Model Minority Moms

When us first-gen Asian-Americans become moms, one journey in particular starts looming in the horizon: introducing our kids to our mother country, with all its foods, sounds, customs. When is the right age? What should we expect? Should we bring a car seat? Is it even possible to take your young child to another country when normal daily life can feel like a struggle? Well, Kate has just taken her girls to Asia for the first time and she's here to give us the good and the ugly of it all.

Another totally under-discussed issue in popular culture: what happens to love between spouses after the kids come. In rom coms, it's always happily ever after right? The end. Talk about over-simplification. The truth is that your relationship with your partner WILL change after kids - for better or for worse. In this episode, we talk about our expectations vs the reality of relationship with your spouse after you have kids, and our thoughts on how to get through parenthood with your relationship stronger, not destroyed.

Being female, Asian-American, and a parent - that's a triple whammy right there for a bad case of the considerate-ness. Do you struggle with feeling like you are considerate but it's not reciprocated, resulting in rage, burnout, and disappointment? Do you feel like you are playing by rules of considerateness that you alone are playing? Are you right or is everyone else? If these questions resonate, this episode is for you.

Our listeners are in Seattle, of course, but also heavily in SF, LA, New York, DC area... the usual suspects. When we talk to people in these cities and beyond, the topic of moving to Seattle often crops up. People are Seattle-curious, we often find. So... is the Emerald City all that it's reputed to be? We take you beyond the Space Needle and give you an insider's look at what's it really like to live in the Pacific Northwest's largest city.

In this final episode of our mini-series on divorce, we interview Diem Chi Nguyen, a Seattle-area attorney who focuses on family and divorce law. She walks us through the basics of the divorce process - how long it takes, how much it costs, different paths to take, how custody of children are handled, how assets and debts are split - peppered with anonymized stories of how things can turn really weird, emotional, irrational in these often highly-charged life events.

In this very special episode, we interview an anonymous guest about her experience going through a divorce - what led to the separation, how she and her ex handled things with their kids, all the extremely messy and hard ups and downs of the process and how she survived it all. Whether you are considering a divorce, want to support a friend going through divorce, or just want to hear a real-life, in-depth accounting of navigating the entire process, this episode is for women everywhere.

No, the other D-word (guess who wrote that one! :) In the first episode of this mini-series, we are talking about divorce. Hurtling into middle age, divorce seems to be popping up, silently but more frequently around us. We talk about the how we saw divorce in our own families growing up and how we think about divorce now. When do we work through it? When is enough enough? Where are our bright lines and non-negotiables? And what about the kiddos? Even though we are all thankful that divorce is a more viable option for many women (and men) in terrible relationships, deciding to get divorced and actually getting divorced seems anything but straightforward.

Since we were little girls, we got all kinds of messages - both direct and otherwise - about how we looked and how we should look. Even as full-grown women, those messages still echo loudly in our minds. We've had to evolve - sometimes painfully - to grow our confidence and embrace our appearance. As with so many issues, becoming moms has forced us to re-examine what we say to ourselves and our children about appearances, standards of beauty, and how to reconcile it all.

Does any other mom experience blinding anger on the regular? Anyone? Anyone? Ok, so no one right? Then this episode is for us (and for you if you know what we're talking about). We break down why the heck do we get SO mad sometimes, is it normal, is it bad and how to handle it when the anger pressure is building and we're about to blow.

In this very special episode, we bring you an exclusive interview with Susan Lieu, the author of the forthcoming book, the Manicurist's Daughter, available in bookstores on March 12th and available for pre-ordering now! It is already getting rave reviews from top outlets, including Publisher Weekly, Kirkus, Elle and Goodreads! Of course, if you listen to our podcast, you will know that Susan is also the co-host of our podcast and that's why we have this amazing opportunity to talk to her in an intimate and familiar forum. We are so so proud of this milestone for Susan and it's been an honor for us (Kate and Jeanette) to walk with her as she has been going through this 3-year journey of meeting her literary agent through her shows, writing a book proposal, selling it to Celadon/MacMillan, and writing draft after draft of her book to get it ready for the world. If you are a fan of our pod, please please place your pre-order today and enjoy the tidbits about the book in this episode. Sending hugs, Jeanette, Kate and Susan