Regular Cool Mom

This week we (Lissi and Joy) talk about different ways we stay connected to our families who live far away.  Lissi’s family is scattered near and far, and she discusses their different traditions and methods of gathering together and staying in touch when they are apart.  Joy shares how they keep her kids feeling connected (and helping squash FOMO) when they are the only ones who live far away. Join us as we discuss different ways we keep the connections between our kids and their cousins, so that they grow up knowing each other even if they don’t live nearby. Share with us all your tips and ideas on how to keep the connection alive!  We love hearing all your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks for listening!

This week Lissi and Joy chat about how to integrate your family into a new neighborhood, aka being the new neighbor, as well as how to reach out when a new neighbor moves in to make them feel welcome. We talk about the perils of moving in the wintertime (where is everyone?) and when the best time to go welcome a new neighbor to the neighborhood is.  We also discuss ideas on what to bring along with you as you welcome them! Lissi lists some of her favorite things neighbors have done to welcome her to her neighborhood.  Joy admits to measures she’s gone through to meet the neighbors that are a little bit more difficult to catch outside. Have you had a really great neighbor experience that you can share?  What is your favorite way to welcome a new neighbor to the neighborhood? Also discussed- Black Friday deals.  We both have a long list of little things we’ve been waiting to try so as to get a killer discount, but how painful it was to buy it all at once.  Tell us some of the awesome things you got

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We are excited to chat today about everything from turkey and all the fixings to traditions, pie, and black Friday shopping.   Joy talks about waking up with a thawing turkey as though it was a newborn, worried about giving everyone food poisoning if the ice bath isn’t just perfect.  Lissi discusses traveling to her in-law’s and having all hands on deck during the food preparation.  We talk favorite traditional foods, our favorite pies and when to eat them, and so much more. Also, at the top of the podcast we recap our desire/fear/feelings of obligation about getting a puppy that our kids so desperately want.  Somebody save us from ourselves! Questions include: What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? What is your ‘go to’ Thanksgiving food contribution or favorite recipe? Do you travel or do you host on Thanksgiving? How do you keep all the food warm without chafing dishes? Also: If you have a dog, how long did it take until you felt like you had yo

Today on the podcast we (Lissi and Joy) are discussing one of our FAVORITE topics of all time, New York!  How we love our precious New York in the fall.  Historically we have been in New York this very week (the week before Thanksgiving) and this is one of the few years we’ve skipped…so we thought we would at least talk about all our favorite things to do, and more importantly, things to eat. Join us as we share all our ideas for what to do without your kids vs. with your kids, what sites are MUST SEE vs ‘meh’, and which restaurants knocked our socks off.  Also, Lissi talks about the best way to strategize and organize the perfect New York trip (hint: it involves a map).  We have so many thoughts about where to eat, where to shop, and what sites are worth a second visit. Some of the things we discuss are: Broadway shows, Central Park, live show tapings, street art, museums, the New York Public Library, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, 911 Memorial….just to name a few!

It’s November, the time of year when we typically start thinking about giving back.  We know that sometimes it’s hard to know what we can do to help our kids (especially young kids) get involved with service, so today on the podcast we are talking about ways we have found to get our kids involved in serving throughout our community. Our thoughts include: *baking for the community kitchen (or organizations that give out homemade treats during the holidays) *visiting elderly people in or out of retirement homes, with or without nail polish and puppies *Collecting donations for organizations in leu of gifts *Raising money for charities We would LOVE to hear your ideas for service opportunities for kids, we are always looking for ways to get them more involved and giving back! Join in our conversation on Instagram: @regularcoolmom or in our Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom. We love that you have been rating and reviewing the podcast, and we just want to say a big THANK YOU for sharing the podcast with

