Life After Menopause

When one of your four children wants to know which child you prefer, how do you answer? Because, let's face facts, saying "I love you all the same" is an outright lie and every child knows that. I invited my three oldest children to ask me whatever they wanted to know about their upbringing and my parenting. Which of my children I liked the most and found easiest to bring up is what my eldest son wanted to know...

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👩‍👧💖Have you ever wondered what your children REALLY think of your parenting style (but you’re too afraid to ask)💖👩‍👧

I had this great idea: why not ask my kids their opinions on what did and didn't work for them as they were growing up, particularly in their teenage years. I don't know whether I'm really brave, really stupid or just a glutton for punishment. In this second of the series, my 20-year old daughter came armed with a list of questions... and I wasn't prepared for some of them...

Listen to the podcast then find out more here:

http://middleagedwomensstuff.com/mar-moth/parent-not-friend/

How do you pull a teenager out of their avid and dramatic introspection ("the whole world is against me, no one understands me!") and into understanding their place in the world, their impact on others and what's really going on is just inside their own heads. And yes, other people actually do understand them because anyone older than them has been through the whole teenage thing themselves.

So, I thought I'd ask one of my kids how, despite many setbacks and much yelling, I got that through to them and how our relationship survived their teenage years.

Connections seems a strange description given what's happening in the world right now but somehow it seems appropriate.

I want to get honest, vulnerable and open in my connections with people. And it's not always easy...

I did a degree in construction back in the 80's and experienced little sex discrimination, but over the last few years, I've been getting more and more uncomfortable about things and I have this gnawing suspicion that we haven't come as far as we think we have.

Check out the show notes here, along with links to the books I mention:

I've discovered some weirdly interesting things in the last few weeks around gender inequalities. I've never been one to hark on about sex equality, I just take it for granted that I'm equal. But my recent enquiries into medical research into women (it's bizarrely behind the times) and the subtle ways women are taught to suppress their self expression, came up with a completely different story...

Listen to the podcast then find out more here:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and go against current beliefs on child rearing because I believe that boys need rules. And consequences. I don't think they need conversations, though they do need to understand and be understood. To me, the "modern" way of child rearing seems to be geared more towards girls than boys and it's putting boys at a big disadvantage.

Read more and get links to the books I mentioned here:

When I had my first child, I thought that having an assisted birth would be better than a Caesarean. 25 years later, I'm finding out just how wrong I was. A few years ago, the damage caused by the forceps was repaired using a pelvic mesh. Unfortunately, the mesh is eroded and corrupted and is massively impacting my quality of life, so it has to be removed. This is important for all women to know.

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It's one of a parent's worst nightmares: your child gets diagnosed with a terminal illness. What happens as your child goes through chemotherapy and all the struggles? How do you, as carer, deal with it? Joanna Dolan talks about the process of having a child die of cancer, how it impacts the whole family, the general lack of support available for carers in this situation and how she's helping families uncover their real medical history.

Find out more here

It’s well known that insomnia can lead to depression and anxiety and vice versa, but there are a few things about sleep that I’ve discovered recently, along with the impact that social isolation can have on our mental & emotional state.

Click here to get more information and access to resources:

http://www.middleagedwomensstuff.com/menopause-marriage-motherhood/ep-9-depression-sleep-social

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