Thriving In Motherhood Podcast | Productivity, Planning, Family Systems, Time Management, Survival Mode, Mental Health, Vision

Jennifer is the homeschooling mother of seven in the foothills of California. She is the founder of The Peaceful Press, a company that is dedicated to creating wholehearted homeschooling curriculum and a podcast host for Wild + Free. She talks about the development of being able to have conversations with her older children and emotionally investing rather than feeling so physically drained in the years of early parenting. She talks about the diminished need for "mommy friends" as her children have slowly become some of her best friends. She talks about finding the time to get her alone, rejuvenating time in bits and pieces rather than the bulk of nap time or after kids go to bed. She loves to read or listen to a podcast to recharge herself. Jennifer has always felt drawn to motherhood. She had her abilities feel challenged when one of her children had a personal crisis and Jennifer took the responsibility upon herself for her child's trials. She had her awakening moment about her lack of total control of motherhood which opened the door to a greater joy as she was able to let go of her desire to control the results of her parenting efforts. She recognized the relief that comes from building relationships with the children and watching them work through problems on their own while not being solely focused on the outcomes. She talks about the importance of grieving a reality that isn't going to be or missed expectations and then welcoming in the unconditional love of God to help take the pressure off Jennifer's parenting. Jennifer talks about the grieving process helping herself to stay soft and not become a sharp or tough type of mother. She discusses realizing she did not need to perform for love, but she was loved no matter what. She was then able to extend that love to her children along their own growth journey. Jennifer covers how the scriptures and the book Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning ingrained in her the feeling of love unattached from performance. Jennifer talks about realistic expectations for our children. To recognize that they are, in fact, children. She addresses the need to find balance between offering our children grace and still maintaining solid leadership with reasonable expectations in our homes. Jennifer talks about rejecting fear and making sure you have a vision in your family and basing your decisions on that vision. She explains that make decisions or signing up for activities that do not align with our vision are a huge factor in misplaced expectations and anxiety levels growing in the home, which lead to behavioral issues with our children. She emphasizes taking time to slow down and just be at home and observe the feeling and interactions as a way to reset your own expectations for motherhood. She explains how margin plays a big role in her life. Intentional margins in finances and time help her focus her efforts and keep everyone on track. She references Gordon Neufeld's Hold on to Your Kids. Jennifer talks about the importance of taking time to forgive others around you and creating your vision for your life. Jennifer recounts her family's adventure in finding their focus on a family car trip and encourages others to find the skills and things that bring them joy to follow as a guide rather than jumping on every bandwagon that passes through to help bring the variety and color to the world around us. She talks about how her family's vision has morphed and changed as her children have grown older and developed their own interests and passions. She talks about mastering the ability to understand the need of God in her life and the guidance from God in all her decisions. Jennifer also discusses the balance between being present with your kids and maintaining the household. She talks about helping instill in them the life skills they'll need to be functioning adults.

In this episode, I talk about key questions I ask God and myself to start every day. I talk about how they help focus my mind to be the person I want to be and develop the relationship I want with God. I invite you to join me on Patreon with these questions and make a habit of this with me! I talk about my desire to handle life better during the challenging times and how these questions help me do this by taking into account what is on my "Essential List" for my life. They are questions that help us have more energy, more enthusiasm, happier, more present, and be more engaged in our lives.

April is a mother of four and founder of Power of Moms and LearnDoBecome. She lives very intentionally and helps other mothers do the same. She shares her journey of recognizing that working together is a tool to build relationships in our home and create a feeling for everyone in the family to grow. She talks about learning to love ourselves so we can love others. She shares the importance of being open and honest in every step of your motherhood journey in order to find your "person" behind the word "mother." April talks about clearing the clutter out of our homes, but also out of our minds and our hearts to then be able to love. She speaks to the feeling in the home being the focus of our efforts. She goes against culture to get our housework done so we can be a mom, but rather teaches the importance of doing the housework side-by-side with our children and finding the beauty in that housework. April talks about the impact that Scream Free Parenting by Hal Edward Runkel has affected the way she looks at loving herself and loving her children. She prioritizes self-care with bedtime for herself, exercise, taking a shower, drinking water, and eating for herself. She talks about the importance of really talking with your kids (even if it's a topic that you don't want to necessarily get into with your kids) and building true relationships with them. She encourages us to spend more time looking in our children's eyes rather than our phones. She believes that is possible by involving them in our lives and letting them help us with what we need to do. April emphasizes the need to value the moments we have, even if they don't seem Facebook-worthy.

Ashley is an intentional, homeschooling mother of four. She shares about finding inspiration and motivation to build her home life how she envisions it. She talks about making some of the major, life-changing decisions to live intentionally and really choose the joy in her motherhood journey. She owns her desire to for her children to feel seen, loved, known, and filled with wonder for the world and strives to teach that through example.

In this episode, I talk about something we all deal with: Laundry. I walk you through how to find the right system for YOUR family to make sure this necessity is as automated as possible in order to save your decision-making stamina for ones that matter.

Alissa Hankin is a curly-haired mother of a three-year-old boy living in South Hampton, England. She shares her experiences with stress, tragedy, change, and growth and how God plays a role in her life. She teaches about taking care of her body and mind and using Faith Journaling to take care of her soul.

This is our final discussion of principles from 7 Habits for Highly Effective People. We talk about the why, what, and how of creating your own personal mission statement. Join us at patreon.com/jessica_jackson for worksheets to help walk you through creating your own.

Synergizing is the culmination of all the previously discussed principles: seeking to understand, thinking win-win, being aware of and having paradigm shifts, and making deposits in the emotional bank account. We talk about what synergizing looks like in life-altering decision making as well as in every day life. We also invite you start having family councils to create an environment where you family can synergize on a consistent basis.

This week Madeline Casey and I talk about the what, the why, and then how of seeking to understand and thinking win-win. Learning to slow down and listen first and truly understand what another person is thinking, feeling, and experiencing takes a little more time up front, but it pays dividends in the long run. It builds trust and is an emotional deposit for both people when then they seek a win-win solution together.

Today we celebrate the first year of the podcast and announce what is next for the podcast! The biggest news is the launching of the membership site over at Patreon. Patreon is the place where we can come together as mothers and intentionally cultivate growth together. Each month you can gain access to printable worksheets that go along with topics in the podcast to help us slow down and make lasting change - not just be inspired for a few days and then move on. These worksheets are what I'm personally working on and talking about with my closest friends - and I want YOU to join us! At the top tier you will become part of our "motherhood mastermind"- a place where share our big wins and talk about what we are still working on. This will happen on community posts as well as a monthly video chat with me and other mastermind members. http://patreon.com/jessica_jackson