Simple Families

Many of you listening are moving towards a more intentional approach to parenting, so I know you will enjoy this episode. Mr. Chazz Lewis is one of few male voices in the movement towards more respectful parenting. I’m thrilled that he let me pick his brain on topics like mistakes, cooperation, the parent-child relationship, and breaking cycles.

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In today’s episode I’m joined by Laura Fenton. Laura is a writer, editor, and the author of The Little Book of Living Small. She and I are chatting about the ways that small living has impacted our lives and what it looks like in practice.

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As the world has grown busier, many of us have moved towards short-form content to get the knowledge and information we desire. Rather than reading a book or listening to a podcast, we want that same information in a tweet, a TikTok, or an Instagram square. That can feel like a firehose of information. But could that move toward short-form content being doing more harm than good? That’s our topic today. I’m joined by my dear friend, Eden Hyder.

Get in Touch with Eden:

In 10, 20, or even 50 years from now, early parenthood may feel like a blur with a few major bookends that stand out in our memories. What will those bookends be for your family? Do you have control over the bookends?

Want to join us in The Mental Unload? It starts January 6th, 2021.

Are messiness and minimalism compatible? In fact, we messy people probably need minimalism the most–because we can’t handle having a lot of ‘stuff’. My guest today is Rachelle Crawford. Rachelle and I have bonded over our natural tendencies towards messiness. Rachelle is sharing her journey and introducing us to her new book, Messy Minimalism.

On the podcast I often feature the voices of parents and professionals who support children. As support people, our vantage point is unique. But what about the viewpoint from those with lived experience? Today, I’m speaking with lived experience educator Sonny Jane. Sonny (whose pronouns are they/them) is a queer, agender, physically disabled, autistic ADHDer and provides lived experience education, consulting and advocacy services to neurodivergent individuals, mental health professionals and organizations + services.

They believe in listening to and centering lived experience as well as allowing neurodivergent voices to come first when speaking about their own identities and experiences. I hope you enjoy our chat.

Find Sonny on Instagram

Sonny’s Website: The Lived Experience Educator

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It’s that magical time of the year…you probably started to feel it back in October when the decorations hit the stores. The pressure to shop early and the FOMO has never been stronger. There’s a good chance you have kids that are excited for the holiday season due to the anticipation of the gifts that are to come. If that sounds like your kids, you aren’t alone. Today, we are talking about staying focused on what matters the most: the real reason for the season.

I’m joined by Meg Nordmann, author of Have Yourself a Minimalist Christmas. Meg is mother of two and also the voice behind the podcast, Journey to Freedom. You can find her on Instagram at Meg Nordmann.

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I’m thrilled to welcome our first Mother-Daughter duo to the podcast today. Quyionah Wingfield and her daughter Serenity are entrepreneurs. They’ve written books, launched online dance classes, and now their first family game app. All their ventures have a common theme–building family connection. You can find Qui and Serenity here:

Quyionah Wingfield, mother of two, founder, creator and CEO of Cool Moms Dance Too! (CMDToo!), founder and host of Set An Intention For Your Day Morning show is a family health and wellness provider and advocate. Quyionah Wingfield co-founded CMDToo! an organization that focuses on family dance wellness and play to help improve physical and mental health for mothers and their children. Quyionah studied Psychology at Georgia State University and is an AFAA/NASM certified fitness instructor and CEU training provider. In 2018 Quyionah was an award recipient for Atlanta’s A3C Action Summit for Social Justice for her work addressing health disparities, health education and equity. Emory University’s Goizueta Business School’s Start:ME accelerator awarded Cool Moms Dance Too! for their business strategy and outstanding local community work. Quyionah successfully completed The Center for Civic Innovation and Sara Blakely Foundation’s fellowship. Currently, Quyionah and CMDToo is completing a incubator with the city of Atlanta’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative and has been featured as a #Forbes1000 company. Quyionah also has a background in Accounting and Finance most recently working with Audacy Communications; Radio Broadcasting Company.

Serenity Marie is an entrepreneur, author and actor born and raised in Atlanta, GA. The daughter of entrepreneur Quyionah Wingfield, Serenity is a sweet and charismatic kidpreneur, co-founder of Cool Moms Dance Too!, and co-author of “The Bully Police Book.” In October 2021, Serenity and her mother released their first app, Gen Connect Game – The Game that gets Families Talking in an initiative to help 22,000 families by Spring of 2022 build stronger connections via communication and play. Her organization Cool Moms Dance Too has helps over 8,000 parents and children and has been featured as a #Forbes1000 company. In addition CMDToo! has created partnerships and collaborations with Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Hawks, Sara Blakely Foundation, Spanx, Mental Health America Georgia, NAMI Georgia, V103 Atlanta, Kate’s Club and more. Serenity studied dance with Kameo Production Studios, Ballethnic Dance Company and acting lessons at the Alliance Theatre and The Actors Scene. Her career accomplishments have been being featured on NBC 11-Alive, Cool Moms Dance Too series choreographer, opening for KidzBop Kids, working with Mental Health America GA and NAMI GA as a presenter. Serenity’s future aspirations are to be an interior designer and entrepreneur.

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Do your kids have too many toys? When it comes to toys, there is no perfect number. But in today’s episode we are talking about why children don’t need a lot of toys. Having an abundance of toys is not only unnecessary but could be harmful.

What do I do if I think something is “wrong” with my kid? How do I know if my kid is developing okay? I hear these questions a lot. Today I’m talking about how to choose a professional and how to know what the best step is to find the support your child needs.

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