Have you been meaning to watch old holiday film classics but never get around to it? Or are you just as disturbed as we are by some of the mid-century Christmas TV programming (looking at you, Rudolph )? In Episode 31 Meagan and Sarah talk about our favorite – and not-so-much – holiday movies, TV, books, and music. Join us! LINKS MENTIONED: MOVIES & TV It’s a Wonderful Life , Holiday Inn , and White Christmas Miracle on 34th Street ( the 1947 version and the 1994 remake ) The Snowman Annie (...
Dec 07, 2015•57 min
"Simplify" has become one of the buzziest holiday buzzwords over the last decade, and today Meagan and Sarah are unpacking what that really means in their homes. Whether you really do want to scale back this season or whether, like us, you're just out to maximize magic and minimize stress, we hope you'll join us for Episode 30! LINKS MENTIONED: Be The Best Parent You Can Be – FREE online parenting video series beginning this week! 5 reasons I’m not simplifying Christmas this year (updated) – Lau...
Dec 01, 2015•57 min
From helping a toddler adjust to a new baby, to coping with bickering, to creating a family culture that honors both individual kids and sibling relationships, parenting siblings is no small task. Join us for Episode 29 of The Mom Hour, where we get real about the dynamics among our own kids and share thoughts on raising siblings who like each other (well, most of the time). LINKS MENTIONED: Peaceful Parents, Happy Siblings (Dr. Laura Markham) Episode 6 of The Home Hour , where Meagan interviews...
Nov 23, 2015•55 min
Get our complete guide to gifts that your kids will still be playing with next year (and beyond!), PLUS enter to win one of TWO amazing scooters from Micro Kickboard! Gifts for babies & toddlers Sarah loves Fisher-Price Little People – the Fun Sounds Farm , and Builders sets like this one are a great precursor to Duplo and LEGO Little Tikes Cozy Coupe A crawl-through play tunnel like this one from Melissa & Doug Play kitchen (Sarah has one from Step 2 similar to this ) Standing easel (Me...
Nov 17, 2015•53 min
Those sweet, pudgy things keep you up at night? News flash: they'll be adults before you know it. In honor of Meagan's oldest turning 18 this week, we're devoting Episode 27 to talking about the adults we're raising: what we hope for them, what we imagine they'll become, and just how much control we have over how they turn out. LINKS MENTIONED: Why I’m not worried about my late-blooming teen (Meagan for The Washington Post) Parents of Teens: We Need to Redefine High School ‘Success’ (Meagan for ...
Nov 10, 2015•59 min
Episode 26 of The Mom Hour is all about dealing with criticism. Whether it's in-law tension, the "back in MY day" comments from relatives, or your own inner critic (isn't she the worst?), we offer our own stories and tips for taking it all in stride. LINKS MENTIONED: What’s your parenting Achilles’ heel? (Meagan for The Happiest Home) Zen Parenting Radio’s most recent podcast episode, How To Handle Criticism , and Meagan’s interview with Todd and Cathy Adams on The Home Hour Handling the grandpa...
Nov 03, 2015•51 min
It's Halloween week! Whether it's your first time dressing up a little pumpkin or your teenagers are beyond trick-or-treating, we hope you'll join Meagan and Sarah as we share stories and tips to make Halloween fun, safe, and totally-not-stressful at every stage. LINKS MENTIONED: Halloween costumes from One Step Ahead , marked down like crazy right now All the fantastic Halloween costume ideas for babies and toddlers from the Rookie Moms Some of our Halloween-related posts from The Happiest Home...
Oct 27, 2015•53 min
By popular request, we're following up Episode 19 (Things We Shouldn't Have Freaked Out About (As New Moms)) with a show all about the things that stressed us out when we were parenting toddlers. From potty training to introducing a sibling, we unpack our toddler-mom stresses and worries (with the added benefit of hindsight) in the hopes that we can help you worry just a little less. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not...
Oct 20, 2015•57 min
Feeding a family can be fun or frustrating, simple or complicated, rewarding or full of resentment. The one thing it will always be? NECESSARY. If you have a family, they have to eat, and in this episode we talk about how that works - from grocery shopping to meal planning to gaining confidence as a home cook. LINKS MENTIONED: How an hour in the kitchen gave me back my evenings (Meagan for The Happiest Home) The six-meal shuffle: extremely simplified meal-planning (Meagan for The Happiest Home) ...
Oct 12, 2015•32 min
Where Meagan lives in Michigan, temperatures are dropping and leaves are turning. For Sarah in SoCal, people just wish those things were true. Join us as we laugh about everyone's favorite season to talk about - from Pumpkin Spice Lattes to late-90s J. Crew pea coats. We also share a few ideas for bringing fall into the kitchen, no matter what the thermometer says outdoors. Enjoy Episode 22, and thanks for listening! LINKS MENTIONED: An Open Letter To People Who Can’t Stop Talking About Pumpkin ...
