July 8, 2025 • 46 mins
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In this episode of The Real Family Eats, host Reesa sits down with guest Kerry Komarov to talk about parenting, life transitions, and a simple family-friendly recipe. They dive into the realities of juggling work, family, and personal challenges with honesty and practical advice.
- Kerry shares her story of balancing teaching, motherhood, and the transition to starting her own business.
- The emotional and logistical challenges of secondary infertility and how it impacted her family life.
- The importance of rethinking personal expectations and letting go of comparison.
- Tips for building a supportive community during tough times—even when details aren't shared.
- Step-by-step instructions for Kerry's easy, customizable "Egg Bundles" breakfast recipe.
Don’t miss this candid conversation packed with relatable moments, practical parenting wisdom, and a comforting recipe that anyone can try.
Connect with Kerry here:
Website: https://kerrykomarovllc.my.canva.site/
Strategy Session Booking Link for Small Business Owners:
https://calendly.com/kerrykomarovllc/strategysession
Find me on Facebook: Kerry Komarov
*******
Egg Bundles
-1 Pack of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
-4 Hard Boiled Eggs (sliced thin)
-4 Pieces of America Cheese
-Salt and Pepper
Makes 4 servings
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Roll out Pillsbury Crescent Dough onto a greased cookie sheet
3. Connect 2 perforated long triangles of dough by pinching them together along one side to make a rectangle (repeat with all 8 triangles - making 4 rectangles)
4. Break one piece of American Cheese in half and put both halves on top of each other on the right ride of the rectangle (repeat on all 4 rectangles)
5. Place all of the slices of hard-boiled egg from one of the eggs on top of the cheese (repeat on all for rectangles)
6. Salt and pepper on top of all the egg (repeat on each rectangle)
7. Fold the left side (empty side) of the rectangle over the cheese and eggs on the right side (filled side) of the rectangle. (Repeat on all 4 rectangles)
8. Pinch all 3 open sides shut (repeat on all 4 rectangles) - should kind of look like a fat hot pocket when you are done
9. Bake for 12 mins
******
Host: Reesa Morala, MA, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Reesa is a parenting specialist with a niche in supporting couples. Find Reesa hosting couples and parenting workshops nationwide!
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For the video version of this episode find us at: https://www.embracerenewaltherapy.com/
If you are a parent ready to share your real-life parenting struggle and dish up a recipe with Reesa, apply here:
https://www.embracerenewaltherapy.com/real-family-eats-guest
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
And anybody who's listeningthat's been doing infertility
going through it now, it is likean unfair unmapped-out world
where you need to figureevery single thing out yourself.
Hey everyone, thanks forjoining me.
(00:22):
My name is Reesa and I'myour host.
We are talking to real familiesabout real stories here on the
Real Family, where we'vegot food for thought
and thoughtful food.
So let's eat! Welcome backeverybody.
(00:48):
Thanks so much for joining us.
I am so excited for today'sepisode.
And the recipe to this isone I haven’t tried.
I'm so excited.
And I've got a lovely Kerry herewith us.
Hi, Kerry.
Thank you so muchfor being willing
to join us today on theReal Family. Eat.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for having me.
I love this concept of,like, chatting and trying
(01:08):
new recipes to share with youraudience.
I'm super thrilled to be here.
Wonderful.
Well, for anybody who doesn'tknow you, can you introduce
yourself for us?
Yeah, sure.
I'm Kerry, so I am aformer teacher.
I taught, middle schoolreading in the same middle
school that I actually attendedwhen I was younger.
And I did that for ten years.
(01:30):
I have two sons.
My older son is going toturn four, and then my younger
son is one and a half,and my younger son is kind of
when things change, it's like aturning point, in my life,
which I'm sure thatwe'll get into.
But, yeah, my husband and Ihave been married for coming up
(01:51):
on six years.
I think we should gone tosix years.
But, yeah, we we both liveclose to our parents.
We have really goodsupport systems.
And, I feel like nowwhen I reflect on, like,
the past couple of years and allthe challenges that have been
thrown our way, I feel likewe made it, so to speak,
(02:11):
like we got everythingunder control.
