What does your inner voice tell you about yourself as a mother? In this episode, the wonderful Jasmine Turner discusses the power that mothers have, the importance of tapping into the true "you", and trusting your gut. It was such a powerful episode that I continued to think about it for days after we recorded! I hope it does the same for you!

-Support the show (and get bonus content like exclusive episodes and Zoom calls with me!) by going to patreon.com/ontheharddays.
-Be showcased as a "Mom of the Week" through my weekly newsletter "Mothers Together", which also features resources for raising out-of-the-box kids and a personal blog post. Sign up at ontheharddays.com!
-Subscribe to On The Hard Days via Apple, Spotify, or however you get your podcasts. Be sure to leave a review to spread the word to other moms around the world!

*Trigger Warning*: The first 16 minutes of this episode discuss the topics of infertility and pregnancy loss.

"It's shifting from that old paradigm of that harsh discipline, of like, the child is an extension of us, and the fixing, and the behavior-based, and the time-outs, and the rules, and the achievement-based - it's more like just that processing it together, living it together. It's needs-based, it's about listening. It's no shaming, no fixing."

Why do you parent the way that you do? In this episode, the amazing Jennifer Hepton, Conscious Parenting Coach, walks you through the process of 1) understanding your triggers and where they came from, and 2) forgiving yourself for them. In this, she focuses on meeting your children where they are without the need to shame or "fix" them. It's truly a life-giving episode and cannot be missed!

-Support the show (and get bonus content like exclusive episodes and Zoom calls with me!) by going to patreon.com/ontheharddays.
-Be showcased as a "Mom of the Week" through my weekly newsletter "Mothers Together", which also features resources for raising out-of-the-box kids and a personal blog post. Sign up at ontheharddays.com!
-Subscribe to On The Hard Days via Apple, Spotify, or however you get your podcasts. Be sure to leave a review to spread the word to other moms around the world!

In an effort to better support and meet the needs of you lovely mamas, I'm taking the first step into turning this hobby into an actual side hustle. Take a listen to see what I'm bringing your way.

*Warning: There is swearing in this episode. Do not listen with kids around!*

"We talk about mental health being important, but what's important is being open to what you have, and being open to the fact that it's gonna be a journey to heal. And actually, what's crazy? What's crazy is the journey never ends."

"Respecting that your child's emotions are different to yours, and giving them space to have them - and a safe space. Giving them the knowledge that, no matter how you feel, 'I love you, my love is unconditional, I don't love you more when you're quiet or well-behaved or listening to me. I love you all the time. So much so, that you are screaming at me right now but I'm going to sit with you and love you through it.'"

"But I think when you have this idea of how things are gonna go, and they don't meet those expectations, it can be really difficult as a mother....When I started seeing [rage], I had no idea that could be a symptom of anxiety. I thought I was just mean now. And that makes me so sad to say! Am I just not a nice person anymore? Do I have no patience, no tolerance? But it's anxiety because everything around you feels out of your control."

"I played out a whole scene in my head. Those are intrusive thoughts and I didn't know this at the time, I thought this was normal. I knew I was a worrier, but that's all I knew." "So that's not normal?" "That's anxiety. That is anxiety. I don't even like the word 'normal'. What is normal? It's not that it's not normal. But it is anxiety."

"I fell in love with changing people's lives. It fills my cup. It makes me happy. You know, being a stay-at-home mom, you're in this constant rut of doing the same things every day. You're doing dishes, you're doing laundry, you're cleaning, you're vacuuming, it's everything constantly. You're doing all their needs, which is great and I love them, but I wasn't fulfilling something that was empty within me."

"In my experience, what I've found is more of a gentle parenting, respectful parenting approach seems to work best. And really helping them build that feeling vocabulary, and helping them manage their emotions through the use of strategies. So really ultimately what we  want is these kiddos to be able to get to a place of internally managing their emotions like we do as adults, but of course, developmentally appropriate."

"And it's like, 'Give me a SECOND. I need to go to the bathroom. What part of that do you not understand?' And it goes into this like, 'Who Am I?' Like, I cannot recognize who this person is speaking and it's like I'm standing outside of my body, staring at this person yelling, being like, 'What are you doing?' But I have zero control over it."