Finding Joy in Motherhood, Janet Quinlan
I'm Janet Quinlan, a Catholic Marriage & Parenting coach, and this is Finding Joy in Motherhood - a podcast for women who want peace and joy in their marriage and motherhood. I teach you how to parent your children so they are well-behaved, listen to you the first time, and are truly happy - all through teaching virtues rather than punishing.I'm a former elementary school teacher and homeschooler, a wife of 42 years, mother of 7, and "Grandma Jan" to 26 going on 27 grandchildren!Check out how I can teach you how to parent your children so they truly bring you joy at j...
How Love Languages Can Hurt Your Relationship
Understanding your spouse's love language (and your own) can be helpful in communicating love to each other. However, they can also harm a relationship. In this episode, I talk about about pros and cons of love languages and how to understand the concept without making it define your marriage.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
Here's Why Showing Affection to Your Child is So Important
Showing your child affection is one of the most important ways you communicate your love, build a strong relationship, and help your child develop into a confident, emotionally healthy person.
Affection isn't just about making your child feel good in the moment; it helps lay the foundation for their emotional, social, and moral development.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
Revisiting Important Marriage Lessons
What lessons or insights do you wish you knew when you first got married? When we were first married, I remember thinking, "We'll never have problems!" Clearly, very naive.
So, I created this episode to share what we have found to be important aspects of a happy, long marriage. Hopefully, for those who are still in the beginning of married life, these "lessons" will be helpful. As I relistened to the episode, I realized that I still needed to be reminded how important some of the lessons were, and to refocus my attention on them.
Check...
Teaching Your Child Patience & Self-Control
We often experience impatience as we teach our children patience, but I want to close with five reasons why it’s so important to teach our children patience.
And maybe when we fully understand how important it is, we will be patient in the teaching of patience.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
What Your Teen Needs
Although, sometimes it feels like your teen doesn't need you or want any kind of interaction with you, the truth is that at this age 12+-19, they really do need us.
They still need guardrails, they need to know they are safe and will always be there for them - especially when they mess up.
Teens, "young adults", are growing into adults and they need guidance in navigating these waters.
Listen to this episode to understand when to be involved, and when to let them have freedom.
Check out m...
Are You Parenting or Just Reacting?
Sign up for my free workshop on "The Real REason Your Kids Don't Listen" HERE.
If you feel like you spend your entire day telling your kids what NOT to do, correcting behavior, giving consequences, and putting out fires, you may be stuck in reactive parenting.
Reactive parenting can leave moms exhausted because they are constantly responding to the behavior that is happening right now—instead of teaching their children the skills and virtues they need to behave well in the first place.
The goal of...
You Can Change the Culture—One Family at a Time
In this episode, I discuss the importance of motherhood in affecting change within the culture.
Today is the 1 year anniversary of the death of Charlie Kirk, and tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack on 9/11.
It can seem that, as moms, we don't have any ability to contribute and change the culture towards one of beauty, Truth, and goodness.
But, we can have an enormous influence by focusing on our family culture.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com<...
Eight Lessons I Learned From Grandma Camp
In this episode, I talk about lessons, reminders really, that I learned when we had our 16 grandchildren for "Grandma Camp".
It's easy to lose perspective when you're parenting day in and day out, but having the kids for a brief time helped me remember how much I loved raising our kids, and how hard and great it can be to parent.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
How to Find the Real Meaning of Motherhood
We have social media content creators, advertisors, friends, and maybe family members present an idea of what motherhood is and how it should be lived.
Very often, they miss the mark unless you were very blessed to have a good mom or female relatives who lived their calling to motherhood with joy.
In this episode, I walk about the real meaning of motherhood, and why it is so important in the world, and in our own relationship with God.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset...
How Does Virtue-Based Parenting Work?
Raising well-behaved children is not about discovering the secret consequences that will finally get them to cooperate and behave.
It isn't about time-outs or specific punishments.