Happy Halloween!  This week we (Lissi and Joy) have a fun ‘trick or treat’ episode where we discuss all the products we’ve tried throughout the year (mostly due to genius instagram marketing) and whether they fall into the trick category or the treat category-aka did we love them or did we hate them?! Listen as we talk about different products like Thinx underwear, magnetic eyelashes, Tinkle razors, licorice toothpastes, Trader Joe’s favorites…just to name a few! Have you tried any of the things we discuss?  Did you like them or would you pass on them?  Has instagram ever sucked you into buying something you didn’t even know you wanted? Also, we want to hear ALL your personal scary stories.  Do you love being scared?  Does your significant other like to hide and scare you (or chase you up the stairs)?  Do you have any fun spooky stories to share? Come share your opinions and thoughts with us and join in the conversation on Instagram @regularcoolmom or in the Facebook Group.

This week on the podcast, Joy tells Lissi (and all of you) her best tips for having a successful family photoshoot.  Fall is a super popular time of year to have family pictures done, so listen in as she shares her best advice and experiences from being a family photographer for over ten years! We cover how to choose the right photographer and what to look for when you are researching potential photographer’s websites.  We also talk about location, what makes a good location, and what the most important factor is in a location (hint: it’s not a fountain!) and how to watch out for hidden fees when it comes to location scouting. Of course we also tackle the most asked question Joy ever gets as a photographer: What to wear to your session? There are tips for clients and also budding photographers in this discussion, so go ahead and listen in- there’s something for everyone! As usual, we would love to hear all your stories, experiences, and tips for family photography.  Do you have a favorite ph

This week on the podcast we (Joy and Lissi) will be covering all the logistics of Halloween! Depending on our kid’s ages and our neighborhood situation, trick or treating has looked different from year to year.  We have had times where we’ve enjoyed family costumes, trick or treating in a lively neighborhood full of kids…and we’ve had years where our kids have been off trick or treating with friends and we’ve migrated from our sleepy neighborhood to seek out more energy. We also talk about how early trick or treating is, and especially with a late school bus it can mean throwing on costumes, skipping a ‘spooky dinner’ and the debate of getting pictures or letting them run off with friends. Also covered: what we do with all. the. candy.  There are so many good ideas these days, like the Switch Witch or the Halloween Candy Fairy. Join us as we discuss all the ins an outs of Halloween, and give us your insights! Do you keep your kids with you or let them go with fri

Today we (Lissi and Joy) discuss family planning!  We cover how we arrived at the number of children we have, how we’ve decided that our families are complete, and measures we have taken, are taking, or plan to take to make sure that our families STAY complete. Join us as we share experiences in pregnancy, preventing pregnancy, and all the things we get to think about as women who are done bearing babies. Takeaway questions include: Are you done having kids, and if so, how did you know you were done? What types of prevention methods have you tried, and how did you feel about them? Do you have a vasectomy horror story?  If so, don’t tell us!!! Please share with us and all our other listeners as we muddle through this exciting phase of womanhood together! Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom and chime in. We have so many questions and hope that you have the answers! Thanks for listening!

Today we talk about all our strategies, complaints, and action plans for cold and flu season.  ‘Tis the season for children to start swapping all the nastiest germs to each other, and we are here to cover the miseries of each virus that ails us.  Join us as we share stories of our darkest hours of stomach viruses, the panic we felt when an entire class at our elementary school caught a devil-virus, and the sinking feelings we’ve had as we learn we are in the presence of a sick person…in public. Joy shares her own unfortunate experience of being in the unlucky population of people who suffer from a stomach virus every year, typically multiple times a year.  She has facts to share, myths to unravel, and tips to help kill the virus if it plagues your home (TIP- Lysol spray and Clorox wipes do not kill the stomach virus!) We totally recognize that some situations can be a tough call and that not all situations are cut and dry.  There are so many complications to having a sick child…Who sta

