On the Minimalist Moms Podcast, I’ve interviewed guests that discuss pregnancy, baby registry and birth plans but I’ve yet to discuss the postpartum experience. I was thrilled to speak to postpartum doula, Gigi Vera Vincent to help navigate this area. Gigi shares five ways to simplify as you prepare for your postpartum experience. 

If you want to cook more at home, but don’t want to spend all night doing it, this is the episode for you! Join me today as I speak with author, Jenna Helwig. We’ll discuss how to simplify dinnertime so you can spend less time in the kitchen while still enjoying delicious meals. As I was flipping through Jenna’s new cookbook, the chapter titles resonated with me: Bare Minimum Time (30 minutes or less); Bare Minimum Ingredients (7 ingredients or less, including salt and olive oil); Bare Minimum Hands-On Time (slow-cooker and Instant Pot meals); Bare Minimum Clean-Up (one-pot/sheet pan/skillet meals); and Bare Minimum Sides (super-simple vegetables, salads, and grains so you can feel good about serving healthy, well-rounded dinners). Jenna’s advice for cooking is actually to do less: to pare back, to embrace some store-bought shortcuts, to eliminate fuss, and, in the process, extra dirty dishes.

In this day and age, it can be difficult to truly feel present in motherhood. We have so many roles we’re juggling, schedules to manage, self-care to maintain (not to mention remembering little details - such as what to add to the grocery store list or that school pickup is early on Friday.) The question is: how do we manage presence when it feels like we’re pulled in various ways? Joining me today to talk through this topic is author, Sarah Bragg. Sarah wrote about this topic (and more) in her recent book, A Mother’s Guide to Raising Herself. Today we’ll be discussing how to cultivate presence: how can we challenge ourselves to be more present in the moment without needing to document everything on Instagram/social media? How we can be more present as mothers, wives and friends? And how we can teach our children to cultivate presence in their own lives?

If most of us were honest, I’m sure we’d all admit to impulse shopping from time to time. From a basic perspective, we may assume it’s only a financial problem; however, it’s both a personal and psychological issue, too. The question is: how do we stop the impulse before it happens? Joining me today to answer this question (and more) is founder of the Inspired Budget, Allison Baggerly. She defines impulses spending and addresses the reasons we tend to impulse spend (and steps for how to stop), plus more that you don’t want to miss!

According to a survey by Common Sense Media, over half of US children own a cell phone by the age of eleven, and 1 in 5 own a cell phone by the age of eight. Kids are heading back to school, and as cell phones become an increasingly accepted part of our children’s academic and social lives, the concern of child phone safety and surveillance weighs on parents. Here to join me for a quick conversation on smart phone safety is founder and CEO of Troomi Wireless, Bill Brady.

In today's episode, I'm chatting with Crystal Mickelsen, the creator of The Essential Calendar about how scheduling three months at a time can improve communication and collaboration. Crystal discusses: how we can encourage more collaboration with family to share the mental load of motherhood, how to communicate more effectively with family about the schedule, communication leading to less stress and more connection and how planning at three months at a time invites more flexibility and more intention into family life!

Every parent wants their child to have the best education but when they think about homeschooling they dismiss it due to self-doubt. After remote learning became a reality to parents during the pandemic, many are now faced with the decision of sending their children back into the classroom or continuing with home education. My guest today is author, Durenda Wilson. She is here to discuss how we simplify the homeschooling process. We don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the idea as WE ARE QUALIFIED. Join me to hear how we can take control of our children’s education with confidence and simplify the process while doing so!

Did you know the average child spends a mere four to seven minutes outside each day. On the flip side, the average eight to twelve-year-old American child spends four hours a day on screens. While some of this screen time may serve an educational purpose, there's no way that most kids need that much of it. As parents, it' can be tough to swap outdoor time for screen time but the benefit(s) are so worth the challenge. My guest today is creator of the movement, 1000 Hours Outside (which urges parents to get their children outside for one thousand hours each year), Ginny Yurich. In our conversation she offers practical wisdom and inspiration to help you make outside time a priority in your day-to-day.

Montessori is a 100-year-old educational method taught at 4,500 Montessori schools around the country, and another 20,000 worldwide. Many successful folks contribute their success to this education model. Today, author, Junnifa Uzodike will join me to give you tips on laying the groundwork to raising successful children as early as when they’re babies. Whether parents have access to a Montessori school or not – the invaluable suggestions these educators share will help foster years of learning and set your kids on a road to success.

A question that keeps coming up is: how do I declutter crafts? I knew this was a topic that could be applied to not just kids crafts, but our own. Where do we store it all? Do I have too much? How do I know what to keep and get rid of? Joining me today to tackle these questions (and more) is author of Simple Lion Heart Life, Melissa Russell.

The tendency to overcomplicate things can be applied to almost every area, including potty training. I’ve had a handful of listeners reach out wondering how to simplify the process, so I invited Lauren Jones from The Simple Life Project to join me in discussing her tried and true methods.

How do I cultivate my children’s interest in gardening? What are good activities to increase my child's hands-on involvement in the garden? And what are some good ways to encourage children to feel ownership of the garden? Stephanie has been writing about gardening, food preservation, and from-scratch cooking over on her blog, Wingin' It On The Homestead and has recently started a podcast where she shares about similar topics.

If you’ve been a listener here for awhile, you’ll know that minimalism goes beyond stuff. I’m thrilled to share today’s guests, Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus - otherwise known as ‘The Minimalists’. Today they’ll dive deeper into the seven essential relationships in our lives: stuff, truth, self, money, values, creativity, and people and how minimalism makes room in our lives to re-evaluate and heal these areas.  

In today’s bonus episode with Tara Clark (@modernmomprobs), we discuss intentionality and mental health - specifically when it comes to social media. Modern technology is not going to change (if anything, it’ll only capture more areas of our lives.) It’s up to us to MODIFY our behavior. While social media can provide an escape, connect us to friends across the globe and become a useful resource for income, it can quickly become an addiction that takes us away from our priorities, and most importantly, our children. It’s something most of us realize but have a hard time actively combating. What do you do to set boundaries and protect mental health in this area?

Any family with children will experience their fair share of toys throughout the years. It’s inevitable that some will slip in that have a short ’lifespan’; however, being intentional in this area isn’t as hard as it seems and simple strategies can help foster diverse play experiences for children without filing our playroom with junk. Join me today as I talk with founder of Tiny Earth Toys, Rachel Classi. She’ll discuss scientific studies that discuss the benefits of minimal toys in the playroom, how the choices we make about what toys to buy impact our child's play and the environment, what we know about how the toy industry is playing a role in the plastic crisis and tips for parents about how to take the power struggle out of gifting to align with your family values.

As mothers, we have a lot on our plates to juggle each day. It can be tricky to pin-point what exactly takes priority (especially when everything feels that way). If you struggle with productivity and overall enjoying your days, this conversation may help! Join me for this conversation with Ashley Barber, a KonMari Consultant based in Texas, for some of her best tips to identify and focus energy on what we deem ‘high-priority’ tasks.

Are you a member of Costco or Sam’s Club? Wholesale retail stores such as this are able to sell their products for much cheaper than local businesses; however, the question I pose to you and my guest today, Carly Adams, is: is bulk shopping anti-minimalist? There is a certain affordability when it comes to big chains; however, big-box retail stores also promote consumerism due to the sheer volume of products for sale. As we work through this topic, I’m sure you’ll build your own pros and cons list to see whether it’s the right choice for your family.

Join me today as I speak with Elizabeth Presta about all things regarding a simpler birth plan. Elizabeth is a licensed doula through DONA International and has been practicing since 2013. She is passionate about women’s healthcare and is continually learning. Today she’s here to explain how we can simplify the birth experience, create a simple birth plan, how a doula can help us throughout the process and some of her suggestions for packing the hospital bag.

“There’s no way you can be intentional with just your wardrobe or your home. Once you see and experience how good your home and closet feel, you want every area of your life to feel that way.” I wholeheartedly agree this statement from author, Christine Platt (also known in the minimalist community as The Afrominimalist). Christine is my guest today and we’ll discuss her upcoming book, 'authenticity over aesthetics' and how less is liberating in our lives. 

Do you feel like you need to write in every line of your child’s baby book? Are there days when the camera doesn’t leave your hand? Or do you intentionally keep it tucked away on some family outings? As with most things in life, it’s all about balance, right? Join me and fellow podcast host & photographer, Jenna Arvidson as we talk through the idea of over-documenting our days. We discuss what made Jenna begin to think about over-documentation, how to decide what to document and what not to, easy shifts to simplify this area, and more.