Well-behaved, cooperative children who listen the first time, respect your authority, are self-motivated and independent, and most of all happy, comes from parenting through virtues - teaching them the skills, the habits, the virtues that help them behave.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
Important Habits for School Success
Your child’s self-confidence and/ self-esteem is dependent on how he or she shows up for school every day.
Make sure you're living these three important habits in your home for school success!
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
Here's Why Gentle Parenting Doesn't Work
There are many aspects of Gentle Parenting that I think, as parents, we ought to live. But the problem with Gentle Parenting is that it has been interpreted in our social media culture to be all about our child's feelings and how they're affected.
Emotions run the home - exhausting both child and parent.
Gentle Parenting encourages collaborative thinking - child/parent - while ignoring the fact that a child's "thinking part" of their brain is far from being fully developed.
Children feel safe and happiest when they have a strong structure, strong l...
Consequences Don't Work
Most moms are always trying to figure out what are the best consequences for children who misbehave, don't listen, or have tantrums.
The answer is when you want to change your child's behavior, it is about teaching them rather than punishing them.
Learn the difference between punitive (punishing) consequences and natural consequences which reinforce your teaching.
Sign up for my parenting course, Virtue-Based Parenting HERE, and get on the waitlist for the next open enrollment.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith l...
How to Recognize Low Self-Esteem in Your Child and What You Can Do About It
Low self-esteem in children is often misunderstood. It doesn't always look like a child who says, "I don't like myself."
In fact, children with low self-esteem may appear overly confident, defiant, perfectionistic, or withdrawn.
A child who has low self-esteem doubts his or her value and abilities.
In this episode I identify some common signs of low self-esteem, and give you the tools to help your children grow in self-esteem.
Healthy self-esteem develops by helping our children become capable, responsible, and confident in their daily experiences.
Check out my fr...
How to Have a Marriage That Lasts
Marriage is a life-long mission. It is a God-given, life-giving mission. When we look at our marriage through that lens, it becomes much different than what the world wants you to believe it is. Marriage isn’t about fulfilling our needs (although our needs are fulfilled when we’re living an authentic friendship with each other). It is about choosing to love.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
How Do You Want to Be Remembered?
We are so busy with so many things of the world, our family, and of keeping our heads above water, that I wonder if we spend time thinking about who we are - how we want to be remembered by our husband, children, family, and friends.
In this episode, I talk about how my mom's recent death made me stop and think about how I would like to be remembered.
Take time, today, to commit to the woman, the wife, the mother, the grandmother, and friend that you would like to be.
Everything...
Letting Go of Perfect - Learning the Art of Flexibility
A bright and cheerful, joyful home is not one where everything goes according to plan.
It’s a home where family members learn to adapt, adjust, and respond with generosity when things don't go according to plan.
The more flexibility we cultivate in ourselves and our children, the more peace, resilience, and joy we will experience as a family.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
How Tech Affects Your Children
As we begin the month of June, most children are out of school and home for the summer. And, almost immediately, they begin to complain that they're bored.
What do you do with your kids when they're bored? Well, for many parents, they let them play video games or watch TV for most of the day. When we give our children a lot of access to technology, they are missing out on so many ways to grow and mature.
They miss out on how to solve their problem of boredom. They miss out on learning to b...
The Habit That is Quietly Making You Unhappy
Do you want to be a woman who is a victim of everyone and everything and complains about it to anyone with ears, or do you want to be a strong woman who solves her problems and realizes that sometimes, maybe many times, it’s on us to figure things out - to delegate when possible, to enforce expectations that are reasonable and to let go of unreasonable expectations of perfection in ourselves and in those around us.
Complaining makes you unhappy and it makes everyone around you unhappy.
Check out my free resources on ma...
Some Mom Encouragement
Having the grandchildren for more than a couple of hours visit, reminded me of how difficult it really is to raise children. Why do humans do this?
Why do we have children that require so much sacrifice?
Why are we shielded from the knowledge of the terrific amount of sacrifice before we have children?
Why? Well, I think it is a seed planted in our hearts from God.
In my experience, the only way to find joy in motherhood is to see it as a higher calling - to be a mo...
