In this episode we talk to Liz Walker, GP and mum to grown up children. Liz gives some golden nuggets of wisdom on bringing up teenagers, we chat about life as a working Mum and we finish off with the current crisis in the NHS, including a few ideas how we can support the NHS.

KEY TOPICS

Topic #1 [4:25] Parenting teenagers- Liz tells us about she managed the teenage years with her kids, the importance of simply listening and how to cope when your teens are no longer interested in church.

Topic #2 [27:45] Juggling life as a working Mum-we discuss the joys and challenges of being a working Mum, how Liz coped with the pressures of life at home vs work, and how things have changed over the last 30 years.

Topic #3 [38:30] The NHS- we couldn’t not talk the NHS in the episode. Liz gives her opinion what’s causing so much pressure on the NHS right now, what we can do when we’re worried about our children with so many horrid viruses and bugs about, and how we can support those working in the NHS.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

Some of the resources mentioned in the podcast include;

· The website Liz mentions for looking at children’s symptoms is frimley-healthiertogether.nhs.uk

· Katherine Hill “Left to their own devices. Parenting in a digital age”.

· Sarah-Jayne Blakemore “Inventing ourselves, The secret life of the teenage brain.”

· Katherine Hill “A Mind of their own, Building your child’s emotional wellbeing in a post pandemic world.”

·

FINALLY….

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You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @saltymumspod.

In this episode we talk to Emma Waring, a psychosexual therapist about how motherhood can impact our sex lives. We discuss timetabling sex (yes honestly!), how desire works in women, shame, and a little bit about how to talk to your children and avoid feelings of shame about sex.

RESOURCES AND LINKS·

You can find more information about Emma on her website at https://www.emmawaring.com/ .

The book Emma wrote that we refer to in the podcast is called "Seasons for Sex and Intimacy: For a Husband and Wife in Marriage"

FINALLY….

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If you’ve got any questions or suggestions you can email us at [email protected]

You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @saltymumspod.

In this episode we talk to Jo Johnson, Consultant in Prayer for the Wycliffe Global Alliance, about parenting whilst being a missionary. She tells us about the joys and challenges of life as a missionary, and also about work opportunities have opened up in the last few years as her children have all left the nest.

RESOURCES & LINKS

• For more information on the Wycliffe Global Alliance you can go to https://www.wycliffe.net/

• To learn more about the work of the Wycliffe UK office you can go to https://wycliffe.org.uk/

FINALLY…

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If you’re got any questions or suggestions you can email us at [email protected].

You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @saltymumspod

In this episode we talk to Celia Webster, co-founder of WAVE for Change, about the joys and challenges of parenting a child who has a learning disability. Celia gives a deeply honest and moving account of discovering life was going to take a different path when she discovered Maia’s disability, the isolation of having a child who is “different” at times, but also how much joy Maia has brought to her life. She also tells us about how she and Bernice Hardy founded WAVE for Change, a charity which gives those with and without learning disabilities a chance to mix, and part of the story honestly gave us goosebumps!

KEY TOPICS

Topic #1 [1:50] Introductions and discovering Maia had learning disabilities

Celia gives us an introduction to herself, and the struggles she faced and the lessons learnt in discovering Maia had additional needs.

Topic #2 [14:04] Isolation

We chat about the isolation that parents can feel if their child has additional needs and the need for churches to better engage with families whose children have additional needs. We also talk about the wider isolation parents can feel for themselves and their child in society.

Topic #3 [20:14] Wave for Change

Celia shares an incredible story of how, feeling like there was something lacking for her and Maia to go to, but reluctant to make a change herself; she had an amazing dream. Shortly after Bernice Hardy reached out to her and together Wave for Change began. Celia tells us a little about how Wave for Change works and how it has impacted people’s lives.

Topic #4 [39:50] How can we make a change?

We reflect on whether attitudes to disabilities have changed at all since the beginning of Wave for Change. And then we chat as to whether there’s anything we can personally do to help change attitudes to be more positive and inclusive of people with additional needs.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

· You can find more information about Wave for Change

o https://www.wave-for-change.org.uk/

o @waveforchangeuk on Instagram

o @waveforchange on Twitter

FINALLY….

