After Hours With Amanda

Latest Episodes:

Your Child Is Not Manipulating You | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 12 Jan 22, 2021

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about responding instead of reacting when our kids have big feelings. We get into bedtime, Target tears, iPads, communication, boundaries, and why I’m trying to see crying less as manipulation and more as a tiny human asking for help.

I’m not sharing this as someone who has it all figured out. I’m learning in real time, apologizing when I need to, and trying to give my kids tools for their toolkit instead of shame for their emotions.

00:00 We Made It To Friday

00:41 McDonald’s Coke And Catching Up

02:36 Daddy’s Bed And Bedtime Chaos

03:53 Letting My Kid Be The Parent

06:24 When Kids Cry From Disappointment

09:30 The Target Toy Story

13:10 Reacting Versus Responding

16:10 Why First Responders Don’t Just React

18:07 Big Feelings Need Tools

21:12 Parenting Is A Human Relationship

23:23 When I Needed A Walk

24:32 Why We Hold Kids To Adult Standards

29:10 What If A Boundary Gets Broken?

31:30 The iPad Trust Conversation

38:57 Marriage, Miscommunication, And The Folder

43:33 Healing Your Inner Child By Responding Better

48:01 Responding Instead Of Reacting

The One Where We Realize Our Tiny Humans Are Individuals | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 11 Jan 13, 2021

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about parenting, projection, and the moments when our kids remind us that they are not tiny versions of us. They are tiny humans with their own thoughts, feelings, choices, and stories.

I share what I’m learning about pausing before I jump in with advice, asking better questions, and creating a safe place where my kids can come to me without feeling like I’m making everything about what I would have done.

It is parenting, but not just for parents. It is communication, trust, mom guilt, personal growth, and doing our best in real time.

00:00 Welcome Back, Rabbit Trails Included

01:31 Feeling Blue And Wanting My Kids Close

03:19 Kids Are Always Listening

04:35 Venting, Gratitude, And Mom Guilt

06:32 Finding Safe Spaces With Mom Friends

08:41 Why Are We Surprised Kids Do It Differently

09:55 When I Made Her Story About Me

11:34 Asking What They Actually Need

13:17 The Duck Duck Goose Story

15:34 Protecting Or Projecting Our Fear

18:43 Sugar, Dessert, And Clarifying Expectations

21:41 Faith, Devotionals, And Personal Standards

25:23 Letting Kids Choose Their Own Path

27:04 The Exhaustion Of Wearing A Mask

31:03 Building A Safe Place To Come Back To

I Don't Want My Daughter to Grow Up Resilient | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 10 Jan 06, 2021

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about resilience, distance learning, emotional regulation, and the pressure to bounce back before we have actually processed what happened.

After a chaotic day with school pickups, Wi Fi issues, meetings, and one very frazzled mom moment, I started thinking about how often we praise kids and adults for being “resilient” when maybe what we really need is space to feel, name, and move through what is hard.

This one is about metacognition, grief, parenting tiny humans, and why healing does not need a timer.

00:00 Welcome Back After a Hot Minute

01:08 Holiday Chaos and Taking Time

02:13 The Word Resilience

03:53 Distance Learning and School Whiplash

05:09 The Wi Fi Spiral

07:27 Why Resilience Set Me Off

08:32 When Resilience Becomes Toxic

10:18 What Are We Really Praising?

11:33 I Want My Kids to Be Strategic

13:09 Let Yourself Feel It First

15:01 Grief and Bouncing Back

18:02 School Looks Different Right Now

19:06 Asking Why Behind the Behavior

23:11 Metacognition and Parenting

26:08 Why Resilience Can Become Stuffing

30:49 Mental Health Needs More Space

33:31 Praise the Process, Not the Snapback

36:32 Ask Questions and Check In

Others Opinions Don't Own Your Identity | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 9 Nov 26, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about other people’s opinions, identity, worry, and the way we can spend so much energy imagining what people think about us.

From lunchroom anxiety to college campus fear, mom group insecurity, social media comments, laundry piles named Eduardo and Celine, and finally buying the Doc Martens, this one is about learning to stop handing your identity over to people who do not get to own it.

Not a rulebook. Just a long voicemail between friends about resting, reflecting, responding, and remembering that worry is a bully that does not pay you back.

00:00 Laundry, Crinkles, and Closet Joy

03:10 Going Deep in the DMs

04:17 Other People’s Opinions

05:31 Lunchroom Anxiety

06:37 College Campus Fear

08:47 Mom Group Insecurity

10:05 Be the Invitation

11:05 What Opinions Really Are

12:21 Social Media Comments and Identity

13:25 Your Identity Belongs to You

16:15 The Laundry Pile Analogy

18:25 Worry Is a Bully

20:41 Stop Searching for Identity in People

22:21 Work on Your Opinion of Yourself

24:12 Kids, Disagreement, and Difference

26:29 Take Back the Power

32:07 Rest, Reflect, Then Respond

35:29 Wise Words Versus Cheap Opinions

37:03 Buy the Doc Martens

It Doesn't Have to Be One Or The Other | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 8 Nov 19, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about motherhood, identity, and the middle ground between “I am barely surviving” and “everything is Pinterest perfect.”

This one came from hearing people say mom content online makes motherhood look terrifying, like becoming a mom means losing yourself completely. So I’m getting into feeling unequipped, having two emotions at once, the refillable cup, mom guilt, kids seeing us as people, and why being a mom is not your whole identity. It is a title.

Not a rulebook. Just a long voicemail between friends, learning out loud and doing our best.

00:00 Thursday Chaos and a Self Check In

01:00 Two Emotions Can Exist at Once

02:25 Welcome to After Hours With Amanda

04:04 Peach Tea, Puppy Exhaustion, and Sleep

06:45 What Mom Content Makes People Feel

08:08 The Teaching Class Story Setup

09:27 The Two Extremes of Mom Culture

11:11 What Are We Feeding Our Minds?

12:06 Your Parents Don’t Decide Your Future

13:40 Daniel Tiger in the Taco Bell Parking Lot

14:45 You Don’t Have to Be a Perfect Parent

16:31 You Don’t Have to Like Every Kid

18:55 The Classroom Moment That Shook Me

24:47 Boxing In the Identity of a Mom

26:33 Your Kids Are Getting to Know You Too

29:11 Motherhood Has an Ebb and Flow

33:37 Being a Mom Is a Title

38:22 You Get to Choose Your Identity

40:16 What Kids Remember Is the Love

When You Have No Idea What You're Doing, You're Right | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 7 Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about feeling underqualified as a parent and why “I don’t know what I’m doing” does not have to mean failure.

I’m sharing the story of leaving the hospital with London, realizing no magical parenting knowledge had arrived, and wondering why it was harder to adopt a cat than leave with a baby.

This one is about parenting without ego, learning alongside our tiny humans, apologizing when we need to, and becoming a safe place for our kids instead of pretending we have all the answers.

00:00 Closet Chaos and Tech Issues

01:43 What This Episode Is Really About

02:16 Pregnancy in Sacramento Summer

04:03 First Baby Expectations

05:20 Leaving the Hospital With London

06:44 Wait, They Just Let Us Leave?

07:44 The Cat Adoption Comparison

09:03 You Are Not Qualified, and That’s Okay

10:59 Pots and Pans Do Not Make You a Chef

12:22 Giving Parents and Kids Grace

13:41 Learning With Your Tiny Human

15:31 No Room for Ego in Parenting

16:47 Seesaw, Not Hierarchy

19:01 When I Felt Out of Control

23:07 Your Child, Your Journey

28:24 Parent, Friend, or Tour Guide?

32:13 Apologies Matter More Than Ego

37:22 Teaching Kids They Can Tell the Truth

40:47 Embrace Not Knowing

The Invisible Ghosts that Haunt Us | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 6 Oct 28, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about parenting, school pressure, milestones, and the quiet spiral that can happen when your child needs extra support.

This one started with an email from Page’s school, and it made me think about expectations, identity, emotional growth, and how easy it is to make our kids’ progress feel like a reflection of us.

I’m sharing stories about Hooked on Phonics, potty training, academic pressure, raising tiny humans as individuals, and why I want to teach my girls not to just “get over it,” but to get into it and walk through it.

00:00 Welcome Back and X Games Mode

01:38 Staying on Topic, Somehow

03:57 Oreo Thins Are Superior

05:27 The School Email Spiral

07:26 Hooked on Phonics and Nilla Wafers

09:39 Expectations Start Early

10:39 My Own School Pressure

13:51 The Academic Pressure Nobody Warned Me About

14:59 Page’s School Meeting Email

15:55 Kids Are Individuals

16:18 When Did We Start Measuring Kids Like This?

