The Family Lab: Experiments in Parenting and Home Management

Latest Episodes:

58 How Lubna Jamal Teaches Her Kids About Their Heritage Apr 13, 2021

Show notes

Lubna Jamal immigrated to the United States from Pakistan about 20 years ago to marry her husband, a recent immigrant himself. Last week, I invited her into my fancy podcasting studio/aka my bedroom closet to talk to her about how she teaches her two sons about their cultural heritage and family history.

57 How She Transitions to Motherhood: Work Apr 06, 2021

Show notes

To work or to stay home with your baby. That is the question. Or that used to be the question. Or maybe we just thought it was the question. The truth is, we have more than two options when it comes to motherhood and work—more options than mothers have ever had, thanks in part to pioneering feminists who came before us, advances in technology, and changes in the way we do business. Not to mention the fact that our life spans are getting longer and longer, so we have more time to reimagine our careers in different stages of life. Today, we'll focus on this pivotal time for making career decisions, right after you have your first baby.

56 How Ashley Freehan Works from Home Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

Ashley Freehan mastered the work-from-home mom routine well before the pandemic. She not only knows how to take care of business and her two kids; she's good at taking care of herself too. Ashley shares her great ideas from how to entertain kids while you're working, to helping them understand your work, to figuring out a viable daily schedule, to convincing your kids to wear underwear.

55 How Whitney Experiments: Winter/Spring 2021 Mar 23, 2021

Show notes

It's that time again—about three times a year, I do a whole episode updating you on the experiments we're trying here in the Archibald home—from sleep to chores to allowance to travel.

54 How Delphine Brandt Merges French and American Culture Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

Delphine Brandt grew up in France, then married an American and moved to the U.S. shortly after they had their first child. She talks about adjusting to motherhood while adjusting to a new culture, and how they have merged the two cultures in their family--from food to discipline to wardrobe.

53 How She Transitions to Motherhood: Identity Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

One day you're the same you you've always been--the next day you're a mom. In this episode I talk to moms about how becoming a mom affected their sense of identity, from defining this new role to reevaluating goals and behaviors to rekindling past interests.

52 How Kathleen (Suddenly!) Transitioned to Motherhood Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

Kathleen Stout was visiting friends in Scotland when she found out she would become a foster mom. A couple weeks later, she was suddenly a single working mom raising a teenager and a three year old. And almost a year after that, she was able to adopt the kids and make them her permanent family. She shares her beautiful story about transitioning to motherhood.

51 How She Transitions to Motherhood: Surprise! Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

We can plan and prepare and imagine what this new world of motherhood will look like for us, but there's only one guarantee: the element of surprise. In this episode, fourteen different moms share about how their expectations of motherhood met reality.

50 How Emily Transitioned to Motherhood--As a Teenager Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Becoming a mother is hard. But at 14, Emily was still figuring out who she was, let alone how motherhood would factor into her identity.

49 How Maria Kemp Teaches Her Kids to Work--On a Ranch Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

Maria Kemp's kids start riding horses as soon as they can ride along in a front pack. For them, work is a way of life.