The Mom Hour

From bedtime fears to big kid bed transitions, nightwaking big kids and second thoughts about co-sleeping, we’ve covered a lot of sleep challenges over the years. Today we’re bringing together some of the most common pain points our listeners have brought to us about SLEEP, complete with updated commentary and a fresh take on what sleep challenges are like with tweens and teens. Join us!

LINKS MENTIONED:

• We recorded this episode IRL! Check out this Instagram Live from our meetup!
• If you listen and one of the recordings was about your child we’d love to hear from you! 
• Sarah mentioned her conversation with Dr. Catherine Pearlman on this recent episode. 
• Laura asks for advice about strategies for helping her toddler who is afraid of ghosts and monsters at bedtime which originally aired in Episode 163.
• Brady asks about her six-year-old waking because he’s scared a few times a month which originally aired in Episode 242.
• Samantha asks for tips and tricks to make the transition to her one-year-old’s big girl bed easier which originally aired in Episode 111.
• New mom Amanda asks if Meagan or Sarah have experience co-sleeping and if they have advice on transitioning to a crib which originally aired in Episode 65.
• Meagan mentioned the books The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley and The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Gentle Ways to Stop Bedtime Battles and Improve Your Child’s Sleep by Elizabeth Pantley
• More sleep challenges we’ve addressed over the years that we didn’t have time for today:
• In Episode 275, Sarah weighs in on a question about how to use an “okay to wake” clock with a clever three-year-old (skip to 34:00)
• In Episode 224, a new mom of twins helps us reminisce about infant nap schedules (skip to 30:30)
• In Episode 211, we discuss how (and whether) to stick to sleep routines while traveling or on vacation (skip to 28:30)
• In Episode 135 we help tackle the challenge of a toddler who won’t stay in his room at bedtime(skip to 06:50)
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While there’s a lot of value in setting goals and intentions at the start of a new year (and in revisiting and tracking progress throughout the year), sometimes the intentions we set months ago aren’t serving us the way we had hoped. In this More Than Mom episode, Meagan and Sarah revisit what we said we wanted to do and ways we hoped to grow in 2022, reflect on how we’ve done so far, and share how some intentions shifted over time. We also realize that sometimes life surprises us with growth we hoped for…just not in the way we thought it might happen. And that is OKAY. Join us! 

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Listen to our first episode on our 2022 intentions and our first check-in earlier this year. 
• Here is Meagan’s first post on instagram about her Less Boozin’ January.
• Interested in hearing more about Sarah’s reading habits? Here’s a recent More Than Mom: Books Talk!where she discusses just that.
• Sarah clearly hit the goal of fostering kittens in 2022 (or failed depending on how you look at it!).
• Meagan wrote a post Flowing Streams, Not Full Cups, about not needing to have a completely full cup to give back.
• Meagan’s Mother Of Reinvention Community will launch in a few short weeks.

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When an article or study claims that a certain parenting approach is “best” or is “matters most,” how does that make you feel as a mom? Meagan and Sarah have thoughts, starting with this: assuming that every family defines “parenting success” the same way is a tricky proposition. In Episode 386 we dive deep into research-based parenting advice and, specifically, how parenting data as published in articles and studies impacts our day to day decision-making as well as our mom-confidence. Join us!

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Meagan and Sarah referenced both The One Parenting Decision That Really Matters by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz and How to Quit Intensive Parenting by Elliot Haspel articles during this episode.
• Sarah mentioned Emily Oster, a data scientist and parenting writer, who writes a newsletter called ParentData on data, pregnancy, child rearing and whatever else is on the mind of parents. She’s published a few books that analyze the data behind choices in pregnancy and parenting. 
• Email us [email protected] if you want to keep going with this conversation! 
• Meagan & Sarah are together in Dallas this week! Be sure to check-in with us on Instagram to catch a glimpse of us IRL. 
• More Than Mom this coming Sunday is all about our 2022 Goals and Intentions! You can catch up on our last Goals and Intentions check-in here.

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Whether you love everything about Halloween or mildly dread some of the excess (sugar, stuff, events, oh my!), today’s episode is meant to give you permission to find the traditions and celebrations that work for your family. Regular contributor Joanna Martin is back on the show to interview Sarah about how the Powers family has done Halloween over the years. Later in the episode Sarah chats with Diane Boden, host of the Minimalist Moms podcast about how a scaled-back approach to harvest season works in her family. Happy October, friends! 

