Break free from your creative rut and reignite your artistic flow with 'Unsticking It!' With each episode, we delve into the world of overcoming creative blocks, offering practical strategies, skilled insights, and inspiring stories to help you reclaim your creative soul-spark and find your way back to YOU! Blaire and Molly are two busy moms/ actors (Mactors? Momtors? Exhausted?) who somewhere between potty training and the pandemic seemed to have lost their creative kaboom. They’re now...

Do you look in your bank account and wonder where all your money has gone? We asked our listeners for the small ways they save and and budget every month to make money less of a mystery. Molly and Blaire discuss: Blaire's amazing Poshmark selling skills Why it's important to pay yourself first Sinking funds Investing a little bit of time in some of these solutions reaps big rewards budget-wise, so seriously, start eensy teensy tiny. Look in your fridge to see what you need to use up...

What does it mean to have "happy motherhood?" And is it even a realistic goal to have, given the ups and downs of being a parent? We asked our listeners about their tips to help new parents have a "happier" first year. Molly and Blaire discuss: The perils of Mom Instagram Ways to make extra room for joy in your early motherhood How to sit in discomfort Managing your expectations was a key theme in the answers we got - so many moms want everything to be perfect, so they are inevitably...

How do we get our kids away from screens without breaking the bank or planning elaborate outings? Erica Domesek's new book "P.S. - We Made This!" has plenty of ideas for kids' crafts that require zero shopping, zero traveling, and zero (okay, minimal) stress. Erica Domesek is a social media maven, and an extremely cool + crafty parent! She is the founder of the innovative DIY lifestyle brand P.S.–I Made This, which launched in 2009. She has been a distinguished expert in the areas of design...

We're all muddling through right now, and while we are definitely Team Lowered Standards at this time, there's only so many viewings of Encanto a parent can withstand. Here are some easy, fun ways to change things up around the house and keep things fun. From cleanup races to "spooky baths," our listeners have some great ideas, and in this episode we discuss them all! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So is it cool to drop off your kid at his friend's house for a playdate and then go home for an hour and take a nap? No? That's bad playdate etiquette? Ok, just checking. Here are some playdate do's and don'ts for when your little one finds a friend. In this episode, Molly and Blaire discuss: How playdates help your child develop How to find possible playmates in suburban versus urban areas Good practices for both hosting and visiting someone else's house for a playdate Here are links to...

Self-care can sound like another chore. Seriously, who has time for a bubble bath? And is that really the best use of 20 free minutes, assuming we had them?  But as Haley Jena points out in this article for What To Expect, self-care isn’t selfish. It's what we need in order to keep going as parents. It's not optional. In this episode, we discuss what definitely doesn’t work for us, what kind of does, and what we’re going to start (like reading actual books and not just our phones).  Here are...

Help a new podcast out! Hit "Follow" or "Subscribe" wherever you listen to Toddler Purgatory! Why are little kids obsessed with the most random things? If your little one has ever insisted on sleeping with a hairbrush, or going to preschool every morning with the same tiny school bus clenched in her fist, you know exactly what we're talking about. Turns out, kids' brains at this age are wired for what psychologists call "extremely intense interests." These obsessions offer dependability;...

It's easy to blame and shame ourselves when we make parenting mistakes, no matter how big or how small, especially as moms. Here's how to break the blame/shame/guilt cycle for yourself and how to model self-forgiveness for your kids. Molly and Blaire discuss: Santa's naughty kid hotline How to sincerely apologize What our childhood patterns around mistake-making can teach us How you treat yourself after your own mistakes becomes how your kid treats himself when he makes mistakes. And...

In this episode, Blaire and Molly pal around with their comedian friends Kate Zelensky and Cody Lindquist. They exchange knock-knock jokes, lament about times they bombed with their kids, and discuss a certain compelling performance of "Memory." Kate Zelensky started a career in comedy in 2006 at The Upright Citizens Brigade having finally figured out that she wasn’t so good at musical theatre (though Molly disagrees, as we discuss in the episode!). Kate taught, performed, wrote and directed...

Sharing is caring, right? We were all raised to believe that sharing is an important part of polite social interactions. But as adults, we would be taken aback if abruptly asked to share something we were using, like our phone. So why do we insist that our kids share toys with complete strangers at a moment's notice? Here's when– and why– it's ok NOT to share. Molly and Blaire discuss: The difference between making kids share and encouraging them to share What forced sharing teaches...

We asked the #todpurgs listeners: what are the things your parents said that you SWORE you'd never say to your own kids– and yet still do? You all brought the answers... and here are some of our faves. #parentingonrepeat #YouGotMcDonaldsMoney Here is the link to the article Molly and Blaire reference in the episode: Charlotte Hilton Andersen for Redbook Magazine: "21 Things Parents Used to Say That Would Shock Millennial Parents" Special thanks to our sponsors: Masimo Stork provides...

Any one who has had a toddler knows the terror that surfaces whenever a lovey (let's say Mr. Bunny) goes missing. About 60% of babies adopt some sort of transitional object at around 9 months old. This is when little ones start to separate from parents (and, in fact, when they begin to understand that their parent is a separate person). Once a kid bonds with "Mr. Bunny", you may worry they'll be taking him to college. But there are ways to gently wean your child off comfort items in time. In...

We asked our listeners what they would pay good money for if it made their lives just a touch easier. The answers....will probably not surprise you. In this episode, Molly and Blaire plot to patent: Self-buckling seatbelts Eyeball cameras Toddler volume buttons Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their excellent ideas for these inventions! Special thanks to our sponsors: Masimo Stork provides continuous & accurate tracking of your baby's health data. Go to MasimoStork.com for more...

If you're enjoying listening to Toddler Purgatory, we'd love for you to take our listener survey. One page, two minutes. We promise! http://bit.ly/ToddlerPurgatorySurvey “Making memories” with our kids is always a fraught proposition, but when they’re checking for the elf every morning and whipped into a general holiday frenzy, the tears and tantrums are often pretty close to the surface.  Child specialist Merete Kropp says we can reset the “gimme gimmes” by teaching our kids that giving and...

Why is it that kids are so darn honest? Turns out the "filter" that the rest of us try to apply to our everyday interactions just doesn't exist in our young ones. Their little brains aren't capable of fabricating lies like older kids and adults. And, as we all know, the constant honesty of little kids is a double-edged sword. Listeners wrote in with some of the most ruthless truths their toddlers have voiced, and man oh man, kids really can be frank! In this episode, Molly and Blaire...

Mom tribes and parent posses: do we need friends who are also fellow parents? If we don’t have a group of those, how do we set about finding or creating one?  70% of moms agree that their “inner mom circle” is their primary means of daily support. Some of us find that soft place to fall really quickly, and some of us struggle, for reasons that are in and/or out of our control.  In this episode we discuss how to create our own mom tribe– or parent posse– and what expanding our friend circle...

Are we creating unrealistic expectations when we praise our kid just for waking up in the morning? Turns out there is too much of a good thing, but we can also reframe how, when, and why we praise our kids. Molly and Blaire discuss: Praising process over achievements The three s's of praise Praise inflation Kids can sense when praise isn't genuine. Instead of congratulating them on their every action and creating an unrealistic standard for praise in the future, focus on encouragement...

How do we protect our kids from negative images about bodies, diet culture, and food without locking them in a Rapunzel tower? The truth is, we can't. But we CAN start nonjudgmental conversations about body positivity, food, and and self-esteem with our kids at home. In this episode, Molly and Blaire discuss: how to pay attention to your thoughts and beliefs around food and body image how to praise your child for things other than their appearance the R.E.A.L. acronym Links to the...

Why are kids so weird about washing hands and brushing teeth and taking baths? How often do kids really need to bathe, anyway? Is hygiene a battle worth fighting? Yes. Sometimes. In this episode we discuss the expert advice on how often kids need to get clean, plus our own tips for making it fun or interesting enough that our kids will go along with it. Here are links to some writing on the topic that we discuss in this episode: Susan Stiffelman for HuffPost: My 5-Year-Old Won’t Wash His...

When we hear our kids say something negative about themselves, sometimes we freak out a little. Where did they hear this? Where is this coming from? Who is messing with my baby? ! Most often, if a kid calls herself “stupid” because she’s frustrated with homework, she might just be venting. Or joking. She might be showing us that she has a little rigidity around perfection.  But when negative self-talk is insistent, consistent, and persistent, it can also be a sign of stress or anxiety.  In...

If only it were as simple as singing "Kumbaya" with our kids in a calming circle and sprinkling them with kindness dust to make them sweet, polite angels. You may never receive handmade flower crowns from your toddler, but there are ways to introduce kind thoughts, feelings, and actions into your home. Molly and Blaire discuss: Why you can't "teach" kindness How kindness begins with our own self-reflection Strategies for bringing more kindness into your home Here are links to some of the...

Sometimes little kids lack the ability to express their frustration, fear, and anger in words. That’s usually when they decide to whack the other 3-year-old with the toy dump truck, instead of pleasantly sharing.  Experts say aggression often gets a little better once kids can express themselves verbally– although not always, if what goes on in our houses is any indication.  In this episode we discuss how to handle our kids becoming aggressive when we’re there to witness it, when we’re *not*...

Wine and cheese at the playground? Naps outside? Recess every hour? There are a lot of intriguing child-rearing strategies from all over the world, some that to us Am-urr-icans seem like common sense, and some that seem a little more out-of-the-box... Molly and Blaire discuss: Blaire's travels to England Outside naps in Nordic countries Déjeuner à la France Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: Marco Chown Oved for the Toronto Star: "Mothers love differently...

Do you feel overwhelmed when you're parenting solo, even if it's just for a few days? You're not alone. Solo parenting (not to be confused with single parenting) is tough, but there are small ways you can make a big impact on the experience, bringing down your blood pressure and your DEFCON level at the same time. Blaire and Molly discuss: The difference between a solo parent and a single parent Ways to prep for solo parenting ahead of time Conversations to have with your partner to make...