Begin writing a post that says “Working parents are not okay.”‘ Delete sentences because no one is okay. There isn’t really a comparison game to be played here. Call your friend and realize that you’re having trouble stringing words together. Hang up the telephone because both of your children and pushing buttons on the phone and you can’t actually have a real conversation while children and buttons are in close proximity. What was it that they said? “Opening my computer is like a pavlovian response for my child.” Yeah, that.
WORK SMARTER.
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Maybe You Don’t Have To Work Harder Right Now
For many of you, there isn’t anything we can control, push, or organize to change the world around us. It’s maddening, but it also has an upside: we can release the pent-up energy of wanting things to change and trust that things will change, eventually, at some point. Sometimes, releasing the pressure of having to do something can release us to find tiny moments of joy—or at least contentment—inside of the space we’re in.
I Miss Work So Much Right Now
I miss my work. I really do. I get energy from building and strategizing and just generally moving forward, and on the days when I don’t feel satisfied with how much I accomplish, I struggle to stay positive.
Catch Your Breath: Taking A Minute To Breathe Together — Episode #147
If you’re feeling heightened levels of stress, anxiety, or worry, this episode is for you. I’ve recorded a short breathing practice that can help calm anxiety and reduce stress even if you only have a couple of minutes. These are unprecedented times and while this won’t solve everything, this might give you a moment of reprieve if you’re feeling the heaviness of everything right now.
I Only Have 4 Hours of Childcare—Am I Doing Enough On My Business?
It’s hard enough being a working mom—or a working parent—by the end of the day I’m usually hiding in an unmade bed somewhere, scarfing cookies while watching terribly trashy television like The Bachelor or The Voice and trying to find a quiet moment to myself. After 14 hours on non-stop duty from 5:00am until 7:30pm, my resilience and my willpower are depleted. But here’s why it’s important to not compare yourself to others around you as a new parent or a working mom.
Overwhelmed, Scared, Exhausted: A Note For You — Episode #143
Parenting can challenge us to the ends of the earth—and those early years often leave you feeling overwhelmed, scared, and frustrated. Here’s a short note for you: stick with it, keep going, and you’ll be surprised at your capacity. And yes, it’s really hard.
Parenting Logistics: Why It’s Such A Nightmare — Episode #139
Lately I’ve been fielding a lot of questions from people about what to expect in the shift from non-parenting to the parenting world. Personally, I find it really challenging when people smile at you and say things like, “Wait and see,” or “You’ll get it when you become a parent.” No thanks—please tell me now! On this episode, I decided to dive straight into the daily tangle that is the parenting logistics required of managing small humans. It is in these daily nuances—and the morning pitter patter of tiny feet—that our work lives and our careers begin to explode.
Toddler Germs: Why Does My Kid Keep Getting Sick? — Episode #138
One of the things I wasn’t expecting as a new parent was how much my kid would get sick. Then someone explained to me how the kiddos are building their new immune system, and I started collecting tips and tricks for how to deal with the onslaught of the cold and flu season. Here’s what’s helped us keep SOME of those colds away.
Why Is Parenting So Exhausting and Lonely? Kurt Vonnegut on Family, Marriage, and Needing 50 People
I don’t think I was prepared for how exhausting and lonely parenting can be. Despite having active young kids and constantly playing with them, I still found myself longing for time to myself. Time to think, and time to talk to other adult humans about things beyond parenting. Then I stumbled across this concept.
My Entire World Changed Overnight—Episode #136 with Priti Krishtel
The process of adopting a child can be long, laborious and fraught with uncertainty. You never know when you’ll get the call or how long it will take, or when you might become a parent. For Priti Krishtel, she got the call late one night that her kid was here, and she jumped on a plane to be at the hospital on the other side of the country just 24 hours later.
Minimalism, Motherhood and Doing Less — Episode #135 with Cary Fortin on Decluttering in Life, Home, and Work
Behind all of our stuff are a series of questions: What is the purpose and the joy of the space? Who is it serving, and why? What are the meanings behind the things you have, and what do you want the space to do for you? Cary Fortin is joining us again today to talk about minimalism, motherhood, and decluttering.
Becoming A Parent: Of Course You’re Going To Change
Everyone tells women to bounce back after having a kid. Like, don’t change—don’t do anything except, of course, become a mom and be a mother 100% and love your kids and leave work because, obviously, you’ll leave work and you won’t be the same. Except also, don’t change. WTF?
Best Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals For Expecting Parents and New Families
The holidays can be a mad rush of frenzied shopping. Skip the piles of gifts and spend wisely on one big-ticket item, like an Instapop or a Roomba, and it’ll be worth it for the entire year ahead. Here’s our round-up of the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to save your family a bundle.
Best Gifts (That Aren’t Toys) For Toddlers — A Holiday Gift Guide For Toddlers and Young Kids
Looking for a great gift for your toddler or little kid? Here’s a round-up of some of our favorite kid toys and gifts—forward this list to your relatives over the holidays if you need to come up with a gift list.
