Reframing Me - Self-Development & Parenting Teens for Midlife Moms

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Thank you so much for being here!!! This week's episode is a reminder that endings and beginnings often exist side by side.

After losing the state championship lacrosse game in golden goal overtime, my son's high school sports career came to an end - as well as my role as a sports mom, and my family's identification as a sports family. With graduation this week too, we find ourselves in a strange emotional limbo, and it would be easy to think this is a story about sports.

But the...

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Thank you so much for being here! In the U.S. (and especially living at the beach!), Memorial Day is the "official" launch of summer! And never is our unappreciation of our bodies as great as it is during the summer. Can we say that we love our body... and mean it? What if instead of crititicizing all of our flaws based off of narratives that have been planted in our heads we appreciated and loved our bodies for all that they do?

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 Thank you so much for being here! In honor of my oldest's graduation from the teen years, here are the top 20 things that I learned about parenting teenagers. Not as someone who has all the answers - because clearly I do not - but just as someone who has not only survived the teen years for one child, but actually loved them!! My favorite parenting stage, so far! It's crazy how somehow the years that felt endless while you were in them suddenly feel impossibly short.  

Thank you for listening and be...

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Thank you for being here! There’s a conversation happening right now between wellness culture, aging, fitness, femininity, and identity, and I think many women are quietly struggling with it more than we admit.

In this episode, I talk honestly about the emotional side of body change in midlife. Not from a “diet culture” perspective or a “just love yourself” perspective, but from an identity perspective.

Because sometimes we are not just grieving a body. We are grieving the version of life that body belonged to.

Thank you for li...

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Welcome! Thank you for being here!

There’s a phase of motherhood that no one really prepares you for.

It’s not the chaos of little kids, and it’s not the emptiness of the empty nest. It’s the in-between—when your teenagers are starting to launch, and everything is quietly shifting.

In this episode, I explore the tension we all feel between staying connected to our kids and allowing them the autonomy they need to grow, and what that same tension looks like for us.

Becau...

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Welcome back! I'm so happy you're here! This is part 3 of my Things I wish I knew sooner series - #s 41 through 50. I just turned 50 last week, and to count down, I stepped drastically out of my comfort zone and started recording and posting reels/TikToks every day of things I wish I had known sooner - things that would have made my life a lot easier. In that process, I learned a number of other things, starting with I can do hard things. 

Thank you for listening and being part o...

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Thank you so much for being here!! I am so appreciative of you for tuning in!

Last year, we had a conversation about hypernormalization that I think it's important to revisit. We’re living in a time when the world feels increasingly chaotic, and somehow we’re expected to keep functioning like everything’s fine. In this episode, I explore the concept of hypernormalization - how dysfunction becomes our default, and what that does to our minds, our bodies, and our relationships. From the global to the personal, this is a reflec...

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In this episode, I continue my 50 Things I Wish I Knew Sooner series, walking through lessons 16 through 40.

This part of the list shifts from what we do to how we experience our lives - our thoughts, our habits, our self-image, and the way we show up in our relationships.

This isn’t about having everything figured out. It’s about learning how to think differently, trust yourself more, and move through your life with a little more awareness and a lot more intention.

Thank you for listening and...

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"I am going to warn you in advance that it has been a rough few days and I am not feeling like my best birthday girl self." This was the message I sent to my friend who is coming to visit to celebrate my birthday.

Nothing is wrong and yet everything feels wrong. I think a lot of you can relate to some of the heaviness I'm carrying, but it all comes back to roles - the roles we play because we've chosen them, or more often, they've chosen us.

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This week’s episode started with a random moment in my attic looking for an old box of college photos and turned into something bigger.

There’s a growing trend right now of teens recreating 90s aesthetics… and even subtle shifts in what’s considered “cool” (yes, including the whole smoking vs vaping conversation). But this episode isn’t about trends.

It’s about what those trends mean.

We’re talking about why teens are performing a version of the past they never lived, how constant visibility and social media h...

