Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Latest Episodes:

Endless Energy (The Violet Story) Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

It's week two of our four-week series where we share what we've learned from each of our kids. This week, we're talking about a kid with so much energy that we don't need solar: our oldest daughter, Violet Maru Barnes. Her hilarious creativity comes with its own set of challenges. If any of this sounds familiar, we might have some tips for you!

Here's a preview of the tips for raising kids with tons of energy:

Don't punish them for their energy... help them direct it!
Help them find ways to shine without stifling them
Help them learn to share the spotlight (and even give it up sometimes!)
Create space for their expressions
Don't think their self-sufficiency means they don't need you
Let them rest!

We go into a lot more detail with examples for you. Plus, we've got Parenting Wins and Reviews from YOU (our amazing community) and a whole bunch more!

This is Episode Eleven of Parenting Is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes!

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at House of Rogue in Costa Mesa, CA.

SO Many Feelings! (The McCoy Story) Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

This week, we're starting a four-week series where we talk about what we've learned from each of our kids! First up, McCoy Kobayashi Barnes... the biggest-feeling kid we know. Which feelings does he feel? He feels ALL of them. Sound familiar to you? Tune in to check out our tips for dealing with those kids who feel ALL the feelings!

Here's a preview of the tips we've got for you today:

Don't punish them for their feelings!
Help them identify their feelings!
Help them process their feelings!
Help them make good choices for how they handle their feelings!
Help them understand the context for their feelings!

We go into a lot more detail with examples for you. Plus, we've got Parenting Wins and Reviews from YOU (our amazing community) AND we discuss the fact that Emily has obviously been paying people to rally for her to have another appearance on the podcast.

This is Episode Ten of Parenting Is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes!

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at House of Rogue in Costa Mesa, CA.

Infertility, IVF, and Surrogacy (Part Two) Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

For the second part of this series, we're joined by Doug and Jesse Brown. They're the co-founders of Uniquely Knitted; a non-profit dedicated to supporting those on the infertility journey. They're also friends of ours and hilarious people!

Doug and Jesse give us their insights into supporting those experiencing infertility and share their own journey. They also join us for Parenting Wins this week!

This is Episode Nine of Parenting Is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes!

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Newport Beach, CA.

Playdate Mini-Episode! (03/14/22) Mar 14, 2022

Show notes

This week, we've got our first Playdate Mini-Episode for ya! We're sharing your wins, answering some questions and introducing you to Emily!

This is Episode Eight of Parenting is Hard with Matt & Stacy Barnes.

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community at facebook.com/pages/parentingishardcommunity

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Santa Ana, CA.

Infertility, IVF, and Surrogacy (Part One) Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

Before you have kids, there's the issue of getting them. For some, super easy. (And fun!). For others, it can be a long and even painful journey. In this first of two episodes on the topic, we share:

- our journey dealing with infertility

- everything you want to know about IVF (and maybe some things you don't!)

- what led us to surrogacy (for the 2nd set of twins)

Plus, we've got our Parenting Wins and even more of yours!

This is Episode Seven of Parenting is Hard with Matt & Stacy Barnes.

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Santa Ana, CA.

Dealing with Sickness (aka "I'm Sick Of This!") Feb 28, 2022

Show notes

Being sick sucks. Having sick kids sucks too. Being sick while you have sick kids? That's when you find yourself asking why you got into this whole parenting thing to begin with. This week, we're talking about dealing with kid sickness. We've experienced quite a bit with sickness in the past four years and have figured out quite a few tips we're sharing with you this week. But, it's not just us and our tips, a number of our listeners contributed to these tips to deal with sickness! Tips such as:

Make a Chart (and Keep Your Charts!)
Keep Notes!
Steamy Showers and Long Baths
Humidifiers and Diffusers
Shut it Down!
No Shoes
Let Them Sleep!
Mask Up

Not only that, but we share a list of our favorite products that help make the whole sickness thing a little more bearable. And, as always, Parenting Wins!

This is Episode Six of Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes!

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community at facebook.com/pages/parentingishardcommunity

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

-------

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Santa Ana, CA.

Hanging On To Your Identity As A Couple (aka- Who Are We?!?!) Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

It's hard enough to be a parent let alone a parent in a relationship. Hanging onto your identity as a couple takes a lot of work! We've put together some tips from our experience as well as those from the Parenting is Hard online community.

Our six tips are:

Define Your Values
Schedule Stuff Out
Be on the Same Team
Have Each Other's Backs
Do Hard Things
Start Small... But Start Now!

All of these with a bunch of practical examples of living these tips out.

This is Episode Five of Parenting is Hard with Matt & Stacy Barnes.

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community at facebook.com/pages/parentingishardcommunity

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Santa Ana, CA.

Kids & Eating (or "Just Eat It!") Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

Before we were parents, we had no idea that food was going to be one of the biggest stressors in our parental lives. With four kids four and under, trying to get them to all eat the same thing, let alone eat healthy options, try new things, not be picky, and, you know... just finish their freaking dinners is more than a tall order. Add to that whatever relationship we have with food ourselves, and the anxiety about getting this right can be overwhelming and none of us should be figuring it out alone. This week, we're going to share our journey and tips with eating (and beg you for yours!).

Not only that, but we've got some great Parenting Wins involving bugs, tadpoles, butterflies, a lot of mud, and a musical recap of the day (seriously); Kid Quotes with listener submissions and whole bunch more!

This is Episode Four of Parenting is Hard with Matt & Stacy Barnes.

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community at facebook.com/pages/parentingishardcommunity

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard w/ Matt & Stacy Barnes

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes (who does not do the social media much)

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Santa Ana, CA.

Traveling with Kids (or "Don't Make Me Turn This Podcast Around!") Feb 07, 2022

Show notes

Remember vacations? Impromptu trips? Quick getaways? Yeah... those are gone now. At least, not the way they once were. Kids change everything and traveling with kids brings its own set of fun challenges! We'll be talking about those challenges and sharing some things we've learned as well as a horror story of the time we stupidly thought we'd take 9-month-old twins to Maui. (It did not go according to plan!)

On top of that, Matt Reviews Stuff is back this week with a look at the Netflix cartoon "Rainbow Rangers" (I bet you can't guess how he feels about it

This is Episode Three of Parenting is Hard!

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community at facebook.com/pages/parentingishardcommunity

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Santa Ana, CA.

Hanging On To Your Non-Parent Identity (or "Who Am I!?!?!?") Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

Parenting changes your entire life in pretty much every way from the second those kids are born. So, how do we hang on to who we are? Today we're talking about how we've tried to hang on to our identities after becoming parents.

Plus, we've got some fantastic Kids Quotes (and some great ones from Stacy and our friend Taylor), we share about our recent trip and we wonder how normal it is that our four-year-old son calls us by our first names. (It's kinda weird, right?)

This is Episode Two of Parenting Is Hard!

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE and leave reviews!

Join our Facebook community at facebook.com/pages/parentingishardcommunity

Share your Parenting Wins, Kid Quotes or other thoughts at parentingishard.com/contact

Parenting is Hard

Hosts: Matt Barnes (@immattbarnes) and Stacy Barnes

Family IG: @thosebarnestwins

Music by Jerad Atherton of CHPTRS

Produced and Engineered by Matt Barnes for Rogue Labs

Promotion, Design and Social Media by Rogue Creative Development

Recorded at Rogue Collective in Santa Ana, CA.