Oct 06, 2015•41 min
Showing support for your child’s school and educational experience matters. But does that mean we all have to chaperone field trips and join the PTA? Meagan and Sarah say, rather emphatically, nope . In Episode 21 we tackle eight myths surrounding what it means to be a “good school mom,” and help debunk those myths for those of you new to the school parenting journey. We also talk about the meaningful ways we have found to volunteer or participate at school, and share some advice from teachers t...
Sep 30, 2015•1 hr
Routines are powerful. When they're just right, we feel energized and balanced. When they're a little off, we feel unsettled. And when they completely fall by the wayside, we sometimes need a complete reset to get back on track (looking at you, back-to-school season). LINKS MENTIONED: LaCroix water , specifically Meagan’s favorite flavors: apricot, blackberry-cucumber, and cherry-lime Music Together , Sarah’s favorite activity for moms and babies or toddlers to do together Dear Moms: Sleep Depri...
Sep 23, 2015•54 min
Once upon a time, Meagan and Sarah were new moms. And we worried - a lot. Years later, we look back at some of the things we could have lightened up about just a tad. (Or a lot.) Episode 19 is for new moms - and anyone who can remember being one. We talk about agonizing over ounces pumped and hours slept (or not slept), and offer a little perspective from where we are now. LINKS MENTIONED: La Leche League’s breast milk storage guidelines ( Kelly Mom also has good ones ) Rookie Moms , an online r...
Sep 15, 2015•55 min
Meagan has never identified as a "sports parent," but this fall she has four kids in four different sports. Sarah is still learning to find the balance between protecting precious time at home and allowing her younger kids to explore different activities. LINKS MENTIONED: ‘I love to Watch You Play’ but Not Every Game (Sharon Holbrook for The New York Times Motherlode blog) Minimalist Parenting , authored by our friends Asha and Christine MORE HELPFUL LINKS: Visit our website Check out deals from...
Sep 01, 2015•43 min
Do the supply lists and back-to-school clothes shopping expectations overwhelm you? You’re not alone. In this episode, Meagan and Sarah share real-life tips and tricks for minimizing back-to-school stress and enjoying the process of returning to routine. LINKS MENTIONED: Posts from The Happiest Home Meagan’s Lunch Box Challenge series from 2011 (the giveaway is obviously years out-of-date, but the featured products remain staples in Meagan’s kitchen) 11 Children’s Books About Starting School Mea...
Aug 26, 2015•50 min
Repeat after us, moms: It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. Choosing a school for your child can seem like a life-altering, permanent decision. In Episode 16, Meagan and Sarah are here to reassure you that it isn't. We share our own experience making school choices for our kids, from private to public to home schooling to charters to magnets to lotteries to... (Nope, not kidding. We've actually experienced, and discuss in this episode, all of those things.) LINKS ...
Aug 17, 2015•53 min
In episode 15, Meagan and Sarah get into the details of chores, home management, delegating, and helping kids take on age-appropriate responsibilities. LINKS MENTIONED: Relevant posts from The Happiest Home: Delegate Like Downton: A Strategy For Managing Home Helpers Confessions of a Chore-Chart Dropout The Honey-Do List & Why It Works For Us How Meagan Learned To Keep A Cleaner House Sometimes It’s OK To Be a Control Freak (or, why Meagan doesn’t delegate certain tasks) MORE HELPFUL LINKS: ...
Aug 11, 2015•44 min
Well, we've reached THAT point in the summer. The one where you have no idea what day it is and your kids eat Otter Pops and Nutella-straight-from-the-jar for breakfast (and if you think we're exaggerating, just WAIT). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Aug 04, 2015•43 min
What does “stranger danger” really mean (and is that the best way to phrase it for our kids)? In Episode 13, Meagan and Sarah talk about giving our kids tools and information to make them safer and more capable as their independence increases. Episode 13 is the second installment in our two-part series on free-range parenting – if you haven’t listened to Episode 12 yet, you can find it right here (no need to listen in order – the conversation was far from sequential) LINKS MENTIONED: Melissa Atk...
Jul 28, 2015•46 min
We want our kids to grow up independent, resourceful, and confident. We also care about their safety. So where's the balance between letting them go and protecting them? And what happens when our 'risk-tolerance' is out of synch with the neighborhood norms? Meagan and Sarah discuss all this and more in Episode 12. This is part one in a two-part series on free-range parenting - be sure to check back next week for the continuation of our discussion! LINKS MENTIONED: Lenore Sknazy's Free Range Kids...
