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;Β 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.Β Join our community of supportive mom friends laughing in the face of motherhood!Β Β
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You Might Also Like: In It: Raising Kids who Learn Differently, from Understood.org
Sunday, September 1, 2024 β’ Duration 30:29
Today weβre sharing an episode from another parenting podcast we think our listeners will really appreciate. Itβs called βIn It: Raising Kids who Learn Differently.β This podcast offers perspective, stories, and useful takeaways for parents of kids with challenges in reading, math, focus, and other learning differences, like ADHD and dyslexia.
This is an episode called "After the Diagnosis: How Kids Feel About Their Learning and Thinking Differences." To listen to more episodes, search for βIn It: Raising Kids who Learn Differentlyβ in your podcast app.
Listen to "In It" here: https://lnk.to/initunderstoodFD!whatfreshhell
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We canβt wait to go back on the road!Β https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour
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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/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips,Β mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kidβs behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, learning differences, ADHD, dyslexia, IEP, learning challenges
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BEST OF: Esau McCaulley, "How Far To The Promised Land"
Friday, August 30, 2024 β’ Duration 34:15
How can we talk about Americaβs ongoing legacy of racism without sliding into despair? In his new memoirΒ HOW FAR TO THE PROMISED LAND,Β Esau McCaulleyΒ tells his own storyβand questions why Black failure is judged collectively, while Black success is perceived as the merit of an individual.
Rev. Esau McCaulley, PhD, is an author and associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. His work has been published in The New York Times,Β The Atlantic, theΒ Washington Post,Β andΒ Christianity Today.
Esau and Amy discuss:
Why "escaping poverty" is a misleading term
How experiences that set the context for heroic bravery also create the possibility for failure
What caused Esau to change his definition of justice
Here's where you can find Esau:
www.esaumccaulley.com
@OfficialEsauMcCaulley on Facebook
@esaumccaulley on Twitter on Instagram
Buy HOW FAR TO THE PROMISED LAND:Β https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780593241080
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We canβt wait to go back on the road!Β https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour
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/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips,Β mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kidβs behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent,
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fresh Take: Amy Betters-Midtvedt on What No One Tells You About Parenting Teens
Friday, August 9, 2024 β’ Duration 31:55
You hear that parenting teens is a wild ride. But as Amy Betters-Midtvedt, author of the new book YOU'LL MAKE IT (AND THEY WILL TOO), says, it can also be baffling:
βSo much weirdness comes when they go back-and-forth between staying their old selves and becoming their new ones. Conflict will suddenly flow out of nowhere over nothing.β
But you'll make it. And they will too.
Amy Betters-Midtvedt is a Today Parenting contributing author with more than a million readers and twenty-five years of experience working with adolescents and families. In this episode, she and Amy Wilson discuss
Why teens are constantly flipping from cuddly to crabby
Why we owe it to our kids to be the best versions of ourselves
When textingβor GIFsβis the best way to communicate
Here's where you can find Amy Betters-Midtvedt:
amybettersmidtvedt.com
FB: @Amy Betters-Midtvedt
TikTok: @hidingwithcoffeeΒ
IG: @Amy.Betters-Midtvedt
X:@amymidtvedt
Buy YOU'LL MAKE IT (AND THEY WILL TOO): https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780593601129
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We canβt wait to go back on the road!Β https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour
ο»Ώ
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/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips,Β mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kidβs behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parenting teens
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Why Do Moms Get All The Blame?
Episode 347
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 β’ Duration 43:19
Mothers have long been held at fault for anything that might occur in their children's lives, from autism ("refrigerator mothers") to colic, and everything in between. Why is there such a long history of blaming everything on Mom?
In this episode, we discuss how mom blame has manifested in both psychology and parenting advice over the years, and how we can start to push back on it in our own lives.
Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:
Joseph E. Davis, PhD for Psychology Today: "For a Moratorium on Parent Blaming"
Mitzi M. Waltz, PhD for the AMA Journal of Ethics: "Mothers and Autism: The Evolution of a Discourse of Blame"
Rosjke Hasseldine for Medium: "How Mother Blaming Harms the Mother-Daughter Bond"
Bonnie Zucker for Scary Mommy: "From a Psychologist: No, It's Not All Mom's Fault"
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/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips,Β mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kidβs behavior, teenager, toddler, baby, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent
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Ask Amy: My Kid Is Always Saying "That's Mine!"
Monday, January 15, 2024 β’ Duration 07:15
It's developmentally appropriate for a toddler to shout "That's mine!" every five seconds instead of sharing. That's because toddlers and preschoolers are still learning what sharing even means. So what should a parent do when they have two little ones who are fighting over every toy?
Our listener Katie sent us a message on Instagram asking:
"I have two boys, the older almost two and a half, the younger a one-year-old (they're 18 months apart). My 2 1/2 year-old just says nonstop, "Nooo, this is mine!"Β and takes everything away from his little brother all day long. I'm constantly having to keep the younger one away from the older one, otherwise he will try to kick or hit him. It's frustrating and exhausting, and I know it's a normal stage, but I also feel like there must be something I can do to help."
First, a parent should focus on the kicking or hitting, which is the immediate danger. Give that behavior a firm no, and then separate the children as necessary. Don't feel like you have to enforce playing together among kids who are just too young to share. Sharing is a behavior children can only really learn when they're three or four, as they develop what psychologists call "theory of mind."
Sarah MacLaughlin, a social worker and parent educator, recommends that parents "sportscast" what's happening when a child shouts "That's mine!" to give more complete voice to what they're feeling, since they don't have the language to do so yet. For example: "Oh no! Your brother wants to play with the dump truck, but you also want to play with the dump truck. And now you feel so mad!"
Here are some other resources for advice and tips on getting through the "that's mine!" and the no-sharing stages. Rest assured, your children will eventually learn what sharing is, even if they're terrible at it right now.
-Sarah S. MacLaughlin for Zero to Three: "Helping Young Children with Sharing"
-Nurtured First: "3 Tips for the Toddler 'MINE' Stage"
-Harvey Karp, Happiest Toddler on the Block
Special thanks to our sponsor, Pampers!
For trusted protection, choose Pampers, the #1 Pediatrician Recommended Brand.Β Download the Pampers Club App todayΒ to start earning free diapers.
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips,Β mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kidβs behavior, teenager, toddler, baby, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent
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Fresh Take: Andrea Owen of "Make Some Noise"
Friday, January 12, 2024 β’ Duration 35:55
Self-help culture rewards women and mothers who "stay strong." But that can lead to us people-pleasing even as we struggle, making sure no one sees that we're actually drowning. Andrea Owen, host of the Make Some Noise podcast, explains how some conventional self-help advice needs to be kicked to the curb.
Andrea Owen is also a professionally-certified life coach and the author of three books, including How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t: 14 Habits that are Holding You Back from Happiness.Β
In this episode Andrea, Amy, and Margaret discuss:
Being a "compassionate witness"
Quieting our inner critic
Why it's okay to fall apart sometimes
Here's where you can find Andrea:
-https://andreaowen.com/
-@heyandreaowen on IG, FB, and TikTok
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/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why Kids Need More Time To Play
Episode 346
Wednesday, January 10, 2024 β’ Duration 43:39
Kids have a less time for unsupervised, unstructured play than they did 40-50 years ago. Kids are also a lot less happy then they were back then. But has one actually caused the other? A new study says it has.
Psychologist Dr. Peter Gray and his associates at Boston College recently published the paper Decline in independent activity as a cause of decline in children's mental well-being, which suggests that the decline in play and the decline in children's well-being are directly correlated:
βOur thesis is that a primary cause of the rise in mental disorders (among children and teens) is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam and engage in other activities, independent of direct oversight and control by adults.β
In this episode we discuss the fascinating research explored in this study, the difference in our freewheeling neighborhood childhoods and our own kids' more curated daily existences, and how letting our children take independent risksβand even get a few bumps and bruisesβ is setting them up for a sense of well-being that is all their own.
Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:
The 1000 Hours Outside PodcastΒ is new to Adalyst Media!Β 200 episodes of inspiration on how to reclaim the finite moments of childhood through prioritizing outdoor play.
our recent Fresh Take with Dr. Camilo Ortiz
Peter Gray, et. al: "Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Childrenβs Mental Wellbeing," Journal of Pediatrics
Mia Venkat, Kathryn Fox,Β Juana Summers for NPR: "How lack of independent play is impacting children's mental health"
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/
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 kidβs behavior, teenager, toddler, baby, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ask Margaret: How Do I Get My Baby Sleeping Through the Night?
Monday, January 8, 2024 β’ Duration 09:19
How do we start to get our babies sleeping through the night, and how do we know whether they're old enough to do so? Margaret shares what worked for her when she had little ones.
For at least the first eight weeks of a baby's life, ignore the people telling you that your baby needs to be on a schedule. Their schedule is feeding upon demand, and that's going to involve some nighttime wakings.
Once the baby is at least eight weeks old, and with your pediatrician's go-ahead, you can start to shape the baby's day versus their night. Day should be bright, exciting, and lively. Night should be dark, calm, and quiet. When the baby wakes up during the night, they should be put back to sleep with minimal activity and soundβfeedings and changing of diapers should be quiet and quick.
It can help to send in the non-breastfeeding partner for the first waking of the night to get the baby back to sleep without feeding, and to start building longer stretches of time where the baby will sleep.
Always consult your pediatrician for the best advice about how/when your baby should sleep!
Margaret recommends Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp as a good resource.
Special thanks to our sponsor, Pampers!
For trusted protection, choose Pampers, the #1 Pediatrician Recommended Brand.Β Download the Pampers Club App todayΒ to start earning free diapers.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fresh Take: Dr. Camilo Ortiz on How to Help Kids With Anxiety
Friday, January 5, 2024 β’ Duration 35:55
Can we make kids more anxious by being too protective? If kids are statistically safer than ever, why does it feel so hard to keep our kids safe?
Psychologist Dr. Camilo Ortiz explains how such overparenting can be counterproductive for kids, and how to take a step back. Dr. Ortiz is the developer of "Independence Therapy," a new treatment for child anxiety.
Margaret and Dr. Ortiz discuss:
-why kids today have less freedom
-how less freedom contributes to anxiety in kids
-how the definition of "good parenting" has changed over the years
Here's where you can find Dr. Ortiz:
-X: @DrCamiloOrtiz
-https://drcamiloortiz.squarespace.com/
-Dr. Camilo Ortiz and Lenore Skenazy for the NYT: "This Simple Fix Could Help Anxious Kids"
-Listen to our Fresh Take with Lenore Skenazy
ο»ΏWe 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/
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 kidβs behavior, teenager, toddler, baby, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What We're Taking Into The New Year (with Life Coach Ann Imig)
Episode 345
Wednesday, January 3, 2024 β’ Duration 43:54
How can positive psychology help us create more of what we want for ourselves in this new year? Life coach Ann Imig takes Margaret and Amy through some of her coursework and tells us how to connect our already-existing personality strengths to more joy and well-being.
Ann ImigΒ is an award-winning writer, speaker, and performer, currently working as a certified positive psychology life coach. In 2010 she created the nationwide storytelling series and book titledΒ Listen to Your Mother.
Ann, Amy, and Margaret discuss:
-taking stock of the previous year and using that knowledge to create what's next
-how the character strengths quiz can help you create more well-being
-how to get more of what we want in 2024
Here's where you can find Ann Imig:
-ListenLifeCoaching.com
-Get a free 30-minute consultation with Ann!
-Preview the "Year BEGIN" Workshop
-Listen to Ann's podcast "It's Pronounced Memwah" with Wendy Aarons and Mariana Olenko
-Take the character strengths quiz: https://viacharacter.org/
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/
new year, resolutions, positive psychology
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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