We can kind of like sit backnow, which says a lot
because I'm sure as we diginto some things, I did not
feel this way not too long ago.
So yeah, good points andthings are going well.
Okay.
And yes, I am so readyto dig in.
But before let's talkabout recipes.
(02:33):
So what recipe are you sharingwith our audience
and myself today?
And why did you choose this one?
Okay, I'm laughing because thisis like the easiest recipe and.
For no reason at all.
I actually learned it in mymiddle school.
We call it SCA Family ConsumerSciences class and I've kept it
(02:56):
for this long.
So it's it's egg bundlesis what we call it.
Okay.
It is so simple.
I breakfast is my favorite mealof the day, and, there's really
no other reason that it's easyto make.
It fills you up, and I feellike it's whatever ingredients
you have on hand.
You can make it more complicatedor simple as you have it.
(03:17):
And people tend to like it,and we recreate it easily.
I love it, which, you know,as talking, we're talking to
other parents here,to being able to kind of
throw something together, usewhat you have, and be pretty
straight forward is alwaysa game changer.
I think it's very helpful.
So I love it.
Yeah, things with toomany ingredients.
(03:39):
I already push to the sidebecause if I have to go buy
jars of spices, it's not for me.
Yeah, okay.
Fair enough for sure.
Okay, so tell me, whatare the steps to your recipe
and I will get a samplingwhile we chat.
Yeah.
So I think the first stepis that you have to have hard
boiled eggs.
So I always make sureI have them ready to go
(04:01):
beforehand.
I just drop them in the waterbefore the water is boiling,
and then I set a timerfor 17 minutes.
That might not be the waypeople make hard boiled eggs,
but that's worked for me.
And then what?
You need, like roll or twoof Pillsbury crescent rolls.
And they actually are trianglesthat you keep two together
(04:22):
to make a rectangle, and youkind of pinch.
I'm like, you would likea pie crust.
Yeah.
And then you preheat the oven.
I think it's 350.
If I remember correctly.
It's whatever the oventemperature is on the crescent
rolls, to be honest with you,which I think is three 5375.
And then once the eggs are done,you kind of slice them up
real thin so that they'rekind of like, like a little chip
(04:45):
on us.
Okay, line them up.
You cut a piece of Americancheese or whatever
cheese in half, put that on topand then salt and pepper.
That could be it.
And then you pinchthe sides close.
Kind of like a Hot Pocket.
Okay.
Then if you have more andyou want to be fancy
and you want to put like baconor Porcaro or, peppers in there,
(05:06):
that's how you could spice it upfor the adults.
If the kids are going to gofor that, I love it.
Okay, well, I've got the,I'm going to stick to
to the original for today.
And that's what I'll bedoing on my side
while we dive in.
I know you mentioned youkind of gave us, like, a little,
a little hint that there wasa point as far as your
(05:28):
parent journey where kind ofthings are shifting.
And so I'd love for youto kind of start us off like,
what was that shift and what didyou experience and kind of
walk us through that.
Yeah.
So it started out slow rollingshift and then like, hit me
like a ton of bricksall at once.
So when my oldest son, was born,he was born in March.
(05:49):
And, I have like the12 weeks FMLA for maternity
leave, which is notreally maternity leave from
teaching.
Which actually put me to comeback to work like two weeks
before the end of that schoolyear.
So to me it was like, oh,I get to have my cake
and eat it to, do the FMLAfor 12 weeks.
Two weeks.
(06:09):
I'll go back, see my friendsat school, I get a change
of scenery, and then I haveall summer with him.
And I loved it.
I was like, this is amazing.
This is like the perfect.
Everyone says teaching is theperfect career for my mom.
And I will say that is prettymuch true.
Like you're home all summer,winter break, holiday, snow
days, whatever.
But when I had to go backin the spring or summer,
(06:31):
in the fall, I it kind of hitme at that point how exhausting
teaching is.
I always feel like as a teacherand I love teaching.
Okay?
