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’...
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Episodes
The Guardian Mom — The Mom Who Lives to Protect Her Teen and Struggles to Let Go of the Worry — Archetype #1 | Ep. 104
Being the mom who sees every risk, anticipates every need, and quietly absorbs the worry feels like love—until it starts to feel like fear. The Guardian Mom wants nothing more than to keep her teen safe, but in the...
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What Type of Mom Are You? — Why Understanding Your Mind Changes Everything in Motherhood | Ep. 103
We spend so much time worrying we’re not doing enough—overthinking our parenting, second-guessing our instincts, and comparing ourselves to other moms who seem to have it all together. But what if the way you love,...
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Lessons I Wish I Knew Sooner — Learning to Love My Teen Without Conditions and Let Go With Grace | Ep. 102
Motherhood has taught me a thousand lessons—but none more important than how to love without conditions. This episode is personal. I open up about what it felt like to bring my son home after his first year of...
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Regret, Guilt, and the “What Ifs” — For the Mom Who’s Ready to Let Go of the Past | Ep. 101
Regret has a way of creeping in when we least expect it—especially in motherhood. Sometimes it sounds like, “I should’ve done more,” or “Why did I let that happen?” Whether it’s about parenting choices, missed...
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The Managed Mindset — Letting Go of Overthinking, Guilt, and Emotional Chaos while Raising Teens | Ep. 100
It’s easy to feel like life is happening to us—especially in this season of raising teens and preparing for the empty nest. We care so deeply that we absorb all the worry, guilt, and stress, and then wonder why we’re...
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The Judgment Mindset — How Labels, Guilt, and Overthinking Keep Moms of Teens Stuck in Anxiety | Ep. 99
Judging ourselves is second nature—we question our parenting, criticize our choices, and even feel guilty for just having negative thoughts. But that judgment doesn’t stop with us. It shows up in how we see our teens,...
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The Validation-Seeking Mindset — How Comparison, Perfectionism, and People-Pleasing Keep Moms Feeling Not Enough | Ep. 98
Sometimes I don’t even realize I’m doing it—comparing myself, needing reassurance, wondering if I’ve done enough, or if my teen thinks I’m a good mom. But when my self-worth depends on their approval—or anyone...
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The L.O.V.E. Technique — A Mindset Reset for Moms Who Feel Overwhelmed, Anxious, and Stuck in Overthinking | Ep. 97
There are days when motherhood feels like too much—when the weight of worry, responsibility, and overthinking leaves me anxious and exhausted. I created the L.O.V.E. Technique because I needed a way to step off that...
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The Fix-It Mindset — How the Urge to Help Keeps Moms Anxious, Overwhelmed, and Emotionally Exhausted | Ep. 96
Fixing things used to feel like love—jumping in to help, offering advice, smoothing the path so my teen wouldn’t struggle. But eventually, I realized all that fixing was costing me more than I thought. It left me...
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The Worry Mindset — How Overthinking, Uncertainty, and a Fear of Letting Go Keep Moms of Teens Stuck in Anxiety | Ep. 95
Worry has always felt like part of motherhood—like proof that I care deeply and want to protect my teen. But over time, I started to see how that worry wasn’t keeping anyone safe; it was just keeping me stuck in...
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The Mindset Trap Primer — What Every Mom Needs to Know About the Mental Habits That Steal Your Peace | Ep. 94
This season of motherhood is full of emotional whiplash—one moment I’m trying to guide my teen through college applications or mental health struggles, and the next I’m wondering who I even am outside of being a mom....
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I Am Enough — How Moms of Teens Can Stop Overthinking and Start Trusting Themselves Again | Ep. 93
For years, I’ve chased the feeling that what I was doing as a mom was “enough.” That I was doing enough, giving enough, being enough. But no matter how much I checked off the list or how hard I tried, that whisper of...
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