This episode is a brief glimpse into our upcoming interview with Marsh Naidoo on her amazing podcast Raising Kellan. Please subscribe now to her podcast so you can listen to our full interview when it is released.

Raising Kellan Website here for more info! "Empowering, connecting and educating parents raising a child with a disability. For parents. By parents."

In this episode on Mama You Belong:

• Molly updates for listeners outside of Minnesota that the occupation in the Twin Cities is still happening and there is no end in sight.
• Look for our upcoming interview on the Raising Kellan podcast soon!
• Kirsten shares a letter from a Minneapolis mom and university educator living through Operation Metro Surge and reflect on what daily life looks like when federal raids shape commutes, classrooms, and care plans.
• We highlight independent journalists, legal observers, and BIPOC creators documenting events in real time—voices you won’t always find in national headlines:
• You’ll leave with tools that turn concern into action: Stand with Minnesota for testimonies and mutual aid links, Resistance Guide to match your capacity to real tasks, and Five Calls to reach elected officials with targeted scripts.
• On Instagram:

@onsitepublicmedia
@toussaintmorrison
@minneapolisward2
@sahanjournal
@bygeorgiafort
@nekimal
@minnesota50501
@janashortal
@monarca.minn
@minnesota_neighbors
@standwithminnesota
@immigrantlawcentermn
@immigrantdefensenetwork

@singingresistancetc

• On Substack:

Toussaint Morrison

Zede

• Websites:

Stand with Minnesota - Website that consolidates testimonies, resources, and mutual aid opportunities.

Resistance Guide - Free web app that helps match you to relief efforts based on your location, time commitment, and level of risk.

5 Calls App - Free app that identifies your elected officials, provides contact information, and scripts.

If this conversation moves you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find these stories. What small action will you take today to stand with families in Minnesota?

Kirsten's Physical Therapy website

Mama You Belong Instagram

Kirsten's Instagram

Molly's Instagram

Molly’s music on bandcamp

Molly’s website

We sit with the dissonance of parenting during a state crackdown in Minnesota, holding mother rage and grief while trying to protect childhood for our children. Stories from Minneapolis, a terrifying night terror, and our feelings as mothers.

• naming the split between normal routines and escalating state force
• how algorithms, media gaps and proximity shape what we know
• whiteness, safety as illusion and why change is allowed
• anger as data, grief underneath and redirecting hate into love and protection
• night terrors explained, patterns, airway and sleep hygiene links
• nervous system care through movement and community support
• centering children’s experiences and mutual aid
• what it means to keep going without normalizing harm

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with other mamas!

Subscribing to our podcast and leaving us a review is one of the best ways for other people to find us.

Star Tribune Article about changing your mind

Myofunctional Therapist in the Northland

5 Calls app - CALL YOUR REPS

Kirsten's Physical Therapy website

Mama You Belong Instagram

Kirsten's Instagram

Molly's Instagram

Molly’s music on bandcamp

Molly’s website

In this episode, we talk openly about updates to toddler sleep struggles, no more night drives just to get a child to sleep, the decision to retire the crib, and how co-sleeping in a king bed changed everything. We unpack how loving, clear boundaries reduced bedtime chaos and how letting go of the “perfect” 7 p.m. bedtime helped ease our own mom guilt, shame, and anxiety around sleep.

From there, we move into the daily reality of daycare life: big feelings at pickup, sensory overload, and what it looks like to listen to a child’s body that needs movement, wrestling, and connection after a long day. Then comes the daycare illness cycle: colds, strep, and six ear infections since summer... along with the weighty decisions around mild hearing loss and ear tubes.

We name the math no one hands you as a parent: PTO that isn’t rest, missed income from client-facing work, mounting medical bills, and the invisible labor of tracking symptoms, dosing medication, scheduling appointments, and making constant judgment calls. This is where the mental load of motherhood becomes undeniable, and why workplace culture matters far more than empty platitudes. Planning for sick seasons, we argue, should be part of every postpartum conversation.

Along the way, we speak the quieter truths many parents carry: resentment when the default sick parent pushes through, the tug-of-war between caregiving and work, and the grief for the versions of parenthood and careers we hoped to have by now. We also share what genuinely helped.

If you’ve ever felt alone doing the late-night calculus of sleep, illness, work, and parenting, this conversation offers validation and practical shifts you can try tonight.

If this episode resonated, tap follow, share it with a friend who’s in the thick of toddler sleep or daycare sickness, and leave a quick review to help other parents find the show. Your support helps this community grow.

Kirsten's Physical Therapy website

Mama You Belong Instagram

Kirsten's Instagram

Molly's Instagram

Molly’s music on bandcamp

Molly’s website