17:25 Pacifiers, Milestones, and Parent Anxiety

22:27 Emotional Milestones Matter Too

23:17 Potty Training, Pee, and Perspective

27:00 The Pressure Behind Every Milestone

30:06 Their Stress Is Real Too

33:02 Expectations Are Not Identity

35:10 Don’t Get Over It, Get Into It

36:08 No Room for Ego in Parenting

38:42 Raising Daughters Without My Mom

40:18 Happiness, Joy, and Knowing Who You Are

42:31 Tools for Their Toolbox

Misconceptions & Motherhood: Identity is the Name of the Game | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 5 Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about motherhood, identity, and the misconception that being a good mom means losing yourself.

I’m sharing a very Amanda story about dating Blake, E. coli, stool samples, and the first time he told me he loved me, and somehow, yes, it connects back to motherhood.

This one is about the slow ways we hand over pieces of ourselves, the mom guilt that makes self care feel selfish, and why being yourself is part of being a good mom.

Not a rulebook, just a long voicemail between friends who are doing our best.

00:00 Welcome Back and the New Tagline

00:41 Taco Bell Crunchwrap News

03:23 The Misconception of Motherhood

05:15 The Story Before Blake Said I Love You

07:02 E. Coli, LAX, and Bathroom Routes

10:18 The Stool Sample Situation

13:50 When Blake Said I Love You

14:46 What Love Makes Us Willing to Do

16:28 Why Moms Feel Lost

18:13 When Motherhood Starts Taking Over

19:08 The Slow Handing Over of Identity

20:26 People Have So Many Facets

21:28 You Are Not Just Mom

22:19 Talking to Kids Like People

25:19 Creating Space for Amanda Too

27:06 Taking Down the Motherhood Misconception

29:32 Motherhood Is Not the Only Thing I Am

33:19 The Buffet of Who You Are

35:00 Being a Good Mom and Being Yourself

Mom Shaming - We're all Just Crabs in a Bucket | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 4 Oct 14, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about mom shaming, judgment, and why insecurity can make us act like crabs in a bucket.

I’m sharing the Target parking lot diaper story, the birth plan comment I never forgot, and the way motherhood can bring out comparison around epidurals, breastfeeding, formula, screen time, sugar, tantrums, and all the tiny choices people suddenly have opinions about.

This is me learning out loud about empathy, insecurity, and choosing not to tear down another mom who is also doing her best.

00:00 Happy Wednesday and Leopard Energy

01:23 The Topic: Mom Shaming

03:33 Not a Rulebook, Just My Journey

04:14 What Mom Shaming Really Is

05:02 The Target Parking Lot Diaper Story

06:32 Mom Shaming and Insecurity

07:02 Crabs in a Bucket

08:56 Women Empowerment and Tearing Down

10:20 Mom Humor and Fear Around Motherhood

11:21 The Hot Button Parenting Topics

13:16 The Birth Plan Comment I Never Forgot

18:02 Breastfeeding, Formula, and Guilt

20:29 Why Moms Need to Do Better

23:07 Shaming People Who Do Not Want Kids

25:34 How Judgment Divides Us

29:22 Seeing the Person, Not Just the Mom

32:23 Raising Daughters With Empathy

34:34 Lead With Empathy, Not Insecurity

The Voice Inside Your Head: The Greyhound & The Bully | After Hours With Amanda Season 1 - Ep. 3 Oct 07, 2020

Show notes

Grab your coffee, your Coke, your kombucha, or in my case today, maybe a butter croissant, because y’all, we need to talk about the inner voice we give our kids.

In this episode of After Hours With Amanda, I’m talking about parenting, self talk, emotional regulation, and the way our tiny humans start building their inner dialogue way earlier than we sometimes realize.

This one started with a moment I still think about. I was on the phone with a friend, talking about being tired after Corey was born, and London heard it in a way I never intended. She thought I was tired because of her. And that moment made me stop and think about what our kids hear, what they absorb, and what starts becoming the voice in their own little minds.

I’m sharing stories about bento boxes, school lunch panic, spicy kids, labels like strong willed, the fake bunny we keep chasing, and why “I can’t” is something I try to help my girls reframe into “I need help.”

This is not a rulebook. It’s just me learning out loud about motherhood, self talk, parenting tiny people, and teaching our kids not to become their own biggest bully.

If no one has told you lately, you are loved, you are worthy, you are needed, and you do not have to tear yourself down to grow.

Send this to someone who needs a kinder voice in their head today.

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