Thriving In Motherhood Podcast

We have had a wonderful summer and a lot going on as we get back into life at home, gardening, homeschooling, and friendships. There has also been a lot going on behind the scenes with the podcast, which is what I want to share with you in this week’s Thriving Thursday email so you can know what to expect. Usually by now I've gotten the next year's planner edited, ordered, shipped to my home, and I've taken photos and gotten ready to share it with all of you. This year I have the draft of the 2025 planner written, but it still needs to be created. What I've been focusing on the last few months is reading the productivity books that have come out in the last few years, taking a few productivity courses, and translating the principles that apply to us as moms into the planner and courses that go along with the planner. I am excited to share these little but effective tweaks with you soon! I also sent an email out earlier this year to everyone who has purchased the Made to Soar: Next 90 Days program looking for

I went out to harvest cucumbers and green beans with my kids early one morning. The plants looked amazing, with vines reaching everywhere. At first glance, it looked like we would come out with nothing to show for our months of effort water, picking off bugs, and weeding. But after we slowed down and searched for a while, we began to see lots of vegetables (we found 17 cucumbers and an entire colander of green beans!). Just like the vegetables hidden in the garden, sometimes we get so caught up in the daily grind that we miss all the amazing things we're accomplishing as moms. That's why a monthly review is SO important! It is when we slow down and look for all of the fruit that we get to celebrate and enjoy our daily efforts. You can do a monthly review on a piece of paper or journal, or use the Thriving in Motherhood Planner. There's a page each month for doing this monthly review so you never have to remember that it's time to sit down and reflect again. If you want a little more accountability and motherh

As mothers, we often find ourselves navigating the challenging journey from merely surviving our days to truly thriving. Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with many amazing moms, and I've noticed some common pitfalls that can make this journey feel even more daunting.  Today, I'd like to share some insights to help smooth your path. In our latest podcast episode, we dive into the five biggest mistakes moms make as they transition from survival mode to thriving.  Here are the five key mistakes to consider: Focusing on Circle of Concern vs. Circle of Influence: It’s crucial to distinguish between what you can control and what you can’t. By redirecting your focus to your circle of influence, you empower yourself to make meaningful changes. When I was pregnant with my third baby, I found myself overwhelmed by everything outside my control. A wise friend encouraged me to focus on my circle of influence rather than my circle of concern. It was a life-changing moment that taught me to concentrate o

Currently, we are in a season in our lives that could be temporary - or we could be here to stay for a long, long time. I'm very good at temporary. Moving has been my lot in life, growing up with my parents (I went to 10 schools by the time I graduated high school) and since getting married (we've lived in 6 homes). But living somewhere where staying is a possibility? Now that has been a hard thing for my mind to grasp.  In this week's episode, I'm sharing a thriving thought that has come out of this struggle for me and also how it applies to motherhood. We love where we live. We love the smaller home that is easy to clean, the updates and DIY projects we've done to customize the space, the huge garden we've put in the backyard, the rock climbing wall we just built, and the space our kids have to roam and play outside. But as we've made each of these changes and have more ideas for the future (front yard orchard and herb garden), I've often wondered if it is even a good idea to put our time, energy, and finan

It can be so hard to feel like we are just surviving our days and see a huge list of all that needs to happen, but in reality all we need to do is focus on managing today and making tomorrow a little bit better too. Each of the five phases along the path have a specific focus, systems, and skills so that you can dramatically shorten your to-do list and put your energy towards the specific problems you are facing right now.  In this weeks episode I'm sharing the big problems with you along each phase so you can more clearly identify where you are at along the path and what you can let go of in the season you are in. We work on solving each of these problems in the Surviving to Thriving Toolkit. You can learn more and join the waitlist to be the first to know about it here: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/toolkit

We have been working on a huge project to weed all of the garden pathways and lay down weed cloth to hopefully prevent future out of control weeks from taking over. One morning I got out there super early and saw all of the beautiful plants strong, but by 10am they were withering away in the hot sun.  I realized that we've had many hot, dry days and I hadn't done much watering. It was a crazy ten minutes as I had kids melting down and a garden that was on it's way to dead that we had to take care of right then. And it was this moment that I learned a powerful lesson that I'm sharing in this weeks episode. It hit me: just like those thirsty plants, we moms can feel drained if we don't take care of ourselves regularly. But here's the good news! Imagine if you had a drip irrigation system for your garden. No more daily watering, just consistent nourishment that lets your plants flourish. That's the power of micro-habits and systems for moms! Think of these habits as your drip line. Maybe it's a morning routine t

If you are looking for a fun and new activity to do with your kids I recommend making a jar of sauerkraut this summer! It took me 2 years and five failed batches before I finally figured out all of the nuances of this process, but it was well worth the wait.  Today I'm sharing 6 mistakes to avoid and what to do instead so that your first batch can be successful and a fun check on your summer bucket list. 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Sauerkraut Not shredding finely enough: Use a cheese grater or food processor with grating attachment Using not enough or too much salt: Add 2T for every 3 cabbages (2/3 T for one cabbage) Filling the jars too much: Leave 2-3 inches at the top so there is room for the weight and brine Not using the outside cabbage leaf to contain everything: Use the outside 2 cabbage leaves to cover the shredded cabbage and make sure all of the pieces are submerged over the brine Not having adequate weight/pressure to hold things down: Rocks work but the whole process was cleaner, did

