Today we (Lissi and Joy) discuss different times in our lives when we have had to take the reigns and parent solo-style.  We’ve been through long periods of husbands in graduate programs and work travel that have left us feeling isolated but also resourceful as we’ve found ways to make it bearable and also easier on ourselves.  We give major respect to single moms and military moms who do the solo parenting thing all day every day! Lissi talks about reaching out to other moms to help each other during the long years of dental school, taking advantage of things like Click List, and most importantly: Treat Yo Self! Joy reveals the long periods of travel her husband had to do during some of the busiest baby years of their marriage, how she survived with the help of others, how important it is to say YES to things you want to do (pay the sitter!) and how to balance life when one person is continually coming and going. Takeaway questions include: What tips would you give other moms who are gearing up for a long period of solo-parenting? What have you done to keep from becoming resentful of your partner’s travel? Do you have any tips for dealing with fear or anxiety when you’re alone at night? Do you check every inch of your house like a crazy person ala Joy? Please share with us and all our other listeners as we figure this thing out together! Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom and chime in. We have so many questions and hope that you have the answers! Thanks for listening!

This week we (Lissi and Joy) discuss the huge undertaking of packing and traveling for a long summer trip.  Joy...

This week we (Lissi and Joy) discuss the huge undertaking of packing and traveling for a long summer trip.  Joy discusses all the tips and tricks she has collected over years of trekking across the country in a van full of people, suitcases, and gear.  We also discuss the challenges that come from packing for five weeks, entertaining kids in the car for 30 hours, and moving from place to place every five to seven days, all while maintaining her sanity. Also discussed: Pools (yes? no?), ticks (scourges of the earth), and summer camp. Takeaway questions include: Do you have any tips for taking a long car trip with your kids?  Any tips for packing up a family for a looooong trip away? Are you able to leave a clean house when you go?  (Joy wants to know HOW!?) Do you have a pool?  Do you love it or hate it? Do you have a Trader Joes?  More importantly, how do we get Trader Joes to come to our town?? Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom and chime in. We can’t wait to hear from you! Thanks for listening and H.A.G.S.

We are so excited for all the feelings and thoughts that have been shared with us over Episode: 08- I...

We are so excited for all the feelings and thoughts that have been shared with us over Episode: 08- I Feel….Pretty? This week we wanted to share the insights, thoughts, emotions, feelings, and insecurities that flowed in from friends and listeners alike.  It seemed like most people preferred to keep their comments anonymous, which prevented much discussion on our social media pages, so we thought we would be the mouthpiece and unite our listeners in their similarities and make everyone feel supported (while keeping commenters anonymous). We share honest feedback and questions that were submitted to us- such as one woman’s road to finding value in herself that was not based on her appearance, one mother’s question about body positivity vs. teaching healthy eating habits, and another commenter’s thoughts on balancing physical compliments with non-physical praise. We share our thoughts on the cycle of weight gain, obsessive dieting, weight loss, excessive praise, circling back around to weight gain.  It’s a ferris wheel we’ve been on many times! We also talk about aging, hair woes, HCG dieting and cleanses…. So please share with us! Takeaway questions include: Have you found a way to talk about body insecurities with your young daughters/teens? Can you relate to any of the stories that we shared? If you’re feeling brave, will you share your insights on body image, positivity, acceptance, etc in our facebook group or under the instagram post for this episode? Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom and chime in. We have so many questions and hope that you have the answers! Thanks for listening!

This week we (Lissi and Joy) talk about all the different ways of eating, dieting and exercise plans that we...

This week we (Lissi and Joy) talk about all the different ways of eating, dieting and exercise plans that we have tried over the course of the past several years.  We examine how we ate as children and how that affected our relationship with food, what we’ve discovered as we have tried different diets: calorie counting, clean eating, cutting out sugar, gluten-free, macro counting, and plant based eating…. We also discuss different exercise methods we have tried from yoga to running to HIIT classes and how we feel they affect our bodies. We also revisit body positivity in relation to all these diets we have tried.  We are going to continue that aspect of the conversation as well as hash out all the feedback we received about last week’s episode next week. Takeaway questions include: What diets/eating methods have you tried in the past, and have you felt like they were sustainable? Have you tried any of the methods that we mentioned?  (Clean, vegan, gluten-free, macro, calorie counting) Do you base your exercise regimen on how you feel or how you look? Do you also love Kayla Itsines like us?  Have you tried Orange Theory?  Please share with us! Oh, and did you give Schitt’s Creek a try?? Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom and chime in. We have so many questions and hope that you have the answers! Thanks for listening!

In this episode we (Lissi and Joy) take last week’s conversation about chores a step further by discussing paying our...