You have questions? We have answers. We're two Southern moms on the backside of raising kids and we have some things to say. We have lived life, made mistakes, and learned some lessons. Join us for answers to the questions you just want to ask your mom.
Christian perspective on motherhood & raising kids. Interviews with experts and other moms in the trenches of parenting.
Although miscarriage is common, it's not always talked about. Certified doula, Sarah Perry, joins us in this episode for a conversation about experiencing and coping with pregnancy loss. A mom of 3 boys--and expecting a girl!--Sarah speaks from both professional and personal experience in this touching conversation.
Somewhere along the [American] way, our homes became places we upscale, accumulate, and compare to others. Because we're made to create and find beauty, finding ways to do this at home can often be a simple but meaningful gift to those who live there--and even generations to come. Join us as we talk to mother-daughter duo, Melissa Skidmore and Daisy Montgomery, masters in creating beautiful spaces, no matter the budget or square footage.
If there's one universal celebration moment in parenting, it's when your child finally sleeps through an entire night. Opinions and approaches differ widely in how to accomplish this, but there's no need to villify one camp or another. Mary Vaughn, certified sleep consultant and mom of 4, joins us for a lively conversation about how parents can help their kids go to sleep and stay asleep. You can find her on mothertogether.com.
There's something deeply comforting about having a place where you can relax, take off your mask, and not pretend or strive. For many of us, that place is our home. What can we do to make our homes feel restful and safe, somewhere we can exhale at the end of the day and lean into one another?
Join us for a fun conversation about our favorite things we loved watching our kids achieve, some obvious and some maybe not so expected. Yes, the days are long and the years are short, but when your kids become more indpendent, life sure does get a little easier!
What does the word "home" bring to mind? In the first of a series on HOME, we take a peek into what our homes are for, what it is that draws us to the place or feeling of home, and what we can do to make a happy home for ourselves, our children, and others.
We're familiar with left-brain/right-brain functions & being left or right handed, but we also have a dominant eye, ear, and foot. The experiences and research from Dr. Carla Hannaford's book, The Dominance Factor, shed some surprising light (for us) on how our dominant sensory and motor functions may affect us under stress or new learning situations--which is pretty much the conditions our children are in all the time. This is just one more factor to consider for parents to "know their chil...
Being intentional about raising your kids isn't about rigidity or loading even more expectations and pressure on yourself or your kids. Checking in with each other about your goals and course-correcting now and then makes good sense if you're aiming to do more than just survive another day. We run down some helpful tips to set yourself and your family up for success, make good habits, and celebrate the victories, no matter how small.
#8 in our cultivate series, we get into how to teach your kids what it means to be gentle and give you some practical ways to demonstrate what gentleness looks like. Even the strongest among us can be gentle with both words and touch. Gentleness matters in both sons and daughters, but there may be differences in how we teach it to each of them.
Tongue ties, mouth breathing, snoring, nursing or feeding issues, sleep issues, speech problems, tonsils and adenoid issues and frequent ear infections can all stem from correctible problems in jaw, tongue, throat, or facial muscles. Orofacial Myofunctional therapist, Chelsea Madison, from the BreatheWell Group, talks us through what happens at her office and the surprising and often quick results a visit to an OMT can provide. We learned so much in this interview!
Tantrums? Grabbing things? Interrupting? All young children struggle with self-control. It's one of the main areas parents teach and coach our children through. In this episode, we talk through how to help kids master this important skill.
Join us with veteran art teacher, Shawn Baughman, as we talk about what art does for kids. The obvious benefit is how it helps creativity, but there's so much more involving neurodevelopment, problem solving and more. Plus, she explains why all kids start out drawing "potato people"--an A-HA moment.
Research shows that grit may be more important to success than IQ and talent. The building of perseverance comes every day when your child learns how to deal with minor setbacks--and major ones. Join us for some tips on how to walk your child through wanting to quit and the benefits of building perseverance.
Tired of doing all the things for all the people? So many moms live in survival mode, reacting to things instead of doing the things we really want for our families. Laura Hernandez, Texas mom of 10, joins us in this episode to talk about the systems she's created to tackle tasks, foster team spirit, and bring back the joy to family life. She offers 1:1 consulting with moms to help them do the same @ www.mamasystems.net.