I was like one of those peoplewho is born to be a teacher,
and I was obsessed with it.
I loved the idea ofaffecting kids lives in like
a positive way, especially inmiddle school, which can be
(06:52):
tricky, for them.
But when I wentback in the fall,
I was exhausted.
I felt like I had to puton a show for all my students.
I like 130 every day becausemiddle school rotate.
Yeah. Wow.
And it was likeevery 45 minutes, you gotta
have it back up again.
Like like, you know, like you'renot exhausted or whatever.
So I would then gopick my son up after a long day
(07:16):
and I was just like done.
I had nothing left.
And on top of that, we werethroughout that school year,
starting to expandour family more, and we
ended up having unexplainedsecondary infertility, which
for anybody going throughthe infertility journey I have,
there are no words to explainthe pain.
(07:38):
And like the pain is palpableand the sadness is like
you can feel it.
I've never been so sadmy entire life.
So that's like a full timejob in itself, on top of being
a teacher and then coming homeand just being exhausted
and like tryingto play with this little boy.
I know, by the way, like,I have a husband
who I should give someattention to.
(08:00):
So that's when the ideawas like, this is so, so much.
And like, as much as I loveteaching is, it's worth it.
So my second son, Devin,who's a year and a half, he was
the result is a very successfulfourth UI. So we found that
out on Christmas Eve that yearwhich was like a true Christmas
(08:20):
miracle.
Oh my goodness.
Oh yeah.
This little boythat's changed me
in all the ways.
He is sweet and affectionatebut oh my god, he is chaotic.
Okay true.
Second child.
He didn't sleep up until he'sa year and a half.
(08:40):
He didn't sleep until, like twomonths ago.
Basically.
Pride only wanted usto hold him just you name it.
It was impossible.
And I was like, how am I goingto go back to work with,
like, him?
Like, he's not evenadjusted to us and we're his
mom and dad, and then I'm goingto pass him off to either,
like my mom to watch him ordaycare to watch him. And
(09:04):
I was like, something hasto give.
So I tried, to find another wayto make income.
Much like Fast Forward ended upbeing successful.
Maternity leave, if you cancall it that, was,
the time to try because I wasn'tmaking money anyway.
So if this new endeavor flopped,okay, it's because I
had no paycheck from teachingregardless.
(09:26):
So yeah, now I ownmy own business and I'm in
like the virtual service worldand I resigned from teaching,
so I didn't go back afterI had him.
And it has been a huge gamechanger for our whole family,
like physically, mentally,emotionally.
And we are in a very good spot.
Wow. Okay.
(09:46):
So I'd love to just I mean, evenstart kind of towards
the beginning of,of your journey.
And as you mentioned,that there's this level
of exhaustion and then havingto kind of go back to work
and to, you know, I heardyou mention in there
kind of perform.
And I wanted to circle backto that because I feel like
(10:08):
I've heard that from so manyparents that especially ones
that return to thework environment
and that there's just maybeI don't know if it's a lack
of understanding and truly,like you said, the depth
of the exhaustion and whatthat's like, maybe it's
that just our society is like,that's not, you know, pretty
(10:29):
to look at.
So we're just not hereto talk about it.
But I wanted to take a moment.
If it's okay with youto kind of chat, can you tell us
a little bit more into thatkind of what what we're
experiencing?
How did that then impacthow you were able to to show up
in the job, to show up at home?
So I don't I'm not, like,super proud to admit this,
(10:51):
but I would show up at the jobbecause it's my job.
I'm a professional.
I'm getting paid to do this.
I also had a pretty highstandard for myself as a teacher
because really, like,I'm comparing my own self
to my self as a teacher beforeI have kids.
And I was like, Papi always hadthese hands on activities
that take so much set upon the back end and like,
(11:13):
I didn't want to let myself downwith that.
And I guess, like, I didn't wantto let down students who,
you know, knew thatI was capable of that.
And then I'm just likehanding out worksheets.
So I'm not proud of it as a mom.
But like, I would just putall my energy into teaching
because to me, that was like myprofessional obligation.
