Sarah’s Update

[00:00:01] Welcome to season two of You and Me, Kid, a podcast about starting and raising a family on your own.

[00:00:08] Where I speak with other single moms, those still considering and experts in relevant fields,

[00:00:14] to give you a real sense of what the day-to-day experience of solo parenting looks and feels like.

[00:00:19] So wherever you are in the process, I hope this podcast provides some support, helpful info, and most importantly humor.

[00:00:26] Thanks so much for listening. Now let's get to it.

[00:00:32] Welcome to season two of You and Me, Kid.

[00:00:36] Thank you so much for listening. I can't believe we're actually recording the second season

[00:00:40] and I'm thrilled to share with you all of the discussions that I had this year.

[00:00:44] But before we get into those, I wanted to start the season out with just a little update on my own single mom life

[00:00:51] and how things have been going with my now 20-month-old daughter, Ellie. I can't believe it.

[00:00:57] It's been almost a year since we published season one and it's really hard to summarize all the things that have actually happened in the past year

[00:01:04] because it does really feel like it has gone at lightning speed.

[00:01:09] Things have been nonstop since last summer until now and I am constantly on the move running after her all around the house.

[00:01:18] We have long, babbling, hilarious conversations all the time.

[00:01:23] I spend a lot of time trying not to laugh at her ridiculous shifts in emotions and her strong opinions and her hilarious personality.

[00:01:32] She is a total character and we've been having a blast together and I think really developing a great relationship as mom and now toddler

[00:01:43] and have a lot more ways to communicate than we did in the early days and that is both frustrating as well as really wonderful

[00:01:50] and allows us to I think really understand each other better.

[00:01:54] So there are of course positives and negatives with this new age and as we're approaching the hopefully not terrible twos.

[00:02:04] I am still balancing two careers as a brand strategist as well as a realtor

[00:02:09] and for the most part that has been going great thanks to Ellie's incredible daycare that she attends Monday through Friday

[00:02:16] and really allows me to be a working professional in a way that feels really structured and organized for both of us.

[00:02:24] But there have certainly been some moments when my responsibility to my clients and my responsibility as a mom

[00:02:33] have both pulled at me at once and that has felt really hard and I'm getting used to that push pull

[00:02:39] and how to manage it in a way that feels fair to my work, to my baby and to my own mental and emotional health.

[00:02:47] But that's something that I'm constantly thinking about and constantly working on and we're going to talk a lot about that in this season

[00:02:53] especially in episode 11 when I speak to my dear friend Kara who is a child and family therapist

[00:03:00] and she's going to ask me some tough questions about some of those harder moments.

[00:03:04] This season it really felt important to me to dig a bit more into the harder parts of this process

[00:03:09] and shed some light on not just the snugly wonderful happy moments of motherhood

[00:03:15] but also the late nights and the early mornings and the crying and the sickness and the travel delays

[00:03:21] and what managing those really real experiences has felt like for me.

[00:03:27] I am also in a whole new stage of parenting with an almost two-year-old

[00:03:31] and with that comes with a lot of new questions for me to ask of other parents

[00:03:36] and that I ask of the women in this season about older years

[00:03:40] and how they're facing those challenges as parents and what has worked for them.

[00:03:46] Hey guys, thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast.

[00:03:50] As you know, this season I partnered up with California Cryo Bank, the number one sperm bank in the US.

[00:03:56] California Cryo Bank ships to over 40 countries and has one of the largest and most diverse selection of donors out there.

[00:04:03] They are offering my listeners an amazing deal for season two that gives you free access to their level 2 subscription

[00:04:10] which lets you check out baby and adult photos of the donors.

[00:04:14] To use this code, visit cryobank.com or click the link in the episode description

[00:04:19] and use my promo code you me kid y-o-u-m-e-k-i-d for a free level 2 subscription to their donor catalog.

[00:04:30] California Cryo Bank has helped tens of thousands create the family of their dreams and hopefully you're next.

[00:04:35] Now let's get back to it.

[00:04:40] In the past year, Ellie and I have also traveled a good bit both domestically as well as internationally.