Plan for a Great Summer
Are you ready for summer? The key is to plan well so that you AND the kids have a great time!
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
The Key to Becoming a Happier, Calmer Mom
When we try to control our children's behavior, it usually results in anger, yelling, and probably some guilt. The truth is, we can't control their behavior, but we can teach and lead them to proper behavior.
In this episode, I talk about the five virtues that we need to teach our children so they are happy and cooperative, and so that our home is peaceful and joyful - all of which will contribute to our becoming a happy, calm mom.
My program, "Virtue-Based Parenting" is now open for enrollment until May 9th. Ch...
If Your Children Aren't Listening to You Listen to This
Listen to the three parenting strategies that every successful parent uses to help their children behave and live virtue.
Enrollment for Virtue-Based Parenting Course + Coaching is now open through May 9th. Click HERE for more Details.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
10 Parenting Truths
** My course, Virtue-Based Parenting will be opening soon for enrollment with a special Mother's Day Bonus! Stay tuned!
When parents are intentional about the way they teach and form their children in good habits and virtues,(another way of saying parent) your family life is peaceful, ordered, and with strong connections of friendship between all family members. Rather than just managing and disciplining the kids which is stressful, you’re mothering them which is profoundly rewarding with long term benefits
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mind...
The Importance of Creating Goals for Your Children
As parents, we often live in the immediate - here and now. But an important part of being a parent is creating goals for our children. In this episode I discuss three important points (and a bonus point!) for why creating goals for our children is so important in raising them.
For more help in raising children, check out my free resources here: https://janetquinlan.com/parenting-resources/
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
Sorrows and Joy of the Cross [Replay]
In our call to marriage and motherhood, there are many contradictions, disappointments, and frustrations that we experience.
If we look at the difficult part of being a wife and mother through a non-Christian lens, then we move into dissatisfaction, disappointment, and overwhelm with our state of life.
But if we see the contradictions through the lens of our Christian faith - through Jesus' words, "take up your cross and follow me", so much of our life that used to cause frustration and anger, now has meaning and purpose.
Check out my free resources...
Our Inner Judge
This episode is a replay from 2023, but I thought it was especially timely during this season of Lent.
We all judge. Some more than others. Those who judge others, are often victims of judging - their own.
We're very good at judging ourselves - of seeing all the ways in which we fail or don't measure up. We're good at comparing ourselves to other women and quickly seeing where we don't measure up, as opposed to seeing the gifts and talents we have.
Check out my free resources on marriage, par...
St. Joseph's Example - Praying for Our Husbands
As wives, mothers, friends, and women of the world, a lot is asked of us every day! But the most important thing we can do every day is to pray for the men in our lives - our husband and our sons especially - that they will have the faith, hope, and love of St. Joseph. We pray that they will be strong in the face of all the temptations the world has to offer to reject all that is good, beautiful, and True.
We pray that our husbands have the strength, courage, and humility to live God...
How to Be Who You Want to Be [REPLAY]
So often, we think that we "are just who we are". We don't realize that we can actually decide who we want to be.
We can decide what kind of moms we want to be, what kind of spouse we want to be, and what kind of friend or employee we want to be.
Whatever our stories or beliefs we had from childhood about ourselves, don't have to continue to define who we are now as adults.
Who DO you want to be?
Check out my free resources on ma...
The Emotional Temperature of Your Marriage and Family
When we fall in love, we put all kinds of energy and anticipation into the relationship. We can’t wait to see him again, and when we do, our heart flutters a bit.
When we become pregnant, maybe especially with our first baby, once we get through the 1st trimester of morning sickness, we are full of excited anticipation to welcome this new little life into our our lives.
We don’t think of the cost of sleepless nights, a crying baby that can’t be consoled, or teaching and reminding our children to contribute to the...
Marriage and Sacrifice
As we begin the season of Lent, let's look at how we live our lives in our marriage and in our motherhood.
Our ordinary life is the perfect vehicle to embrace the goal of Lent, which is conversion.
