Moms Working Overtime

Cancel culture and declining social skills have made being vulnerable, exposing weaknesses, or even trusting a community a really scary thing in motherhood. We're afraid to admit that things aren't going so hot, or that we aren't enjoying the process. We don't want to be labeled a "bad mom." So, as a result, we have created a generation of mothers that suffer in silence and put on a good face. But do you know what is one of the main things that drags out feelings of burnout for months, or even years? ...Suffering, alone, in silence.

Burnout...

We know the feeling of burnout in motherhood all too well - but it truly doesn't have to be this way! 

In today's pep talk, I share some practical tips for establishing systems in your day-to-day to help your family, help you. Utilizing systems can help you scale your efficiency, spread out your workload, and feel less burnt out. As moms, we NEED good systems in place if we truly want to enjoy motherhood. 

If you give these a try in your own life, we'd love to hear what you think! Reach out and share yo...

"Maybe I'm just not doing this right" - isn't this a thought that crosses each of our minds at some point in time in motherhood? We look up and see SO many moms that just seem to be killing it. They don't look stressed, or frazzled, or exhausted. So, are we doing something wrong? 

Nope. 

Motherhood is hard. Motherhood is exhausting. Motherhood is meant to challenge us. And motherhood can be an immense sacrifice, often. Just because it leads to all of these things does NOT mean you aren't doing it right or that you ar...

Motherhood has never been about "bouncing back" or returning to the way things were before...it's always been about rebuilding - stronger, more efficient, more confident, more joyful. And that's where I've been the past couple of months...rebuilding. 

In today's episode, well...I'm back! Let's chat a little bit about where I've been and how excited I am to be hanging out with you again! 

The best is yet to come for MWO. Each month in 2024 has brought incredible growth and opportunity, and we aim to continue to provide more support, resources, and community fo...

As a mom, we're the thermostat for our family - how we show up and respond to each situation directly influences the way our family does as well. Motherhood can feel so heavy, and even more so when we're sleep deprived, burnt out, and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My guest on today's podcast interview, Mica Deshaw, is a brilliant pediatric sleep coach who GETS IT. We have both had our fair share of sleep deprivation and we've been where so many moms are at when it comes to infant and toddler...

Our Q&A series is a chance for you to come and hang out with myself and my dear friend and Nurse Practitioner, Cierra Crowley! Cierra is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to overall health and wellness, specifically related to pediatric wellness. We answer your burning questions on these Q&A episodes, grabbing questions we've received in our DM's on social media and the sporadic question boxes that we post! 

Follow Cierra: https://www.instagram.com/cierra.crowley/
Follow Bite Sized Wellness: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizedwellness/

Have a question you'd love us to a...

Can we all agree teachers don't get enough credit, compensation, or respect for the work they do, molding the minds of our children day in and day out? Because I know for a fact that majority of us wouldn't last a week in their role! 

Our teachers are incredible and many, if not most, pour their heart and souls into what they do. They practice extreme patience, comfort through struggle, kiss away boo-boo's, navigate behaviors, and so much more. And they're an essential part of our team through motherhood. 

One of my favorite teachers, and my...

There are certain people that cross paths with us in our lives and motherhood journey that make us think..."wow, this is a God thing for sure!" Meeting Kelsey was one of those moments for me!

I'm so excited to share my sweet new friend with you. Kelsey's book is easily the TOP motherhood book I've ever read and is one I'm currently doing as our May Book Club in the MWO Facebook Community.

Kelsey and I talk all about what being "in the trenches" of motherhood means to us and how she leans on...

Our guest on this episode, Anne Marie Landers, is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all things holistic health and using natural remedies as our first line of defense with common illnesses. I enjoyed having her as a guest SO much and we could've talked for hours. Her interest in holistic health practices began like many of our own - as a mom herself, questioning if there was another, more natural way to improve our health.

Anne Marie and I dive into common illnesses, fever reducers, the impact of modern healthcare on our fertility as...

How often do we make a post on social media, showing off some cherished family photos or bragging on a child's accomplishments, only to revisit the post a handful of times or more to see how many likes or comments it received? Social media has conditioned us to be a "gold star" society and now we're addicted to sharing details of our lives that others will clap for...almost as validation that "hey, you're a great mom!"

But on the flip side, we are constantly scrolling past the accomplishments of our friends (acquaintances) and their children. And...

On the first Thursday of the month, listen in for a Q&A session where I will grab other incredible mamas and answer YOUR questions! 

Cierra and I both reference breastfeeding courses we did that we loved: 
- Cierra used lactationlink.com 
- I used https://www.karingforpostpartum.com/breastfeeding-course

Have a question for next Q&A episode? 
DM either of us on social media or email your question to alanna@momsworkingovertime.com with the subject "I Have a Question!" 

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Let's connect on social media! Send...

We're often our own harshest critics in motherhood. 

In this episode, I challenge your perspective and give you 3 action steps to help overcome those moments in motherhood when we feel like we're failing. 

We have to learn to start speaking to ourselves the way we would to a friend when she shares her struggles. Because as moms, we juggle so many things at once and it was never intended to be perfect. 

You think you're failing, but the reality is that you're a total rockstar. You just don't realize it.

You're doi...

We all know it. We've all lived it at some point in time. That flailing your arms, gasping for air, head bobbing above and below the surface feeling...survival mode. It's not fun and it's extremely discouraging to feel as a mom.

Am I really strong enough for this?
Will I ever get through this?
Why do other moms make it look so easy?

The reality is, you are, and you will, but it's not easy. And you're NOT alone.

Every mom has felt it, so why are we so embarrassed...

This episode is exactly what you need to hear today! I had the privilege of sitting down for an interview with author, actor, and crazy busy mom of 5, Kelli Stuart. Kelli has been through many trials so far in her motherhood journey, including navigating illness with her older children, adoption of their youngest son and learning of his special needs, a cancer diagnosis herself, and now figuring out what the transition of her oldest children into college and the real world looks like from a mom's perspective. 

She has an amazing story and is someone whose story y...

As moms, we're so afraid to drop a ball or disappoint others. There's no doubt we're an integral component in our family's dynamic, but is everything really going to come crashing down around us if we let something fall to the wayside? Probably not. We're going to step into some humility today because the immense amount of pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect must stop.

We're hardest on ourselves when it comes to all things personal AND motherhood. We have this belief that everyone is paying such close attention to our every move, as if...

We no longer have the same 24 hours we did before we were moms, so there's one thing we all must get VERY good at: the word "no." 

Every decision we make is either a deposit or a withdrawal from our "bank account" of time, energy, emotion, patience, etc. And every time we say "yes" to something, we say "no" to something else...often ourselves. 

We're over scheduled, overstressed, overstimulated as moms because we feel too guilty to say no. We're afraid to go against the crowd. We don't want to hurt feelings. 

Go say...

We are SO excited to introduce our newest team member of MWO! Lindsay is coming on board to help with the wellness coaching component of our business, focused on helping moms find their joy and confidence again, but you'll see her all over the place! 

Follow Lindsay on social media: https://www.instagram.com/larnold714/

Support the show

Let's connect on social media! Send me your thoughts to https://www.instagram.com/alanna.hellman/ or https://www.instagram.com/momsworkingovertime/. I'd love to get to know you better!

Join the MWO C...

Today's episode is so fun! I had the opportunity to sit down with homeschooling and homesteading mom of four, Hannah Burlbaw to talk all about raising good humans. 

Homesteading and all things that go into it - growing your own food, raising chickens and getting fresh eggs, baking fresh bread - are all the rage lately. We're all waking up and realizing that we want to know what's in our food and develop a more self-sustaining lifestyle. It's the greatest movement to witness, in my opinion. 

Hannah shares her journey that led her here, how sh...

We can all agree that we want our children to turn out better than us, right? I think that's one of the few things we can definitely all agree on as moms actually! And for good reason. 

Sometimes this requires breaking some generational curses that our family has passed down over and over. But in order to do this, we have to work on ourselves first. We have to spend time really reflecting and decide how we want to show up, then take action to do so. Because even if you didn't experience trauma in childhood, there's l...

It was so fun to bring Erin Moore, RN, CPNP, CLC, mom of two wild boys, on for this week's podcast as part of our interview series. She is so sweet and has a knack for making all moms feel confident in the decisions they make for feeding their children! 

Erin and I dive into breastfeeding versus formula, increasing supply, different ingredients in formulas, Baby Led Weaning, and more! 

She shares tons of knowledge on all things feeding and will not only put your mind at ease, but will truly empower you to feel confident in...

Support the show

Let's connect on social media! Send me your thoughts to https://www.instagram.com/alanna.hellman/ or https://www.instagram.com/momsworkingovertime/. I'd love to get to know you better!

Join the MWO Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/momsworkingovertime

You can always find more information at www.momsworkingovertime.com.

Try Earthley Wellness: https://earthley.com/ref/alannahellman/?campaign=MWO%20Podcast

Thank you so much for listening!

Love what you hear? Please share the podcast and leave a review! It means the world to...

I had the opportunity to sit down with a great friend, mom of two, and entrepreneur, Nikki Harris this week for another incredible episode in our interview series! 

Nikki knows all to well what it feels like to ride the waves of the different seasons of motherhood and speaks to the ways she's evolved in her role from the moment she held her firstborn in her arms compared to now. 

We discuss that wild concept of "balance," how to manage the chaos of playing mom's taxi cab, prioritizing self care in motherhood, and coming back fr...

We all doubt ourselves sometimes. It doesn't help that in motherhood in this day and age, all of the opinions circulate like a merry-go-round in our heads. But motherhood wasn't designed with room for doubt. Moms were designed with "mama bear" type instincts, the ability to interpret and protect our children like no one else can. Our presence was designed to be territorial, and we should be confident in our own abilities.

There are three areas of motherhood that you should NEVER allow doubt to creep in, and we talk about them in today's episode!

...

"I have to laugh or else I might cry." Have you ever felt this way in motherhood? Because I sure have! That time our son threw a tantrum that was (no joke) 2 hours long, or when our daughter has us operating on 1-2 hours of sleep a night, or how about that time the Roomba dragged dog poop through my house (MORTIFYING).

Look, we've all had those moments where motherhood feels everything except funny. But if we can't find it in us to laugh at the challenges, the struggles, the complete dumpster fire that is our day-to-day...

With warmer weather approaching, lots of moms start to worry about getting our summer body ready for shorts, tank tops, and swimsuit season. We start to get self-conscious about how we've "bounced back" from the season of motherhood we're in, or whether or not we hit our goal weight on the scale. 

While I'm a total advocate for prioritizing your health in motherhood and I think this is important, I also believe we should find joy in every season of this journey. After two babies in two years, I'm not feeling super confident heading in to "hot m...

Today's episode is a little bit different, and the beginning of something very exciting for the Moms Working Overtime Podcast - a collaboration with Jeremy Mullins, a registered dietician and expert all things health and wellness. 

There will be many more collaborations to come between myself and The Jeremy Mullins Podcast, which I will share with all of you, but today I wanted to post this episode because Jeremy and I spoke all about parenthood and wellness. 

We dive into how to overcome self-limiting beliefs that moms have, how to find small moments to prioritize yo...

Each morning, my son goes off to school and I tell him:
"Listen to your teachers. Be nice to your friends. Be a kind boy."

I think a lot of us say these types of motherly things. We want our children to grow up to be good humans. We want to do a good job with them.

There's a saying I love - "Be the change you want to see in the world, but I think it can give a bystander effect..."someone else will change the world, so I don't have to." It's...

Motherhood teaches you just how strong and resilient you are. It reveals a version of you that you might not have even known existed. It reveals this woman that was perfectly designed to raise, mold, and protect her children. And this strength, this resilience, is often developed through all of the life experiences that come before pregnancy and motherhood. 

Today I get to bring one of my best friends, Taylor Frazier, on to speak about the season of waiting for motherhood, pregnancy, and how overcoming hard times can make us exactly who we were meant to be i...

"I'll never sleep again"
Have you ever felt this way? Well if so, you're certainly not alone. As moms, we hear all of the things - to "sleep when the baby sleeps," or "just let them cry it out," or "chug some caffeine - you're fine!"

Easier said than done when you're not the one up all hours of the night, seeing each hour on the clock. Moms lose sleep for so many reasons and it can often feel like it's our responsibility to handle the late night wake-ups. Somehow, despite the level of exhaustion we...

I have another amazing guest that I get to share with you all today - my sweet friend, Meg LaFerla! Meg opened her heart for me in today's interview, sharing about one of the most raw and vulnerable moments of her life - her divorce and the journey of navigating single motherhood that followed.

Divorce brings so many unwanted challenges that can feel unexpected, unfair, and unnecessarily harsh. It can leave you feeling broken, wondering what the future holds, and struggling to get out of bed each day. What Meg shares on today's podcast that is most...

Support the show

Let's connect on social media! Send me your thoughts to https://www.instagram.com/alanna.hellman/ or https://www.instagram.com/momsworkingovertime/. I'd love to get to know you better!

Join the MWO Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/momsworkingovertime

You can always find more information at www.momsworkingovertime.com.

Try Earthley Wellness: https://earthley.com/ref/alannahellman/?campaign=MWO%20Podcast

Thank you so much for listening!

Love what you hear? Please share the podcast and leave a review! It means the world to...

The theme of today's podcast: just because it's COMMON doesn't mean it's NORMAL. 

All too often, I hear moms talk about how they have specific symptoms or conditions after having children that they accept as "normal" just because lots of other women experience them, too. That's simply not the case. 

Today I have pelvic health physical therapist, Kelly Yamnitz, to do an incredible interview all about pelvic health - what it is, why we experience the negative symptoms associated with it, how to treat them, and why all women should be seen by a physical th...

Today's episode is about the freedom we have as moms to change our minds sometimes. If we're constantly striving to grow, evolve, and challenge ourselves, then change is inevitable. We shouldn't shy away from it. 

Hardly any of us are the exact type of mom we thought we would be, myself included. We can probably think back to conversations we had before children when we said "I will never"...and we were wrong. So while we might have this idea of who we will be or maybe even have an unrealistic expectation for ourselves, when push comes t...

We've painted this picture in the motherhood space that "toxic positivity" is this awful, ugly thing that should be our enemy. It has conditioned us to resent a positive mindset, to resist growth, and to disregard other perspectives. I want to challenge you with a new way of viewing this with today's episode.

You see, I believe the real problem, the real enemy in society and motherhood, is the inability to provide validation. We have terrible communication skills. If you are on the Toxic Positivity train, it could be because you're not feeling validated in your own...

Today's episode is another special gift to my ladies in our listening audience that are in a season of waiting, longing for the experience of motherhood. I was able to interview an incredible guest, Caroline Harries, who is the founder of Moms in the Making. 

Moms in the Making is a non-profit faith-based Christian infertility support group. It is an incredible resource that was created to support and encourage women on their journey to becoming a mom by sharing the hope and truth of God’s Word.

As of 2024, Moms in the Making has 90 in-person and...

How often have you thought to yourself, "my children behave worse for me than they do for anyone else!" throughout your motherhood journey? You're certainly not alone. 

It can feel so frustrating to feel like we get the worst of our children sometimes. It leaves us low on patience and often leads to raising our voice, bargaining with the kids, and feeling guilty at the end of the day. We're so hard on ourselves, thinking "I'm such a bad mom" or "I wish I would've handled that differently." 

In today's pep talk, I share a pe...

Get ready for what might be my favorite interview yet! My sweet friend, Stephanie Lawler, agreed to come on the Moms Working Overtime Podcast to speak with you all about achieving personal goals while being a mom, juggling "all of the things," learning to be present, and overcoming obstacles. Stephanie is a mom of two, a women's health coach, a business mentor, entrepreneur, leader in the health and fitness industry, and so much more. She's a mama I go to in my own moments of weakness and I'm honored to share her with you all! 

Stephanie and I...

To help us kick off Season 2 of the Moms Working Overtime Podcast in 2024, I thought it was time to go back to our roots and talk about "overtime" hours. 

Mom culture can be so toxic to our mindset. It seems to either glamorize motherhood, making it appear clean and pretty and always picture perfect, or it capitalizes on the hard parts of motherhood, making the hard parts of this role primary focus and putting a magnifying glass on our struggles. 

What we need more of the motherhood space is mom who show how messy it is...

So many people believe the postpartum experience is all sunshine and rainbows. I mean, how could it not be? You just welcomed your perfect, wonderful little bundle of joy into the world! Right? ...well, not always. 

The postpartum experience can be dark and scary, something many moms feel but don't talk about because they're ashamed. It can feel like a very lonely and isolating experience. I'm so grateful to my guest today, Katie Pennington, for being willing to come on the podcast and share her story. 

Katie shares the real and raw sides of postpartum, th...

No mom is safe when it comes to owning our crazy. I don't care WHAT type of mom you say you are - you have some crazy in you, too. We all do. It's what makes motherhood so special, and it's why only we can do it the way we do.  Today's podcast is all about owning the things about us that make us the moms we are.

As different as you might think you are from another mom in your life, you're just as crazy as she is. And the amazing thing about it all is t...