(11:37):
And so when I would give it all,I mean, yeah, don't
get me wrong, my lessonplans were still amazing.
My kids, my students,what I call my kids up until now
that I don't have them anymore,which I do miss them, but,
they were like performingso well.
They would jump a few of themwho had like some serious issues
going on at home with likejump up multiple reading levels
(12:01):
in one school year.
And I just felt so proud of thatbecause, like, I know that
that was a reflection of mewith, you know, at the risk
of sounding like arrogantand conceded, I know that
the way I was teaching themwas helping them.
And so to me, that wasalmost like the reward, like,
keep going, you're doing it.
But then when I get home,I just want to collapse
on the couch.
(12:21):
And that's really sadfor at that point, my one
son who was learning how towalk or learning how to throw
a ball and and I'm just like,oh, but but walk over there
while I decompress and scrollthrough my phone and sit on
the couch and yeah, you know,the days where I didn't do that
and I was like, I'm going toget on the ground and play
(12:41):
with them, like, talk abouta whole nother level
of exhaustion and performingwhere it's like, me and you
and I don't genuinelywant to ride this little train
around this room and like,so guilty.
So mom, guilt was like timesa thousand.
Yeah.
And I imagine too, because youmentioned in there this is
comparison of what I could dobefore kids versus
(13:06):
what was happening right now.
And I think that's so commonbecause and I hear that even
just with regards to like, what,you know, romantic relationship
with your partner might bethat so many times we're kind of
looking at that and we'recomparing, oh,
we ought to be able to do thisbecause we did it before,
and there's so much of that.
(13:26):
Like, is it kind of addit sounds like added pressure
to kind of live up to this ideathat was that around the lines
of kind of what you wereexperiencing personally.
Yeah.
I mean, the easiest wayto think about it is like,
think about all your cutegoing out clothes from college.
Like, I don't know about you,but I wore some questionable
(13:48):
things.
There's no shot that I'm wearingthose again, whether they fit
or not.
It's not who I am anymore.
I mean, they definitelydon't fit, don't get me wrong.
But even if they did, that isnot my vibe.
So like, it's funny because inthe aspect of like clothes,
I know that I'm not goingto put pressure on myself
(14:09):
to go wear that crazy dressthat I one day wore, because
it feels like icky to me,like it's not my version
of me anymore.
And for some reason, like,that's okay.
But then when you think aboutcomparing yourself as like
the teacher or professionalor even like partner or wife
or whatever it is before,then suddenly you're like,
maybe I should beable to go back, but then change
(14:30):
the scenario and you can't.
So it's an odd wayto look at it.
It's a really weird place to beuntil you come to terms
with, like accepting whoyou are now and like not just
accepting it, but being like,proud of it and happy with it.
Yeah. For you.
You know, like if you're kind ofreflecting back maybe
(14:53):
where did that constructornarrative kind of come from
for you as far as this?
Like you said, thatyou can maybe accept that and
and acknowledge and totallybe like, yeah, that makes sense
when it comes to clothes.
But for parenting and for justhow you're doing things in the
work environment, why that wassuch maybe, more difficult
(15:14):
shift to me.
Yeah, I think it's because,like, you build something up
and especially females,I feel build something up
in your head for so long.
Like one day I'm going toget married.
One day I'm going to be a momand have kids.
And so, like, you justdon't want to let that down.
I'm like, wow, now I have kidsand like, look at me.
(15:35):
I'm too exhausted toplay with them.
Especially whenyou have a child.
After wanting that childfor so damn long and not
being able to have them.
So in my case, unexplainedsecondary infertility
like we had my first sonas soon as we wanted to.
So the fact thatwe had tried for so long
(15:56):
and went through so manychallenges and just
like heartbreaks to have himnow even guiltier
with the second, that it's like,how am I not happy to be up
between 2 and 4 a.m.
every morning like he's here?
So I feel obligated to be happyto be awake right now.
And like, I can't namea single mom who feels happy
(16:19):
to be awake between the hoursof two and 4 a.m..
So yeah, it's just oddpressure of like,
but this is whatI always wanted, so I need
to enjoy every moment.
