Surviving Sarah

I am so happy to welcome David Thomas and Sissy Goff back to the show. This felt like a reunion since we haven't been able to sit down together like this since 2019. They are no stranger to the show. They have been on a few past episodes of Surviving Sarah. But in case you are new here, David and Sissy are counselors at Daystar in Nashville, TN. They have written some my favorite books on parenting and I had the privilege of hosting the first two seasons of their podcast, Raising Boys and Girls. Today's conversation feels like a nod to our days on their podcast. We dive into a topic and tension that we feel in parenting and then they walk us through it with some really practical advice. Today, we talk about power struggles. They break down by developmental stage for girls and boys—what it looks like, why its happening and what to do about it. And lastly, how to disengage when the power struggle happens.

Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Tara Bremer BACK to the podcast. I had so much fun the last time we chatted that I wanted to have her back. Tara is the founder of House Peace which helps us find order in our homes and lives. She has a team of people who work with her and in fact, one of her team members, Kendra, came to my house back in Atlanta and helped me create systems for the lack of storage we had. Tara joins me today to talk about managing our digital clutter. We talk about all things digital: texting, photos, apps, desktops, and emails. This episode feels like you are getting to sit at the table with two friends. It is so easy to chat with Tara. We recorded via video so we literally walk through our phones together and share tips to declutter our digital lives. I'll be sure to link everything we talk about in today's show notes over at SarahBragg.com in case you are in motion while listening and can't take notes. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

We are just under 4 months until my book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself, launches out into the world and with that, I wanted to take a few minutes and unpack what it means to raise yourself.

Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome to the table Cindy Wang Brandt. She is an author, podcaster and host of the Parenting Forward conferences. A friend told me about her years ago and since then I've read her book, Parenting Forward, and always enjoy her podcast by the same name. We recorded conversation while I was hunkered down in the safest room in the house during a tornado. You guys, if that isn't commitment to you then I don't know what it is. In this conversation, we talk about how to create a space for kids to cultivate their own spirituality, advice on how to raise kids without unnecessary shame in regards to their sexuality and how to raise citizens of the world—that is, how to help shape conscious kids. Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so very happy to welcome my friend, Monica DiCristina, to the show today. Monica is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Atlanta where she lives with her husband and three kids. Monica has such a desire to help guide others in their process of becoming who they were meant to be. She is the host of one of my new favorite podcasts called Still Becoming. You definitely want to hit subscribe to that show along with following her on Instagram—she always shares such helpful content there. Today, we dive into the topic of boundaries. This is one of those episodes where I pretend to be asking all these questions for a friend but it's really because I need all the help in setting boundaries. We talk about what they are and what they might look like in everyday life. We also dive into setting boundaries with two important relationships: our children and our in-laws. So much helpful content is shared in this episode so go ahead, pull up a chair and join the conversation. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Emily Lex to the table. She is a watercolor artist, longtime blogger, and the author of Freely and Lightly. She has been featured on HGTV and in Better Homes and Gardens and The Magnolia Journal. She resides outside the Seattle, Washington area with her husband and four children. I have been reading Emily's blog and following her online for years so it was such a pleasure to get to chat with her. And let me just say that Emily is so genuine. I have interviewed a lot of people over the last 6 years and her essence is pure gold. This conversation felt exactly like that—a conversation. I feel like Emily was as interested in me as I was in her. This conversation centered around her new book, Freely and Lightly. We talk about what her journey looked like to go from striving to be fulfilled and seen as enough to living freely and lightly knowing that she is valuable and lovable. She shares how a 4 month road trip with her family helped them take a deep breath and figure out who they were as a family. We talk about how sometimes growing requires us to let go of good things—not just bad things—in order to become—and how that has looked even in our friendships. And lastly, she turned the table on me and asked me what was in my survival kit. I think you are going to love Emily if you don't already. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so excited to be doing quarterly episodes with my friend and your friend, Merica Stum. Now that we live in the same city, we want to sit down every quarter and unpack what happened. In this episode, we talk about what we learned, what changed, what we've loved, what we've read. We dive into what we what more of and less of for this next quarter and of course we shares what's helping us survive. You will feel like you are sitting right there with us in my house and you'll even get to hear an appearance by my dog, Murray, so brace yourself.

Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself

Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Jeff and André Shinabarger back to the show. Jeff is the Executive Director of Plywood People and André is a physician's assistant at Grady Hospital here in Atlanta. Together they host the podcast Love or Work. They recently completed the largest research study on working married couples in the U.S. and spent the last few years interviewing couples who want to stay in love, change the world and raise a healthy family. They share the results of that study along with stories from their own lives in their book Love or Work. I asked them to come back on the show to talk about a topic that no one really wants to talk about yet everyone wants to actually talk about it. I bet you know what it is—sex. We talk about why we want to talk about it but can't talk about it, why its so important that we talk about it, and how our upbringing often informs how we view sex. We also talk about how important mutual pleasure is in the relationship and what to do when you want to amp up your sex life. I think this is such a good and helpful conversation.

I am happy to welcome Dr. Kelly Flanagan back to the show. He is a clinical psychologist and author to the books The Marriage Manifesto, Loveable and True Companions. If you've been listening to the show awhile, then you heard him on Episode 94 where we talked about shame and learning to accept yourself. This conversation is built upon that. We talk about the paradox for companionship: the ability to be lonely. With that, we look at embracing our loneliness and how we can find companionship through it. I always enjoy chatting with Kelly so pull up a chair and join the conversation.

Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Retha Nichole back to the podcast. She first joined me in the early days on episode 74. Retha is life and business coach who loves helping people uncover their purpose. Retha is one of those people that I am always drawn to because they are truly authentic and care deeply about helping you live your best life.

In this conversation, we talk about something that Retha has been doing for years to help her week run more smoothly. She unpacks something she created Sunday Planning which helps you create a plan to grow in your life and business consistently. You will walk away from this conversation not only inspired but also with an action plan.

Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram