Episodes
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Mommin’ is not an easy feat, certainly not one that is meant to be braved alone. In today’s episode, you will meet some of the original Mama Tribe and learn from their varying perspectives about how motherhood can be filled with joy even during the difficult and dark times if you just shift your perspective.
The thought that ‘mommin is a mindset’, that in some way we have the ability to control our thoughts and reactions, even in the craziest of chaos is kinda exciting, right? We couldn’t think of a better lineup then these three besties to share their journeys and experiences with you on how we can consciously change our perspective in all areas of life, including motherhood.
Jess is Co-Founder of the Love for Lewiston Foundation. Which was established in honor of her son Lewiston who passed away as an infant from a rare genetic disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). She also has a really awesome apparel line that raises funds for the foundation, she blogs, teaches fitness and pursues the things that make her heart soar.
Jess uses social media, Instagram specifically, to share the realness of life and to show other Moms that they are not alone. She feels social media can be such a connector for all Mamas when it is real and raw.
Kristin works for the Calgary Flames, as their host. She has worked behind, and in front of, the camera for over ten years - including stints at Breakfast Television and CTV Morning Live Winnipeg. Kristin is also the author of the beloved children's book, “Bee Love”.
Kristin shares that when you are seeing and hearing other women be vulnerable about their mama struggles, it opens up a floodgate and allows you to feel safe in being vulnerable as well. All the filters are removed, and you to be able to shameless and unapologetic in your ‘Momming’. It’s a trickle effect.
Jodie recently achieved one of her dreams and became an entrepreneur by opening Calgary’s first specialized injectables clinic Beauty PHI Medical Aesthetics. Her biggest dream of all - to be a Mama, was realized three years ago times two when she had her twin boys!
Jodie shares how writing in You've Got This, Mama, stepping outside of her comfort zone and being vulnerable has helped so many other Moms. This is what being real and sharing your story on larger platforms can actually do. It is also exactly what the mandate of this podcast is.
All the Mamas agree that it takes a village, and there is no shame in asking for help. The ladies talk about how when you become a mom, friendships may shift, your village may shift or it may deepen. Jess urges you always reach out to the village when you need help, people, especially moms are more than open to helping.
In You've Got This, Mama, Jess shares: “In losing Lewiston’s life, I found mine”. A major life event can shift your whole perspective on life. In Jess’ opinion, before faced with the crisis of losing her son, she had chains and barriers that held her back. She told herself stories that she wasn’t good enough to live the big life or follow her dreams. For their family, losing Lewiston shifted their perspective on how they wanted to live their life. Jess claims that after that loss, she finally found the freedom that she had been searching for such a long time. “I believe I found my purpose and that is to show other people on how to live their life to the fullest”. She wants to show other moms that there is joy after loss. Every day, Jess gets up and wants to make each day count.
“I believe I found my purpose and that is to show other people how to live their life to the fullest”. ~ Jessica Janzen Olstad
Kristin discusses why miscarriages are sometimes downplayed in our society. She claims that miscarriage grief is the most misunderstood grief because it’s a quiet, shaming silence. She is passionate that we understand that grief and shame are not something that should be compared in life. Grief is grief. -
We are going to dive into two specific age groups today, that typically earn a bad rep. Teenagers vs. threenagers. We will chat similarities and differences and everything in-between in hopes to empower mamas who are maybe struggling with the drama of it all.
Our two amazing Mama guests today are in the thick of it with each of these age groups. Sarah Rosensweet is a certified Peaceful Parenting Coach. She lives on Toronto Island with her husband and three “big” kids. Sarah helps parents become the parents they want to be, with a non-punitive, connection-based approach that that feels good and works too.
We also have Laura Williams, a Calgary based Mama of four children who is passionate about healthy living and raising independent children. Laura knows threenagers well, as three of her four children are three-year-old natural-born triplets.
We start by getting into the nitty-gritty of brain development, Sarah gives it to us layman terms. The reason why threenagers and teenagers are so similar is that both age groups are in a really similar place both psychologically & emotionally. They are both moving out within the world and their family, testing their independent wings. Brain development wise, there is a renovation that happens with the amygdala and the limbic system at both ages. This is the more emotional side of the brain where all of the “big feelings” happen. It takes a few years for the prefrontal cortex (the reasoning side of the brain) to catch up. So you get high emotions with both age groups and a lot of very unreasonable reactions.