On today’s podcast we delve into the deep abyss of social graces, manners, and teaching them to our children.  When prepping to talk about this subject, we realized that the list is never ending, and that the task of teaching  all of them to our kids is going to be a long, constant journey!   If you have managed to instill all these manners in your children, we bow down to you. Also, we realize that the spectrum of behavior that comes naturally to children is enormous, and while some kids are constantly using perfect manners without being prompted, it in no way means that we aren’t doing an amazing job as a mom if our kids refuse or forget to use manners.  We are all doing our best…and did we mention that the list is sooooooo long!? We hope you will listen and laugh with us as we discuss times we’ve been really proud and times we’ve been really embarrassed by our kid’s manners, and how observing other children who are not using good manners (TOTALLY NORMAL) has us keeping a

This week we have an open conversation as we hash out a topic that has been on our mind for years: ‘High Horses’ (aka soap boxes).  Since the dawn of social media, we’ve been developing our thick skins for certain comments or judgements that crop up from time to time, but one thing we’ve noticed -and also been guilty of (especially Joy!)- is adopting a personal high horse.  We have been humbled by life and our children enough times to realize that as much as we’d like to think that our way is the only way, there are actually many factors that go into the parenting decisions we make, and that those decisions are ever-evolving. Having a conversation about being judgmental without sounding judgmental is a challenge, so we hope that you can feel safe chiming in and sharing with us your perceptions on having opinions vs. high horses, and how you navigate sharing family decisions without feeling policed by others. We would love to have you chime in and join us in discussing this topic.

Today on the podcast we are discussing all things babysitting.  Tune in as we dive deep into what we are experiencing by having girls who recently started to babysit, challenges we’ve faced while hiring sitters in the past, and of course some awesome (and creepy) stories from being babysitters in the 90’s! Let’s pause here and just point out that if you have an awesome or creepy babysitting story, you know we want to hear it IMMEDIATELY! Join us as we talk about rates, responsibilities, expectations, challenges, victories, and more….and as always, please chime and and add your two cents! What do you look for in a babysitter?  What is your favorite age of sitter to hire? How do you determine what you will pay your babysitter?  Do you factor in how clean the house is, etc? Have you enrolled your child in a babysitting class?  Is it easy to find sitters where you are? Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom and

This week we, Lissi and Joy, decided to discuss a topic that we have been struggling with lately- the thing we have a strong love/hate relationship with: extracurricular activities.  This includes musical, physical, and spiritual activities that we are trying unsuccessfully to squeeze into our evenings. We feel so fortunate to live in a place that offers almost any activity you can dream up- from log-rolling to wild nature survival camps, to amazing art and music programs, to ballet schools and arial silks…and let’s not forget all. the. sports.  However, now that 7/8 of our kids are in school, working these activities into our lives has begun to feel unmanageable.  The balls we’ve been juggling all these years are starting to get away from us, and we realize we are only at the beginning! Please join in the conversation because we would love to learn from you. How do you determine how many activities you allow your kids to do? Do you have a dependable 2nd driver?  Or are you driving all the k

Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad I’m not a fool… (Please say you know this quote!)  This week we (Lissi and Joy) catch up on different podcast topics we discussed over the summer- not to mention Joy has a juicy Marty MacNiell update! We also discuss the event that we all look forward to: THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!  Not only is school back in session, but this year we have middle schoolers who are navigating lockers, gym classes, and their desire to sleep over primping for school.  We talk about our elementary schools, their strict rules on no teacher requests, and how we totally rocked school supply shopping- thank you target.com! We realize we are on the very early end of school starting back up, so if you have yet to start or are just beginning to prepare, hopefully you can find some useful information-or just some lighthearted commiseration- in this episode.  Even though we are thoroughly enjoying our kid-free time, we are still mourning our late sleep-ins and lazy mornings. When d

