Feeling distracted, forgetful, or just sorta fuzzy? We’ve been there. Listener Erin asked about “mom brain” and how we’ve handled it over the years, as well as how to keep your adult conversation skills from completely atrophying when you’re in a phase of life that doesn’t provide a lot of opportunity for intellectually stimulating discussions. We dive into small talk, how to navigate awkwardness in groups of adults where everyone seems to know each other, and how to nurture interesting conversa...
Nov 19, 2019•57 min
Heartburn in pregnancy means babies born with lots of hair; boys are harder when they’re little, girls are harder later on; third babies are super chill: These are just a few myths and supposed truths that beg to be tested by reality. We asked YOU, our listeners, to help us come up with as many mom myths as possible, and in Episode 234 Meagan and Sarah discuss whether they’ve held true for our combined eight kids. It’s a fun one–join us! LINKS MENTIONED: The Mom Hour Podcast Club is going to be ...
Nov 12, 2019•1 hr 11 min
Meagan and Sarah have been lifting weights this fall! After bemoaning our fitness situation back in late summer, we got (sorta) serious about doing trainer-led workouts–and we found a way to do it “together,” remotely! In today’s More Than Mom episode we’re full of updates, from how sore we are to what changes we’ve noticed after 6+ weeks of weight training. We also discuss where we want to go from here with our fitness routine, tips for working with a trainer or accountability group, how we fee...
Nov 10, 2019•57 min
Taking your child to see a counselor, therapist, or psychologist feels heavy …but it doesn’t have to be. As our understanding of childhood mental health expands and the stigma associated with seeking help shrinks, the growth and support opportunities for our kids that exist with the help of a trained professional are worth approaching with curiosity, not fear or sadness. In this month’s Voices interview Sarah chats with child psychologist, professor, and therapist in private practice Dr. Erin La...
Nov 08, 2019•48 min
The road to extracurricular insanity is paved with good intentions…or so the saying goes. Sarah has always resisted the pressure to sign her kids up for multiple sports, clubs, and activities, but somehow Fall 2019 landed the Powers family with a crazy after school schedule. Join Meagan and Sarah as we discuss how it happened, what it revealed, and how it’s all coming to an end this week. Enjoy! LINKS MENTIONED: You can always get in touch with us by emailing hello@themomhour.com Meagan mentione...
Nov 05, 2019•51 min
From gift giving to special meals, family gatherings and classroom celebrations, creating special birthday traditions for your kids is a multi-faceted affair. Even if you’re not into big parties, there is still plenty to think about–and to keep you busy when multiple kids have birthdays in the same season, as is the case for Meagan’s family. Join us for a thoughtful look at the family culture around kids’ birthdays in Episode 232 of The Mom Hour. Enjoy! LINKS MENTIONED: Want to hear more on the ...
Oct 29, 2019•51 min
Weirdest thing Meagan and Sarah are afraid of? You’ll never guess in a million years (and please tell us if you share our weird fears!). And then there are the more typical things that creep us out, from the minor heebie-jeebies to the big-time stuff that truly terrifies us. Join us for a fun, funny, not-at-all-scary More Than Mom episode all about the things that scare us! LINKS MENTIONED: Meagan is right about “heebie-jeebies” We talked about thrill-seeking personalities in our Adventure As A ...
Oct 27, 2019•54 min
Roasts, stews, gourd-shaped baked goods, and soups that pair with a storybook read-aloud–we are leaning in hard this fall to cozy seasonal cooking. Join Meagan and Sarah as we discuss what we’ve been feeding our families lately, what we aspire to make and bake this fall, and how we like to bring the season to our table in both the food and décor departments. Enjoy! LINKS MENTIONED: This episode was inspired by Sarah’s recent interview with the hosts of the Didn’t I Just Feed You podcast, Feeding...
Oct 22, 2019•50 min
From cars to houses to groceries to college, there are some functional elements to growing your family that give a lot of couples pause. We’re not here to convince you one way or the other, but we do have experience to share when it comes to going from two kids to three (and then, in Meagan’s case, to four… and five…). We also acknowledge the emotional and psychological implications of parenting a bigger brood, and we’re here to discuss it all in Episode 230. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Want more ...
Oct 15, 2019•58 min
Curious what it’s like to run a business with your good friend? Or how we navigate money conversations, time commitments, and growth tension while mothering a collective eight children? Today’s More Than Mom episode pulls back the curtain on our 4-year business partnership (and 7+ year working relationship) with an honest look at how we keep the love alive and what we’ve learned about partnership through it all. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Check out two similar behind the scenes type episodes, Mor...