Laura agrees, we as Mamas need to remind ourselves that it’s all relative, their anger is the way they are feeling their anger, whether it is over juice cup colors or jeans that are in the laundry. They are defining who they are, impulsiveness and irrationality is something they both share. We need to remember that the drama is real for them.
They both give us some us some techniques on how to deal with these age groups. Sarah remarks that with teenagers, the only thing you to have to influence them with is your relationship. In terms of discipline, you can’t physically stop them anymore. You’re really relying on your connection with them and your relationship with them. “Having teenagers is like closing your eyes and stepping off the edge of a cliff and hoping that it’s not too high...you really just have to take this leap into the dark and hope that everything you’ve done in the first twelve or thirteen years has put them in a position that they’ll make good choices” Sarah claims.
“Having teenagers is like closing your eyes and stepping off the edge of a cliff and hoping that it’s not too high...you really just have to take this leap into the dark and hope that everything you’ve done in the first twelve or thirteen years has put them in a position that they’ll make good choices”
~ Sarah Rosensweet
Laura agrees that building the relationship through the threenagers years is so key. Respect your teenagers or threenagers. Start honesty from the get-go. In terms of discipline and consequences both our Mamas claim that you need to look at the repair within the child themselves. How can you as a parent help empower them to maneuver solutions and not fix it for them?
Sarah encourages our Mamas, that everyone is doing the best they can, both as parents and kids. Generally, our kiddos really want to be good, if they’re not being good, then there’s a reason for it. It may be that they are tired, hungry, feeling disconnected or they're going through a leap in brain development but they are not just trying to be difficult. She affirms, that if we can remember that as parents, we can come from a more patient place.
Both guests agree you need to focus on self-regulation & self-care when dealing with threenagers and teenagers. Sarah urges that when our patience is tested, to try to take a beat and figure out how to not act on that frustrated feeling and instead... -
Missing episodes?
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Ever forget your keys in the refrigerator for days in the newborn haze? Poured orange juice in your coffee? Showed up at the wrong time and day to an appointment? Well, you are not alone, so has our host Sabrina Greer.
Let’s be honest people, how many of us have googled “is baby brain real?” On today's show, we’ve invited some real pros to join us today and dive into the psychology and science behind the infamous “baby brain” or “momnesia”.
Tia Slightham is an incredible parenting consultant and founder of Tia Slightham, Parenting Solutions
She is also an author in the YGTMAMA series, blogger, entrepreneur and a mother to two sweet boys Hudson (9) and Beckett (7).
Tia was a kindergarten teacher before becoming a mama and has a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education. Tia’s passion to help children has come full circle, now teaching parents how to decrease their parenting struggles.
Habiba Jessica Zaman is a powerhouse psychotherapist and founder of North Star of Georgia, Multicultural Counseling & Consulting.
She has a Master’s degree in Professional Counseling specializing in trauma with 15 years of experience working in the counseling field, including counseling, advocacy, guidance, and education.
She is an author of 14 publications including recently published Beautifully Bare, Undeniably You, and a children’s book, published in 2012, titled But I’m Just Playing. Habiba is of Bangladeshi and American descent. She is a mom of two boys Riu and Luca and lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her family.
“We kind of actually do lose our mind in that kind of sleep deprivation, you add all the hormonal things to that and it’s like a double whammy” ~Tia Slightham
Listen in to hear Sabrina and our guests as they share some hilarious new Mom stories and delve into the truths about baby brain. Tia notes that “We kind of actually do lose our mind in that kind of sleep deprivation, you add all the hormonal things to that and it’s like a double whammy”. Habiba agrees that “we can all sit back and say that this definitely happens, it’s a chemical thing, it hormonal, it’s sleep deprivation, it’s all of the above”.
“We can all sit back and say that this definitely happens, it’s a chemical thing, it hormonal, it’s sleep deprivation, it’s all of the above”. ~Habiba Jessica Zaman
Our experts share some tangible tips for our Mamas on how to get through the brain fog. Habiba shares an important tool from her counseling background that can be applied to all new Mamas, the acronym HALT: (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). If you are more than any one of these at any given time, you are your own worst enemy, so literally, halt and take a pause!
Habiba gets real about the link between baby-brain and postpartum depression, as it is the most common complication of childbearing. If you think you may be experiencing postpartum depression the 10-question Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a valuable and efficient way of identifying patients at risk for perinatal´ depression. The EPDS is easy to administer and has proven to be an effective screening tool.
Major takeaways from our guests during this “baby-brain” phase is don’t expect perfection and whatever habits you’re making, be prepared to break them! New Moms need to give themselves a break in the beginning phases especially, as Tia notes: “Don’t be so hard on yourself because everything is fixable”. In the thick of it, everything seems impossible, but nothing ever is Mama, we promise!
Resources from our Incredible Mama Guests:
From Tia Slightham
FREE PDF Guide: “How To Get Your Newborn To Sleep Without Sleep Training” (Birth-3 Months)
PDF Guide: “Parenting Doesn’t Have To Be That Way”: 75% Discount for YGTM - The Podcast Subscribers, contact her with promo code YGTMPODCAST
“Screamfree Parenting” by Hal Runkel
Almond Milk Recipe
2 cups raw unsalted almonds soaked in water overnight, -
The very first ever episode of You’ve Got This, Mama – The Podcast. Learn a few things about our host, Sabrina Greer that you likely didn’t know and spend 20 minutes with her heart as she “barfs” her vision for this podcast and community all over you, she knows there is not enough barf in your life, Mama.
We know you are probably thinking, here we go again, another “how to be a better mother” podcast or better yet another “I drink wine at noon to tolerate my kids” podcast.
No offense to either of these genres but seriously, it has been done, right?
"There is no way to be a perfect mother… but a million ways to be a good one.” ~ Jill Churchill
This podcast is simply a safe space where Sabrina and her guest co-hosts, other amazing Mamas, can share their truths, about all things motherhood. This is best expressed through the wise words of Jill Churchill - “there is no way to be a perfect mother… but a million ways to be a good one.” So every week Sabrina and her co-hosts will share their Mama wins, the losses and well, everything in-between because, that is real and that is motherhood.
Now, a little bit about our host Sabrina Greer. She has worn dozens of hats in her thirty-six years of life, including but not limited to: an international model, a student, an employee, a corporate minion, a bartender, a server, an entrepreneur, a deckhand on a luxury yacht, a health and wellness consultant, an event planner, a manager, a director, a volunteer...the list goes on. But her favorite hat is the one she currently wears, the one placed atop her head by three tiny humans, her Mama hat.
Sabrina went from globetrotting and navigating the catty seas of the competitive, female-dominated modeling industry, to the male-dominated, fast-paced corporate events world to being a mom, to three boys in three years. To say she was overwhelmed and struggling with identity would be an understatement.
So began her journey into looking for acceptance, comradery, support. There were a few seemingly judgment-free resources but true colours always shone through. She felt isolated, uncertain, lost. It was then she realized that writing was still a therapeutic outlet and reading the stories of other mothers were a savior to the soul. She found a tribe in the collective voice of the diverse breed of the mother.
"I found my tribe in the collective voice of the diverse breed of the mother." ~Sabrina Greer
This was how “You’ve Got This, Mama” the book, community, blog and now podcast were born. Sabrina set to work to recreate “the village” for other Mamas in a series of beautifully curated stories written by moms, for moms on all different platforms.
Learn about some new up and coming additions to the YGTMAMA brand and get that much-needed reminder that you are not alone, your village is here, with us. Every week we will be interviewing some of our past contributors, future contributors, specialists and all types of mamas. Every episode, our Mamas will be giving us their favorite Mama hacks, self-care rituals, recipes, tips, books and products that make their lives easier and more enjoyable. If you have any amazing Mamas we need to chat with or topics you want us to explore please send them our way!
Please enjoy and you know what? If you don’t, holler at us and let us know what we can do better, after all, Sabrina is a brand new Podcast Mama learning the ropes as she goes. If you can leave us a review, rate us and subscribe we will shout you out on Instagram and be forever grateful.
Please join the tribe over at www.instagram.com/ygtmama. We even have a little surprise for new subscribers. To get more info on the stories we share here, our books, blog, and community, go to www.ygtmama.com/.
#subscribetothetribe
Resources from Sabrina:
Goddess Bath (Thank you, Melissa Ambrosini)
Add to your steaming hot bath water: Epson salts, Essential oil, and Coconut Oil -
You've Got This, Mama is a friendly reminder you are doing a great JOB, after all, that is what this gig is. Parenting takes a village, right? Well, here we are! From the best selling author, of the You've Got This, Mama book series, expect shame-free, judgment-free, telltale, #truthbombs about all things motherhood. It's raw, unedited, un-Pinterest-worthy and more refreshing than a cup of coffee after a night with no sleep. Sabrina will share her parenting wins (the other stuff too) and interview specialists, and inspiring mamas in hopes to empower your motherhood. Remember, you've got this!
