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Parenting in the Daycare Years


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In this episode, we’re talking about what happens when life feels like a three-ring circus—and you’re the ringleader, the janitor, and the clown.

Krista and Samantha dive into the messy reality of parenting through daycare drop-offs, school activity overload, unexpected home repairs, and the mental gymnastics of trying to do it all. We unpack our own parenting styles (spoiler: one of us is a snack drawer mom, the other is not) and reflect on how our childhoods shaped the way we show up for our kids—and ourselves.

This episode is a warm hug for anyone who’s ever cried in the preschool parking lot, stress-scrolled through Pinterest for “easy classroom snacks,” or felt the creeping guilt of not being able to do it all. We see you. We are you.

Takeaways & Merit Badges Earned:

🛠️ Home chaos doesn’t wait for a convenient time—flexibility is survival.

🧘‍♀️ Managing anxiety requires intentional space and support.

🤹 You can’t juggle everything—sometimes you need to drop a ball (or six).

🧃 We are an ingredients house, not a snack cupboard.

📚 Our childhoods sneak into our parenting more than we think.

🎒 Daycare transitions = relief and guilt, sometimes in the same breath.

🧾 You are not morally obligated to sign up for every school event.

🧑‍🏫 Talking to teachers helps. So does talking to yourself with a little more kindness.

🧽 A house manager sounds dreamy—but let’s be honest, we’re the house managers.

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Mama Merit BadgeBy Krista Olynyk and Samantha MacKinnon