What To Buy New Parents: Our Holiday Gift Guide For Brand New Parents
Is someone in your family or friend circle expecting a baby? Here’s our guide of the best gifts to get your brand-new parent friends—and what to avoid.
Summer Break? Where Do the Kids Go While Their Parents Work and Other Thoughts On Summertime — Episode #124
Startup Pregnant is taking a summer break! That’s right, we will be off for the month of August, but back to you with fresh weekly content in September. For this summer’s final podcast, Sarah digs into: the real life struggles of being a double working parent family over the summer, the breaks she wishes she’d taken as a new mom and business owner over the past few years, and explains why literal brakes—like on cars—are the real reason we can get so much done.
Beyond Mom: Exploring and Nourishing Our Non-Mother Selves — Episode #120 With Randi Zinn
After losing her father at the tender ago of 25, Randi Zinn moved away from a traditional path in media to instead follow in her “fascinating hippie visionary” entrepreneurial dad’s footsteps. She depicts with honesty and vulnerability the struggles she felt leaping into a world she wasn’t prepared for and how her current success is most clearly understood alongside her several years of “non-linear” progress. After the birth of her son, Randi turned her passion for yoga, hosting events, and spirituality into uncommon and highly successful in person events and retreats. It was not until she was part way through throwing one of these mixers that she realized the business she wanted to create was staring right at her: Beyond Mom, a website, book, and community dedicated to exploring and nourishing our non-mother selves.
The Myth of Equal Partnership in Parenting — Episode #119 With Darcy Lockman
“Two-career couples have the assumption going into having a family, ‘Of course this is equal co-parenting. It’s 2019. What else would we do?’ But it so rarely plays out that way.” Despite the hope for equal partnership, it’s often mothers who are still doing the lion’s share of the unpaid, invisible labor of managing children and the home. Why is this?
Crossing the Threshold to Motherhood: Ceremony, Ritual, and Healing Rites of Passage — Episode #116 With Kari Azuma
What happens when someone who has always known that they wanted to be a mother—that they were born to be a to mother—has a deeply traumatic birth? How does it impact how she views herself, her child, and processes her new role as mother? For Kari Azuma this led to postpartum depression and “a full blown identity crisis.”
The Myths of Miscarriage, The Lean In Fallacy, and Mothers’ Rage — Episode #115 With Katherine Goldstein
Katherine Goldstein found our she was pregnant as she was trying to launch a podcast about how mothers experience bias and discrimination in the workplace—making the issue front and center in her life. Yet she experienced trauma and blowback despite the knowledge. Today we still force women to wrap their miscarriage and fertility traumas into a bow—“But now I have a baby, so it’s all okay”—to make it palatable to the public. Award-winning journalist and podcast creator Katherine Goldstein goes deep with us on so many of the most pressing topics for working mothers and holds nothing back. Between her research, the data, her own experience, and her reported experience of hundreds of moms, Katherine is waging war against cultural forces holding mothers back from being their fullest, most ambitious, most rage-filled selves.
From Unexplained Infertility to Planning a Small Business Maternity Leave — Episode #114 With Reina Pomeroy
Reina began life as a Social Worker and side hustler with an entrepreneurial spirit. Quickly after giving birth to her first child, she realized that her time and energy were too precious to spend on work that was not aligned with her heart and soul. After founding her thriving business, Reina and her partner decided to have another child only to be diagnosed with unexplained secondary infertility. After years on that journey, we speak to her now, on the precipice of delivering her second child and preparing her business for her maternity leave.
How to Raise Successful Children: Trust and Respect in Parenting, School, and Business — Episode #113 With Esther Wojcicki
Esther Wojcicki is considered the most influential educator in contemporary times. She is the pioneer of Moonshot Thinking and her pedagogical philosophy is being adapted by national and global education programs. On top of this, she is the mother to three astonishingly accomplished adult daughters, including a medical professor at UCSF, the founder of 23andMe and the CEO of YouTube. Yet, her framework for promoting strong, independent, capable young people is surprisingly simple and straightforward. What can we learn from Dr. Woj and implement in our own lives to benefit the young people among us?
Universal Paid Family Leave By 2020: Meet One of the Women Pushing for Our Rights — Episode #112 With Fabiola Santiago
Why is the United States the only developed nation without any guaranteed family leave? How did we fall so far behind Europe, Canada, and South America? And who is suffering the brunt of the impact from this lack of policy?
Data Driven Parenting: An Economist on Breastfeeding, Sleep Training, and Vaccinations — Episode #111 With Emily Oster
After disrupting the fear-based pregnancy advice space with her first book “Expecting Better”, Economist Emily Oster is back, applying her data-driven decision making to parenting with her second book, “Cribsheet”. Many of her conclusions will surprise you: like who is the biggest beneficiary of breast-feeding, who is correct in the sleep train or not debate, and how to understand the full body of research around vaccinations. If you’re like me, you’ll appreciate Oster’s warmth and candor about her own parenting experiences and you’ll leave this interview feeling informed, empowered, and confident in your own parenting choices.
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