[00:04:47] A few times I have traveled without her on some solo trips.

[00:04:51] I will say that while uninterrupted sleep is worth every penny of taking a trip and paying a babysitter to be home with her,

[00:04:59] I really miss her a lot more than I thought after a few days.

[00:05:03] And so I'm at a stage where two nights is kind of the right balance for me to go away from her, get a little rest,

[00:05:11] be able to spend some really quality time with friends, but also, you know, not miss her too much and be able to come home and hang out.

[00:05:19] At this point, I'm also really intentionally thinking about trips and adventures and even the small plans that we're making around town

[00:05:27] and what she and I really need on any given day.

[00:05:30] And that consideration has become part of my operating system

[00:05:34] and trying my best to make decisions that fill both of our cups instead of completely depleting us.

[00:05:41] Sometimes that means going on a taco date together, jumping on the bike, going down the street

[00:05:46] so I can have a margarita and we, you know, can get out of the house and have a little fun together.

[00:05:50] Sometimes it means me leaving for a night to spend some time with a good friend and having a really good night of sleep.

[00:05:58] Or this winter, it meant me getting a sitter for Saturdays in a row

[00:06:02] and budgeting for that so I could ski with one of my best friends and her family.

[00:06:06] And it was absolutely wonderful.

[00:06:08] Ellie and I are taking it kind of day by day when it comes to those plans and experimenting with what feels right.

[00:06:15] And I'm inching closer and closer to the idea of an international trip

[00:06:20] and thinking about where we might want to go and what doesn't feel totally intimidating for me distance-wise.

[00:06:27] But I'm waiting for finances to feel a bit more secure to make that decision.

[00:06:33] While this year I have been very open to dating, I haven't really done much of it.

[00:06:39] And I'm still just kind of keeping that door ajar for any friends who might know someone who could be a good fit.

[00:06:45] But I'm not investing a lot of time personally into dating apps or, you know, taking on the frustration that sometimes comes with all of that.

[00:06:54] So dating is certainly something that I'm still very much interested in but not investing a lot of effort into.

[00:07:01] I like to joke a lot that single parenting for me is sponsored by a few key brands and items.

[00:07:08] And this year is no exception.

[00:07:10] I would say my second year of moming was made possible by Trader Joe's Frozen Foods, King's Hawaiian Rolls that my daughter is totally obsessed with.

[00:07:20] We also were sponsored by Sesame Street and this amazing show on Apple called Still Water about a Zen panda that I'm totally obsessed with

[00:07:29] and really keeps me sane in the mornings when she gets up early and wants to watch a little TV.

[00:07:36] And I don't have to listen to someone singing crazy songs with some sort of crazy voice.

[00:07:41] So thank you Still Water for keeping me sane.

[00:07:44] This year is also sponsored as always by my Nespresso.

[00:07:48] But recently this drink called Celsius which has made a lot of my early mornings after really long, long, long nights

[00:07:57] possible for me to be a working human with a full brain.

[00:08:00] So thank you to Celsius for my second year of parenting.

[00:08:04] Overall it has been an incredible year.

[00:08:08] I am still completely and totally in love with this decision and being a mom

[00:08:13] and I'm really working on balancing the fear as well as my desire to maybe grow my family

[00:08:20] and wondering what that might look like or if that's something that I'm willing to pursue

[00:08:25] and what decisions I need to make to maybe think more about it.

[00:08:30] I hope you enjoyed this season.

[00:08:31] I want to say a huge thank you to the aspiring moms, the single moms and the experts that took the time yet again

[00:08:37] to speak with me and share their experiences and insights for this season.

[00:08:42] I hope you enjoy it and please continue to reach out with questions and comments

[00:08:46] or to nominate someone to be on the podcast at youandmekidpod.com.

[00:08:51] Thank you so much and please enjoy season two.

[00:08:57] Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.

[00:08:59] I hope you enjoyed it.

[00:09:01] For more information about the podcast or me, go to youandmekidpod.com.

[00:09:06] See you soon.

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