If you've ever thought about gardening with kids my conversation with Tiana Woodbury is for you! She has gardened with her three young children for many years in many different types of gardens (container, community, and her own backyard) and is full of real, practical tips.  One of Tiana's superpowers is making the ordinary magical and she brings that to her gardening endeavors as well, but in very simple and doable ways. I certainly had lots of take-aways and things that I want to do a little differently and I'm sure you will too.

Earlier this year I shared what I did to make my smartphone less “smart” (Digital Minimalism in 2024). Since then, our family has faced some unexpected challenges that pushed us into survival mode, and naturally, our screen time increased, including mine.  This experience made me realize the unique challenges we face at different stages of our journey from merely surviving to truly thriving, especially regarding phone usage. In this week’s episode, I delve into these challenges and how becoming aware can lead to positive changes. Challenges with Phone Usage on the 5-Step Path from Surviving to Thriving Survival Mode: Increased screen time, watching more movies with the kids, zoning out with shows or scrolling. Re-entry: This is when we feel the most overwhelmed and tired, so we use phones as an easy escape. But this only prolongs the process of re-entry. Normalizing: Rewarding ourselves with screen time after a good day, leading to late nights and inconsistent routines. Exploring: Spending excessive t

We woke up on Saturday morning and my son was staring out the back window when he realized he couldn't see the zipper on the trampoline across the yard. Upon closer inspection, he realized that one of the huge limbs on our peach tree had broken and had fallen on top of the olive tree next to it and on the ground.  We didn't have any big storms or high winds and the kids were asking if I knew what happened. Looking at the branches with peaches full of fruit it didn't take too long to realize that the weight of the peaches - still not ripe - was too much and broke the thick limb. This image immediately brought to my mind all of the projects, habits, and goals that I am working on right now in our home, family, garden, yard, homeschool, and business. After months of just being in survival mode, it feels so good to be making progress and gaining momentum in many areas of our lives. It is exciting to be crossing things off the list, solving some big pain points, and investing in relationships and projects that wil

What do you do with all the stuff your kids create? This is something I have struggled with for years with my four very creative children. In this week’s episode, I’m sharing what has been working for us, our current problems and what we are doing about it, and a brand new framework my children and I came up with that is changing how we think about the things they (and I) make. Here are some of the things that have been working for us for a while: Paper management: Each child has a small drawer where we can dump anything they made that is flat. Once the bin is full we go through it and take pictures of things they don’t want to forget and put things they really care about into their paper box (file folder with files from 0-18 years). Everything else gets thrown away. 3-Dimensional projects: Each child has a Maker Box where they can put the things they’ve made that they don’t want to get rid of because they still want to play with it or it’s particularly cool. They are keeping the majority of the project

We have four very creative kids who spend HOURS each day creating things (the most recent was an elaborate tin can phone system complete with bells and wall mounts for the cans to go between the top and bottom bunk).  In this week's episode, I'm sharing the things we've done that have made the biggest impact on raising creative children.   8 Tips For Raising Creative Kids Encourage their interests.  For example, from the time our son was 18 months old, he used our couches to build vehicles. To support this, we built wooden boxes he could combine with stools, chairs, and a nugget couch. This has sparked endless imaginative constructions.  Expose your kids to new experiences Anytime our kids get in a funk and don’t know what to do, we try to take them somewhere and let them experience something new. These experiences provide fresh inspiration to fuel their creative ideas. Have supplies on hand We like to have scissors, glue, cardboard, and paint on hand at our house. Think about the things your kids

Whether you are exhausted, depressed, sick, burned out, or just want a break, in today's episode I'll be sharing my #1 tip that I've used for the last 10.5 years of motherhood to get me through the day when I need some space we still have the day to spend together. The solution has two parts: Go outside and do something creative. When my kids were little and we lived in an apartment, this looked like bringing things I could do with my hands to the playground: whittle spoons or animals out of sticks or scrap wood, crochet blankets, make shoes out of leather, or peel apples to make applesauce.  As my kids got older and we now live in a home, this often looks like doing house projects. Recently we've done major updates in our garden, built a retaining wall, made a bed frame, cut out wood animals for the kids to carve with friends, and we are currently building a rock climbing wall in the garage.  Always I've played instruments, often outside, for a low-energy creative option. A ukulele, guitar, or fiddle is a co

It is so easy to fall into the "all I do is.." trap.  You fill in the blank - change diapers, drive kids to school and activities, feed people, nurse the baby, chase after the toddler. No matter the season of motherhood you are in, there are things that we do over and over again. And when we start to think that it is all we do, we can start to feel miserable and resentful of the people we love the most.  The antidote is simple but incredibly powerful: do a monthly review.  Even after 7 years of this 10-minute exercise, I am still surprised at how it changes my perspective and how I feel about my life.  In this week's episode, I'm sharing my findings from my most recent review in April and show you how you can do it yourself too. 5 Questions To Ask In a Monthly Review: What have I discovered or learned this month? What have I accomplished? Where have we gone? What significant things happened in our family? What books have I read or listened to (or podcasts or shows if that is the season you are in)?

