If you’re a regular listener, you’ll have heard me talk about decision fatigue or overwhelm. Children can become overwhelmed when given too many choices, including having many toys available at one time. By rotating toys, you keep the selection new and fresh. There aren’t too many choices. And, every time you rotate the toys, it’s like your children have brand new toys to explore. Here today to discuss the topic with me is professional organizer, Melissa Corriveau.

What if you took inventory of everything in your house? Would it make you rethink the things you’re holding onto? If we took inventory and categorized the stuff in our house, we’d have a much better idea what needs to exit our house. Joining me today to discuss the idea of our possessions as inventory is Dawn Madsen (otherwise known as the Minimal Mom!) 

Human movement is at an all-time low and our children are currently facing both a movement and nature deficiency, with physical, mental and environmental consequences. The good news is, while the problem feels massive, the solution is quite simple…and fun! Join me for this conversation with biomechanist (and best-selling author), Katy Bowman about how we can using habit stacking to incorporate more movement in our daily lives and more!

Join me today as I speak with Taylor Buonocore about intentional conversations. We talk about creating greater levels of connection through conversational intentionality. Through authenticity, empathy, and creating a culture of communication, we can strengthen the bonds within friendships, family members (especially our children!) I typically ask my guests a series of questions but this conversation flowed quite easily. It took a different path than I expected but it was a refreshing difference.

I recently had an episode that discussed decluttering arts and crafts. This is a bit of a follow up to that episode as there were more elements of this area we didn't fully sort through (no pun intended). Join me today with my guests (hosts of the Laughs and Littles podcast), Annie Tarr and Sarah O'Brien. We chat about having the right craft supplies for your kids (especially when you've got multiples), how to store/save/display art and more!

There are two times each year that always encourage me to re-evaluate my routine. The first is at the beginning of a new year and the second is the beginning of a new school year. The back-to-school season (or any change in seasons, for that matter) is a great time to re-evaluate our daily and weekly routines to make sure they’re serving us. Most of our children are back in school (and likely have been for several weeks), so now is the perfect time to reassess what is working and what isn't. Joining me for the conversation today is the queen of routines, Ashley Brown (of Routine & Things). She and I talk through tips that have benefited our personal schedules and other strategies that might be of benefit to you!

As minimalists, our lifestyles are characterized by the pursuit of simplicity and freedom from possessions and consumerism. That said, sometimes we find ourselves weighed down and dealing with tasks or responsibilities that we can’t manage. Sadly, there are only twenty-four hours in the day, so the question becomes: how can we pursue freedom without feeling buried along the way? The answer may be outsourcing! But how exactly do we outsource as minimalists and what about costs (or the fact that I tend to be a bit of a control freak!) Answering these questions (and more) is entrepreneur, Rachel Luther.

Join me today with author, Christy Wright as we discuss time management, priorities, and balance in motherhood. As a busy mom with three young kids and a career, Christy knows how chaotic life can be - how balance feels like something that can never be achieved, no matter how hard you try. In her latest book, Take Back Your Time: The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance, Christy argues that balance doesn't come from getting more done. It’s about doing the right things at the right time. 

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.