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

Did you know? Happy to Help is available on Audible- with Amy doing the narration! Should ketchup be refrigerated? Is dryer-lint cleaning a before or after job? We asked our listeners for their most longstanding, totally low-stakes disagreements with their spouse or parenting partner.In this episode, we render judgments. People, we're calling balls and strikes. Our determinations are final. Join our Facebook group and be part of our next episode!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,  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Deep Dive series is about reflecting on our trajectories as mothers - looking back, reflecting on where we are now, and thinking about the future. Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify.What does it mean to have a midlife crisis? What exactly counts as "midlife," and (yikes) are we already in it? Can we avoid the disenchantment and the rash decision-making that stereotypically accompany such times in our lives?A listener in our Facebook group asked:"Who has been thru their midlife crisis and how did you deal? Turning 40 next week has me feeling like I've wasted my life. Can I get over the what-ifs?"In this episode Amy and Margaret discuss: How American culture has changed its views on aging Why women and men experience midlife crises differently Why the age of your children might be the thing triggering your crisis Here are links to some of the resources discussed in the episode: Howard P. Chudacoff: How old are you? Age consciousness in American culture Laurence Steinberg: Crossing Paths: How Your Child's Adolescence Triggers Your Own Crisis Mark Jackson: Life begins at 40: the demographic and cultural roots of the midlife crisis Sign up for the What Fresh Hell newsletter! Once a month you’ll get our favorite recent episodes, plus links to other things to read and watch and listen to, and upcoming special events:http://eepurl.com/h8ze3zWe 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, brain development, mom brain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So many women feel that when they leave the workforce to become a stay-at-home parent, "Mom" becomes their primary and only identity. But Neha Ruch, author of the new book THE POWER PAUSE, reframes the shift from paid work to stay-at-home parenting—and sometimes back to the workforce— in a way that expands identity and possibilities for women going through these transitions. Neha, Amy, and Margaret discuss: Why the period of "stay at home momness" can be a great challenge to identity How the Power Pause stands in contrast to the way moms are seen when they stop working Practical tips for resigning strategically when leaving the workforce How to grow and learn during a power pause—and why it's not really a resume gap Here's where you can find Neha: https://www.motheruntitled.com @motheruntitled on Instagram Buy THE POWER PAUSE: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780593716182 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, brain development, mom brain, the power pause, redefining motherhood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're talking about some of the topics in Amy Wilson's new book HAPPY TO HELP. Get it in our Bookshop bookstore, or wherever you buy books! Ask most people if women are "just better" at multitasking, and they'll probably agree. Didn't some study say that at some point? Aren't women from Venus and men from Mars? Aren't our brains completely different?Here's what the research really says about multitasking. Turns out we may have been bamboozled into doing more work all this time WITHOUT being any better at it.Amy and Margaret discuss: Why multitasking feels good sometimes Why women may be better at it only because they have more practice How attempting to multitask actually makes us less productive Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: D. Ren, H. Zhou and X. Fu, "A Deeper Look at Gender Difference in Multitasking: Gender-Specific Mechanism of Cognitive Control," for Fifth International Conference on Natural Computation. @meglskalla on TikTok: "Testing the 'Men Can't Multitask' Theory on My Husband" "Mythbusters" Season 14 Episode 5: "Battle of the Sexes Round 2" Olivia Petter for The Independent: "Multitasking inhibits productivity, research claims" Leah Ruppanner for The Conversation: "Women aren’t better multitaskers than men – they’re just doing more work" Hirsch P, Koch I, Karbach J (2019) "Putting a stereotype to the test: The case of gender differences in multitasking costs in task-switching and dual-task situations." Stoet, G., O’Connor, D.B., Conner, M. et al. for BMC Psychology: "Are women better than men at multi-tasking?" Sir Ken Robinson's TEDTalk: "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" The Miss Perceived podcast with Leah Ruppanner 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, brain development, mom brain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amy Wilson's book Happy to Help is out now and available wherever you buy books!Join Amy and Margaret in Philadelphia and San Antonio in February 2025 for their latest "What Fresh Hell Live!" shows. For tickets, head to bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour.This Deep Dive series is about reflecting on our trajectories as mothers - looking back, reflecting on where we are now, and thinking about the future. Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify.For moms who want to make a change, whether it's returning to an old career after a break, or forging a entirely new path, Amy and Margaret are here to tell you: it's possible, and it can be a time that feels like possibility instead of a series of closed doors.Amy and Margaret discuss: Their own (multiple) experiences with pivoting How the pandemic has affected working moms The challenges of reentering the workforce after being a stay-at-home parent for some time The first step to pivoting? Uncovering what you really want in this next stage of your professional life, which will take some time and reflection. Think big.Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the show: Caroline Fairchild for Working Together: "Nearly half of mothers work, take a break, and work again. Why is there still such a stigma?" Jamie Birt for Indeed: "9 Tips for Stay-at-Home Parents Re-Entering the Workforce" Misty L. Heggeness et. al: "Tracking Job Losses for Mothers of School-Age Children During a Health Crisis" Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love Sign up for our newsletter here! 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, brain development, mom brain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do our experiences in our families of origin shape our own parenting style? Norah Lally, author of the new book BACK TO BAINBRIDGE—and Margaret's best friend!—discusses her own experiences of becoming a mother to three children, born in very different circumstances.Norah Lally is a New York-born, Los Angeles-based writer. Her debut novel, Back to Bainbridge, was selected as an Editor’s Pick by BookLife at Publishers Weekly.Here's where you can find Norah: www.norahlally.com @norahlallywrites on IG @BacktoBainbridge on FB Buy BACK TO BAINBRIDGE: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781647048723 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, #NorahLally #BacktoBainbridge #AbbeyGlenPress #BookLaunch #ReadersFavorite #FiveStars #MustRead #ReadersChoice #EditorsPick #FamilyFirst #HealthyCommunication #FriendshipGoals #MentalHealthMatters #HealingJourney #FamilyStruggles #CityStory #YouthBooks #MiddleGradeFiction #BronxStory #DiverseNeighborhoods #CommunityLove #MiddleGradeReads #HeartFeltStories #NewAuthor #CityKids #NYCLove #BooksWorthReading #DebutNovel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can find Amy's new book HAPPY TO HELP in hardcover, paperback, Ebook, and audiobook (read by Amy !) at bit.ly/happytohelpamazon or wherever you buy books!Have you already failed at achieving your lofty New Year's Resolutions that you set for 2025? The problem isn't you. It's that year after year we resolve to fix the same things about ourselves once and for all, rather than accept that what we really need are gentle resets—consistent, continuous, and without the feeling bad about ourselves part.In this episode Amy and Margaret discuss: where "back-to-ones" come from (Hollywood, believe it or not) why back-to-ones are better than goals how to reset our habits "back to one" and stop punishing ourselves for not being perfect our own "back to ones" for 2025 Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: Our Fresh Take with Mallory ThomasWe 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, decluttering, meal prepping, time management, new year, resolutions, positive psychology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amy Wilson's book Happy to Help is out now and available wherever you buy books!Join Amy and Margaret in Philadelphia and San Antonio in February 2025 for their latest "What Fresh Hell Live!" shows. For tickets, head to bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour.This Deep Dive series is about reflecting on our trajectories as mothers - looking back, reflecting on where we are now, and thinking about the future. Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify.Becoming a mother changes everything about us. Literally: the very structure of our brain changes during pregnancy, along with our eyeglass description and our shoe size. That most of us become more hypervigilant and more anxious isn't a personal failing– it's a biological imperative. But while the ways motherhood has changed us may be very natural, that doesn't mean those transitions were always easy.In this episode we discuss how motherhood has changed us, how it's also made us more aware of who we always were, and how giving ourselves grace about those changes has been what has always gotten us through.Here are links to some research- and a few of our other episodes- that are worth your time on this topic: Adrienne LaFrance: What Happens to a Woman’s Brain When She Becomes a Mother Fresh Take: Janice Johnson Dias on Raising Joyful, Change-Making Kids Fresh Take: Dr. Christine Koh On Building a Family After Adverse Childhood Experiences Our episode Did We Really Do That? 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, brain development, mom brain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many of us grew up believing in that women are particularly biologically designed to nurture—which means that a mother will immediately and instinctively know how to parent, be better at it than the other adults around her and the baby, and that she'd really prefer to do the caretaking work on her own.Nancy Reddy says all of that is THE GOOD MOTHER MYTH, and in her new book, uncovers the shoddy and old-fashioned science beneath our bad ideas about how to be a good mom.In this interview, Nancy and Amy discuss: where the "good mother myth" originated how being a good mother is all-encompassing so that we never lift our heads to see the larger picture or argue for structural, societal change how the expectation that mothers can or should do it all harms all parents Here's where you can find Nancy: www.nancyreddy.com @nancy.o.reddy on IG @nancy_reddy on X Subscribe to the "Write More, Be Less Careful" newsletter at nancyreddy.substack.com Buy THE GOOD MOTHER MYTH: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781250336644 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, brain development, mom brain, child development research, motherhood research, motherhood myths, #thegoodmothermyth #alreadygreat #givingupongoodness #lessadvicemoresupport #fewerexpertsmorecommunity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy to Help is available wherever you buy books, and at bit.ly/whatfreshhellamazon. Did you know Amy narrates the audiobook?This episode marks number 400 of Amy-and-Margaret conversations on "What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood." (There are also hundreds of "Fresh Take" interviews with experts and guests!)We're here this episode to reflect on the lessons learned and challenges faced along the way. We discuss: Our biggest parenting takeaways from eight years of this podcast How parenting has changed since we started observing it closely The things we thought were true about parenting that just did not match up 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, brain development, mom brain, parenting myths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices