Voices of Your Village

Latest episodes

Co-parenting through separation & divorce

voices of your village Jul 11, 2019

 

 

In this episode of Voices of Your Village, I got to sit down with the two people, Fran and Daryl, who raised my favorite human, my husband Zach, and chat with them about how they navigated co-parenting through divorce and separation. These two navigated this challenge beautifully, so there was no one I’d rather sit down and talk to about this than them. If you’re a parent going through a separation or divorce or navigating co-parenting yourself, you’re not alone - this has been a highly requested topic and is super relevant for our village. 

Zach was six or seven when his parents divorced, and according to Zach, he always felt that the decisions his...

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Building a relationship of trust with kids

 

 

As parents and caregivers, one of our goals should be for our tiny humans to trust us - trust us to keep them safe and trust us to do what we say we’re going to do - and for us to trust them to hold up their end of the bargain. You may think this happens in the big moments - them coming to you with a big secret or confiding in you - but trust is actually built in the smaller moments, like keeping a promise. And it’s a two-way street - I expect the tiny humans to do what they say they’re going to do, too. There will be times when we let each other down because that’s just life - but more often than not, we need to follow through.

I want the tiny...

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Teaching kiddos to regulate their emotions

 

 

On this episode of Voices of Your Village, I got to hang out with my pal Kristie on her Pre-K Teach and Play Podcast. An accomplished author, sought-after consultant, and educator’s educator, Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak spent 16 years as a tenured professor at Kent State University before leaving to lead a {r}evolution in early care and education. Through comprehensive classes, thought-provoking keynotes, and practical resources, she’s guiding educational professionals toward developing their emotional intelligence, reclaiming children’s right to learn through play, and reimagining more inclusive classrooms. We got to dive into the topic of teaching...

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How to build your village

voices of your village Jun 13, 2019

It’s no secret that I firmly believe that kids should be raised in a village. What that village looks like has greatly evolved over time - from when the majority of women were stay-at-home moms, building a village made up of other stay-at-home moms, to a society in which more kiddos are in childcare than ever before. The way that we are raising these tiny humans and the structure of our village has totally changed. Many folks aren’t living near family and are in a space of having to build their framily (friends as family) village. 

 

So, how do we build our village? 

 

I had a village that I loved the crap out of while living in Boston, so as we...

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Falling Asleep Independently

 

 

This episode of Voices of Your Villages answers one of the most common questions I’ve gotten as a sleep consultant over the past six years, which is, “How do I teach my kid to fall asleep independently?” 

Babies can start practicing falling asleep independently as early as infancy - shoot for once a day where that kiddo isn’t falling asleep at the breast, in your arms, or at a bottle. This will allow them to start building the toolbox they need to be able to do this - habit is real, and routine is powerful. 

Kiddos learn what to expect based on how we respond to them. If they cry and we do x, y, and z, that is what they will expect to...

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Fostering a loving sibling relationship, with Nicole DiGiacobbe

voices of your village May 23, 2019

 

 

In today’s episode, I was jazzed to chat with my friend Nicole DiGiacobbe

about raising siblings who have a loving, empathetic relationship with one another. So many folks ask me about raising siblings and how to raise kiddos to have this type of connection with one another, who aren’t fighting or in battle constantly. Can we do this? The answer is “yes,” and Nicole shares what she has done and what she practices to achieve this - and these are tips you can add to your parenting toolbox starting today.

Nicole’s daughters are 21 months apart, so we chatted a little bit about the prep work she went through, if any, in preparing big sis...

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Getting real about mom guilt, with Kristen Mittler

 

 

Today on Voices of Your Village, we are getting real about mom guilt - that inevitable feeling felt by so many mamas out there. This is one issue that seems to truly be gender-specific; I chatted with a bunch of dads in preparation for this episode and came to this conclusion. In this episode, I got to hang out with my friend Kristen, stay-at-home mama of four, and chat all about this hot topic - what it is, why it’s happening, and what you can do about it. 

Mom guilt is felt by both working moms and stay-at-home moms alike. Kristen worked full time up until the point that her oldest kiddo was five, and then became a stay-at-home mom, so she can certainly attest...

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A special interview with my mama

voices of your village May 02, 2019

 

In this special episode of Voices of Your Village, I got to interview the most incredible woman I know: my mama. We chatted about her experiences in motherhood, and you may want to grab yourself a box of tissues because some ugly crying definitely went down.

We first dove into the logistics of our family. I am one of five - four boys and one girl - and there is a 13 year age difference between the oldest and youngest. Mom is one of eight (her mom had eight children in ten years; go ahead and pick your jaw off the floor) and dad is one of six, so she explained how having her own big family was never really a thought - having a “basketball team worth of kids” just seemed...

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Fostering a relationship where you are the one your child can be vulnerable with

voices of your village Apr 25, 2019

 

Your children are not responsible for your feelings.

 

Say it louder for the folks in the back! 

This week I dive into why it’s so important that our tiny humans never feel responsible for how we feel. If we want to be that person our child can turn to when they experience life’s challenges, we need to be sure they aren’t afraid they will spike our anxiety or make us feel sad with their problems. When we say things like, “It makes me happy when you clean up your toys, or “It makes me sad when you hit me,” we are placing our feelings on our children, and so years down the road, we are not the human they turn to.  It’s so hard...

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