The term “spirited child” was coined by parent educator Mary Sheedy Kurcinka when she was looking for information regarding her own strong-willed son and only found words like “difficult”and “high-strung.” She believed that framing her son’s personality positively would help her focus on his strengths. And there’s no question spirited children bring us tons of joy– while also being emotionally intense, demanding, and extra sensitive. 
In this episode we discuss

How to know if you have an officially “spirited” child

How best to support them (spoiler alert: advanced notice on transitions)

How we can learn lessons from our own spirited kids, like determination and curiosity 


Here are links to some writing on the topic that we discuss in this episode:
Cheryl Maguire for parent.com: 4 Traits I Learned From My Spirited Child
California Childcare Health Program, "Caring for the Spirited Child"
Mary Sheedy Kurcinka: Raising Your Spirited Child, Third Edition: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raising "Spirited" Kids

Break free from your creative rut and reignite your artistic flow with 'Unsticking It!' With each episode, we delve into the world of overcoming creative blocks, offering practical strategies, skilled insights, and inspiring stories to help you reclaim your creative soul-spark and find your way back to YOU!
Blaire and Molly are two busy moms/ actors (Mactors? Momtors? Exhausted?) who somewhere between potty training and the pandemic seemed to have lost their creative kaboom. They’re now enlisting the help of fellow imaginative minds to unstick themselves (and you) from the muck they’re stuck in!
Unsticking It! With Blaire & Molly. Because sometimes... life stucks!

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Comedy

Comedy Interviews

There are many ways to access and grow our creativity, vulnerability, and best selves. Transformational coach Lauren Hoffman discusses with Blaire & Molly some of those ways in, from plant medicine to breath work, to making friends with our own egos. 
Links and Resources:
Lauren’s coaching website: www.goldenlair.com
Instagram: @itslaurenhoffman
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10: Body and Soul with Lauren Hoffman

Blaire & Molly are thrilled to chat with historical biographer Sarah Gristwood (author of such books as Arbella: England’s Lost Queen, and Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses, amongst many others) about her new book Secret Voices: A Year of Women’s Diaries (we loved it). They marvel at how the similarities between the inner lives of women of all eras connect us, as well as how keeping a diary might be just the tool we’ve been looking for to help sustain our creative flow. So pour yourself a detective novel-themed cocktail and enjoy this episode of “Unsticking It!”
Links and Resources:
Secret Voices: 
https://a.co/d/8pDRzLP
X, Instagram: @sarahgristwood
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

09: The Nothing is Always Something with Sarah Gristwood

Visual artist Jess Hurley Scott joins Blaire and Molly to talk about her artistic process (she paints in reverse, y'all!), her journey to life as a painter (she and Molly worked at a fashion company together and now look at them!), and how her dyslexia diagnosis in college informs her process as an artist.
Links and Resources:
Insta and Facebook: @jesshurleyscottart
Website: www.jesshurleyscott.com
Jess's favorite coffee shop: www.seabirdcoffee.com
Jess's favorite at-home coffee: www.marylous.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

08: Seeing It Backwards with Jess Hurley

Our friend JV Mercanti is a theatre director, professor, and author who has also felt helpless to the obstacles that come up on our paths to creative freedom. We steal his ideas for how to get out from under your desk after a good cry, and learn the rules so that you can BREAK THEM. *wear your headphones for this one if you plan to listen with little ones around, as some adult words are spoken*
Please note that the Britney Spears musical on Broadway, Once Upon a One More Time referenced in this episode (which we recorded in summer 2023) has since closed. But we saw it and it was awesome. 
Links and Resources:
Website: www.jvmercanti.com
JV’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=jv+mercanti&crid=39GBCQ2EKXFA8&sprefix=jv+mercan%2Caps%2C93&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_9
“Toxic” performed by Jennifer Simard in Once Upon a One More Time: https://youtu.be/EI2R9eW_bp8?si=sne9AesllDyrg2Mi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

07: Breaking The Rules with JV Mercanti

This week’s guest Ana Breton is a producer and director currently living the dream working with Eugenio Derbez-founded 3Pas Studios. While she is so grateful to be thrice-Emmy-nominated, she teaches us, “You just have to keep making the things that you like and lifting other people to do the same, and that’s truly the rewarding moment.”
Links and Resources:
Instagram: @bretonana, @goldcomedy
3Pas Studios: 
https://www.3pas-studios.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raising "Spirited" Kids

Download our free app to listen on your phone