about how to create a special New Moon ritual for yourself meditation, journaling, and a focus on intention and visualizing what you want to bring into your life. 
5. For the Full Moon, Jamie encourages us to focus less on what we want to release, and more on what is being illuminated, what has triggered us, what shadows or challenges we may need to embrace as teachers. 
6. Jamie reminds us to trust ourselves and our intuition when creating rituals for ourselves—this practice is all about self-compassion and love. 

In today's episode, we welcome back one of our favorite return guests—astrological intuitive Jamie DeLuccio. Jamie talks us through what it means to follow the lunar cycles and how to create meaningful rituals for yourself twice a month for the new and full moons. Join us—and Jamie!—on Thursday, February 8th for a beautiful virtual retreat to celebrate the New Moon in Aquarius. Jamie will utilize the birth charts of each attendee to create personalized insights and practices for everyone; she'll guide us through meditation, a sound bath, and an evening of connection and community.

Awesome stuff we talk about in this episode:
To register for a one-night New Moon event to become a ritual you can keep forever, click here: https://www.motherplusser.com/new-moon-retreat

To listen to our episode where Jamie gives us permission to be ourselves, click here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-astrological-coach-gives-moms-permission-to-be/id1596164287?i=1000596286009

To find out more about Jamie, click here:
https://www.jamiedeluccioastrology.com/

The astrological app that Steph mentions:
https://app.chani.com/

To get the parenting course that will change the way you run your household, click here:
https://www.motherplusser.com/parent-workshop

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

In this mini episode, find out what we learned from Parent Coach Cindy Shuster in our virtual workshop, It's Good For Kids To Help.

• Cindy reminds us to be kind and gentle with ourselves first and foremost—give yourself a break!
• We learn the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and why extrinsic doesn't really work.
• Cindy shares her feelings on chore charts, and why they probably haven't worked out for you in the past. 
• Let's talk about our boiling points—can you relate to that feeling of being pushed to your limit? 
• Boundaries and follow-through can be the Achilles heel for many parents—Cindy has some suggestions!
• What really happens when we argue with our kids about household chores?

Listen to some clips from our workshop with Parent Coach Cindy Shuster and learn what our favorite takeaways are. We are so excited to share our $20 online mini-course, in which Cindy teaches us: How to cultivate a more cooperative dynamic in your family/ Reduce the chaos and promote the peace/ Take a closer look at your relationship dynamics/ Understand the roles of respectful communication and boundary setting/ Acknowledge your mom guilt and its role in your household/ Empower your children to be accountable by giving them purposeful, meaningful work/ How to work as a team, and see your kids as your partners. Learn more about how to access this online digital course here. 

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

1. Moving beyond the stereotypes: ADHD can show up very differently in women/girls than in men and boys. 
2. Steph shares what it felt like to be a sensitive daydreamer in school, a "good girl" who got good grades and flew under the radar because her symptoms were all internalized. 
3. Do you feel like you've had a "secret" your whole life, that maybe there was something wrong with you or different about you that you didn't want anyone to know about? 
4. Steph shares her "breaking point" moments when she realized it was time to get an official diagnosis. 
5. Many women with ADHD symptoms dismiss their own experience—or have it dismissed by others—because "life is stressful/everyone is forgetful/that's just normal"—which can lead to not getting evaluated. 
6. Steph shares a checklist of characteristics shared by many women with ADHD, qualities she recognized immediately in herself. 
7. And finally—diagnosis day. What it feels like to finally feel seen and understood, and to have a path forward. 

In this solo episode, Steph talks about her journey to get an ADHD diagnosis in her 40s. Learn about some of the things she's learned during her research and evaluation process about the differences between ADHD in women/girls vs the "hyper little boy" stereotype we all grew up with. 

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

1. Screen time: Some of us hate it, some of us rely on it, some of us feel guilty and confused, but almost all moms have BIG feelings about screen time. 
2. It's a slippery slope—Stacey shares how her zero tolerance screen time went from the occasional TV show to weekend cartoon marathons and iPads in the car. 
3. Steph's kids are older, and she shares a completely different perspective on TV shows, devices, and active vs passive screen time. 
4. Oh, the guilt! So many of us feel so guilty when we "give up" and give in to screen time, regardless of how thoughtfully we use it. 
5. Listen to the opinions of the moms we surveyed, and see where you fall on the screen time spectrum. 
6. What factors are most important? Age, type of screen/entertainment, self-regulation, reason, special needs, frequency? 
7. "Is this a hill I'm going to die on?" We have to accept that there are only so many things as parents that we can prioritize. As Steph's grandma would say, "We can't be on all the committees." As moms, we all need to decide what OUR family values are, and stick with that. 

In this Stace and Steph episode, we cover the polarizing subject of screen time. We reached out to other moms to get their take on the topic, and share the myriad opinions on everything from iPads to kids' cell phones to social media to family movie night. We'll dive into the distinctions for different ages, and the difference between active and passive screen time. Join the conversation by sharing your thoughts on Instagram or emailing us at hello@ motherplusser.com. 

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger

Send us Fan Mail

**SIGN UP FOR THE PARENT WORKSHOP HERE: https://www.motherplusser.com/parent-workshop**

In this episode, we cover:

1. Stace and Steph confess that they are total Montessori Failures—after trying to empower our kids' independence when they were toddlers, things aren't going so well these days.
2. It feels impossible as parents to commit to a "chore plan" with consistency and so we end up taking the path of least resistance. 
3. We are so burned out of all the failed responsibility charts, "new systems," and family meetings trying to delegate tasks that end up going nowhere—we need a new plan!
4. What happens to the moms who are overwhelmed, Type B, or have ADHD? How do we keep our homes functioning in a way that keeps us sane?
5. Our instinct is often to feel "bad" for our kids when we ask them to do jobs—everything comes back to guilt!!—but we don't think that's the right path. 
6. If you, like us, worry that it's too late—don't despair!! Help is on the way!! We are bringing in Parent Coach Cindy to help turn this ship around!
7. Learn more about our workshop with Cindy on January 8th—It's Good for Kids to Help: Move beyond whining, chore charts, and guilt towards a more cooperative household

In this Stace and Steph episode, we are talking about household chores, chaos, and kids. When our kids don't help around the house, it can push us over the edge and cause us to morph into our crazy alter egos or cliched desperate housewives. We share our biggest complaints and our suspicions that we may be going about this all wrong. But never fear! We are calling in Parent Coach Cindy, who is bringing us a workshop to help us get our kids on board and improve our quality of life. She'll help us dive into the role of guilt, parental confidence, connection, and the importance of developing our kids' resilience and independence. Don't miss out on this potentially life-changing workshop—sign up below.

 It's Good For Kids To Help: A Parent: Move beyond whining, chore charts, and guilt towards a more cooperative household
Sign Up Here for EARLY BIRD PRICING:
 https://www.motherplusser.com/parent-workshop

Want to learn more about Parent Coach Cindy? Here is the Cindy Shuster Interview

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger