In this roundtable, Ashley Blackington and I sit down with Libby Ward for a raw and honest conversation about the invisible weight of motherhood—the guilt, shame, and anxiety so many of us carry but rarely say out loud.

Libby is a self-described recovering people pleaser, serial burnout escaper, wholeness hunter, ex-martyr, and chronic silliness seeker. She shares how her own journey, along with her new book, Honest Motherhood, gives language to the hard things we're all feeling but often afraid to admit. We talk about how no one truly has motherhood "figured out," even if it looks that way on the outside, and why hiding behind perfection is costing us our sanity and relationships.

If you love your kids deeply but secretly wish everyone would stop talking to you for four uninterrupted minutes, this conversation is for you.

Show links:

• Connect with Libby at libbyward.com
• Read Honest Motherhood: On Losing My Mind and Finding Myself
• Ashley: And/Both Podcast

As always, I'd love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

After a couple of months away from the mic, I'm realizing what it's really been like to step back and question the identity I've carried for years as the strong and capable single mother who always pushes through. We often create armor that protects us for a time, but as we grow and change, we reach a point where it may actually be holding us back.

In this roundtable with Ashley Blackington, Ben Cott, and Dr. Ann Welsh, we talk about burnout, midlife shifts, and why resilience isn't about grinding harder but learning to work with our bodies and honor both grief and joy. If you're redefining success, navigating change, or craving something more than survival mode, this conversation might be what you need to hear.

Show links:

• Connect with Anne:
• • dr.annewelsh.com
  • Read Ambitious Mother
• Connect with Ben:
• • benkattofficial.com
  • Read The Way Home: Discovering the Hero's Journey to Wholeness at Midlife
• Ashley: And/Both Podcast

As always, I'd love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

It's with a heavy heart that I'm pushing pause on PG-ish. The podcast has been going strong for over six years, and while I've learned much and grown alongside all of you, I realize that it's time for a pivot. This decision didn't happen suddenly, but rather came from a quiet and slow feeling that it was time for a change. Today I'm sharing my thought process behind this decision and the changes I'm making in my own life moving forward.

I'll still be on this parenting journey with you, learning and growing and changing. The PG-ish website and all the podcast episodes will still be available, so don't hesitate to reach out any time. I look forward to this next chapter of the journey!

Fan favorite episodes (as well as my own):

• 241. Own your crazy spots + how to love your teenager well, featuring Lisa Damour
• 111. Feeling is believing, featuring Lisa Feldman Barrett
• 232. Love is space making, featuring Marcus Buckingham
• 282. Bringing love back to the heart of it, an interview with Marcus Buckingham
• 215. The CliffsNotes to being a badass adult, featuring Jen Sincero

As always, I'd love to hear from you! DM me on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Every one of us will experience a dark night of the soul at some point. And it could even happen when those around you are telling you how many things you have to be grateful for. But pushing those feelings down or pretending they don't exist doesn't help you in that internal battle, it actually deepens your shame and struggle. Whatever our situation is, we need to recognize our feelings as valid, and move through them to get to the other side.

Dr. Edith Eger is a holocaust survivor, a psychologist, and an incredibly wise and resilient human. In today's clip, she explains why rage is necessary for forgiveness, why suffering can uncover hidden strengths, and how even in the darkest places, there is always a gift to be found.

Show links:

• Learn more at dreditheger.com
• Read Dr. Eger's books:
• • The Choice: Escaping the Past and Embracing the Possible
  • The Gift: 14 Lessons to Save Your Life

As always, I'd love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

In today's roundtable discussion, we're exploring some of the most important topics for any working mom, including identity, the mental load, and the emotional weight we carry.

We're joined by Allison McQuaid, a licensed therapist and founder of Tree House Therapy, who supports moms through every stage of motherhood, as well as Paige Connell, a mom of four and creator of She is a Paige Turner, whose viral content about the mental load and equity in motherhood has reached millions.

The four of us are diving deep into what it really looks like for overwhelmed millennial moms to carry the mental and emotional burden at home and beyond, and what it takes to reclaim your joy, energy, and time, especially as we head into the holiday season. If you've ever looked around your life and wondered why you're the one who has to juggle everything, this episode is for you.

Show links:

• Ashley: And/Both Podcast
• Paige Connell: sheisapaigeturner.com
• Allison McQuaid: treehousetherapyllc.com

As always, I'd love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, yet lately I've been feeling so ungrateful. It's not easy to shift my attitude when so much of life feels hard and overwhelming, but today's clip is a reminder that gratitude happens in small steps, by noticing the tiny things to be thankful for and sharing what we have with those around us. The irony of this episode is that it's a throwback to November 2020, when we all needed some help remembering how to be grateful amid uncertainty.

Tony Robbins transformed one of his hardest days into a non-profit foundation serving millions, and it started by simply feeding one family. He reminds us that we have the power to turn our trials into something beautiful, and that one caring person can alter the trajectory of a life.

Show links:

• Watch the full clip
• Learn more at tonyrobbins.com
• Read Awaken the Giant Within

As always, I'd love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Dr. Jill Taylor, a Harvard-trained brain scientist who had a stroke at age 37, encourages people to find inner peace with whole brain living—in other words, understanding how our brain organizes our thoughts and feelings in order to become who we want to be.

In today's clip, Dr. Taylor focuses on what happens in the teenage brain as it changes. Yet this also seems applicable to us as moms, as our own brains and bodies face changes in midlife. The knowledge she shares might just help us approach ourselves and our kids with more grace, as we understand what's happening in our brains.

Show links:

• Watch the full clip
• Learn more at drjilltaylor.com
• Read Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life and My Stroke of Insight
• Episode 324: The Secret to Emotional Resilience: Transforming Anger Into Growth, featuring Dr. Joe Dispenza

As always, I'd love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Chances are, you know what it feels like to carry the heaviness of grief. You know that grief is messy and non-linear, with no way around it. Yet in the midst of your colorless experience, the world around you is buzzing, bright and loud and completely ignorant of the hole inside you.

Today's roundtable guests are two women who understand what it means to hold space for the hard stuff, and they have made it their life's work to help people feel seen, supported, and less alone. They remind us that our grief matters, our struggle is real, and how important it is to find people to sit with you in it.

Katie Huey is a certified grief educator and coach who knows personally what grief can do to a life. She has a beautiful way to help people find words when they don't know what to say, and reminds us that grief doesn't have to be so isolating.

Abby Waychoff is an occupational therapist, yoga instructor, and the heart behind Mother Lover. She walks alongside women through pregnancy and postpartum, and she also creates space for those in the midst of grief.

Show links:

• Ashley: And/Both Podcast
• Katie Huey:
• • katiehuey.com
  • Read Grief Cookies and Other Comforting Things: Finding Beauty in Life After Loss

As always, I'd love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.