So, Mother’s Day has come and gone, again.  How are you?  Still so glad to be a mom or wondering how long you can hang in there with this mommy stuff?  

Did you entertain all day, were you ignored most of the day, or did the kids and others figure out how to honor you, in a way that was meaningful to you?

 On today’s show we’re talking about being yourself (Me) even while being a Mom.  

Managing so many things, balancing energy, relationships, figuring out how to escape - or connect and how to balance the mom hat with your beautiful wife hat.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode

• Your personality, pre-motherhood - is still there.  Let “her” out sometimes.  It’s fun!
• Your mental-mass (brain so full of everything) is working very diligently.  Even when you feel like you are a mental-mess, use your mental-mass to sort out the mess. And, yes, sometimes that includes crying, praying and...

Do you like to fight?...with your spouse or your kiddos?  Or are you a bit weary of it all?

On the show today we are talking about those fights that seem to just recycle, over and over.  Sometimes, it (seems) settled for years, or months - other times, “it” was settled - for maybe 15 minutes. 

And it’s sooo tiring, confusing, draining. 
Are these fights even finish-able? 

Listen in and learn why these conversations replay repeatedly - and learn the trick to solving them, for real, by being real. 

 Be sure to share this with your friend, and your spouse!

 What you will learn

 ** And… if you are the listener… you would take the time to really listen.

** Arguments that come back to us over and over again are usually ignoring a question that is core to the relationship.

**And that question usually is, "Do I matter to you?"  

Insights

** So we did some Division of labor. 

**It is okay to revisit...

Remember back when you had the energy to be romantic?  Remember when someone brought your roses - just for fun, not to try to smooth over a rough night or conversation?

Romance and parenting can feel like oil and water  - they might co-exist but they don’t mix.  Many couples begin to believe that the need for sleep and just keeping the household going is the best it’s going to get…for the next maybe 18 years.  

Oh my!  That’s a long time! 

So, enjoy today’s show as we talk about 4 aspects and actions you can do each day to keep your relationship blossoming into beauty - even on the thorny days!

Inspiration:

*Your relationship, your connection with your spouse is more important than whether or not you are right.

*Do you know a little something you can do for your spouse that might seem insignificant to you but really meaningful to them?

*Soft is like gentle. With gentleness, we know that we are strong. Gentle...

Inspiration from this Episode

“A strong marriage is in part when there is a steady and strong you.  You, as an individual - who can manage emotions, thoughts and words with reasonable grace and truth.”

“The most important unit within your family is the us. - the two of you”

"When you're in unity, when you're connected with each other in this way, it's easier to work together. It's easier to sacrificially support and to move towards mutual goals." 

110 | Us & Kids: Us & Kids: Your “Us” in 2022

Intro 

 On today’s show, we’ll be talking about how to enhance your marriage through the letters U and S.  We’ll think about using unity, understanding, personal growth of yourself with strength and steadiness, no matter the chaos, moods or weariness.   And, together, you will become more united and stable.  

 What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode

• How to feel stronger...

Inspiration from this Episode 

“Because remember, our communication is 85% nonverbal, meaning it's what your face looks like when you're asking that question.” 

“Now this takes patience in the ask, but it also takes patience in formulating your answer.”

“As we grow and mature, we learn how to accurately listen, speak clearly, and manage our own emotions.”

109 | Us & Kids: Pithy Tidbits to End 2021

Intro  

Finally - or fastly - 2021 is almost done! We are into our 3rd year of bringing you bi-weekly podcasts to help you be married forever while you enjoy parenting your kiddos together! So, today, we’re going to round out the year with just some pithy thoughts and sentences that make sense but don’t take long enough to each make a whole podcast.

You know, it’s sort of like cleaning out your fridge - not enough leftover to make a meal, but some tasty tidbits that you can just eat with your...

Inspiration from this Episode 

“These skills let us realize that things might change - and that we will be okay.” 

“Evaluating and determining the best course of action is not easy when there are so many new and unpredictable moving parts.” 

“Part of calming down was knowing how to reset my emotions and thoughts as I got new information.”

108 | Us & Kids: Christmas Chaos

Intro  

So it's December. Do you feel a little bit crazy? Like maybe the world is always spinning and you try to jump on, but tumble off, embarrassingly. Or maybe from time to time you secretly bumble and jump off. Or do you thrive under the chaos? Or does the chaos thrive inside of you - eating your brain, your sanity, yourself, and your relationships? 

Well, it's often called National Chaos Day. Not particularly this specific day, but a day in November is National Chaos Day. And I think we could do better by calling it just...

Inspiration from this Episode

“Grief doesn't just go away. It becomes a part of the fabric of our lives.”

“Grief is so unpredictable and so messy. It's important to have somebody be able to go along on the ride to hold your hand.”

“Take care of yourself with permission to grieve and permission to live well in people's honor and memory.”

105 | Us & Kids: The Two Griefs of October

Intro 

On today’s show, we are talking about grief and that's not always so very easy when we contemplate what October is in memory of. October is both Infancy and Pregnancy Loss Awareness month, as well as breast cancer awareness month. 

And for me, both of those titles hold significant weight because they have happened to me in our family, my immediate family with my kids, but also in my extended family. I also know that so many people are affected by one or both of these so I think it’s an important topic to cover today.

...

Inspiration from this Episode

“Read their signals and adapt your interaction to them. As you do, they are going to relax, and they’re going to move forward.”

“But talking is also more than words because it’s communicating our desires.”

“It moves us to choose our thoughts and our emotions for the good of ourselves and for others.”

100 | Us & Kids: Top 10 Tips for You

Intro 

On today’s show, we are looking through pulling together the last seven podcasts where we listed 10 tips and integrated those top tips from each of those podcasts into the top three podcasts out of the last 100. 

We are taking old material that we talked about in other podcast episodes and repurposing them so that they integrate a little bit more for you, your marriage, and your family. I hope that you enjoy this too because I found it fun to do.

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Episode

• Enjoying vacation time for...

Inspiration from this Episode 

“Those nice things help us know that we’re being trusted and they soften the fear of really connecting.” 

“We have to turn those chemical connections on again over and over throughout the course of our marriage.” 

“Spend time with each other talking about, how can we make our intimate life a bit better?”

099 | Us & Kids: 10 Tips for Intimacy

Intro  

On today’s show, we are doing our last one of our 10 tips in our series. This is podcast 99 moving into podcast 100 and I wanted to think about what I haven’t covered much and I realized I haven't directly talked about intimacy. Intimacy comes not just from having bodies close to each other but also comes from what happens before those bodies ever get close. 

So as we talk about intimacy, I'm talking less about close bodies and more about what happens before then which makes that time of close bodies...

Inspiration from this Episode

“When we can be playful, it releases the endorphins that help the body feel better.”

“Connection in that builds trust so that in those stressful situations you know the other person is trying their best.”

“So have fun with each other. Do something new, bring up something you haven't done for a while.”

098 | Us & Kids: 10 Tips for Playing as Adults

Intro 

On today’s show, we are going to talk about 10 tips for playing as adults. So you might think at first, how is this different from playing as kids? If you revisit our previous episode you’ll remember that the kid's play has more personal growth and brain development in it. 

Playing as an adult has a little bit of a different angle to it. It’s still very, very crucial to healthy living and to building good relationships. Also for keeping your own brain and body in a really good space for relationships and just your own...