One of the first big purchases as a new parent is likely a car seat. In the US, you're not allowed to take your baby home from the hospital without one. Selecting, installing, and operating a car seat is not for the faint of heart--there are a lot of options in the marketplace. Join us for this conversation that will take you from your baby's arrival to the end of the booster seat years!
What are spiritual gifts and how are they different from natural talents or temperaments? Where do they come from and how can you recognize them in yourself and your children? In this episode, we explore how to identify and nurture those sparks you might notice and find a purpose in the gifts we're given.
From your child's first birthday where they dive into the cake to the teens where birthdays may be more low key, we look at birthday traditions. Join us for a chat about how we handled birthdays, some major birthday flops, and some favorites. Plus, if you're not a party planner, we've got some tips for hosting a fun celebration.
Number 5 in our cultivate series. How do we foster patience in ourselves and our children? We offer some practical tips for parents for helping kids learn to wait, delay gratification, and have self control--all vital but tough skills to learn.
Part 4 of our Cultivate series, we focus on fostering joy in ourselves and our kids. Some of us are naturally more melancholy than others, but there are a few practical disciplines we can focus on to spawn more joy in our lives. Who doesn't want that in the coming year?! Join us for this joyful episode, in which we break into song not once, but twice!
Music is a universal language that connects us and taps into our creativity. It's good for our mental health and lessons learned playing an instrument, singing, or being part of a choir or band spill over into lots of other areas of life. Millie Tracy and Bob Blaylock (cellist and tuba player) join us in this fun conversation about kids & music.
As we approach Christmas, what's running through most kids' minds is PRESENTS, PRESENTS!! How can we nurture a spirit of generosity in our children? Why is it important? Is "that's not fair!" a common refrain in your house? Are you frequently referring battles over sharing? This is a great episode for some tips to exercise the "giving" muscle!
How do you respond when your teenager wants to start dating? What does dating even look like these days and what are the expectations? In this episode we share some great conversations to have with your young adults before, during, and after relationships. We're joined by two of our favorite guests: Lori Shea and Amy Sain (from the #girlmom episode). This is a fun one!
Join us with our guest Dr. Bobbie Solley, expert on teaching kids to read, as we talk about the impact early reading has on kids' success. Even kids who read only one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age 5 than those who don't read regularly. What should our kids be reading, and when?
In this week leading up to the US Thanksgiving holiday, we offer some tips to teach, model, and nurture the virtue of gratitude. What does it mean to be grateful and is it different from toxic positivity? Besides its many health benefits, practicing gratitude can make us more aware, present, content, and focused. Besides teaching the basic "thank you" response, what else can we do to make gratitude a part of our kids' lives?
Sports are as American as apple pie. They build character, appreciation for a team, physical fitness and the ability to win and lose well. The episode's guests include a mom whose daughter went on to play college soccer, and another "sport mom" who's also seen hundreds of families navigate the time crunch of having their kids in sports. There's lots of pressure on families to have their kids play & be good at something-- how can we decide what's enough or too much?
This episode features two military moms who give us a peek into what it's like raising a family while serving their country. What are their unique challenges and how do they cope with deployments, transfers, and the uncertainty that comes with a life in the armed services? Bonnie's sister, Maj. General Karen Rizzuti (USAF), and Toni Laubacher, whose husband, Maj. Matt Laubacher (USAF) had multiple deployments, weigh in on Veteran's Day week.
We're always saying it's much better to cultivate what you ARE looking for in your children rather than squashing what you don't want. This is the first in our "cultivate series," and we're talking about ways to cultivate kindness in your children--and maybe in yourself while you're at it!
Table manners aren't about stuffy formality. They're about polite behavior that respects others. Table manners matter because people matter. In this episode, we give a run-down of some basic table manners parents can work on from toddlers just starting to use a spoon to teenagers & all the rest of us! Are mealtimes a battleground at your house? This episode will have some tips!
Emotional intelligence is what glues people together, and it's a proven predictor in academic, professional, and relationship success. What exactly IS it, can we improve it, and how do we coach our kids to have better EQ?
Got toddlers? This episode is a quick rundown (because obvs you're busy!) of our top toddler tips. What behavior can you reasonably expect from a toddler and what's asking too much? 15-36 months is a time of rapid development, discovering (& testing) boundaries, and a great time for parents to help set the stage for their successes down the road.