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As we (in the Northern Hemisphere) enter Spring, can we trust that we are on the right path, even if the balance we seek is only an illusion? Maybe we, like the Earth are only meant to find balance at times, 

Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get social. Follow me on Facebook,  on Twitter @reframing_me, on Instagram @reframingme and on TikTok @reframingme
I hope you enjoyed the episode! Please leave a review, catch up on any missed episodes, and be sure to follow the s...

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This week I found myself thinking about something a lot of parents probably feel but don’t always say out loud.

Two of my kids had tough weeks. Nothing catastrophic, but enough that I spent hours talking things through with them, listening, trying to help them make sense of it. And during a text conversation with my cousin, she said something that stuck with me.

“You’re only as happy as your unhappiest child.”

That feels very true. When your kids are hurting, it’s almost impossible not to fee...

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You can start something new any time. It doesn't need to be January 1st or a Monday - it can be a random Wednesday in February at 2pm when, after YEARS of saying that "I'm going to work on my socials," you finally start.

As I approach my 50th birthday, I made a list (that I didn't know what I was going to do with) of "50 things I wish I had known sooner." On a random Wednesday afternoon in February, I happened to ask my Alexa "how many days until April 9...

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Welcome back! I'm so happy you're here! 

You don’t need to be your best every day. You just need to show up consistently and be authentically you.

After three years of saying that I was going to build my socials/be consistent in my socials/focus on my socials (spoiler: I didn't/wasn't), on a random Wednesday in February, I committed to 50 consecutive days of making and posting reels, leading up to my 50th birthday. The series is "50 things I wish I had known sooner," but the most ama...

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Welcome back! I'm so grateful you are here! Last week, we talked about men and women processing information differently. I wanted to follow up on that conversation with an episode to share with the men in your life to help them to understand how to better communicate with you about it. No, men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus; We are all from Earth, and right now, Earth is a bit of a hot mess, but if we stick together, we'll make it through! 

Thank you for l...

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Thank you for being here for a quick zen with me! Happy Lunar New Year!! As we exit the year of the snake and enter the year of the fire horse, can you reflect on what you have shed - the good and the grief. Are you ready to take on the fire horse?! I am! 

Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get social. Follow me on Facebook,  on Twitter @reframing_me, on Instagram @reframingme and on TikTok @reframingme
I hope you enjoyed the episode! Pleas...

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 Hello! Welcome back to Reframing Me! I'm so happy that you're here for a quick moment of zen (with Jen!)... I decluttered my pantry yesterday (finally! after MONTHS of saying I need to...), and the mental space it gave me... 

Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get social. Follow me on Facebook,  on Twitter @reframing_me, on Instagram @reframingme and on TikTok @reframingme
I hope you enjoyed the episode! Please leave a review, catch up on any missed episodes, and be sure to follow the show...

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Welcome back! Another quick zen for you today, because I've been reflecting on what is the right amount of "enough?" I feel like one minute I'm convinced I'm not doing enough and another I'm too much. My ideas about what is "enough" comes from the events that shaped how I see myself and the narratives that I tell myself. So today, let's talk about that, and go through an activity from the book "Believe you were Made for More" that looks at those narratives. 

Thank y...

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Thank you for being here! I saw a message I wanted to share - the monks who have been walking for peach across the U.S. reached Washington D.C. today! I saw a speech one gave where his message was to "Clean the mirror right away," and I think it's a valuable one to bring into today. 

Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get social. Follow me on Facebook,  on Twitter @reframing_me, on Instagram @reframingme and on TikTok @reframingme
I hope you enjoyed the e...

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Welcome back! I'm so happy you're here today for a Quick Zen. I have not been talking to myself very kindly lately - in fact, I've been even unkind. If we can show ourselves kindness, it filters into everything - we feel joy; we see the world with gratitude; we feel confidence; and we bring grace to ourselves, to everything and everyone we encounter. and to the world. So I am working on me kinder to myself today.  

Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get social. F...

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This episode explores why disagreement feels so much heavier right now - and why so many conflicts aren’t actually about beliefs, but about how people process information, emotion, and threat.