Like now I'm I'm thrilledthat my younger son is learning
how to use a spoonto eat yogurt.
I'm not thrilled to cleanup his face an entire tray.
And for after he eats it.
So like it's just a you don'thave to love every single part
(16:44):
of it.
And that actuallymakes it easier to be happy
on the parts that you do love.
Yeah.
Could you talk a littlebit more?
How did you get to that shiftin mindset?
Like was that something thatjust like one morning
you woke up and it was a shift?
Or tell me more?
(17:04):
Yeah, honestly,this is the truth of it.
I was scrollingthrough Instagram
with the newborn in my armtrying to find some kind of mom
hack to get him to sleep,and I came across my cousin,
who I'm not super close,and she lives in Florida.
I'm in Pennsylvania.
So, like, we don't seeeach other hardly at all.
But she also had a newborn,and her picture on her story
(17:26):
was a newborn sleepingin her arms and her with her
computer app, and hercaption was, I'm so lucky that
I get to do both right now.
Like I can provide for my familyand snuggle all these snuggles
during the day.
And then I reached out to her,which to her was probably
out of nowhere because wedon't really.
We're so far apart, likewe don't talk that much.
(17:48):
I was like, how are you doingthis?
And she's like, I just,I started my own business
and I was like, okay,that sounds intimidating as
all hell.
But I think that if I want tosee change in like the way
I'm feeling, I need tomake change in what I'm doing.
So I just kind of tookthe plunge and tried it again.
(18:08):
There was no maternity leave,so if I tried it and it
went horribly, I would justgo back to work and figure it
out somewhere else downthe line.
But the thing that changedthe whole thing was me
taking that huge chunk ofpressure off, which was
teaching and like having ain person, you can call it
9 to 5.
Other teaching was more like730 to 3.
(18:31):
That structure, which wasn'tgoing to work for my life
anymore.
Like, I still work, I work 20to 25 hours a week, but it's on
my own time when I can.
Some days I don't work,some days I do work and I get
everything done.
But it's definitely not,like the 9 to 5 structure that
the majority of people have.
(18:53):
Yeah.
And I live kind of what youmentioned of it sounds like
really taking maybe a little bitof creativity in what your life
can look like now versustrying to fit it into to
maybe somebody else's definitionof what it ought to look like.
(19:14):
Is that a fair statement?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Because I mean, you look aroundand there's other people in the
professional world who havethree or 4 or 5 kids, and
they've been teaching in myteaching world.
They've been teaching forhow many, 25 years?
And I'm like, I've only beendoing it for ten, and I've only
had a kid in the mix for like,the past three of them.
(19:36):
So what's like what's goingon with me?
But it's just it's justI think what I, what makes me
happy, honestly, is liketaking my older son out
from preschool at 1145in the middle of the day,
which I couldn't formally do.
He could he had to goto a full day daycare and
I would get him when I got him.
I like going to storytimeon Mondays.
(19:58):
I like going for walks when it'srandomly nice out.
In a funny way.
I like, feeling likea decent wife in terms
of making dinner.
I don't make dinner every night,but I make dinner like three
times a week and we haveleftovers.
So I feel decent about that.
And I think I'm just like, I'ma completely different person
and I'm very much okay with it.
(20:20):
Yeah.
Did you find yourselfespecially, like,
at the beginning, because Iheard you mention,
you know, that there aresome teachers that have
4 or 5 kids and they've beendoing it for 20 years.
If you find yourself at leastyour brain kind of trying
to want to compare yourselfto those people and almost
kind of go to that inner critic.
Yeah, yeah.
(20:41):
Because sometimes you're like,well, maybe this is
just something we do.
And like, you know, theythey're obviously a little older
than me as well.
So like, maybe it'sjust something that everybody
does.
It's just kind of part of it.
Kind of like how, you know,like when you have
a newborn, it's just kind ofpart of it not going to sleep
through the nightfor however long it's just
(21:03):
part of it.
It's like you, you put that inwith you.
What is it my husbandcalls it like, you know, it's
our only rite of passage.