Oct 13, 2019•54 min
Teaching manners and social graces is about so much more than pleases and thank-yous; it’s years of modeling and coaching with many shades of gray that bring together regional and cultural differences and expectations, and with a line of sight toward courtesy that’s much bigger than any one dinner party or social faux-pas. Join Meagan and Sarah as we confess the manners our kids are still struggling with, celebrate the areas where things are working well in our families, and take a big picture l...
Oct 08, 2019•52 min
Navigating traditional employment while mothering small children brings up so many questions–from negotiating flexible schedules to getting hired while pregnant, promotion challenges and where to pump. In this month’s Voices interview Meagan aims to answer the most common questions in a conversation with Colleen Curtis, head of community at The Mom Project, an organization dedicated to building better workplace environments for moms, and helping mothers remain active in the workplace, while ackn...
Oct 04, 2019•49 min
Do we set family rules that apply to everyone, or adjust our expectations for individual kids’ and their different strengths, struggles, and personalities? Yes. Both. And it’s complicated. We loved answering listener Hannah’s thoughtful question about parenting “fair” versus parenting to each kid’s individual needs, with Sarah discussing how it works with younger families and Meagan shining the light on how things look with teens and young adults. It’s a great conversation and we hope you’ll joi...
Oct 01, 2019•52 min
Mom-friends are a true gift–but they’re just one type of female friendship we’ve benefitted from over the years. Today we’re talking about building relationships with women we admire – mentors, colleagues, fellow entrepreneurs, and just generally awesome ladies. From where we find them and how we initiate a first friend-date to what kinds of friendships we like to have in our professional circles, we’re unpacking all the benefits to surrounding yourself with women you admire. PLUS Katie Addiss j...
Sep 24, 2019•1 hr 5 min
With kids back in school, we’re looking at taking care of our bodies through regular exercise. Meagan’s already established a new early morning workout routine with some accountability buddies, and Sarah’s ready to start. We talk about what’s worked in the past when committing to a new fitness routine, what obstacles we have to look out for, and how the reasons behind our desire to work out regularly has changed as we’ve gotten older. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Aaptiv is an audio-based training a...
Sep 22, 2019•51 min
Time-strapped, mom? You’re not alone. This week Meagan and Sarah look at time management through two different lenses: first, how to find pockets of time in your existing schedule to make small but meaningful improvements to your overall productivity, AND second, how to carve out larger blocks of time for big changes and important priorities, even during busy seasons of life. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Meagan talked about Steven Covey’s book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (affiliate link...
Sep 17, 2019•51 min
Fall means football, whether you care a little bit, a ton, or not at all. This inspired us to talk about the way sports fandom relates to family culture in a broader way–from bonding across generations over a favorite team, to navigating marital stress when one partner prioritizes game day over family time. We also look at the positive lessons (and potentially troublesome ones) that kids can learn from watching televised sports, and how even fair-weather fans can find teachable moments in sports...
Sep 10, 2019•56 min
Recently both Meagan and Sarah took trips where they spent significant time alone–like, alone-alone, not “5 minutes in the bathroom with a kid outside the door” alone. This got us thinking about alone-ness in motherhood: the quest to get some, how we feel about it when we do get it, and what types of activities we prefer to do alone vs. with others. This conversation also leads us into topics like anxiety, fear, loneliness, extroversion/introversion, and more. Join us for another More Than Mom e...
Sep 08, 2019•45 min
From picky eaters to snacking tweens, independent lunch-packers to dinner woes, this month’s Voices interview episode is packed with tips for feeding your family nutritious meals without the guilt. Hosts of the popular podcast Didn’t I Just Feed You? Stacie Billis and Meghan Splawn join Sarah to talk about their measured, nonjudgmental, and totally do-able approaches to family meals. This is a can’t-miss episode–join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Didn’tIJustFeedYou.com @DidntIJustFeedYou on Instagram Sta...
Sep 06, 2019•1 hr 7 min
A listener wonders if she’s raising a mini-hoarder and we talk about kids who have a hard time parting with their stuff; a mom of elementary-aged kids asks us to talk about after-school grumpiness; a new mom of twins helps us reminisce about infant nap schedules; and a longtime listener asks about mass violence in the media and how we talk to our kids about it. It’s another episode inspired by your parenting challenges, and we’ve got stuff to say–join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Amber’s question was in...
Sep 03, 2019•48 min
Preschoolers and violent pretend play, navigating changing relationships with grown children, advice for a mom whose 15-month-old is starting a preschool program, and thoughts on talking to our kids about inclusiveness and representation: We’re taking your questions and offering our advice in this week’s episode. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: You can find all of our listener questions episodes here We love when you record your questions using Speakpipe ! Episode 62: Things We Shouldn’t Have Freaked ...
Aug 27, 2019•38 min
It happens every year: Meagan and Sarah get to the end of summer and just feel the need to take a pause and check in. Today’s More Than Mom episode gives us that space to catch up about our summer travels, share some highlights (and also commiserate about end-of-summer woes), and reflect on the last couple months. We also respond to a listener suggestion to discuss procrastination and how it affects our work lives, personal lives, and kids’ lives. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Kaylee and Jayme both ...
Aug 25, 2019•50 min
That feeling when summer has all but killed your morning mojo and you’re BEGGING for a fresh start? Yep, we’re there. Sarah’s kids are newly back in school and Meagan’s are gearing up, so this episode is all about resetting our mornings. We talk about what has worked in the past, what needs a reset this year or will be changing completely, and offer our best tips for getting out the door on time, feeding yourself and your kids, and how to fit exercise in with it all. (Kidding. We haven’t figured...
Aug 20, 2019•46 min
Encouraging literacy and reading aloud to kids is something we all know we “should” do, and most of us do our best. But depending on your stage of motherhood and the age of your kids, this is easier said than done. In this special episode of The Mom Hour, Meagan and Sarah offer specific been-there-done-that tips for incorporating reading and literacy into home life for moms of kids at specific ages, including addressing specific challenges that come up during motherhood’s many seasons. We talk a...
Aug 16, 2019•55 min
Sarah has a new middle schooler and needs all the tips, which Meagan is happy to share. And many of you are launching new kinders or early elementary kids this year, something the two of us have done a combined eight times (!!). In Episode 221 Sarah leads a pep talk with tips for parents with kids starting elementary school and Meagan takes a turn with advice about middle and high school. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: All our back to school related episodes can be found here Specifically we talked a...
Aug 13, 2019•43 min
Do you remember the libraries of your past? We do. In fact, we have enough to say about the transformative power of libraries to fill an entire More Than Mom episode! From our earliest library memories (grouchy Mrs. Young!), to junior high school library adventures (that book was NOT appropriate for 11-year-old Meagan), to an accidental nap in dreary old England, we look back at our lives through the stacks. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Sarah read–and LOVED– The Library Book by Susan Orlean Other e...
Aug 11, 2019•44 min
Donating used items, keeping track of library books, getting kids to put their own clean clothes away, and staying on top of the monthly budget: These are a few of the home management / life / adulting systems that are working well in our homes right now. In this episode we talk about what’s working and why, how these systems necessarily change (and how nothing works well forever), and which areas of our home lives are due for a system overhaul. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Sarah uses pickupplease....
Aug 06, 2019•48 min
Imagine you’re a mom of two, successful entrepreneur, and self-confessed Type A personality…and then you find out that you have a chronic condition that will cause you to be in pain and sap your energy–daily–possibly for the rest of your life. How would you react? What would you let go of? And how would you re-adjust expectations of yourself and the world around you in order to continue to thrive in your new reality? That’s the journey that today’s guest, Amy Clark, faced. The founder of MomAdvi...
Aug 02, 2019•58 min
The fear of missing out is real, and it preys on new moms in particular. Whether your FOMO flares up when you see other moms’ lives play out on Instagram, or you feel it most when it seems like everyone else’s kid is on a path to greatness, we can relate (and we’ve been there). In this episode, Meagan and Sarah look at the types of FOMO that come with motherhood, how we’ve personally experienced them, and how we’ve learned to manage the fear of missing out. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: Meagan menti...
Jul 30, 2019•58 min
Remember Sliding Doors ? Today’s episode asks the question: “Where would we be if…”. Meagan and Sarah talk about the points in our lives where different decisions might have led us down dramatically different paths, and imagine what life would be like in these hypothetical alternate realities. Buckle up, friends! LINKS MENTIONED: Like learning more about us, our personalities, and our pasts? Check out the time we interviewed each other . MORE HELPFUL LINKS: Visit our website Check out deals from...
Jul 28, 2019•45 min