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Learn more about our contributor Joanna Martin and follow her on instagram. 
• Sarah’s family reads Pumpkin Soup (affiliate link) by Helen Cooper every year, and then makes this recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with Apple & Bacon.
• Joanna Martin uses this Roasted Pumpkin Seeds recipe every year during pumpkin carving.
• Check out Meagan’s essay about Trick-or-Treating Teenagers
• Sarah’s family loves the Disney Halloween Special Mickey’s House of Villains
• Sarah mentioned loving the big kid crafts stage, including How to Marble a Pumpkin with Nail Polish from Color Made Happy
• Diane Boden is the voice behind the top-rated podcast and community, Minimalist Moms, where talks about living a life in the pursuit of less. You can find Diane at her website, on Instagram, and on Facebook. 
• Diane wrote the book Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity (affiliate link), full of on-the-go minimalist wisdom that teaches busy parents how to embrace simple living, focusing on what matters, and inner calm.
• Check out a few blog posts from the Halloween Archives:
• A Lesson Learned From A Costumeless Halloween
• Five Festive Halloween Activities For Families With Little Kids
• Books Talk: Our Favorite Halloween Picture Books

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Now that school routines are underway, we’re going deep into the details of lunch packing – with the help of our team! In Episode 385 Meagan and Sarah call on the experience, perspective and real-life lunch packing advice of five moms from around the country, whose lunch-eating kids range in age from two to sixteen. We touch on lunch packing pain points, tried-and-true ideas for each food group, strategies for snacking, and some of our must-have lunch packing accessories. We hope that a peek inside the bento boxes of other families will both validate that you’re already doing a great job (yes, even if you send the same thing every day!) AND infuse your lunch packing with some easy new ideas. Take a listen!

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Did you enjoy hearing from our contributors on this episode? You can learn more about them here or follow them on instagram to show them the love!
• Jayme Sherrod
• Lisa Payne
• Mandy Yang
• Joanne Ruelos Diaz
• Jennifer Carroll
• Products our contributors just love and use to pack lunches daily.
• Jennifer uses the Pottery Barn Kids All-In-One Bento Boxes each day for her preschoolers.
• Mandy packs her daughter’s salad everyday in the Sistema Salad Containers.
• Lisa loves these Amazon Easy Lunchboxes for her four children.
• Jayme’s favorite product is the Planet Box Stainless Steal Lunchbox for her two young children.
• Joann uses Sistema Lunchboxes for her children.
• Sarah loves these 1 oz plastic containers for sauce or dressing.
• Meagan wrote a blog back in 2011 where she did a lunch-making challenge!
• Momables is a lunch-packing subscription service that gives you menu plans and ideas.
• Don’t forget to check out our Instagram this week to see some visuals that go along with the episode.

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Oh, you bought THAT carseat? Your third grader has a cell phone? Wow, you really give your kids freedom! No moms we know are immune from feeling judged, or criticized, or called out by comments from others (even if it’s mostly in our heads!). In Episode 384 Meagan and Sarah discuss our own insecurities and vulnerabilities when it comes to parenting. We share our specific insecurity triggers, plus offer ideas for what to think about BEFORE your insecurities get activated, what to say IN THE MOMENT when someone makes a comment, and what to remember AFTER you’ve had an experience that makes you feel judged. We hope you find this conversation comforting; you are not alone!

LINKS MENTIONED:

• If this episode was helpful to you and you want to help US out a little, share and tag us on social media! It helps us so much! 
• Next week, we are covering a week of real-life lunch packing featuring our contributors

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Have you found some renewed energy now that the season is changing and the kids are back in school? Now is the perfect time to start some tiny habits to make the most of that fall mojo! Today, Meagan and Sarah share some of our small habits that are making a big difference for us this fall, along with the driving principles behind them. While some habits impact our morning and bedtime routines (like skin care, water before coffee and learning Finnish), others are woven into our busy weeks whenever we get the chance (like picking up and reading the local paper). And never forget: while we may seem like we have it figured out at times, some areas of our lives are still chaos, this fall and always. Enjoy!

