Because our daughter Penelope recently turned one, and because our podcast is about life and love in addition to business, we thought we’d share some of the lessons we’ve learned during our first year of parenting. Now, in no way are we parenting experts – we’re just two human beings trying to figure out how to keep a small person alive. And stay married. And keep running a business. Oh, and keep our sanity, too.

 

In this Episode

So, some things we’ll cover in this episode are:

• The many ways we’ve been surprised by the human body, from pregnancy to now
• Our feelings about – and experiences with – the issue of control
• Parenting as a partnership and what that looks like for us
• Our views on allowing and on letting go of “the perfect plan”
• The different ways we try to maintain balance within the chaos for the sake of our sanity
• Our thoughts on parenting books and blogs – and the most helpful advice we received about the one thing to read
• Tapping into the still, small voice within that always knows what to do at any given moment
• Flexibility and realizing that the right thing today might not be the right thing tomorrow
• Kate’s when-all-else-fails advice for making a cranky baby happy
• Babies’ capacity to tune in and understand what’s going on around them
• The lesson in lovability that babies teach us
• The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual hard work of parenting and our pre-baby naïveté about that

 

Selected Links from the Episode

On Control and the Inherent Brittleness of Being Rigid

Show Notes

• The human body is incredible (and the shifts in thinking that Kate made about hers) [1:30]
• Sometimes when you’re a new parent, you just have to go with the flow and give up control [6:39]
• It was hard for Kate to come to grips with the fact that a perfect birth can’t be planned [9:20]
• When you relax and allow yourself to just be with your child, it’s an amazing experience [10:45]
• Why you need to focus on what excites you, now [14:50]
• Read your baby, not a book! [20:30]
• The “right thing” today might not be the right thing tomorrow [23:00]
• Babies love music; when all else fails, dance! [23:45]
• We tend to undervalue how smart babies really are [26:50]
• Everything about us is totally perfect and lovable, both for babies and adults [28:45]
• Parenting is hard work: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually [30:39]

People Mentioned

Carrie-Anne Moss

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