What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

Our listener Jenny says: "My husband and I love your podcast, and I listen to every episode while I make dinner. He hates clutter and especially the annoying plastic toys that family always seems to be giving our 15-month-old. How do we get family members to stop giving us cheap plastic annoying toys every time they see our kid? We'd love to instill a present policy that involves them putting the money they would have spent into a savings fund for him... but just aren't sure how to stop the random, every-time-we-see-them gifts."While the idea of letting more plastic into your home may seem like a nightmare, it's not necessarily a good idea to insert your values into other people's gift giving philosophies, as Margaret explains. It's certainly within your right to express a preference for your child. Here's how to do it nicely.Special thanks to our sponsors for this month: Betterhelp online therapy is affordable, confidential, and effective! Give it a try and see if online therapy can help lower your stress. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/fresh.Credit Karma helps you find low-interest personal loans that may well have lower interest rates than your credit cards do now! Head to creditkarma.com/loanoffers to see your personalized offers.Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/FRESH and use the code FRESH to snag 20% off. Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/LAUGHING. KiwiCo projects make science, technology, engineering, art, and math super fun. Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com with the code MOTHERHOOD.Ladder helps you find life insurance without the hassle! Go to ladderlife.com/laughing today to see if you’re instantly approved for up to $3 million in term life insurance.Outschool helps kids explore their interests and discover new ones! Save $15 on your child’s first class at outschool.com/laughing with the code LAUGHING.Peloton has workouts or everyone. And the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet, including FREE delivery and setup! Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Prose now makes supplements personally tailored to address your specific cause of hair shedding. Get your free in-depth consultation and 15% off your custom hair supplements at prose.com/laughing. Shopify powers millions of businesses, from first sale to full-scale. Go to shopify.com/fresh for a free 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.StoryWorth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones connect through sharing stories and memories and preserves them for years to come. Save $10 off your first purchase at storyworth.com/whatfreshhell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amber Briggle and her family live in Texas. Amber is the mom of two kids, Max and Lulu, and on her website "Love To The Max," Amber shares the family's real stories and experiences as a trans-inclusive family.Amber describes herself as "just a mom," but the events of the last few years have made her a powerful advocate for the rights of kids and families like her own. She was a founding member (and former national co-chair) of the “Parents for Transgender Equality Council”, part of the Human Rights Campaign. Amber currently serves as the “Equal Opportunity Issue” Chair for the League of Women Voters of Texas.In this moving and illuminating episode, Amber talks about her experience parenting her transgender son and the breadth of emotions and experiences that come with it.In this episode, Amber, Amy, and Margaret discuss: Amber's son Max's transition journey The best ways to support trans kids The anti-trans legislation currently in effect and under consideration in the U.S. NOTE: Since we recorded this episode, a lawyer for the state of Texas has confirmed that the child abuse investigation into the Briggle family has been lifted. A Texas judge has temporarily blocked the child abuse investigations of other parents of trans youth in the state, but those investigations remain in effect.Here's where you can find Amber: Her website: https://lovetothemax.net/Facebook: /amberbriggleTwitter: @mrsbriggleSpecial thanks to our sponsors for this month: Betterhelp online therapy is affordable, confidential, and effective! Give it a try and see if online therapy can help lower your stress. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/fresh.Credit Karma helps you find low-interest personal loans that may well have lower interest rates than your credit cards do now! Head to creditkarma.com/loanoffers to see your personalized offers.Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/FRESH and use the code FRESH to snag 20% off. Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/LAUGHING. KiwiCo projects make science, technology, engineering, art, and math super fun. Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com with the code MOTHERHOOD.Ladder helps you find life insurance without the hassle! Go to ladderlife.com/laughing today to see if you’re instantly approved for up to $3 million in term life insurance.Outschool helps kids explore their interests and discover new ones! Save $15 on your child’s first class at outschool.com/laughing with the code LAUGHING.Peloton has workouts or everyone. And the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet, including FREE delivery and setup! Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Prose now makes supplements personally tailored to address your specific cause of hair shedding. Get your free in-depth consultation and 15% off your custom hair supplements at prose.com/laughing. Shopify powers millions of businesses, from first sale to full-scale. Go to shopify.com/fresh for a free 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.StoryWorth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones connect through sharing stories and memories and preserves them for years to come. Save $10 off your first purchase at storyworth.com/whatfreshhell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We asked the moms in our Facebook group about times they caught their spouses being awesome. Maybe it's supporting us in our difficult career choices. Maybe it's reading books on certain issues to do with our kids. Maybe it's brushing hair. (But don't get Amy started on that last one!)In this episode, Amy and Margaret discuss: Being good vs. being awesome Subverting gender roles in the home Qualities you wish for in a boyfriend vs. in a husband Here are links to the resources mentioned in the episode:"Flying the Coop" episode from Reply All podcast (Margaret's rec)Our Fresh Take episode with Matthew Fray on Strengthening Our RelationshipsThe Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children, by Ross GreeneCheck out our merch!Special thanks to our sponsors for this month: Betterhelp online therapy is affordable, confidential, and effective! Give it a try and see if online therapy can help lower your stress. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/fresh.Credit Karma helps you find low-interest personal loans that may well have lower interest rates than your credit cards do now! Head to creditkarma.com/loanoffers to see your personalized offers.Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/FRESH and use the code FRESH to snag 20% off. Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/LAUGHING. KiwiCo projects make science, technology, engineering, art, and math super fun. Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com with the code MOTHERHOOD.Ladder helps you find life insurance without the hassle! Go to ladderlife.com/laughing today to see if you’re instantly approved for up to $3 million in term life insurance.Outschool helps kids explore their interests and discover new ones! Save $15 on your child’s first class at outschool.com/laughing with the code LAUGHING.Peloton has workouts or everyone. And the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet, including FREE delivery and setup! Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Pinhook Kentucky bourbon is the perfect gift for the guy who has everything! Each year's vintage is a little different and features an up-and-coming thoroughbred on its label. Text "laughing" to (859) 800-7848 to get connected with a personal shopper- or visit pinhookbourbon.com/laughing to chat with a one right on their website! Prose now makes supplements personally tailored to address your specific cause of hair shedding. Get your free in-depth consultation and 15% off your custom hair supplements at prose.com/laughing. Shopify powers millions of businesses, from first sale to full-scale. Go to shopify.com/fresh for a free 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.StoryWorth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones connect through sharing stories and memories and preserves them for years to come. Save $10 off your first purchase at storyworth.com/whatfreshhell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you need a reset around the yelling in your house– namely, your own? Are certain times (bathtime, homework time, putting screens away time) a consistent battle? Amy's best tip to tame the yelling comes from something she heard from a dog trainer!"Never repeat a cue twice" is one of the basic tenets of dog training. If you tell a dog to "sit" but eventually that becomes "Sit. Sit.... Sit!... SIT!!" your dog will eventually sit, once you seem upset enough, but what you will be inadvertently training your dog to do is to wait for the fourth time that command is repeated before complying.In this "Ask Amy," Amy explains how performing a reset using this tenet– stop repeating what you're asking more than once, i.e. until you yell– can yield surprising results, and reads a listener email from a mom of a rambunctious 2-year-old who is "in shock" at how well this has worked in her house! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, is the author of many highly acclaimed books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. In 2020, Time magazine named Dr. Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Dr. Kendi was awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Grant. His new book, released just this week, is How To Raise An Antiracist.In this interview, Dr. Kendi explains: why caregivers cannot protect young people from racism by ignoring what’s happening to our children why teaching antiracism is the best way to protect our children from racism's harms why children have an easier time understanding these ideas than we might think how putting off conversations about race, or giving kids the message that racism is unmentionable, can make our children prey to more sinister messaging It is never too early, or too late, to start raising our kids to be antiracist.Get How To Raise An Antiracist in our Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780593242537and find out more on Dr. Kendi's website: https://ibramxkendi.comSpecial thanks to our sponsors for this month: Betterhelp online therapy is affordable, confidential, and effective! Give it a try and see if online therapy can help lower your stress. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/fresh.Credit Karma helps you find low-interest personal loans that may well have lower interest rates than your credit cards do now! Head to creditkarma.com/loanoffers to see your personalized offers.Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/FRESH and use the code FRESH to snag 20% off. Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/LAUGHING. KiwiCo projects make science, technology, engineering, art, and math super fun. Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com with the code MOTHERHOOD.Ladder helps you find life insurance without the hassle! Go to ladderlife.com/laughing today to see if you’re instantly approved for up to $3 million in term life insurance.Outschool helps kids explore their interests and discover new ones! Save $15 on your child’s first class at outschool.com/laughing with the code LAUGHING.Peloton has workouts or everyone. And the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet, including FREE delivery and setup! Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Prose now makes supplements personally tailored to address your specific cause of hair shedding. Get your free in-depth consultation and 15% off your custom hair supplements at prose.com/laughing. Shopify powers millions of businesses, from first sale to full-scale. Go to shopify.com/fresh for a free 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.StoryWorth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones connect through sharing stories and memories and preserves them for years to come. Save $10 off your first purchase at storyworth.com/whatfreshhell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From how to eat a Reese's peanut butter cup, to *not* saving the pandas, to the forever-ban of helium balloons, our listeners are willing to die on some pretty tiny hills. Here's what mountains you all are making out of mole hills– plus a few of our own tiny battles.Special thanks to our sponsors for this month: Betterhelp online therapy is affordable, confidential, and effective! Give it a try and see if online therapy can help lower your stress. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/fresh.Credit Karma helps you find low-interest personal loans that may well have lower interest rates than your credit cards do now! Head to creditkarma.com/loanoffers to see your personalized offers.Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/FRESH and use the code FRESH to snag 20% off. Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/LAUGHING. KiwiCo projects make science, technology, engineering, art, and math super fun. Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com with the code MOTHERHOOD.Ladder helps you find life insurance without the hassle! Go to ladderlife.com/laughing today to see if you’re instantly approved for up to $3 million in term life insurance.Outschool helps kids explore their interests and discover new ones! Save $15 on your child’s first class at outschool.com/laughing with the code LAUGHING.Peloton has workouts or everyone. And the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet, including FREE delivery and setup! Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Prose now makes supplements personally tailored to address your specific cause of hair shedding. Get your free in-depth consultation and 15% off your custom hair supplements at prose.com/laughing. Shopify powers millions of businesses, from first sale to full-scale. Go to shopify.com/fresh for a free 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.StoryWorth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones connect through sharing stories and memories and preserves them for years to come. Save $10 off your first purchase at storyworth.com/whatfreshhell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've talked a lot about picky eating on the podcast but if you're looking less for advice and more for 'how does it all turn out?' then this is the episode for you!This week Kristina asks,"I was listening to an episode where Margaret described her extremly picky son and the anxiety she felt. She was basically describing my daughter. That episode is from 2016 so I'm curious does anyone know if he's expanded his diet or does anyone have any uplifting stories about extremely picky kids who improve over time? Honestly I'd be happy if she's just having less anxiety at the table - not looking for advice because I've read everything!"This week Margaret offers an update on how her picky son is eating 5 years later - and the answers may surprise you!Check out other WFH episodes on picky eating here:https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/your-picky-eater/https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/ask-amy-my-kid-gags-at-foods-he-used-to-like/https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/is-this-battle-worth-fighting/https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/highly-sensitive-and-under-sensitive-kids/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate Swenson is a mom to four kids, a wife, and a proud Minnesotan. She regularly writes and creates videos about her life as a mother and an autism advocate for her website "Finding Cooper's Voice," a living, thriving community of people who not only advocate for autism, but also make the world a better place for individuals with disabilities and their families.Kate's book Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy is out now.Kate is also the founder of the nonprofit The More Than Project, which supports the needs of special needs families that go beyond the needs of their special needs child.In this episode we discuss Kate's journey to finding the correct diagnosis for her child what led her to put her story out into the world the sometimes-loneliness of special needs parenting, and how the Finding Cooper's Voice community offers insight, support, and fellowship Get FOREVER BOY in our Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780778311997and follow @findingcoopersvoice on Facebook and Instagram.Special thanks to our sponsors for this month: Betterhelp online therapy is affordable, confidential, and effective! Give it a try and see if online therapy can help lower your stress. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/fresh.Credit Karma helps you find low-interest personal loans that may well have lower interest rates than your credit cards do now! Head to creditkarma.com/loanoffers to see your personalized offers.Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/FRESH and use the code FRESH to snag 20% off. Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/LAUGHING. KiwiCo projects make science, technology, engineering, art, and math super fun. Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com with the code MOTHERHOOD.Ladder helps you find life insurance without the hassle! Go to ladderlife.com/laughing today to see if you’re instantly approved for up to $3 million in term life insurance.Outschool helps kids explore their interests and discover new ones! Save $15 on your child’s first class at outschool.com/laughing with the code LAUGHING.Peloton has workouts or everyone. And the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet, including FREE delivery and setup! Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Pinhook Kentucky bourbon is the perfect gift for the guy who has everything! Each year's vintage is a little different and features an up-and-coming thoroughbred on its label. Text "laughing" to (859) 800-7848 to get connected with a personal shopper- or visit pinhookbourbon.com/laughing to chat with a one right on their website! Prose now makes supplements personally tailored to address your specific cause of hair shedding. Get your free in-depth consultation and 15% off your custom hair supplements at prose.com/laughing. Shopify powers millions of businesses, from first sale to full-scale. Go to shopify.com/fresh for a free 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.StoryWorth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones connect through sharing stories and memories and preserves them for years to come. Save $10 off your first purchase at storyworth.com/whatfreshhell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gloria DeGaetano, parenting expert and founder of the Parent Coaching Institute, recently wrote: "There's almost not a word to express the stress parents are under right now. 'Overwhelmed' doesn't cut it. It's beyond anything we've ever experienced."War in Ukraine. Shootings in grade schools. Inflation rates way up. Covid rates way up. This really is a strange and scary moment for all of us, and parenting through our own anxiety is proving a special challenge.In this episode we discuss how to parent bravely– which doesn't mean parenting in denial, but does mean creating emotional safety for our families even when we don't have all the answers.If you found this episode helpful, check out these past episodes as well: Fresh Take: Christina Hillsberg on How Being a Spy Prepared Her For ParentingHelping Kids Feel Secure In a Scary World (With Guest Dr. Abigail Gewirtz)Here are links to some of the writing on the topic that we discuss in this episode: The Daily: Another Elementary School MassacreDan Sinker for Esquire: Parenting in the Time of School ShootingsCrystal Woodman Miller: A Kids' Book About School ShootingsKidpower.org: How To Choose Safety in Scary TimesAriana Eunjung Cha for Washington Post: ‘It’s like a fire alarm every day’Alison Snyder et al for Axios: Parents Aren't All RightSpecial thanks to our sponsors for this month: Betterhelp online therapy is affordable, confidential, and effective! Give it a try and see if online therapy can help lower your stress. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/fresh.Credit Karma helps you find low-interest personal loans that may well have lower interest rates than your credit cards do now! Head to creditkarma.com/loanoffers to see your personalized offers.Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/FRESH and use the code FRESH to snag 20% off. Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/LAUGHING. KiwiCo projects make science, technology, engineering, art, and math super fun. Get 30% off your first month plus FREE shipping on ANY crate line at kiwico.com with the code MOTHERHOOD.Ladder helps you find life insurance without the hassle! Go to ladderlife.com/laughing today to see if you’re instantly approved for up to $3 million in term life insurance.Outschool helps kids explore their interests and discover new ones! Save $15 on your child’s first class at outschool.com/laughing with the code LAUGHING.Peloton has workouts or everyone. And the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet, including FREE delivery and setup! Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.Pinhook Kentucky bourbon is the perfect gift for the guy who has everything! Each year's vintage is a little different and features an up-and-coming thoroughbred on its label. Text "laughing" to (859) 800-7848 to get connected with a personal shopper- or visit pinhookbourbon.com/laughing to chat with a one right on their website! Prose now makes supplements personally tailored to address your specific cause of hair shedding. Get your free in-depth consultation and 15% off your custom hair supplements at prose.com/laughing. Shopify powers millions of businesses, from first sale to full-scale. Go to shopify.com/fresh for a free 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.StoryWorth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones connect through sharing stories and memories and preserves them for years to come. Save $10 off your first purchase at storyworth.com/whatfreshhell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A listener wrote:I am in a mom funk. I always wanted to be a mom, but I underestimated the amount of work and sacrifice it takes to be a mom. I’m exhausted. I feel like I never get a chance to catch my breath and be ready to be a mom the next morning when my kids wake up, and I spend most of the day with my kids just trying to make it to bedtime. My kids are seven and four, and I really thought that parenting would have gotten easier by now... but I feel just as burned out and depleted as when they were toddlers, perhaps even more now that they both talk (non-stop) and have so many opinions about everything. Not to mention the endless tantrums and meltdowns which I thought would have ended at least two years ago.My husband works long hours and I’m solo-parenting 90% of the time. When my husband is home he needs to sleep and wants to relax and has so little time to be with the kids, let alone actually help with any house work.How do I get through this and still be a good mom at the same time? Being a parent right now feels hopeless and endless and relentless and I’m stuck. Sometimes I find myself wondering why I had kids at all when I feel this depleted.Amy explains that this "mom funk" has another name: burnout. And it's not that we need to adjust our mindset and just push through it--it's that our practical circumstances need to change.Here are links to some of the resources Amy mentions in the episode:Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Amelia and Emily NagoskiThe WHO's updated definition of burnoutSpecial thanks to our sponsor: Pinhook Kentucky bourbon is the perfect gift for the guy who has everything! Each year's vintage is a little different and features an up-and-coming thoroughbred on its label. Text "laughing" to (859) 800-7848 to get connected with a personal shopper- or visit pinhookbourbon.com/laughing to chat with a one right on their website! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices