In this episode, Jess and Layne face one burning question: how can you truly love your life RIIGHT NOW? We discuss the trap of waiting for our circumstances to change before we can live a life we love and our tendency to overlook our wins, constantly moving the goalposts, missing the opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments. From recognizing the dreams you've already achieved (like becoming a mom!) to finding joy in the daily grind of motherhood, this conversation is all about the power...

In this episode, we dive into the importance of being direct and clear when communicating with your toddler. Say goodbye to the endless search for the "right" parenting language or trying to follow every expert's advice. We discuss why using straightforward language and saying what you mean can strengthen your connection with your child, build trust, and reduce frustration for both of you. Discover how prioritizing clarity over trendy parenting lingo can make your interactions more authentic...

This week's listener question: “As a child I definitely didn’t have some of my emotional needs met, and was shamed for my distress about this. A lot of this centered about me wanting to be with my mum while she was unavailable (through choice not necessity). So now I try to be really available to my children. My oldest found it super hard to give me any kind of space, and my second is currently going through that too. And I don’t know how to own my own space and needs and desires while not...

Are you afraid of failing as a parent? Jess and Layne get real about their deep fears of public failure and share wisdom on why failing fast is a gift. We explore how being willing to fail is essential for building the lives we want, and why falling is a non-negotiable part of learning. Jess shares how feelings of failure during postpartum led her to create YouTube videos documenting her journey, and eventually this parenting community. We dive into celebrating failures alongside successes...

This week Layne and Jess discuss the trend of gentle parenting content on social media that might be missing the mark. Is it sometimes just permissive parenting in disguise? We explore why strong leadership and clear boundaries are crucial for raising happy and secure children. We get into why toddlers might secretly be RELIEVED when you tell them "no", and how setting limits with love actually shows your child how much you care. Listen for tips on how to be the firm AND gentle leader your...

This week's listener question: Random preschool question for you - what happens when kids poop at school? Do the teachers help wipe their booties? Or do they have to do it themselves? 😂 Sorry if this is TMI but my son is 3 and I want to send him to preschool next year but don't see him being able to handle that on his own yet. Email your questions to [email protected] Book a 1:1 coaching session with Layne: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠enquiryco.com/coaching⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Very Good Mothers...

In this authentic (and kind of messy conversation), Jess and Layne revisit our exploration of body image. We ask questions like, "What does it truly mean to be sexy?" and, "How can women cultivate genuine confidence?" Jess shares a profound realization from experiencing cancer: how precious it is to be alive in a body, irrespective of its shape or size. We challenge our own misconception that thinness equals health and happiness and talk about how to treat our bodies with radical kindness and...

This week's listener question: I am 32. I have an 8 month old daughter. I live with my long term partner who is her father. He has two children aged 12, boy, and 8, girl,  that live primarily with their mother, but we have them over every other weekend. Though my partner and I have made a multitude of opportunities to better co-parent, there has been no success. We don't agree with the bad habits that they acquire while with their mother and have set boundaries at our house as best we can...

We had the BEST time talking to Claire Edwards, mom of two known for being very funny on TikTok, about why the internet's negative portrayal of parenting isn't telling the whole story. Claire opens up about how scared she was to become mom because the internet made it look terrible (think: videos of moms having a breakdown in the Target parking lot). Claire shares why she's loving motherhood in spite of her negative expectations, ways parenthood has helped her grow as a person and why being...

This week's listener question is in response to our previous episode "Toddlers Can't Share | Why forced sharing leads to people pleasing": I have a 2.5yo and an almost 4yo, and they sometimes snatch toys etc but often the play nicely, so I'm not always watching - so what if they are fighting over a toy and I didn't see 'who had it first'? What do you do in that instance if you don't know who was playing with it first? My girls don't understand 'who had it first' as Leah (my 4yo) would think...

Is daycare bad for my child? This episode tackles common childcare concerns like developmental benefits and choosing the right program. We explore the effects of childcare at different ages, from infancy to preschool, and answer your burning questions: Does preschool impact school readiness? What's the difference between daycare and preschool? What questions to ask when choosing a program? How long is too long for a day of childcare? How to support your child after daycare? Discover...

This week's listener question is in response to our previous episode "Whole Brain Child | How to boost your child's brain development": Question 1. I have a 3 year old (will be 4 in May) who I would love to figure out better. I feel like I kinda failed him when it comes to the regulating emotion piece. I used to (and still often do) get very flustered at his big emotions. I wish I would have been better at staying calm and helping him get back to the upstairs brain but I feel like my...

Do you get praised for being "easy" or "going with the flow" but deep down, feel exhausted? Us, too. In this episode, we explore the hidden costs of people pleasing. We discuss how this behavior is rooted in childhood experiences and the belief that our needs are a burden. We unpack the connection between people pleasing and codependency, and how we often absorb discomfort to keep others happy. We delve into the fear of being selfish and the challenge of advocating for ourselves. Finally, we...

This week the girls chat about Layne's viral reel on why sharing is not developmentally appropriate for toddlers and how forcing them to share actually leads to people pleasing tendencies in adulthood. We discuss how conflict avoidance and the fear of being judged affect parenting choices. We lay out more age-appropriate ways to help toddlers negotiate shared space and materials, how to support healthy boundaries for children and how to help them regulate the difficult feelings of wanting...

This week's listener question: Trying to find the balance of how to encourage a timid toddler to try new things while not pushing too hard. Things as simple as going down a bigger slide at the playground, trying a new food, or jumping off the side of the pool into dad's arms. How can we foster bravery in our (especially extra timid) toddler while not pushing too hard? Email your questions to [email protected] Book a 1:1 coaching session with Layne:...

This week Layne breaks down how a child's brain is wired, how it grows and how learning a little bit about it helps us raise calmer, happier kids. Different parts of a child's brain develop at different speeds and understanding these differences can reveal how to help your child through difficult feelings, how to respond to outbursts and how to support their growth into mentally well adults. Learning about brain development is the #1 tool that helped Layne crack the code on toddler behavior,...

This week's listener question: How to honor your child's own developmental rhythm and stop comparing to other children Email your questions to [email protected] Book a 1:1 coaching session with Layne: ⁠⁠enquiryco.com/coaching⁠⁠ Join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Very Good Mothers Club⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be a part of our community and join our live monthly calls (4th Tuesday of every month): ⁠https://verygoodmothersclubhouse.com/share/7ah7WID0giU77Bz0?utm_source=manual⁠⁠!

Quigley Goode joins for this JUICY 🍊 convo about reclaiming your identity and charting your own course without letting the world define you. She shares her journey from being on American Idol to leaving music and pursuing a career in social media and fashion. We dive deep into her motherhood journey from a pandemic pregnancy and absolutely CRAZY birth story to quarantining in the hospital with a Covid positive newborn to weening a breastfeeding toddler AND weening herself off SSRIs at the...

This week's listener question: My daughter seems to have anger as a default emotion lately (crying emoji). There's no build up to her screaming. It's like everything she feels is a huge, shrill scream and it causes such a visceral reaction in me. I feel like there's nothing that seems to get her to stop screeching with rage. Email your questions to [email protected] Book a 1:1 coaching session with Layne: ⁠enquiryco.com/coaching⁠ Join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Very Good Mothers Club⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be a...

Welcome back! We are starting Season 5 with a juicy, sweet, vulnerable conversation between two friends (plus you). We get an update on the "C" word about Jess' upcoming surgery (if you missed her cervical cancer announcement, check it out on Youtube). Then Layne shares about the loss of her job which leads to a conversation about what it means to believe in yourself, how to stay the course when your life's direction feels unsteady, and how to trust yourself enough to move forward. There...

This week Jess and Layne reveal why we named the podcast Very Good Enough. Jess talks about founding Very Good Mothers Club on the belief that a very good mom is someone who loves their kid and tries. Layne walks us through the Donald Winnicott's concept of "the good enough mother" and why being a good enough parent is better for your kids than being a perfect one (there's a real reason and it's not just because perfect parenting is a MYTH - which it is). Join ⁠Very Good Mothers Club⁠ to be...

It’s easy to get stuck inside the experience of each day and let one string together with the next until they slip way from you. This is a conversation about coming up for air and looking around. Of course, you have to be “IN” your life and experience it in the present with your kids, your work, your passions. But you also have learn how to rise above the hustle, how to check in with yourself, how to get clear on your vision and set direction in order to live the life you want. Jess and Layne...

Play shapes every aspect of who your child is becoming and you might not even know what it really is. Do you want your child to have strong social/emotional skills, become a creative problem solver, be confident, have healthy relationships, develop cognitive skills for math and reading, grow strong motor skills and be empathetic? Not exaggerating – it ALL comes through play. This episode is Layne’s mini-manifesto about how you can enter into your child’s world and really see who they are,...

Dr. Sam Rader returns to teach us why anger is an essential part of love, how to recognize and express when our boundaries are violated and how to use our anger as fuel to get our lives where we want to them to go. She shows us how to keep our natural, healthy anger from becoming toxic and how to encourage our children to grow a healthy relationship with their own emotions. Sam gifts us with a guided mediation and journaling prompts to help us get back in touch with our instinctive nature and...