• Ep. 30: Can You Be Friends With Your Kids?
    Sep 24 2024

    What do we do when our real life experiences as parents aren’t matching up with what we’ve always been taught or believed? Me? I go right in and start asking hard questions and researching and doing the work to get to the bottom of why things aren’t adding up.

    In this episode, I share with you the journey I went on to reconcile what was happening in my relationships with my young children with what I’d always heard: “You can’t be friends with your kids.”

    By clarifying the distinction between friend and peer, I share with you how my discovery led to a powerful framework for building meaningful relationships with my kids. After years of thinking about my kids this way, I have learned how to be their mom, enforce the rules, help them honor me and God, and simultaneously build a lasting friendship that is a gift to both of us.

    Whether you have babies and toddlers or teens and adult kids, you can begin to build a foundation with your kids that fosters closeness, mutual respect, honor, and love. And these things? They’ll serve you so well as your kids become adults and can choose how they spend their time and who they spend it with.

    I wanted to be friends with my kids. And I want that for you, too!

    This week’s episode will empower you to build lasting and sweet friendships with your kids. Listen in NOW everywhere you get podcasts!

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    27 mins
  • Ep. 29: Group Parenting: What It Is And Why We Don’t Do It
    Sep 17 2024

    In this first episode of SEASON THREE, we tackle group parenting. What is it? Why does it matter to me as a young mom? (Let’s start this season off with a bang, shall we?)

    With examples from her own life and parenting, host Sarah Short discusses the current push to make collective parenting decisions with a group of families. If you’re a new mom who hasn’t encountered this yet, you’ll hear Sarah’s insightful framework for thinking through how to parent alongside your friends (and family!)

    By breaking down parenting into two categories: philosophy and practice, this episode walks you through how parenting in community with similar philosophy can be incredibly beneficial and encouraging, while illuminating the pitfalls of collectively agreeing to parenting practices.

    From smartphones to Playstation and Xbox time to ice cream at the pool - you don’t want to miss this episode as we dive into how to courageously parent our individual kids, how to retain the ability to change our minds, and how to maintain healthy friendships with other parents!

    Click play NOW for the FIRST episode of SEASON TWO!


    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    42 mins
  • Ep. 28: Season Two Finale: What We Talked About This Season
    May 21 2024
    SEASON TWO! THAT’S A WRAP! Today is the last episode of Season TWO on the No Way But Through Podcast! This season, I took on some of the harder topics YOU asked me to podcast about! We talked about helping our kids through hurt and disappointment, five life-giving phrases our kids need to hear, and a two-part episode on how we can help our kids navigate change! I shared with you our approach to discipline, which has become one of the most popular episodes on this podcast! And we even talked about the “We Are The World’ Documentary, and the unlikely things it has to teach us about friendship! On today’s episode, you get a recap of each episode from this season! If you know someone who is new to this podcast, this is a GREAT episode to send them so they get a feel for the things we talk about each week! This show wouldn’t be what it is today without you! THANK YOU for listening, for engaging, and for encouraging me week after week! Click play NOW for the final episode of SEASON TWO! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    25 mins
  • Ep. 27: When We (Or Our Kids) Get Excluded. What Can We Do? Let’s Talk About It!
    May 14 2024

    There are few things as painful as getting excluded from a friend group or birthday party or event. And this isn’t just true for our kids, it’s true for us, too! Whether it’s a six year-old getting left out of a game on the playground or a thirty-something mom not being invited into a group of friends, it hurts.

    On today’s episode, I share with you five things that have been incredibly helpful for me to know and keep coming back to as I navigate the complexities of getting left out or excluded and as I help my kids navigate this when this happens to them. With personal stories from my own life and how God uses all of it for our good, I give you clear ways of thinking and ways you can parent your kids to be good friends, see and include others, and walk through painful rejections with integrity and hope!

    This can be a hard topic to talk about, but LET’S DO IT ANYWAY and learn how to better parent our kids as they become resilient and better friends.

    Available TODAY!




    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    51 mins
  • Ep. 26: No Money? No Time? No Babysitter? 10 Practical Ideas For Making Date Nights Happen Anyway!
    May 7 2024
    Let’s talk about date nights! When I was a young mom, so many conversations I had with my friends centered around how difficult it was for us to make date nights happen. Some of us had time and ideas, but no money. Some of us had money but no family in town or babysitters we could call. And the effort it took to find a babysitter and plan for and head out on a date night often felt like it wasn’t worth it. In this episode, I share with you TEN ideas for overcoming the common obstacles that can keep you from planning for and enjoying time dating each other. With strategies and practical tips from my own experiences and real-life, easy to plan date ideas, I’ll help you find ways to prioritize meaningful and connected time with each other - out on the town, on an overnight getaway, down the street, or at home. Date nights pay BIG dividends in your marriage and family life. No matter what your budget, babysitter availability, living near family or in a new city where you don’t know anyone, there’s something in here for everyone! You CAN make date nights happen! Listen in to this practical episode and you’ll walk away with some fresh ideas and ready to start planning! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    50 mins
  • Ep. 25: The #1 Family Vacation Tip You Need To Know
    Apr 30 2024

    Vacationing with young kids brings with it a whole host of challenges - packing, diapers, disrupted sleep schedules, unexpected sickness, too much sugar, and everyone melting down - including mom and dad.

    In this episode, I share with you the #1 thing that has helped us have almost 20 years of successful family vacations. From beach trips to big cities, and from newborns to teenagers, this one concept continues to impact me and Jason as we plan for, execute, and adapt during our family vacations.

    What you won’t find in this episode? Packing lists and what gear to take.

    What you will find? The best thing we’ve learned to do as parents taking our kids on vacation and the key to rich, life-giving, and memorable times away with our kids.

    DON’T miss this one!! Available everywhere you get podcasts.


    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    32 mins
  • Ep. 24: Three Things Our Kids Need From Us When They’re Going Through A Hard Time
    Apr 23 2024

    I wish it wasn’t so, but our kids are gonna go through hard things and hard seasons. While it might look different for each of them, tough stuff is coming their way.

    So how do we help them? What can we do as moms when our kids are facing struggles at school, in relationships with friends, or in a hard season that feels like it just won’t end? No matter what your kids are going through, they need these three things from you as a parent!

    Whatever age kids you have, you can do these things now to walk with your kids through a tough season or a hard situation. If they haven’t had one yet, it’ll be here before you know it. In this episode, I share with you some personal experiences we’ve had in our family with hard stuff, how I learned to do these three things when I felt helpless, and how they helped my kids get to the other side of a hard time!

    Whether life is smooth sailing for your kids right now, or they’re really struggling through something, this episode is for YOU!

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    35 mins
  • Ep. 23: Helping Our Kids Deal With Change, Part 2
    Apr 16 2024

    Our kids will experience so many changing circumstances throughout their lives and there is so much we can do to help them move forward through those changes. From a new baby sibling arriving on the scene and your older child having to share their mom and dad for the first time to family dynamic shifts or hardships, we have tremendous opportunity to build within our kids a deep sense of trust and safety that will not only help them feel seen and valued, but will train them to see and value others as well.

    On Part 2 of Helping Our Kids Deal With Change, I share with you specific ways you can help walk your kids through change. I walk with you through each different stage of childhood - from a new baby entering your family and tips and tricks to make that transition easier for your kids, to helping your kids navigate the tough stuff of changing friendship in their teen years.

    Part 2 in Helping Our Kids Deal With Change is available NOW!

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nwbt/support
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    32 mins