Remember to subscribe, and also be sure to let us know what you think by leaving us a review.

If you’ve got any questions or suggestions you can email us at [email protected]

You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @saltymumspod.

In this episode we talk to Helen Rowell, founder of Brightest Stars and co-host of the already hugely successful podcast, The Widowhood. Helen tells us about the rollercoaster of emotions after losing her husband Mike last year, what’s been helpful and unhelpful in supporting her through, and also about her amazing new charity Brightest Stars which she created to give grieving families a chance to meet with others who are also grieving.

KEY TOPICS

Topic #1 [1:50] Life with Mike

Helen tells us about life with Mike and a little bit about the tragic circumstances surrounding Mike’s skiing accident in 2022.

Topic #2 [10:00] The early days of grief

We chat about how Helen handled telling her son that his Dad had died and how Alfie has been a source of strength for Helen. She shares with us some of the emotions she went through (including avoiding grief). Our Helen also shares some of her reflections of watching Helen in those early days and how we can support friends going through grief.

Topic #3 [21:45] What’s helpful in grief

Helen shares a little of how her faith has helped her, but also practical ideas as to what you can do to support people going through grief such as filling people’s fridges (and also not what to do or say!)

Topic #4 [30:50] Setting up Brightest Stars

Helen tells us about why she set up Brightest Stars to support her son and other families through grief.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

• You can find more information about Helen’s charity at

  • www.brighteststars.co.uk

  • @brighteststarsbereavement

• For more information on the podcast Helen is co-host for go to @thewidowhood. To listen to The Widowhood go to https://open.spotify.com/show/7vNnSBQJqLCOK46m4YGeIH

FINALLY….

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If you’ve got any questions or suggestions you can email us at [email protected]

You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @saltymumspod.

In this episode we interview Chine McDonald, Director of Theos and mum of two boys about her experience with hyperemesis gravidarum (extreme morning sickness) and issues around maternal mental health, and then we discuss her book ‘God is Not a White Man’ (2021) and the issues of racism in the Church in relation to being a parent.

KEY TOPICS

• Topic #1 [5:10] Pregnancy and maternal mental health

We discuss Chine’s unfortunate experience with hyperemesis gravidarum (extreme morning sickness) and how she got through such a debilitating experience (including a very tricky interview with the ex-Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams). We then question whether there can be more pressure on Christian Mum’s to cope/not be open about their mental health when they’re struggling, and what the Church can do to help women and families better at this, sometimes overwhelming and all- consuming time of their life.

• Topic #2 [21:43] God is Not a White Man and issues around race, the Church and parenting

We get Chine to give us a brief outline of how the image of God “as a white man” has perpetuated racism in the Church. We then turn to parenting black boys in modern culture, how being part of an interacial couple has affected parenting, and then we turn to Chine’s hopes and dreams for the Church in relation to her boys.

RESOURCES & LINKS

• Chine’s book ‘God is not a White Man’ (2021) can be bought from https://uk.bookshop.org/books/god-is-not-a-white-man-and-other-revelations/9781529349078?gclid=Cj0KCQiAmaibBhCAARIsAKUlaKQEL_zfx58dy9S6CLdKKaymDEiDztnhhKk2Y95xyQmFcj-HqE2U-fsaAicxEALw_wcB

• You can find Chine on Twitter @chinemcdonald and also find more information about her and her work at www.chinemcdonald.com

• On the podcast we mentioned three books;

  • All About Diversity by Felicity Brooks

  • Bringing Up Race by Uju Asika

  • What White People Can Do Next by Emma Dabiri

FINALLY...

Remember to subscribe, and also be sure to let us know what you think by leaving us a review.

If you're got any questions or suggestions you can email us at [email protected].

You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @saltymumspod

Wahoo! Welcome to the Salty Mums Podcast with a taster of what’s to come in January!