It's our turn now to be upall night.
And so I just kind of thought,like, yeah, it's it's my turn to
do the hard thingsand teach all day
and then go home to my familyand figure it out. Yeah.
(21:24):
And I think you'reso right where,
I find especially at least,like, in, in my parents kind of
generation, that there wasso much of that there was,
you know, almost a normalizationof sucking it up and just
like stuffing your feelings downand that you just have
to push on whether youlike it or not, whether you're
(21:46):
exhausted or not, you just itdon't cry about it.
That's, that's weaknessor that's, you know, whatever
other messages are out there.
So much so that it was it wasso interesting because just
on a personal, you know, I know,I remember, very distinctly
that, I was taking my, my motherin my was, was coming
(22:08):
and visiting, and I wastaking her out.
We were going to go geta pedicure.
And she just was like,can you do this?
Like, after man?
And it was alwaysjust like this.
Like, how?
Like that wasn't a luxury.
Like, to her, that was a luxuryto be able to go
and do something like thatand to to spend
some of that time and, and gosh,I just sat there and I was like,
(22:29):
I'm so sorry that nobodyever told you you can take
time for yourself like that.
But yeah, yeah.
Oh my gosh, I know.
And that's totally, I think,a generational thing.
I mean, I can't speakfor the people that generation,
but I feel like it's also likeI don't know how much help the,
the other parent.
Like pretty much the, the dadput into that like in previous
(22:53):
generations, I don'tI don't see dad's ten years
as many diapers as my husbandchanges.
Like I just think that it'sa generational shift.
And I think that in a sense,like we're very lucky now.
So we understand that we cantake time for ourself and
get a pedicure.
And we also understandthat, like, I can go
do something and my husband canbe with the kids and he's not
their babysitter,he's their dad.
(23:13):
He's just as capable as me.
So I think we're lucky to havethose realizations,
like in the world that we'rein right now.
Yeah.
And like you said,I think that's a great topic of
I mean, we could probablytalk days as far as just
that shift rate of being ableto look at fathers
and not see them as babysitters.
(23:37):
Because there there are somany amazing dads out there
that are, you know, so entirelycapable, sometimes even
more capable in some areasthan, you know, those
that are more female mompresenting kind of,
energy as well.
And so that's I guessthat's a whole nother topic
for another day.
Oh yeah.
And the old it's funny becausethe older people will see
(24:00):
him like, you know,feeding a baby out in public
and they're like, oh,what a great father.
He's feeding his kid.
He's not like climbing a treeand holding a thing
and not like, yeah, like,what are our standards for?
Great. But okay.
Yes.
You're right, he's great.
I think he's great, but notbecause of that for sure.
Absolutely.
(24:21):
Yes I agree thatis a whole topic right.
So I'm curious if if it'sokay with you, I also kind of
want to circle back to also,it sounds like you said
the experience in this shiftand then also experiencing
that secondary kind ofinfertility.
And what I imaginebecause like you said,
(24:42):
you're already goingthrough this like really
exhausted or amountof exhaustion trying to
figure out this new role, thisnew identity, how does this
all fit?
And then to also havethat level, just heart
wrenching kind of griefto have to like, go through
some of that.
(25:03):
Would you be willing to sharea little bit more about that?
Yeah, I, I, I remember the daysso vividly because the nurses in
these facilities were like,because it's not just
your regular ObGyn, it's likea specialized fertility clinic.
There are angels.
(25:23):
I mean, I had to beat work at 730 every single day,
and their facility didn't open
until 8 (25:30):
00.
And as a teacher, you only getso many days and, half days.
And the amount of effortthat goes into taking a
half day with lesson plansand stuff.
And so these womenwould literally
open early for me and wow,draw my blood
at 6 (25:47):
45 a.m.
and give me the ultrasoundsand measure everything
that needs to be measured,
literally at 7 (25:54):
00 so that I was, at work on time
and that went on for likefive months that they were
doing that.
And so as hard as it was, Ireally had to acknowledge,
like that that is a pieceof my village that I
didn't understand I would everhave.