LINKS MENTIONED:

• We will have a final check-in in a few weeks of the goals and intentions we each set for 2022. Here’s our last check-in from earlier this year. 
• Meagan uses the free version of Duolingo each morning to learn Finnish.
• Meagan shared her skincare routine in the post Why I’m Embracing Midlife Skincare Monogamy.
• Sarah can’t get enough of the Todoist app (affiliate link – get 2 months of Pro free!) for managing her to-do list (you can listen to her detail how she uses it in this episode of Best Laid Plans).
• Interested in gua sha (which Meagan talked about having an at-home routine similar to)? We learned a lot from this Good Housekeeping article

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Teaching kids life skills around money isn’t as straightforward as, say, teaching them how to order a pizza or do a load laundry. Not only are there different ways to approach each topic – from allowance and paying for chores to saving and charitable giving – but money is also incredibly emotionally-charged and often complicated by our own life experiences (ahem, baggage). Today Meagan and Sarah reflect on how our upbringings impacted our financial points of view, and the challenges we face when it comes to teaching our kids good money habits. Join us! 

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Meagan read the book The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel which describes how everybody is emotional about money and nobody is rational about money. 
• Here’s the recent College Plans & Family Culture episode where Meagan discussed how she talks about the cost of college with her children.
• Sarah interviewed a personal financial planner in Spending, Saving, and Living Your Values with Natalie Taylor: Voices 36.
• Meagan is launching a virtual community for midlife moms! Visit www.MORcommunity.com to learn more about Meagan’s private community for midlife moms coming soon!
• Sarah’s kids use Go Henry as a debit card and app to help them learn about money.

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Separation anxiety – but make it for moms! Today we’re talking about the feelings and experiences that come up when we’re separated from our children, whether it’s for a couple of hours or many days. Meagan and Sarah look back on what separation felt like as new moms, how the tears at preschool drop-off years are sort of the worst, and why we both can go into “out of sight, out of mind” compartmentalization pretty easily when we’re not with our kids. We also discuss how much information we like to have about what our kids are up to when they’re away from us, and whether it helps or hurts to get a peek into their lives away from us. Whether you’re getting ready for your first caregiver handoff or sending an adult off to college, this episode is for you!

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Meagan mentioned the recent episode of Lessons In Motherhood From Chickens & Kittens: Episode 379–If you didn’t listen yet, it’s a very entertaining one!
• New on the blog–Our contributor Stacy Bronec shares how to decide what to keep or to toss when all the papers start coming home from school.

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It’s been a while since we talked about books and reading! These days Meagan identifies as a total bookworm and Sarah as more of a modest reader in terms of quantity – during other seasons of life we’ve been just the opposite. In this More Than Mom episode, Meagan and Sarah share how our reading habits ebb and flow, where and how we find new books to read, and specific titles we’ve read so far in 2022. Cozy up on the couch as we dive into some of our weirdest, quickest, fluffiest, unfinished, most educational and inspirational books we’ve been reading lately. Whether you’re an avid reader yourself, or just want some books talk by osmosis, enjoy!

LINKS MENTIONED:

Books listed below are affiliate links at Bookshop.org. That means if you click through from this page and make a purchase, we’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you – and you’ll be helping to support indie bookstores around the country! We also love to hear when you support your local bookstores and public libraries, too!

• Meagan’s List of Books
• One’s Company by Ashley Hutson
• Good Husbandry & The Dirty Life both by Kristin Kimball
• Into The Wilderness by Sara Donati
• Breath by James Nestor
• The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
• At Home by Bill Bryson (Sarah recommends How We Got To Now by Steven Johnson if you enjoyed At Home)
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Wintering by Katherine May
• I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet by Shana Niequest
• Sarah’s List of Books
• Broken (in the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson
• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottleib
• The Duke and I: Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk
• Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
• Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• Want to listen to more episodes about books? You may enjoy the following past episodes:
• Books We’re Loving Lately: Voices 72 With Joanna Martin & Katherine DeVries
• Books Talk: Summer Beach Reads
• Cozy Audiobooks For Fall
• Books Talk: Fiction For Moms
• Our friends at The Girl Next Door Podcast have lots of books talk. Check them out!
• Want to learn more about Meagan’s good friend Amy Clark’s Book Club? Click here to access her Book Club and here to check out her podcast (all about books!). 
• Meagan interviewed Amy on the Mother Of Reinvention Podcast–Leaning (Back) In To What You Love with Amy Clark of the Mom Advice Book Club

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