Using the current news cycle as a stress test, I explain how people with shared values can react in completely different ways without one of them being apathetic or wrong and why that confusion is exhausting and damaging to relationships.

We look at common processing and communication styles, how they get misread as indifference or overreaction, and why co...

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Thank you for being here with me! Yesterday's quick check in made me feel so good that I found myself thinking of y'all again this morning. Today, when I asked myself what I want to bring into the day, I was primed by the upcoming Olympics and following Lindsay Vonn and her injury, and I immediately thought of resilience and perseverance and where I fall in that intricate balance. 

Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get social. Follow me on Facebook,  on Twitter @reframing_me, on Inst...

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I'm so happy you're here. This isn't our weekly episode - it's me just reaching out - a touchstone, if you will - to remind you that even though things are crazy and you may feel frustrated or sad or angry or emotional - you're not alone! We need a sense of community now more than ever. And I'm here to remind you that I am here - we are here - and somehow, we'll get through - together! 

Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get s...

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Thank you so much for being here!

This episode reflects on how my understanding of confidence has changed over time. What once felt tied to performance, comparison, and getting things “right” now feels quieter and more stable, rooted in self-trust rather than validation. I talk about the difference between arrogance and confidence, why confident people used to bother me, and how creating this podcast required speaking without permission in ways I never would have before.

I also name the sadness many of us are carrying - grief for the life...

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Senioritis, often dismissed as a mere case of laziness in high school seniors, is a complex phenomenon affecting both students and those around them. With symptoms ranging from lack of motivation to irritability, senioritis can disrupt households during the final months of high school. As college decisions loom and the future feels uncertain, seniors may struggle with feelings of aimlessness and disconnection. Understanding the psychology behind senioritis, including cognitive dissonance and the desire for control, can help parents and students navigate this challenging time. Encouraging seniors to explore hobbies, gain practical skills, or...

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Thank you for being here today! Topping my list of "50 things that would have made my life a lot easier if I had known sooner:"

Only you need to see your potential. Only you need to understand. Only you need to believe it’s possible. Your opinion is literally the only one that matters. You need to be your own cheerleader.

Grieving the life you thought you'd have seems heartbreaking to me. Three and a half years ago, I started this journey - uncertain how I would integrate my wo...

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We are complex enough beings to experience multiple emotions at once, and as parents of teens - and oftentimes, also caregiving for aging parents - two of those emotions that we're constantly balancing are gratitude and grief. Gratitude and grief coexist because parents are holding two timelines at once: the past version of the relationship that worked, and the future version that has not fully revealed itself yet. This dialectic is a clear sign of reorganization. Also - my always fun hot take on why we should let our teens have socials ***disclaimer...

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Thank you so much for being here!

What does it look like for you to reclaim a sense of control in your life?

This Jen is Zen episode explores what it truly means to reclaim a sense of control when life feels overwhelming. Rather than focusing on fixing everything or forcing positivity, the episode reframes control as creating steadiness and orientation in the midst of uncertainty.

The reflection begins by acknowledging that chaos doesn’t only exist on a global scale. It often shows up in...

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Right now, many of us are being asked to function normally while living through ongoing instability, fear, and institutional breakdown, and that disconnect is exhausting. If you’re struggling to focus, feeling emotionally overwhelmed or numb, pulling back socially, or finding yourself more irritable or fatigued than usual, this isn’t a personal failure. It’s a nervous system responding normally to prolonged stress.

For parents of teens, this season is especially complicated. Our teenagers are old enough to understand what’s happening in the world but don’t yet have fully deve...

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 Thank you so much for being here! The only two people whose opinions should matter are the 9-year-old version of you and the 90-year-old version of you. In this first Jen is Zen episode of 2026 - my 50th birthday year! - I reflect on aging, identity, and why I look and feel better now than I did four years ago despite cultural narratives that tell us midlife should look like decline. Someone I love showed me a past photo and described as “old” and “stringy.” Former Jen would have felt insecure, but current Jen saw i...

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Happy Holidays! Merry Twixtmas! Happy 2026! I am so grateful to have you here!

In this New Year’s episode of Reframing Me, I reflect on Twixtmas - that quiet, in-between week where time has no meaning and our perspective widens. My family’s New Year’s traditions have evolved, making me really think about what it means to grow alongside our children, to grieve what was while embracing what is, and to let traditions change without losing their meaning.

This episode invites you to pause before rushing into resolutions and in...

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Thank you for being here! 

This episode is an honest reflection on feeling deeply connected yet quietly alone – a place many women find themselves in during midlife and parenting the teen years. Moving between lived experience, parenting observations, and relational insight, the episode explores the surprising parallel between teen loneliness and adult invisibility in a hyper-connected world.

Rather than offering solutions or tidy conclusions, this conversation sits inside the discomfort of being needed but unseen, productive but unmirrored, surrounded by people yet craving resonance. It reflects on how digital con...

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Thank you so much for being here! Today, I'd like you to think about this:

You can begin again anytime.

Not next week.

Not next semester.

Not when life “calms down” because we all know that’s never.

Not when the kids launch or when the holidays end or when the stars realign.

Just… begin again.

What if beginning again is simply the next breath you take?

The next thought you choose?

The next decision you make...

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Welcome back to the show! I’m so grateful you’re here! And I’m so happy to have my voice back to normal after an icky cold that I may have rambled a bit more than usual – hahaha! But today, we’re talking about something many families do without ever naming itn - recreational arguing. You know the dynamic: nothing is actually wrong, but yet somehow you’re in a debate about tone, or not listening, or why someone “waited until now” to mention something. But underneath the surface-level conflict is something surprisingly hum...

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What if it wasn’t you after all? What if that rejection was a redirection to something better or to where you are supposed to be?

Thank you so much for being here! In today’s Jen is Zen, I’m inviting you to look at rejection through a completely different lens. What if the “no” you got wasn’t about you at all? What if it wasn’t a failure or a flaw or proof that you’re not enough, but a quiet nudge redirecting you toward the place you’re actually meant to be?

If this realization had hit me sooner in my own life, how much peace c...

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In this Thanksgiving episode, I am extra thankful for you being here! Many moms (including me!) are anxious to have their college students home for the holiday, but that doesn't mean it won't be without its possible challenges. We'll have a conversation exploring the joys and challenges of welcoming college freshmen back home for the holidays. As our families reconnect, we need to adapt to the changes our child has experienced in their first months at college, from newfound independence to identity growth, and how these shifts impact family dynamics, which have also...

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Thank you so much for being here! 

You can create your own magic.  You can create your own future.  You do not have to be chosen.  You do not have to wait to be chosen.  You are the creator of your own life.

There's a moment that so many midlife moms quietly fear: the one where they sense that their purpose is fading just as their children’s lives are expanding. Being caregiving becomes an identity, and how losing that role can feel like losing yourself. 

But you don’...

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It's the home stretch for my years as a "Football Mom," and I am feeling the feels. When your kids are involved in an activity that becomes consuming of your time, energy, and money, and when we find ourselves on the sideline or in the stands or seats watching day after day, week after week, year after year, there comes a point when it all ends. For many, senior year is that end. But for some, it happens sooner, whether they don’t make the team or grow out of love with the sp...

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 This month, the focus will be on gratitude. To show my gratitude to all of you, I've unlocked this November meditation, so you can have a peek inside, and because gratitude is something that you must have before you can receive. It’s not simply something you feel after something good happens. So today we’re going to cultivate that feeling of gratitude for what we do have so we can be open to the abundance of all that we want.

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**Trigger Warning** I'm feeling a little spicy!! Watch out patriarchy!

Women - especially in midlife - have been conditioned to trade their peace for approval. Today's cultural narratives question “what’s wrong with young women.” I'm sorry, what? This Jen is Zen spirals a bit and quickly unfolds into a personal and feminist meditation on validation, worth, and the exhaustion of always being evaluated.

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Thank you for listening and being part of this community! Let's get social. Follow me on Facebook, on Twitter @reframing_me, on...