The Family Lab: Experiments in Parenting and Home Management – Details, episodes & analysis

Everyone always says moms are true heroes, but is it true? Big surprise, I think motherhood is the quintessential hero's journey. This episode explores the idea of the adventure of motherhood, dragon-slaying and all. 

My friend Molly Liggett and I talk about the many experiments we've tried over the last decade or so to help our kids learn how to manage money. We talk about allowance vs. paying per chore, and we get into the nitty gritty details about how much we pay our kids, what we expect them to do around the house, what they pay for themselves and what we buy for them, plus what we do when they owe us money and how we encourage them to save.

A conversation with organization genius Jen Martin, founder of Reset Your Nest, about how to align our home organization with our goals, values, and routines; how to set up different organizational zones in our kitchens; and how to create systems for our comings and goings, among other organizing tips.

You can find Jen Martin at resetyournest.com and on Instagram @reset_your_nest

And for another great conversation with Jen, check out:

How Jen Martin Organizes

https://youtu.be/RncC3Q-JNjs

This is a story of a two mothers, two pandemics, and two births-- three generations apart. It's a story of poetry and hope, and about how good things can come from difficult circumstances.

Jasmine and Madison Wilson have made music, love, and laughter their family creed, as well as their Instagram handle (@musiclovelaughter). In this episode, we talk about how Jasmine has cultivated her young daughter's musical talent, helping her write and record original songs as early as age 6. 

The first in a three-episode series about one of the very best parts of motherhood--discovering each of our kids' unique talents and helping them cultivate those talents.

Andrea Davis, founder of Better Screen Time, shares how her whole family works together to set boundaries around technology, and keep an ongoing, positive dialogue about screentime.

Resources:

Betterscreentime.com

Connection Reset Challenge

Linda and Richard Eyre Article

Gabb Wireless

A rundown of the experiments we're trying in the Archibald home this summer, from cooking classes to way too many sports to chores.

I teamed up with two other moms of gluten free kids to talk about how we help our gluten free kids. As I like to do on this podcast, we'll start by talking about our gluten free strategies—our overall approach—and move to more specific tactics and then the logistics of cooking gluten free and keeping our gluten-free kids fed and healthy.

Resources: 

gfkiddos.com

glutenfreewithcoral.com

Meghann Guentensberger lost her daughter in a tragic accident four years ago. In this episode she tells her story of the accident, her family's journey through grief, and her mission to follow Rylie's example of spreading love and kindness with her non-profit organization called Rylie's ARK, which stands for Acts of Random Kindness. 

You can learn more about this amazing organization at ryliesark.org, and you can read Meghann's beautiful writing at meghannguentensberger.com.