**Warning - Listener Discretion is Advised ** 

This was one of the realest conversations for my podcast yet! Two moms talk straight and completely UNCENSORED. My guest today, Jennifer McDade, mastered life and had a flourishing career BEFORE marriage but was faced with the tough decision to set it all aside to start a family with the man of her dreams. And boy does some serious wisdom to share with us. Listen in as we chat about getting lost in the rat race of parenting and being a spouse, tailoring your parenting for each child, and what we’re teaching our kids by what we model for them every day.

This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

What we’re talking about

• Prioritizing You!
• Tailoring Your Parenting For Each Child
• Teaching Our Kids By Our Actions Every Day

Getting Lost In the Rat Race

As a new spouse, Jennifer decided to retire from teaching. It was a struggle, but a decision she wanted to make so they could have a family. It wasn’t long before they had three children and she didn’t recognize herself anymore. Then she had guilt about trying to find herself! Mom guilt is real, y’all. What we don’t realize though, is that most of the time we unknowingly bring it on ourselves. We’re talking about the slippery slope of doing so much for others that we lose ourselves, and how we have clawed our way back out of that habit, while becoming the best version of ourselves for our families.

Tailoring Your Parenting For Each Child

As we talked about being authentic to ourselves, we dove into how each of our kids is so different from one another, and how parenting them all the same just doesn’t work. Celebrating each of them for their individuality may seem more difficult on the surface, but, in reality, it makes our lives a bit calmer because each feels seen and recognized for who they truly are. It’s an offshoot of the lesson of being authentic to yourself.

Teaching Our Kids By Our Actions Every Day

We all want our children to somehow absorb all the things we expect of them and would like to teach them. But what we don’t always realize is that we are teaching them more than we know by our own behavior and what we say. We are their teachers 24/7, whether we acknowledge it or not. Jennifer and I chatted more about not only being authentic for ourselves, but for our children. It’s when we are the best version of ourselves that we can be the best spouse for our partner, the best parent for our children, and the best friend to others. 

Are you being authentic with yourself and others?

 TIMESTAMPS

• 9:10 -9:57 (47 sec JP & JM) To some degree people struggle with...me being authentic to myself.
• 13:53 - 14:25 (32 sec JM) You have to be who you are regardless...simple to say, but it really doesn’t.
• 17:15 - 18:00 (45 sec JP & JM) One of the things that I try to do as much as possible...as opposed to celebrating who they are.
• 22:37 - 23:01 (24 sec JP) I had an entire meltdown in this house...where nobody had to think about anything.
• 27:47 - 28:22 (35 sec JP) My point is, for those of you that are listening...something else will always take that time.
• 28:50 - 29:16 (26 sec JM) My kids seem to enjoy when I’m enjoying myself...for whatever it is, I do that.

QUOTES

1. Being a mother is the hardest, and most rewarding job, that one can ever have. - JP
2. People see the stay at home mom as the kept woman. - JM
3. It’s not how I say it. It’s what I say. The content is not going to change. - JM
4. You have to do what makes life good for you, and whatever that means, it has to be on your terms. You can’t let society dictate that for you. - JM
5. It’s about, in each phase of your life, maximizing the joy in it. - JP
6. If you always live your life trying to please people, you will be exhausted and very unhappy. - JP
7. Be authentic to yourself. - JM
8. We can define our children without knowing that’s what we’re doing. - JM
9. Your children’s accomplishments don’t define you as a person. You can’t use their accomplishments as validation. - JP
10. I lost myself in the rat race of motherhood and being a spouse, and then I had the nerve to feel guilty for trying to find myself. - JM
11. That mom guilt is really real. - JP
12. Get those kids to help you! - JP
13. I need to be the best version of me, so I can be the best mother, the best wife, the best daughter, etc., and it all starts with being the best me. - JM