The Almost Empty Nest—Letting Go, Redefined: Parenting Teens and Finding Yourself Again—with Small Jar Coach
Are you stuck between wanting to guide your teen or college kid and knowing it’s time to start letting go? Welcome to The Almost Empty Nest Podcast, where moms of teens and college kids reframe what ‘letting go’...
All Episodes
Episodes
"My Kid Doesn't Care How I Feel" —Thoughts Moms Parenting Teens and Adult Kids Are Ashamed They Think | Ep. 224
Have you ever wondered if your teen or adult kid even cares how you feel?
In this episode, I’m sharing a deeply personal story from my own journey of parenting teens. I take you with me on a long, lonely overnight...
View Episode
Advice or Boundaries: What to Do When Your Teen Stops Listening | Ep. 223
If you’ve ever found yourself holding back advice with your teen or big kid—wondering whether to say something or let it go—this episode is for you. Because parenting teens and young adults puts us in a really...
View Episode
"I Don't Feel Close to My Big Kid Anymore" —Thoughts Moms Parenting Teens and Adult Kids Are Ashamed They Think | Ep. 222
I don’t feel close to my kid anymore.
If you’ve ever had that thought while parenting teens or navigating the empty nest, this episode is for you. I’m talking honestly about what it feels like when the relationship...
View Episode
Mindset Traps of Parenting Teens and the Empty Nest—Trap #5: Perfectionism—Letting Go of the Need to Get It Right | Ep. 221
Have you ever noticed how much mental energy you spend wondering if you’re doing this parenting thing "right"? Maybe you replay conversations in your head, second-guess a boundary you set, or feel that pressure to do...
View Episode
"I'm the Only One Who Cares" —Thoughts Moms Parenting Teens and Adult Kids Are Ashamed They Think | Ep. 220
Have you ever caught yourself thinking, I’m the only one who cares — and felt both justified and completely exhausted by it? I hear this from so many moms who are parenting teens or navigating the early empty nest...
View Episode
Letting Go as Your Kids Grow Up—Sitting with the Discomfort of Change | Ep. 219
Change is uncomfortable. And if you’re parenting a teen or standing on the edge of the empty nest, you may be feeling that discomfort more than ever.
In this episode, I’m talking about why change feels so hard—even...
View Episode
"I Don't Know What I Want Anymore" —Thoughts Moms Parenting Teens and Adult Kids Are Ashamed They Think | Ep. 218
“I don’t know what I want anymore.”
If you’re parenting teens, launching a child into adulthood, or standing on the edge of the empty nest, this thought might feel painfully familiar. It begins to show up in the space...
View Episode
When Your Big Kid is Failing to Launch—Why Boundaries Aren't the Real Problem | Ep. 217
Have you ever looked at your child’s life and wondered, what if they never figure it out?
I hear moms use the phrase “my kid is failing to launch” all the time, and I know how much fear is in those words. Because this...
View Episode
"My Kid's Leaving and I Thought I'd Be Used To This By Now" —Thoughts Moms Parenting Teens and Adult Kids Are Ashamed They Think | Ep. 216
I used to think this feeling would go away with time. That eventually I’d be used to the goodbyes, the quiet, the shifting rhythm of motherhood. But whether your child is heading off to college, spending more time...
View Episode
Mindset Traps of Parenting Teens and the Empty Nest—Trap #4: Illusion of Control — Letting Go of Anxiety, Not Your Kid | Ep. 215
Have you ever felt that panic that if you don't stay on top of things with your big kid, that something might go terribly wrong? You feel that urge to say the right thing, to remind them one more time, or to give them...
View Episode
"Nothing Changed This Year" —Thoughts Moms Parenting Teens and Adult Kids Are Ashamed They Think | Ep. 214
If you find yourself thinking, “Nothing changed this year,” I hear you. And I've been there.
So many of us moms reach the end of the year still feeling anxious, triggered, or unsure, and assume that means we haven’t...
View Episode
Who Do You Want To Be in 2026?—Parenting Teens, Letting Go, and Learning to Trust Yourself in the Empty Nest | Ep. 213
Have you ever stopped to recognize how much strength it’s taken to be the mom you are today?
If you’re parenting teens or standing on the edge of the empty nest, this season of motherhood can feel like a constant...
View Episode