As wives and mothers, our days are filled with opportunities to convert our heart, mind, and body to God. Do we recognize those opportunities, and do we take up our cross daily to follow Jesus or do we ignore the opportunity to make our everyday holy?
I also mention in this episode the opportunity to co...
Children and Chores - More than Just Cleaning
Giving children chores is more than just teaching them to contribute to the care of the home - although, that's an important lesson for them to learn.
Chores help them develop virtues like orderliness, patience, fortitude, generosity, and so many more.
In this episode, I talk about the Faith & Family Project Membership - a monthly teaching and coaching membership for women to educate and support them in living their vocation to marriage and motherhood. I teach on the the hot topics of the four pillars of our life: marriage, parenting, home management, faith/mindset, and se...
Faith & Family Project, Putting Your Husband First
Before the children, before the house, before everything else except God, our husband should be our first priority.
We often focus on the needs of our children which we perceive as always urgent and important, and we sometimes neglect our spouse in the process of fulfilling our children's needs.
When we put our spouse 1st, the order of the family is as it should be and together we build our family life.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on...
Embracing Your Mission to Marriage & Motherhood
Don't let your life be barren. Be useful. Blaze a trail. Shine forth with the torch of your faith and your love.
Have you ever considered that you have a mission from God to be useful, blaze a trail, and shine forth with your faith and your love?
That's exactly what we're called in this mission of marriage and motherhood.
In today's episode, I talk about the foundation of our lives as wives/mothers - embracing our mission in our own little part of the world to change the w...
Why a Mom's Self-Image Matters
Join the Faith & Family Experience: Embrace Your Motherhod Mission. Click HERE for more info!
The most important thing about your parenting may not be what you’re doing—but who you believe you are while you’re doing it.
In this podcast I talk a lot about the what - what you’re doing in your marriage, how you parent, and how you keep your home.
We’re all very comfortable about talking about the how to do things.
But this quote struck me because at the core of whet...
Teaching Not Reacting: The Parenting Shift Every Mom Needs
Sign up for the Faith & Family Workshop HERE!
Today I want to talk about a 2nd way you can find joy in motherhood and that is in embracing a shift in your parenting style that will change the way you feel about parenting.
When I get on a coaching call with almost every client who is a young mom, their biggest question usually comes down to, “What consequence can I give so that they stop this behavior?”
And while I do think there’s a place for consequences – natural consequences that result f...
The #1 Way Moms Can Find Joy in 2026
You know usually I lead with the practical tips because that’s what people want. Something tangible – a tactic or a tool that will somehow magically change your life.
And while it is true that tactics, tools, routines, and habits can have a profound impact on your life creating peace and eliminating stress in your home, the tool I want to share with you today is deeper and more effective because it is the tool upon which all others will either enrich your life or be abandoned after a few days.
Whether you're a young mom o...
Advent and Preparing
We all feel the pressure of living up to the demands of the world - especially as we prepare for Christmas. But as women, wives, and mothers, what exactly do we need to do to prepare? Does God require us to conform to the world's standards of holiday preparation? Are we guided by the world's expectations or God's?
You can grab the free Spiritual Reading Booklist that I talk about in this episode HERE!
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
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Giving What Really Matters
When we think of Christmas gifts, we often think of buying our children the toy that is the most popular this season. Or we think of getting the perfect sweater for our spouse. But, there is something we can give to ourselves and to those around us that is more valuable than anything we can purchase.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, home management, and faith life/mindset at janetquinlan.com
Follow me on Instagram @janetquinlancoaching
Holiday Friction: Navigating Tension Between Mothers-in-Law and Daughters-in-Law
BLACK FRIDAY SALE UNTIL NOV. 30TH!
My "Mother-in-Law/Daughter-in-Law Dynamic - Essential Skills for a Better Relationship Course", is on sale NOW! Check it out HERE.
Today I want to talk about holidays and MsIL/DsIL and conflicts that can arise and why the holidays sometimes seem to bring out the worst in our relationships – especially with our in-laws.
I address some common conflicts and suggest some ways you can eliminate the stress of the season with your in-law.
Check out my free resources on marriage, parenting, hom...
