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

Based on a recent listener question about letting go as your kids get older and gain more independence, we're highlighting some of our past interview episodes that address this topic.

Anxiety is a natural response to stress. Sometimes it’s even useful, like when it alerts us to danger. But when anxiety grips our children, they often don’t (can’t) explain how they’re feeling, and their inner turmoil can take over.

In this episode we discuss:

coping strategies for all ages and stages

how anxiety in children can be easy to miss

the negative behaviors anxious kids might exhibit 

why letting our kids avoid anxiety-causing situations is counterproductive

how anxiety "lives in the future”

We also interview ⁠Dr. Lisa Damour⁠ about her book ⁠Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls⁠. Dr. Damour’s book is full of empathetic insight and useful takeaways for helping our anxious daughters (and sons).

Here’s links to other research and writing discussed in this episode:

Lindsay Holmes for Huffington Post Life: ⁠10 Things People Get Wrong About Anxiety ⁠

Liz Matheis for anxiety.org: ⁠Identifying Signs of Anxiety in Children ⁠

CDC: ⁠Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health⁠

Metropolitan CBT: ⁠About Anxiety⁠ 

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

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/

What Fresh Hell podcast, 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 kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, childhood anxiety, anxiety in kids, parenting anxious children, Dr. Lisa Damour, Under Pressure book, stress in girls, teen anxiety, kids mental health, coping strategies for anxiety, signs of anxiety in children, hidden anxiety, anxious behaviors, emotional regulation, anxiety and avoidance, resilience skills, helping kids manage stress, parenting teens, parenting girls, adolescent stress, school anxiety, social anxiety in kids, fear of the future, mindfulness for kids, mental health parenting, emotional support, psychology of anxiety, family mental wellness
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What do we misunderstand about teen mothers? How does stigma contribute to the difficulties teen mothers face? This week we're talking to Susan Sutton about her nonprofit The Ember Project, which supports teen and early mothers through mentorship, financial literacy, education support, and small but powerful financial grants.

Susan shares her own story of becoming a mother in 10th grade and how that experience shaped her mission to break cycles of generational poverty and teen pregnancy stigma.

We discuss:


The role of teen fathers and the importance of shared accountability


Why $500 can be the difference between dropping out and graduating for a teen mom


Mentorship as a bridge between survival mode and stability

Here's where you can find Susan:

www.theemberproject.org


"The Ember Project Podcast" wherever you get your podcasts

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

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/

What Fresh Hell podcast, 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 kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, Susan Sutton interview, The Ember Project nonprofit, teen motherhood support, teen mom education barriers, generational poverty cycle, interrupted college education teen moms, childcare and teen mothers, rapid repeat pregnancy, duct tape budgeting meaning, financial literacy for young moms, mentoring teen mothers, small grants for single moms, stigma of teen pregnancy, breaking poverty cycles, support for early mothers, parenting podcast teen moms, nonprofit helping single mothers
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We talk a lot about how to manage kids when they are being impossible. But it's supposed to be the terrible twos, not the terrible forty-somethings. What do we do when we're the one in the family who's dysregulated?

In this episode, we discuss:

How to know if you're emotionally dysregulated

Why parents (especially moms) are particularly vulnerable

How dysregulation can show up both as anger and as shutdown

The connection between rumination, shame, and reactivity

How emotional dysregulation can become contagious in a household—and how calm can be contagious, too

Practical ways to reset when you feel triggered

Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Cleveland Clinic: Emotional Dysregulation

Our Fresh Take with Erin Cox

Elif B. Koş Yalvaç et. al for Journal of Affective Disorders: Emotional dysregulation in adults: The influence of rumination and negative secondary appraisals of emotion

H.W. Koenigsberg for Journal of Personality Disorders: Affective instability: toward an integration of neuroscience and psychological perspectives

Rachel Schepke for PsyPost: Young children are more irritable when their mother has emotion regulation difficulties

Dominique Cave-Freeman, Vincent O. Mancini, et al for Journal of Personality and Individual Differences: Maternal Emotion Regulation and Early Childhood Irritability: The Role of Child Directed Emotion Regulation Strategies

Couples Therapy, Inc: Navigating a Marriage with an Emotionally Dysregulated Spouse

Rick Hanson et. al: Mother Nurture: A Mother's Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships

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, self-help for moms, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, kids stress, emotional dysregulation in parents, parenting under stress, overwhelmed mom, reactive parenting, mom anger, yelling at kids, parental burnout, depleted mother syndrome, parenting anxiety, co-regulation, emotional regulation skills, parenting triggers, rumination and resentment, family emotional climate, repairing after yelling, parenting stress management, mom mental health, default parent stress, generational patterns parenting, managing big emotions as a parent
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Based on a recent listener question about how to start to let go as our kids get older, this "Deep Dive" series highlights some of our past interview episodes on the topic.

As moms, we're often given tons of societal pressure on how we have to give our kids all the right things—then told to "chill out" when it comes to the worrying part. ⁠Gabrielle Blair⁠, author of ⁠THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT⁠, is here to tell us that adulthood doesn't look like it used to, and that there are many paths to the success and happiness that all our kids deserve.

Gabrielle Blair is the the founder of ⁠DesignMom.com⁠ and the author of the New York Times blockbuster bestseller Ejaculate Responsibly.

Gabrielle, Amy, and Margaret discuss:

How the idea of the "reliable path to success" is actually harmful for a lot of parents and kids

Simple (and free/cheap) ways to use your home to create the family life you want

Why Gabrielle disagrees with the "you only get 18 summers" rhetoric that permeates parenting circles

Here's where you can find Gabrielle:

⁠designmom.com⁠

@designmom on IG

#thekidsareallright #thekidsareallrightbook

Buy THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT: ⁠https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781523526505⁠

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 kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, kids stress, Gabrielle Blair, The Kids Are All Right, DesignMom, modern parenting, parenting pressure, success myths, raising kids, redefining success, motherhood expectations, family culture, home life, parenting mindset, letting go of fear, alternative paths to adulthood, parenting teens, parenting young adults, emotional resilience, family connection, values-based parenting, creative home, simple living, conscious parenting, parent burnout, mental health for parents
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How do we get kids to *want* to put their phones down? This week we're talking to bestselling author Catherine Price about her latest book, The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World, co-written with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt.

Instead of focusing on parental controls and screen-time battles, The Amazing Generation speaks directly to kids, inviting them to question the promises of Big Tech and reclaim real friendship, real freedom, and real fun.

We discuss:

Why empowering kids works better than scaring them

How smartphones and social media shape adolescent brain development

The growing youth rebellion against addictive tech

How to shift from conflict to collaboration when it comes to screens

Here's where you can find Catherine and her work:

www.catherineprice.com

https://catherineprice.substack.com

@catherinepriceofficial on IG and LinkedIn

www.amazinggeneration.com

Buy THE AMAZING GENERATION: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9798217111916

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

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/

What Fresh Hell podcast, 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 kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, The Amazing Generation book, Catherine Price interview, Jonathan Haidt Anxious Generation, screen time for kids, social media and teens, tech addiction in children, smartphone brain development, how to break up with your phone, defend mode discover mode, empowering kids about technology, youth rebellion against big tech, parenting in a digital world, AI and teenagers, family screen time solutions, helping kids quit social media, real life vs social media, attention economy and kids, middle school smartphone advice, raising kids without smartphones, tech literacy for families
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