Laundry is is a constant: it’s truly with us every day, week, and month of the year. In this first episode of 2023, Meagan and Sarah focus in on the laundry systems and strategies that are working (or not) in our homes, plus our favorite products, the grossest things we deal with, what’s great (and weird) about our laundry rooms, and how seasons of life change the challenges of keeping up with the laundry. If you wear clothes – or live with people who do – this episode is for you.

As work-from-home moms, we’re perpetually seeking comfort and warmth during the winter months – stopping JUST SHY of living in pajamas 24/7. If your cozy winter wardrobe needs an update or you’re itching to do some post-Christmas shopping, listen to Episode 397 for Meagan’s and Sarah’s cold-weather fashion faves. Join us!

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Hiya Health

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Links We Mentioned (Or Should Have) In This EpisodeMeagan’s Cozy MentionsMeagan’s loving her Vuori pants in a wide-legged drawstring style, a jogger, and a harem pant.Sweater favs? This alpaca wool sweater and cashmere batwing sweaters from Quince!Meagan added this green sweater dress and this date-night dress to her wardrobe paired with Sheertex tights.The Gwen tall boot from Vionic has been Meagan’s ride-or-die this winter (Vionic is a sponsor – get free shipping with code THEMOMHOUR)Meagan got some new Land’s End jammies on recommendation from a friend.Harper Wilde Bliss BrasSarah’s Cozy MentionsFavorite pants right now are from Lululemon Like New and she manages to exit the home Old Navy jogger-style PJ pants and style them as if they are NOT pajamas.When in the house, she’s 100% in these J Crew Factory Slippers!Current shoe faves are the Breilin Sneaker in Vapor from Vionic (Vionic is a sponsor – get free shipping with code THEMOMHOUR), and the Ecco Women’s Soft 7 SneakerOne of her fav sweaters is close to this one from Lunya.Sarah also has the Cassie Knit Cardi from Jane (affiliate link)For layering purposes, Sarah has had good luck with Target’s Merona line or this Madewell Tank – but could use a few more recommendations!Don’t miss Chaunie’s new blog post Care For yourSELF In 2023 With These 9 Products To Manage AnxietyContinue the conversation:

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Running a full-time independent podcast company keeps us busy – so busy that we don’t often pause to let listeners in to how it all works! As we approach the end of 2022, Meagan and Sarah share what’s up behind the scenes at The Mom Hour. We start with a lightning round of frequently asked questions (how’d we meet? do we fight? how does the podcast make money?) and move into bigger thoughts about our industry as a whole and the current economic landscape. We also take a look back at how we’ve grown over the years (particularly the past two), profess our love for fellow women podcasters whose names you’ll definitely recognize, and share what’s next for The Mom Hour.

You've got holiday parenting questions, and Meagan and Sarah have answers. In this very merry Listener Questions episode, we tackle things like how to make the magic happen for your littles while traveling and spending Christmas at grandparents, how to coordinate and facilitate sibling gift giving, how to keep a curious kitten (or two) out of the tree (this is our reality this year!) and suggestions for how to handle the post-holiday blues of packing away Christmas.

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Got resentment? Managing anxiety? Filled with hope? You're not alone. The holidays provide a colorful snack platter of emotions - many of which we experience within a single day (or even moment!). Today it's our honor to bring you the voices of eight moms, each of whom explores a different holiday feeling: anticipation, overwhelm, nostalgia, grief, anxiety, wonder, resentment and hope. In addition to our contributing voices, Meagan and Sarah also chat about our own hopes and feelings about Holiday Season 2022. Grab a cozy warm beverage and settle in!

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Planning a festive, event-filled holiday season but worried about having the budget to make it all come together? Meagan and regular contributor Lisa Payne join forces in today's episode to share how we stretch our budgets in order to create all the behind-the-scenes magic that takes place in our divorced households with large broods. Join us for all our best tricks (and our Mom Hour Facebook Community's tips) for hitting your food, travel, decor, entertainment and gift budgets this year.

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"Mom, is Santa Jesus's grandpa?" If you've found yourself in the (somehow surprising?) position of Adult In Charge Of The Holidays, you too might be on the receiving end of kids' questions about what's going on, exactly, with all these rituals and traditions. The answers don't always come easy, because even as adults it's not always obvious how (or whether) to carry our own family of origin's traditions into a new generation, how to merge faiths and cultures with our partners, and how to explain it all meaningfully to our kids. In today's Voices episode, Sarah chats with three members of The Mom Hour team about bringing traditions forward from the past, creating new ones that feel right for right now, and navigating interfaith and intercultural dynamics. It's a vulnerable, nuanced, and sometimes funny topic, and while we don’t pretend to have every aspect represented or covered today, we invite you to join us as we learn a little from one another!

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Planning, shopping, wrapping...Oh My! Today we're featuring YOUR genius House Rules for gifting and giving this holiday season. We chat creative ways for extending the fun on the big day (without more buying), self care for mom after a wrapping marathon, what Santa brings (and doesn't), how to handle extended family gift giving, AND gifts from the cat (yep, you read that correctly).

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Can't we all just get along? (Or maybe, more accurately: Can ANYONE, EVER, just get along?) From playground drama to cousin power dynamics, sibling bickering to neighborly awkwardness, there's no avoiding relationship challenges as families grow, change, and evolve. Today's episode brings together some of the common questions we've gotten from listeners over the years about helping kids learn to play well and fight fair.

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The toy catalogs have arrived and the lists are being made! It's normal for kids to wish and want all season long, and it's ALSO normal for all those "gimmes" to get on parents' nerves (or make us worry that we're raising entitled kids!). In today's episode, Meagan and Sarah talk about what it looks like to help kids cultivate gratitude (it's a long game, trust us), how to allow them to hope and wish while providing reasonable expectations, and how to model accepting gifts with gratitude and grace. Most of all we're here to normalize this tension between greed and gratitude in kids: It's not you. It's not them. It's just not YET.

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