What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

Even though there is more awareness about neurodivergence in today's world, there's still a lot most people don't know about what it's like parenting neurodivergent children. Kate Swenson, Carrie Cariello, and Adrian Wood, authors of the new book AUTISM OUT LOUD, discuss their individual journeys parenting a child with autism from diagnosis to young adulthood. Kate, Carrie, Adrian, and Margaret discuss: Figuring out what success looks like for your child with autism How an autism diagnosis affects family dynamics Processing the grief that accompanies an autism diagnosis Kate Swenson is the creator of the blog and Facebook page Finding Cooper’s Voice. She speaks regularly about autism, parenting, and motherhood, and is a contributor to TODAY Parents, The TODAY Show, and the Love What Matters blog.Carrie Cariello is the author of What Color Is Monday, Someone I’m With Has Autism, and Half My Sky.  Adrian Wood is the creator of the vlog Tales of an Educated Debutante. She has a PhD in Educational Research and contributes to TODAY Parents, The TODAY show, and the Love What Matters blog. Buy AUTISM OUT LOUD: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780778368366 Find out where the Autism Out Loud book tour is headed at https://autismoutloudbook.com/ Here's where you can find Kate: www.findingcoopersvoice.com @findingcoopersvoice on FB and IG https://findingcoopersvoice.substack.com/ Here's where you can find Carrie: @whatcolorismonday on FB @carrie_carriello on IG www.carriecariello.com https://substack.com/@carriecariello Here's where you can find Adrian: www.talesofaneducateddebutante.com @educateddebutante on FB @talesofaneducateddebutante on IG @theeducateddebutante on YT We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, emotions, kids emotions, parent emotions, uncertainty, autism out loud, autism after high school, autism and young adults, neurodivergent children, parenting neurodivergent children, autism, autism spectrum disorder, autistic children, special needs children, special education, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's face it—we moms need self-care options that don't cost a lot, take a lot of time, or require any childcare. The members of our Facebook group came through again with some excellent, easy, no-cost/low-cost forms of self-care that will help you take back a little bit of your day—and your sanity! Amy and Margaret discuss: Their favorite forms of easy self care Their opinions on pickles Stores that are extra fun even if you're only window shopping We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, self-care Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This month's Deep Dive series is all about how much fun we are—or aren't—having while raising our kids. Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. When parenting feels like all work and no play, we may resignedly think "Well, that's the way it's supposed to be." But if you feel like parenting is more draining than fulfilling, there are ways to bring more presence, joy, and fun into the mix.Amy and Margaret discuss: Why having fun as a family usually means doing what kids think is fun, which is not the same as US having fun What psychologists say is required in order to have fun—and why those same things can be in short supply in our lives as parents The role of "flow" in fun, and whether eight hours of video games might start to have diminishing returns Sometimes parenting isn't fun. The reasons for that aren't our fault, and losing the guilt that it's not all more fun can really help. On the other hand, if it's never fun, there might be some rearrangements of our family life that can occur...and we've got ideas on how to start.Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: Jennifer Senior: All Joy And No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood Daniel Gilbert: Stumbling on Happiness Mikhail Csikszentmihalyi: Flow Arlie Hochschild: The Second Shift We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, emotions, kids emotions, parent emotions, uncertainty, fun with kids, fun parenting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When we're the kinkeeper in our friend group—aka the one who organizes the get-togethers, remembers the birthdays, and sends out availability polls—it can get overwhelming, and we can even find ourselves resentful over it. Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg, hosts of the podcast "How to Be Fine," discuss how to approach conversations with friends about sharing the kinkeeping burden more evenly.Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg host the podcasts "By The Book" and "How to Be Fine." The current season of How to Be Fine is all about the loneliness epidemic and friendship quandaries, from jealousy to BFF breakups.Kristen, Jolenta, Amy, and Margaret discuss: Why new friends can actually be better than childhood friends sometimes What to do when one person is doing all the administration and planning in the friend group How to make friends as an adult Here are links to some of the things we mentioned in the episode: Allison P. Davis for The Cut: "Adorable Little Detonators Our friendship survived bad dates, illness, marriage, fights. Why can’t it survive your baby?" Our episode "Keeping Up with Friends Without Kids" Hear Amy on the "How to Be Fine" podcast talking about friendship burnout Here's where you can find Kristen and Jolenta: www.kristenmeinzer.com www.jolentagreenberg.com www.kristenandjolenta.com @howtobefinepod, @jolenta_g, @k10meinzer on IG Listen to "How to Be Fine" Buy the book HOW TO BE FINE: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780062957207 https://patreon.com/listentobythebook We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, kids stress, gender roles, gender equity, gender stereotypes, self help, friends, loneliness, female friendship, adult friendship, making friends as adults, kinkeeping, people pleasing, people pleaser Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We want to build a family that feels close and connected, but how do we know when the boundaries in our relationships are too porous? Here's what family enmeshment means, what it looks like, and how to look for signs of enmeshment in our relationships with our kids. Amy and Margaret discuss: The family systems theory and how it relates to enmeshment How clear boundaries create safety in relationships How enmeshment in family dynamics affects stress tolerability Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: Melissa Porrey for VeryWell: What Is Enmeshment, and How Do You Set Boundaries? Sharon Martin, for Psych Central: The Enmeshed Family System: What It Is and How to Break Free Jesse L. Coe et. al for Journal of Family Psychology: Family Cohesion and Enmeshment Moderate Associations between Maternal Relationship Instability and Children’s Externalizing Problems Our Fresh Take with Gabor Maté and Gordon Neufeld, authors of Hold On to Your Kids: WHY PARENTS NEED TO MATTER MORE THAN PEERS We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, cognitive labor, emotional labor, mental load, second shift, family meeting, partners, marriage, spouse, relationships, couples, enmeshment, family enmeshment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This month's Deep Dive series is all about how much fun we are—or aren't—having while raising our kids. Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. The world wants us to believe that having kids will bring us untold happiness. It's a love you've never known! Your life will never be the same! The reality is a little more complicated, and that can be quite confusing. As psychologist Jean Twenge points out, "Parents might believe that it's their fault when the transition to parenthood is difficult, rather than seeing it as something that everyone experiences."So: does having kids make us happy? Is that even the right question? Is it supposed to? Are the benefits that come from parenting different, and perhaps larger, than happiness?Here are links to some writing and studies on the topic that we discuss in this episode:  Paul Bloom for The Atlantic: What Becoming a Parent Really Does to Your Happiness Dan Kahneman et al: A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: the day reconstruction method Roudi Nazarina Roy et al: Effects of Expected and Perceived Division of Childcare and Household Labor on Mother’s Relationship Satisfaction during Their Transition to Parenthood E.E. LeMasters: Parenthood as Crisis M. Luhmann et al: Subjective well-being and adaptation to life events: A meta-analysis.  Jay Belsky et al: Patterns of Marital Change across the Transition to Parenthood: Pregnancy to Three Years Postpartum Jean M. Twenge et al: Parenthood and Marital Satisfaction: A Meta-Analytic Review Rainer Maria Rilke: “Go To The Limits of Your Longing” We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, emotions, kids emotions, parent emotions, uncertainty, fun with kids, fun parenting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can moms feel empowered to make progress towards their personal and professional goals? Jenny Wood, author of the new book WILD COURAGE, offers tips for applying courage in your daily life, balancing personal ambitions with family responsibilities, and setting healthy boundaries.In her 18 years at Google, Jenny Wood grew from entry-level to executive. Jenny’s writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Forbes. Jenny and Margaret discuss: The nine negative adjectives women are often labeled as and how Jenny flips them in her book How to differentiate between the "truths" and the "tales" you tell yourself about a situation The very small ways you can start to exhibit courage in your everyday life Here's where you can find Jenny: www.itsjennywood.com @itsjennywood on IG and @jennyilles on LinkedIn Buy WILD COURAGE: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780593717646 We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does your quality time with your spouse sometimes/always devolve into discussions about finances, kids, or future plans? Here's how focused weekly meetings—both for our partnerships and for our families—can strengthen, deepen, and save the sanity of our relationships.Amy and Margaret discuss: How marriage/family check-ins improve the day-to-day health of relationships Best practices for successful marriage/family check-ins How they tailor their own marriage/family check-ins to work for them Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: MARRIAGE MEETINGS FOR LASTING LOVE by Marcia Naomi Berger Brett and Kate McKay for Art of Manliness: How and Why to Hold a Weekly Marriage Meeting Julia Ries for Self: Scheduling a Weekly ‘House Meeting’ With My Partner Changed My Damn Life Jo Piazza for Bustle: The HR-ification Of Marriage We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, cognitive labor, emotional labor, mental load, second shift, family meeting, marriage meeting, family check-in, marriage check-in, relationship check-in, partners, marriage, spouse, relationships, couples Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This month's Deep Dive series is about parenting through uncertainty. Listen to all of the episodes in the series with this Spotify playlist.“Information overload” is defined as the tipping point when the input of information exceeds an individual’s capacity to process it all. When we begin to feel overwhelmed and stressed by the amount of information that is available, we can end up feeling more stressed and overwhelmed than knowledgeable.For parents, the urge to find certainty through online research—only to end up feeling even less certain—is particularly common. How can we make the constant availability of information, useful and otherwise, work for us rather than against?Amy and Margaret discuss: How "information overload" can reduce decision-making abilities Whether obsessive internet searching is the result, or cause, of low self-confidence in parents How to know your limits, and then set them Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: Terese Glatz and Melissa A. Lippold. “Is more information always better? Associations among parents’ online information searching, information overload, and self-efficacy.” International Journal of Behavioral Development. Jessica Runberg for The Washington Post: Is crowdsourced parenting eroding confidence? Cara Goodwin for Psychology Today: New Study: Information Overload for Parents We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, kids stress, stress, news, current events, world affairs, emotions, kids emotions, parent emotions, uncertainty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Women take on the lion's share of housework in heterosexual partnerships, and that gap in labor becomes a chasm once a child is born. Once Mom is the default parent, it becomes very difficult to even out the distribution of housework and parenting more equally.Mary Catherine Starr, author of the new book MAMA NEEDS A MINUTE, has renegotiated the distribution of labor in her own marriage post-kids and has tips for how other women can do the same.Mary Catherine Starr is an artist, graphic designer, and author. Her hugely popular Instagram account @momlife_comics explores motherhood, marriage, and the double standards of parenting.Mary Catherine and Amy discuss: What inspired Mary Catherine to start Mom Life Comics Why women usually become the default parent as soon as a baby is born Why Mary Catherine's cartoons help women explain the mental load to their partners Here's where you can find Mary Catherine: https://www.marycatherinestarr.com/ @momlife_comics on IG marycatherinestarr.substack.com Buy MAMA NEEDS A MINUTE: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781797226866 We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson.mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, cognitive labor, emotional labor, mental load, second shift Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices