So we invited Gretchen to join us on Power of Moms Radio to talk about this idea more in depth.

When our homes are a mess, it feels impossible to function. But cleaning closets and wiping kitchen counters seems to “make our brains work better” and enables us to breathe more fully.

But is the reverse also true? Does inner calm lead to outer order?

Does outer order sometimes create a facade of inner calm?

Is the word “contributes” the key here? (Meaning there’s more at play than we may realize?)

Listen to this podcast full of new perspectives and quick, actionable tips–and then share your thoughts in the comments!

The new school year is just around the corner, and if you already cringing at the thought of your countertops overrun with projects and papers, today's podcast is here to help!

For Show Notes, visit https://powerofmoms.com/bonus-school-papers

And for a free video from Alia, where she'll teach your children how to use three simple folders and a calendar to keep their desks and spaces clean, sign up at http://LearnDoBecome.com/s4s

Mother Rachel Nielson found Power of Moms when she had a colicky newborn baby and she felt desperate for hope.  In the years since, her challenges as a mother have changed as her children have gotten older, but she has continued to turn to our community for inspiration.  She has also written articles for our website about concrete ways that she finds hope and fulfillment as a mother, even in the hardest of times.

In today’s podcast, Rachel reads four of her articles for you:

• What If I Don’t Like Playing with My Kids? which outlines six strategies for mothers who don’t naturally play
• The Best Year of My Life?, which describes her first year of motherhood with a colicky newborn and what she learned
• Anchored by Beautiful Moments, which includes two strategies for savoring the best moments in motherhood
• Worth Fighting For, which details her own mother’s 13-year-battle with breast cancer and the ways that she taught Rachel to treasure life and the opportunity to be a mother

We hope you will listen to this uplifting podcast, full of hope and ideas for getting through the daily struggles of motherhood, big and small!

And don’t forget, YOU can write for Power of Moms too!  Guidelines for submitting can be found here.  We’d love to hear from you about what you are learning and how you are growing each day as a mother.  We love this community of women and the hope that we gain from each other.

If your children bicker and argue (and we’re guessing they do), what do you do about it?

In this week’s encore radio show, Saren and April discuss some of their own experiences handling sibling rivalry (some that work, some that don’t!).

They talk about when to ignore the arguing, which discipline strategies work best for them, and where they go for additional answers.

Once you’ve listened to the podcast, please share your thoughts below!

For full show notes, please visit powerofmoms.com/2-19

Do you start ever  start the day as Mary Poppins but end it as Miss Hannigan? Does your temper sometimes get the best of you?

Patience is a virtue that every mom struggles with from time to time. When everyone is throwing needs in our direction and our own needs aren’t being met and our house is a mess and our brain is a jumbled of things we’re worried about, it’s so hard to keep our cool!

In this week’s episode, Saren and April talk openly and honestly about some methods they’ve found to be really helpful when it comes to simmering down during situations that are about to boil over.

For full show notes, please visit powerofmoms.com/2-17

Are you getting worried about summer? Often we want to use this season wisely and well, but be relaxed at the same time. We want to spend time with our kids, but we also don’t want them to drive us crazy! This audio post has three articles with lots of ideas about how to achieve that perfect summer balance!  For full show notes, please visit powerofmoms.com/2-16

We have three more audio posts for you today! "Self Care Is Not Selfish" by Lucille Zimmerman and "When It Feels Hard to 'Enjoy Every Moment'" by Mary Karlee Mullen and "How to Be a Happy Mother When Everything Isn't Perfect" by Heather Saunders. These are designed specifically to help you find more joy in motherhood, but not because every moment will be FUN, but because you'll learn how to take care of yourself, enjoy the "overall" process, and find joy when life most definitely does NOT feel perfect. So glad to have you here at Power of Moms!

For full show notes, please visit https://wp.me/p2dC8Q-dU3.

This week, we're featuring three amazing posts created by deliberate mothers in our community: "Everyone Needs Backup" by Aubrey Degn, "Exercise Therapy" by Sarah Badat Richardson, and "How to Have Difficult Conversations with Your Child's Teacher" by Amanda Hamilton Roos. We're confident that by the end of this podcast, you'll have some creative ideas for managing the challenges in your home, you'll feel more committed to taking care of yourself, and you'll feel more prepared to tackle any difficult issues that may be going on with your child at school. So excited you're with us, and we're grateful to our team of deliberate mothers who made this podcast possible!

For full show notes, please visit powerofmoms.com/2-13