This week we are are wrapping up our summer podcast series by doing something a little fun and different!  We are paying homage to our favorite true crime podcast  (My Favorite Murder) and telling you EVERYTHING about one of our favorite ‘top shelf’ true crime stories:  the murder of Michele Somers by Martin Macneill. Michele is loved and remembered as a truly amazing mother, friend, and neighbor.  Her husband, Marty, was a doctor, lawyer, and, you guessed it, con man who misrepresented himself at every turn.  Join us as we discuss the fascinating twists and turns of his life and lies, and how they came to a head with the devastating murder of his wife. If you have never listened to MFM, and you aren’t used to the story telling style of a true crime story, we just want to let you know that we never, ever mean any disrespect to the victim of the story.  All sarcasm, scoffing, and eye-rolling is directed right at the perpetrator.  Our hearts go out to all the victims in this case: Michele, the

Last week we (Lissi and Joy) talked about moving emotions.  This week we talk about ALL. OUR. FEELINGS. Guilt, sadness, denial, regret…we’ve felt them all during our moves.  During our discussion we are able to pinpoint the different emotions we’ve felt at different times in our lives when we’ve moved.   There has been a major difference in emotions when a move has been planned or foreseen (such as a short stent in graduate school) vs. a voluntary move to switch houses or jobs…not to mention moving with small children vs. school-aged children and how traumatizing it can be for everyone. Moving is hard and we are here to commiserate with you! Also covered: This is how you pronounce Lissi’s name:  Lee-see.  For all of you who haven’t been quite sure, now you know! Takeaway questions include: Tell us about your experiences!  Do you have any stories to share about moving and the emotions that go along with that? What tips do you have for someone who is having angst over m

Buckle up for an onslaught of information about packing and moving, packing and moving, wash, rinse, and repeat.  We (Lissi and Joy) have moved more times that we can count on two hands and are here to share all our insights on packing. and. moving.  All of our tips, tricks, things to do, and things not to do are coming pouring out of us as we discuss all the different types of moves and experiences we have had. We hope you will find all the information we cover valuable as it has come from several moves where we shed our blood, sweat, and tears (haha). Also we discuss how not to be a jerk when someone is coming to help you with your move.  (Horror stories disclosed). Takeaway questions include: First- TELL US YOUR STORIES!!!  Have you had any disaster moves or been asked to help with a disaster move? Do you have any tips for moving?  Are you a moving pro?  Share with us! Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool Mom and chime in. We have

Today we (Lissi and Joy) discuss different times in our lives when we have had to take the reigns and parent solo-style.  We’ve been through long periods of husbands in graduate programs and work travel that have left us feeling isolated but also resourceful as we’ve found ways to make it bearable and also easier on ourselves.  We give major respect to single moms and military moms who do the solo parenting thing all day every day! Lissi talks about reaching out to other moms to help each other during the long years of dental school, taking advantage of things like Click List, and most importantly: Treat Yo Self! Joy reveals the long periods of travel her husband had to do during some of the busiest baby years of their marriage, how she survived with the help of others, how important it is to say YES to things you want to do (pay the sitter!) and how to balance life when one person is continually coming and going. Takeaway questions include: What tips would you give other moms who are gearing up f

This week we (Lissi and Joy) discuss the huge undertaking of packing and traveling for a long summer trip.  Joy discusses all the tips and tricks she has collected over years of trekking across the country in a van full of people, suitcases, and gear.  We also discuss the challenges that come from packing for five weeks, entertaining kids in the car for 30 hours, and moving from place to place every five to seven days, all while maintaining her sanity. Also discussed: Pools (yes? no?), ticks (scourges of the earth), and summer camp. Takeaway questions include: Do you have any tips for taking a long car trip with your kids?  Any tips for packing up a family for a looooong trip away? Are you able to leave a clean house when you go?  (Joy wants to know HOW!?) Do you have a pool?  Do you love it or hate it? Do you have a Trader Joes?  More importantly, how do we get Trader Joes to come to our town?? Join in the conversation on instagram @regularcoolmom and comment there. Or join the Facebook Group: Regular Cool M