

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms
Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson
When you're a parent, every day brings a "fresh hell" to deal with. In other words, there's always something. Think of us as your funny mom friends who are here to remind you: you're not alone, and it won't always be this hard.We're Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables, both busy moms of three kids, but with completely different parenting styles. Margaret is a laid-back to the max; Amy never met a spreadsheet or an organizational system she didn't like.In each episode of "What Fresh Hell" we offer lots of laughs, but also practical advice, parenting strategies, and tips to empower you in your role as a mom. We explore self-help techniques, as well as ways to prioritize your own needs, combat stress, and despite the invisible workload we all deal with, find joy amidst the chaos of motherhood.If you've ever wondered "why is my kid..." then one of us has probably been there, and we're here to tell you what we've learned along the way.We unpack the behaviors and developmental stages of toddlers, tweens, and teenagers, providing insights into their actions and equipping you with effective parenting strategies.We offer our best parenting tips and skills we've learned. We debate the techniques and studies that are everywhere for parents these days, and get to the bottom of what works best to raise happy, healthy, fairly well-behaved kids, while fostering a positive parent-child relationship.If you're the default parent in your household, whether you're a busy mom juggling multiple pickups and dropoffs, or a first-time parent seeking guidance, this podcast is your trusted resource. Join our community of supportive mom friends laughing in the face of motherhood! whatfreshhellpodcast.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 10, 2020 • 7min
Ask Amy - My Kid Is a Know-It-All!
Amy takes a question from a listener who wants to encourage her know-it-all daughter to speak up while discouraging her constantly correcting everyone in the family. Is there a way to support her daughter's knowledge and self-confidence, while correcting her annoying habit of having absolutely all the answers?Check out our other episodes on the topic:Asking for What We Want and Encouraging Our Daughters' to Do the Same: bit.ly/WFHWhatWeWantTeaching Our Kids Empathy: http://bit.ly/TeachingKidsEmpathy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 5, 2020 • 50min
Asking For What We Want, And Teaching Our Daughters To Do The Same (with guest Marisa Porges)
From board rooms to town halls to IEP meetings to doctor's offices, there are places where women speaking up for what they want or need are either ignored, resented, or just not taken seriously. (Anyone who's ever had been told by a contractor to "put her husband on the phone, and I'll explain it to him" can tell you that.)That's why our girls need to be trained in the arts of asking and negotiating– not only because those are things we don’t teach our daughters as well as we teach our sons, but also because the world often doesn’t reward women who speak up.We discuss how to value our daughters' voices– and teach them to do the same– with Marisa Porges, author of the new book WHAT GIRLS NEED: How to Raise Bold, Courageous, and Resilient Women. Here are links to other writing on the subject that we discuss in this episode:Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever Deborah A. Small et al: Who Goes to the Bargaining Table? The Influence of Gender and Framing on the Initiation of Negotiation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 3, 2020 • 7min
Ask Margaret - Is There Any Way to Get My Kid to Stop Throwing Stuff?
Margaret answers a question from a mom who is pretty freaked out by her 20-month-old's habit of throwing stuff when he's angry.If you have a question you'd like Margaret or Amy to answer submit to: questions@whatfreshhellpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 29, 2020 • 47min
Advice We Totally Hate
As soon as you become a mother unsolicited advice-givers are everywhere, telling you to “sleep when the baby sleeps.” Or “it gets easier.” Or “enjoy every moment.”Out of all the advice (parenting and otherwise) that we and our listeners have ever received, here is a selection of the very worst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 27, 2020 • 7min
Ask Amy - How Can a New Mom Make Friends Right Now?
Each week Amy or Margaret answers one listener's most pressing question.This week Amy answers the question, "How can an introvert make new friends especially during the complicated social limitations of coronavirus?"Check out our Finding Your Mom Tribe episode:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/2019/06/finding-your-mom-tribe-episode-110/Here's the link to the Catherine Price's Screen/Life Balance site Amy mentions in this episode. http://screenlifebalance.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 22, 2020 • 48min
Two Kinds of People- Which Are You?
We asked our listeners to divide the world into two kinds of people, and to stake out their claims on one side.Sleep cuddler or stop-breathing-on-me?Book finisher or life-is-too-short-er?Shoes on or off in the house?Many of you gave slightly judgmental “there’s me, and the crazy people” types of responses.Others gave "there's the right way to do it, and the way my spouse does it" sorts of answers.All of which, in this episode, we are totally here for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 20, 2020 • 7min
Ask Margaret - When Does This Get Easier?
Margaret answers a question from the What Fresh Hell Podcast Group from a listener who asks when (if ever) life with her 2 and 1-year-olds is ever going to get easier.Submit your question– we might answer yours next! questions@whatfreshhellpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 15, 2020 • 46min
Hitting the Wall: Get Us Off This Coronacoaster!
Even the cheeriest and sunniest of parents are hitting the wall. We're over it. This stinks. Even the most ‘We’ll make a fun obstacle course in the yard!’ moms are suddenly thinking ‘No. NO. I don't want to do this anymore.’”Somehow we've traveled past denial, to bargaining, then circled back to anger, without seeing so much of the acceptance part. That’s life on the coronacoaster.We think this is particularly hard for parents, because we have to hold together some semblance of certainty for our kids that everything's going to be fine amidst our own complete uncertainty. Saying "you don't have to be scared" even when we feel scared. Taking on the anxiety and frustration and boredom and irritation of our littles when we haven’t worked out our own.We don’t have a ton of solutions this week, but we review some rules for zen living and figure out how we might do those a bit more. In the meantime, knowing we’re not alone in feeling this way definitely helps. Here are links to the things we discuss in this episode:Dylan Buckley for BetterHelp: Understanding The Stages Of GriefDeb Perelman for NYT: In the Covid-19 Economy, You Can Have a Kid or a Job. You Can’t Have Both. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 8, 2020 • 49min
Bad Mom Moments (with guest Arianna Bradford)
Fess up: everyone's got a Bad Mom Moment. Or twelve.We tend to hold these things really close, our shame rooted in deep certainty that no other mother has ever temporarily forgotten their baby in the toy aisle at Target.Guess what? You're not alone. Here are some of our listeners' Bad Mom Moments– and more than a few of our own.Our guest this week is Arianna Bradford, the brains behind The NYAM (Not Your Average Mom) Project, a website dedicated to helping parents -- moms especially -- celebrate the person they are outside of their role as a parent. Her new book, SHAME ON YOU: BIG TRUTHS FROM A BAD MOM, is a hilarious collection of parenting essays that focus as much on a mother's mental health as they do on kids, and how very, very strange they are. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jul 6, 2020 • 8min
Ask Margaret - I'm So Worried About Being Away From my Kid
Every week Margaret or Amy answers one listener's most pressing question.This week Margaret answers the question, "I know it's silly but I'm really worried about being away from my child for three nights. How I can deal with this?"Submit your questions to: questions@whatfreshhellpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


