Scratch That: Parenting & ReParenting Off Script

Do you find yourself feeling extra wobbly when you're parenting in front of other people? Do you care what strangers think when your kid is having a meltdown in the grocery store or at grandma's house? Us too, friends! US TOO. Why is it so hard to hold onto ourselves/our parenting values/the ground beneath us when we're parenting in front of other people? And how else might we think about these moments?Tune in to hear us talk about:🙄 The icky part of parents commiserating with other parents.🏆 The twisty need we have for our kids to "behave" in public to validate our parenting.🤹 The trickiness of toggling multiple roles at once.🫧 How kids disrupt, for good and for bad, our bubbles built on "adult" social rules.🚨 The unique threats for disabled parents when parenting in public.🔭 2 reframes we're practicing for fraught parenting-in-public moments.As Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! Solidarity? Advice? Laments? We're here for it💛🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨

How do we talk to our kids about war, death, families being separated, floods, guns, violence, any of it? Should we shield them as much and as long as possible? Should we hold their hand as we tell them what we know to be real? How do we balance protecting our kids with equipping them? These questions feel important, the stakes feel high, we're doing our best, and making it up as we go. Today we dive into it as we try to figure out how we want to navigate the conversations that scare us.Tune in to hear us talk about:🫟 The sticky conversations Caitlin loves diving into with their kid and why some topics feel so much harder.🇺🇸 How our parents' talked with us about politics in the 90s.🪦 The very different responses we had to our kids seeing dead animals and the one thread we share.📚 How Caitlin is using books and stories as invitations and bridges into hard conversations.🪧 The conversations Rebekah had with a fellow protester that illuminated how she wants to move through today's politic landscape with her son.⚙️ A potentially measured and responsible new strategy to equip our kids for the scary realities of today's world.Mentioned In Today's Episode:What Makes a Baby by Cory SilverbergAs Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! What helps you navigate conversations (with your kids or anyone else!) about the scary things happening in the world right now? And what book recommendations do you have? For any age! What are the book that are helping you understand our history and humanity?🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨

A year ago, Kate Wieners quit her corporate job to open a cozy, plant-filled bookstore, Monstera's Books. And while it sounds like the pitch for a movie we'd all love, today Kate talks with us about the real-life, fleshed-out story. What stars had to align for her to leave the "good enough" setup she already had for the risk of a dream? What has it been like to be a partner and a parent as she makes this great leap? What is it like to create a third-space community around books and storytelling right now? And does the nervous-scary of a big risky dream ever go away?Tune in to hear us talk about:☎️ The story of the old 70s phone they use in the store and all the ways it sets the tone for the shop.💫 What Kate's husband Justin said when he heard her name her bookstore dream out loud at a party.％ The strategies Kate and Justin have developed to navigate living, parenting, and working together.🔧 The big and unexpected monkey wrench in their plans and how that became the scary ideal way to actually launch their plans.🔔 The epiphany Kate had while waiting for someone else to tell her she had a brilliant plan.🌿 Why Kate thinks Monstera's Books is a worthy competitor to Amazon.🫟 Just making the next decision and getting comfortable with chaos.📚 The conversation Kate overheard in the bookstore that highlighted the unique power of third spaces (especially ones that center storytelling).💓 The tremendous value/power of little risks. (Or how something as simple as a romance bookclub could save someone's life.)✨ How paying attention to the sparkle dream in ourselves can meet a much larger need in our communities.⚡️ What Kate hopes her daughters take away from growing up in this bookstore.Mentioned In Today's Episode:Two books recommended by Monstera's Books patrons – The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. MaasTwo of Kate's top book recommendations – I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O'Farrell and Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghyAs Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! Shout out your favorite local bookstore! Tell us about your favorite third space! Share a little or big dream that's been tugging at your chest! We're here for all of it💛🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨

The hosts explore how toddlers can teach us about learning at all ages. They discuss the importance of fostering curiosity and creating safe spaces that nurture emotional well-being. The conversation highlights the need to embrace mistakes and prioritize genuine exploration over grades. They also emphasize the value of rest and play in the learning process, advocating for personalized learning paths that cater to individual styles. It’s a lively examination of what it means to truly engage with education.

As we kick off Pride month, we turn over what it means to bring a new person into a scary world, especially as a queer parent, and the ways pregnancy has helped Caitlin understand and live out their gender.Tune in to hear us talk about:🫢 A super big announcement!❓ Asking questions to understand the ways we experience pregnancy and parenthood differently.⚖️ Caitlin processing the need they felt to choose between being visibly queer and keeping their kids safe in public.🏳️‍🌈 Why being pregnant with Charlie propelled Caitlin to come out as nonbinary.🔔 The moment Caitlin rung the bell that could not be unrung and showed up as their nonbinary self to people that mattered.👥 Modeling for our kids an alignment in how we show to the world and how we show up inside our homes.Mentioned In Today's Episode:If you'd like to swaddle Caitlin in a little care for this new being that's coming to be, check out their registry here 💛As Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! Drop your thoughts on this conversation below💛🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨

Today on Scratch That we chat with one of the most beloved couples on the internet – Squirmy and Grubs! (Also known as Shane and Hannah Burcaw🤗) They talk with us about what it's like to share their personal lives with an enormous following, how they cope with internet hate and real life ignorance about disability/relationships, why they wrote their new book Interabled: True Stories of Love and Disability, the perspective they've gained through their experience with IVF, and loads more! There was much giggling. There were sobering truths. There was a story about the time Hannah ate edibles and then thought a real life witch approached them on the street. We're so excited to share this one with you💛Tune in to hear us talk about:🤡 Little Shane and Little Hannah as two rule-following class clowns.🧑‍🦼The shame Shane had about his disability when he was younger and the coping mechanisms he developed to be seen as fully human.💞 Why we think so many people struggle to understand how disability, care giving, and romantic relationships can co-exist.📣 Why Shane and Hannah continue to share their stories publicly, even when their comment sections fill up with ignorance and hate.🛠 The tools Hannah & Shane have found to protect themselves from ignorance.⚡ Disability as a disruption to narrow expectations around traditional gender norms and inter-generational living.🗺The perspective they've gained from their IVF experience.Mentioned In Today's Episode:Shane and Hannah's book, Interabled: True Stories of Love and DisabilityAnd their YouTube channel, Squirmy and GrubsSara Hendren's book What Can a Body Do?And here is an interview Sara Hendren did with Krista Tippett on the On Being podcast about an obligation to others as valuable within human society.The 3 songs Hannah and Shane added to our collective Scratch That Spotify playlist – Fortune Teller by Sea Lemon, Get Better by alt-J, and look up by Joy Oladokum.As Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! 🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨

If love incarnate was sitting beside you today, what would they say to you? Today we offer you a little practice that we learned from the one-and-only Elizabeth Gilbert – Letters from Love. We share a tiny how-to and then dive into reading some of our own letters, Caitlin as a seasoned veteran and Rebekah as a fresh newbie. You're invited to write your own letter, too, but even if you don't, we hope this especially tender episode brings you some kind of love today.Mentioned In Today's Episode:Here is Elizabeth Gilbert's how-to guide on Letters from Love on her Substack by the same name.Caitlin made a print of the phrase that came to Rebekah in her Letter from Love! You can purchase it for $5 here💌As Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! What would Love have you know today?🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨

Join Danny Kurtzman, an actor and director known for his leading role in the film Good Bad Things, and Steve Way, a comedian and executive producer also seen on Hulu's Ramy, as they share their inspiring friendship. They dive into the challenges of growing up with disabilities and the internalized ableism they've faced. Discover how they rewrite disability narratives through their film, emphasizing authentic storytelling and the power of friendship. Their heartfelt discussion showcases resilience, mental health, and the need for genuine representation in media.

Do you ever feel frozen by the chaos, the mess, the to-do list? There's a big project you really want to dive into, but every time you try to start, you end up scrolling on your phone instead? Or you look out at the suffering in the great wide world and don't know what steps you could possibly take to help? This week, Caitlin introduces us to a sturdy framework their brilliant little brain created to help them in just such moments. And if you dig it, you're in luck, because they're offering a whole juicy online class based on these ideas this spring!Mentioned In Today's Episode:Check out all these details on Caitlin's online class – Start Where You Are⭐️As Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! What do you have? What do you need? And how would it feel to start that thread in the group chat?🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨

On today's episode, it's Dr Becky versus Original Sin! What happens when Good Inside takes on the fall of man? Are our jobs as parents to get out of the way and nurture our kids' inherent goodness? Or are we here to guide them away from their bad instincts? In Scratch That fashion, today's tornado conversation swirls through the gray as we try to piece together a both/and philosophy that can support us through the unwieldy work of learning/teaching how to be a human.Tune in to hear us talk about:🐣 The Easter-weekend moment Caitlin had with Charlie that sparked this whole episode.🔎 Shifting the focus from good versus bad to belonging versus abandonment.🤼‍♀️ Shame versus responsibility, unmet needs versus bad behavior.⚡️ How the capital S-self might help us get out of binary thinking.Mentioned In Today's Episode:For anyone feeling lost every time we reference Dr Becky, here's a link to her corner of the internet.As Always:Check out Caitlin and Rebekah's Book Shop! Here you can find every book mentioned in our episodes, as well as a few additional faves.Use this link to get a 25% discount on a PokPok subcription! And if you haven't listened yet, check out our interview with PokPok creators, Esther and Melissa.We would love to hear from you! Are we the only ones thinking about these questions? What did this episode bring up for you? And do you have any good book recommendations??🍎 Apple🟢 SpotifyFind Rebekah on Substack & Caitlin on Instagram ✨