With summer quickly approaching, I needed to refocus on what we are going to make our learning priorities for the next few months. We go year-round in our homeschooling so that we can have the ultimate flexibility to take breaks or just enjoy the nice days outside. And, hot weather here in the South has us indoors more than in the winter months. In this week’s episode, I’m sharing the question I asked to give me the clarity I needed to decide what we are going to focus on in our schooling and home so that we can have confidence in how we are using our time and energy. The question I asked myself is: “What do each of my kids need to be prepared for next fall?” With this question, I was able to narrow down the few things that matter a lot and let go of the rest. For us, we are making a family project of working through Story of the World 4 this summer so we can enjoy modern history when we start Alveary in the fall. We are also focusing on some specific skills tailored to what each child needs, instead of keepi

For the last 30 days, I've been using the Thriving in Motherhood Journal. Before this personal challenge, I would use it about once a week when things were hard and noticed a nice lift to my week. But as this year has continued to surprise us I started to flounder and wanted to see what impact the journal would have in my life.  In this week's episode, I'll share some of the logistics and tips for using the journal, the impact it had on my life, and my invitation for you to give it a try for yourself.  You may be wondering what it actually took for me to stick to my 30-day challenge. Here are some things that I found helpful: Have a pen ready Have multiple windows of when you will use the journal and put it in the next likely spot (next to your bed, office, kitchen, etc.) Be flexible with morning or night (or both). Pick it back up when you miss a day. Don’t pressure yourself to answer every question. Pick the relevant ones for that day and leave the rest. Don’t worry about keeping the daily and

I got a fantastic question from a mother who is using the 2024 Thriving in Motherhood Planner this year: "I get confused sometimes about the distinction between things like goals  (quarterly vs. yearly) vs. projects vs. habits vs. Big 3 vs. focus vs. tracking.  Should these things all be related or not necessarily?  For example, on page 31, I'm not sure what goals vs projects are.  Do I choose a big goal and then break that down into projects, or are goals and projects different? Should my daily, weekly, and quarterly goals all go back to my 10-12 goals for the year?  I guess I'm just not clear on how these things are different or if they should all be connected!"  In this week's episode are going to do a deep dive on the difference between Projects, Goals, and Habits and how you can practically organize your ideas to make things happen with the Thriving in Motherhood Planner. First, use this how it works best for you!  There are no grades or right or wrong answers. But, if you’re curious, here’s how I use my

Cleaning my home with my children has always been my number one priority. When they were babies this looked like using cleaning supplies that would be safe while they were in a baby carrier on me. As they were toddlers, it meant they could clean with me, and I wasn't worried about what they were touching. As they get older it means having materials I'm confident they can use safely by themselves.  But knowing that this is what I wanted and executing it were two different things. In this week's episode, I'm sharing all the things I've tried and what worked, what didn't work, and what we are doing now that has been the right fit for us. I tried many things over the years. The first was to walk through the cleaning aisle at the store to find the products we needed. But due to overwhelm (the number of options, not knowing which products were actually safe, and calculating the expense of it all), I always walked out of there with nothing. This also meant that for years, the actual cleaning in our home was minimal

When I had three kids, four and under, I learned about Charlotte Mason and her principle of spreading a wide feast of ideas. Practically, this looks like 20 different subjects in a Charlotte Mason classroom that get covered during the week.  Before we were in the formal school years, I got into the habit of discovering where all the different sections of books were at the library so I could just walk the shelves and grab some that covered a wide range of ideas without any preplanning. For years, we have had this system in place that has provided an educational cushion through all the ups and downs in our lives and given our kids a lot of learning in a very natural way. For years, we have had this system in place that has provided an educational cushion through all the ups and downs in our lives and given our kids a lot of learning in a very natural way. I also supplement by putting books on hold at the library that deep-dive into what my kids want to learn more about so that I’m not hunting for specific books

Synthia Simenson is a mother of five (almost six) children ages 10 and under. She went through the struggles that I think we can all relate to when we first become moms—overwhelm, unsure of where to focus her time and energy, and not even sure what she wanted life to look like. I hope you are as inspired by her journey as I am, from those survival years to making intentional changes that created space for her to dream.  Things like minimum baselines for taking care of herself and her home, weekly out-of-the-house dates with her husband (a minimum of 3 hours!), and creating a schedule so she wasn't reinventing the wheel every single day (notice the 3 pillars of thriving there?!).  She also began asking this life-changing question: "What is something you want more of?" As she and her husband discussed this on their weekly dates, their answer was travel. They both love being in new places, connecting with people, and spending time together as a family while having new experiences and discovering things. Leaning