Okay, if your littles are around and you’re not quite ready to talk about the baby dance, this might be an episode to put in the earbuds or listen when they’re not around. While the topic is healthy and clean, this is your warning.
Cindy Scharkey is a health care professional leading educational conversations about sexual health. She is passionate about breaking the silence surrounding women’s sexuality and empowering parents with knowledge and confidence to be their child’s sexual health educator. She is married to the love of her life, and they have three adult daughters.
Cindy offers sex education and resources through her newsletter, blog and the Permission for Pleasure podcast. Through her workshops and private consultations, she is on a mission to provide the comprehensive sex education that every woman needs.
Cindy gives us a survival guide for how to talk to our kids about this subject that can feel scary, overwhelming, and awkward. It’s more than just about the Birds and the Bees which, Cindy feels strongly we should abolish that term. She helps us to be prepared for the inevitable questions that will come, how to feel emboldened not to shy away from them, and the HUGE favor we can do for our daughters by talking openly about sex and pleasure.
Archives for March 2021
Episode 123: Raising Your Kids to Have Faith, with Bethany Adkins
Bethany Adkins is a former Pediatric Nurse turned stay-at-home mom who has been so passionate about reading and writing that she finally decided to pursue it full time. She encourages her audience at www.theadkinshighlightREAL.com, is the host of The Millennial Mission Podcast, she’s writing her first book, and working on releasing her first online course. The core of her message is one simple thing: you have a purpose.
Alongside her husband, Corey, they desire to help people step into their God-given purpose. They aim to break the stigmas of millennials and challenge them to rise up as an example for future generations.
Bethany and I tackle the subject of faith and how to teach our kids about it. Regardless of who or what you believe in, faith plays a role in so much of our lives. I believe that we all have faith in something, and we all have personal values that we want to pass on to our kids.
Coming from a very legalistic – like, a lot of rules – Christian background, I don’t want my kids to live under fear or to believe things just because that’s what I believe. It’s tough and challenging, but I really just want them to feel inspired to believe in something bigger and more powerful than themselves.
No matter your religious background, I think we all have similar goals as parents. But how do we even start the conversation of faith with our kids? How do we teach them or be an example to them? Bethany and I have some thoughts.
Be sure to check out Bethany’s “My Why” journal at bethanyadkins.com/mywhyjournal
Connect with Bethany
WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
MILLENNIAL ON A MISSION
Confession Session: I have to do THIS before vacation
Nobody wants to hang out with me right before I leave for vacation because I do this…
Episode 121: Getting Real About Anxiety, with Lauren Ellman
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Lauren Ellman is a published author + podcast host. In her podcast, on her blog, and in her upcoming book, she explores the intersection of mental health and social media use. She’s decided to take a trial and error approach to self-help and shares her insights through her writing. She is a mom, stepmom, fur mom, and wife.
Today we dig into normalizing mental health, how we can help each other, but mostly how we can help OURSELVES. How do we care for ourselves in times of anxiety and depression? How do we talk about it and advocate for ourselves? It’s truly a meaningful, rich conversation.
If you or someone you love is struggling or has struggled with anxiety and depression, please listen and share. We could all use Lauren’s words of encouragement.
Connect with Lauren
Website
Podcast
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Confession Session: My Most Embarrassing Moment in our Business (so far)
Episode 119: MORE than a Mom, with Ashley Carbonatto
Ashley Carbonatto is a domestically underachieving mom-of-three who juggles all the things. She’s a gatherer of people, a welcomer to the outsider, a storyteller to the tired, and an entertainer to the downcast. After leaving a successful career, she re-discovered her voice and renewed purpose in motherhood, but in her own unconventional way. You need homemade frosting? She’s not the one you call. But you need a good story, honest reflection, and a sister in the trenches? Ashley’s your woman. She lives in Washington with her husband & three minions, and always has a bottle of wine to pop open for anyone who stops by.
She’s written a book called More than a mom, and if you know me at ALL, you know I’m passionate about that statement.
It’s so easy to feel like we have to fit into a certain mold when we become moms, and Ashley is here to bust all those myths. From the advice she wishes she had as a new mom, to how we can leave a legacy for our kids, this conversation just felt effortless and like it was two friends catching up on the meaning of life.
Connect with Ashley
WEBSITE
ASHLEY’S BOOK
Confession Session: Teaching My Kids Life Skills?
They’re 15 and 16 now, you guys. I’m running out of time…
Episode 117: A Teen Pregnancy and Open Adoption Story, with Marlys Monet
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Today I talk with Marlys Monet, a single mom of 3 (and sometimes 4). Marlys found out she was pregnant with her first child at age fifteen. After trying to deny what was happening and life as she knew it unraveling, her story is one that ends in so much hope and love. When I first read Marlys’ story, I was so inspired by its uniqueness, and I knew I just had to talk with her.
We talk about her open adoption story from start to finish, how she overcame fear and shame in the process, and her unconventional but incredibly joyful motherhood journey.
An important takeaway from this interview for me, is how under served our teen moms are. Speaking from her own experience and how she supports teen moms today, Marlys answers the question of how we can best love and serve our teens who find themselves in a circumstance similar to the one she faced as a young girl.
I hope this interview makes you smile, and that you can just feel the light that Marlys brings to those she comes across.