Jul 21, 2015•43 min
What happens when your kids are all in school, or the overwhelmingly in-your-face years of early motherhood are behind you? Have you thought about what kind of creative hobbies you’ll return to, what your career will look like, or what that available time will mean for your “non-mom self”? In Episode 11 Meagan shares her perspective as a mom on the other side of the trenches (while Sarah asks questions and listens from her place still in them). We talk about the shift that happens when kids get ...
Jul 13, 2015•45 min
Confession: We don’t LOVE playing make-believe with our kids. Or pushing them on the swings. Or reading Dr. Seuss. But guess what? We’re kind of OK with that. In Episode 10, Meagan and Sarah confess the things they sort of hate doing with their kids – and also share some of the things they love doing. Turns out, we don’t have to love it all – because there’s plenty to enjoy about spending time with your kids (even if you avoid Chutes & Ladders like the plague). LINKS MENTIONED: Meagan’s inte...
Jul 04, 2015•52 min
We aren’t sure we’re saying the right things here. But after the events in Charleston earlier this month, we’re sure about one thing: silence isn’t an option. In Episode 9, Meagan and Sarah discuss race and racism, talking with kids about differences, and some of the reasons that, according to research, white parents avoid talking Continue the conversation: Instagram | Private Facebook Community | Our Newsletter | Deals From Our Partners | Website See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy ...
Jul 01, 2015•46 min
Camping with kids. You're either doing it already... or you're not . And if you're not, is it because it seems intimidating? And a little, um, complicated? If so, let this be the summer you give it a try! As part of our campaign with Kimberly-Clark (more on that, below), we're talking all about getting kids out into nature this summer - including camping! Meagan's an expert and Sarah's a newbie, so between them you'll have lots to learn (and probably laugh at). LINKS WE MENTIONED: This post on T...
Jun 23, 2015•46 min
When listener Jacquie emailed us this question, we knew right away we wanted to answer it on the show: I am contemplating having one more baby. [Having three kids] is pretty unusual in my area/social circles so I don’t have a lot of people to ask. What surprised you about having a third baby? Episode 7 is all about being "done" (or not) having babies. How did we know we were done? Do we ever get over that urge to snuggle a newborn? What happens when time isn't on your side or you and your spouse...
Jun 16, 2015•55 min
Why does it feel like summer actually creates MORE work for busy moms? When kids are home from school, the snack-requests never end and laundry multiplies overnight. Episode 6 is all about "summer short-cuts" - little ways Meagan and Sarah cheat their way to an easier summer. LINKS MENTIONED: Zoku Mini Pop Molds reCAP Mason Jar lids MORE HELPFUL LINKS: Visit our website Check out deals from our partners Follow us on Instagram Join our private listener group on Facebook (be sure to answer the mem...
Jun 09, 2015•47 min
Should kids really write thank-you notes for every gift? What are the non-negotiable table manners in Meagan's and Sarah's houses? How do we teach everyday manners and common courtesy to kids who are still learning to sit still and use a fork? We discuss these questions and more in Episode 5! Join us for a fun discussion about teaching manners - and, as usual, you can expect us to get REAL about how things actually look in our families! MORE HELPFUL LINKS: Visit our website Check out deals from ...
Jun 03, 2015•57 min
It’s warm out! But we have so much to DO… How can busy families balance the end-of-school madness with the desire to sit on the front porch and enjoy the sunshine? In Episode 4, Meagan and Sarah discuss simple ways to celebrate the season and do a little venting about the end-of-year parenting slump. LINKS MENTIONED: Worst End of School Year Mom Ever (Jen Hatmaker) Parents At The Beginning Of The School Year Vs. The End (Mike Spohr for Buzzfeed) Meagan’s interview with Candid Classroom author Er...
May 16, 2015•52 min
How much of the media you consume makes you feel energized and inspired? How much feeds your inner critic and makes you look up from the computer guiltily, wondering how much “real life” you’ve missed? In this episode Meagan and Sarah talk about ways to break the cycle of too much Facebook (or whatever your online rabbit hole of choice might be) and back away from the laptop or smartphone when media use become mindless and draining. We also offer suggestions for adding new sources into your “med...
May 05, 2015•1 hr
How do you model responsible behavior in front of your kids? In this episode, Meagan and Sarah discuss how adult drinking works in our families, and expand on the alcohol discussion to other ways we act as a role model for our kids and teens (spoiler alert: no one's perfect). HELPFUL LINKS: Visit our website Check out deals from our partners Follow us on Instagram Join our private listener group on Facebook (be sure to answer the membership questions!) Sign up for our newsletter See Privacy Poli...
Apr 22, 2015•51 min