(26:15):
Like, you know, they could justbe like, I'm so sorry, man,
but we open at
8 (26:19):
00.
And so suddenly they became apart of my village.
So all of that to say thatthe sadness was horrible.
And anybody who's listeningthat's been doing fertility
or is going through it now,it is like an unfair UN mapped
out world where you needto figure every single thing
out yourself.
(26:39):
In my state, nothing's paid forand it's expensive.
It's literally a second job.
I remember one time laying onthe couch after I had
found out that, like one ofthe eyes, I forget which one,
didn't work right, likeI wasn't pregnant at that time.
After all of the effortwe put in that month, with all
the appointments and everythingelse.
(27:01):
And I still have a baby, right?
Like my son was still my firstson was still there, and I had
to, like, roll over on the couchand tell my husband, like,
I am so sad right now.
So I feel like I need totell you that I'm not
going to do anything to myself,I promise you.
Because I could imagine thatas an outsider, I probably
(27:23):
walked on on the edgeof something traumatic
because of how sad I was.
But I in my head,I was not going to act on it.
I knew that, but I imaginethat's how I looked.
And so that likelevel of sadness.
But it was just horrible.
I don't wish it on anybody.
But, when you step out of itfor one second and look at
(27:46):
your village and the peoplethat support you,
whether they're the nursesor your husband or maybe the
baby, you do have, likethere's a lot to
be thankful for.
Yeah, it's certainly difficult.
That is a full timeinfertility is a full time
job in itself.
So having and the timejob is crazy.
(28:07):
I can gosh, I can only imagine,like you said, to kind of
have to then alsokind of navigate, how do I go
through this?
And if they have, like you said,maybe said sorry, you know,
you can't we don't openuntil this time.
Then I have to like potentiallynavigate which do I choose.
And you know that just I mean,that just sounds like an awful
(28:29):
and impossible decision to bein a position to be put in.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm sure like ifteaching's a pretty
particular job in termsof schedule and timing
and classes and whatever,I'm sure that if I had, like
a corporate job that therewould be a little bit
more flexibility, that, oh,I have an hour Lunchbreak
(28:50):
do you mind if I take an hourin 20 to squeeze this
appointment in?
But, that's not how it works.
Yeah. So I imagine that there'smore flexibility depending on
the job you have, but it'sstill just as many appointments,
procedures and like, intensefeelings.
Yeah.
And and like you said, for itto be like a second job, that's,
(29:14):
that's a whole lot of, stress.
And I imagine a whole notherlevel of exhaustion to.
Yeah, yeah.
And I'm playing the babythat you do have.
Yeah.
I just, I just did all theseprocedures.
I'm so fucking sad.
And now I'm going to goplay ball right.
And and I can actuallythen appreciate.
(29:36):
And you can tell me if I'mso wrong with this, but because
I heard you say thateven at times feeling like
you have to perform as a parentkind of with your own child,
were those particular momentswhere, like you said, you were
feeling like all of thisand then having to, like,
show up and play ball,potentially for for the
child that is there.
(29:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it was I wanted himto understand irrationally.
I wanted him to understandmore than any child
could that like I'm havinga really, really,
really hard time.
So I can't have you cryingbecause I cut the apple
(30:17):
in a different shapethan you wanted the apple
to be cut.
And like, every kid will cryif you cut their apple.
Wrong.
I don't advise doing that onpurpose, but, I was like,
why can't he justunderstand that?
Like, I gave him the apple?
I'm like, I it's allI have. It's all.
And so you, you start hopingthings that are so unrealistic
(30:39):
and irrational for them tounderstand and it's a
weird world to be in.
And like I said in the beginningof this, I'm thankful that it's
not the space I'm in anymore.
But a lot of things kind of likefell into place.
And on top of that, like we madethings happen and I made
(31:00):
things happen to make surethat that wasn't our our long
term space.
Like it was truly a phaseand the phase was in
the trenches.
But we're not there anymore.
So, yeah.
And speaking of that,I think that's you're opening up
for the Segway.
I was hoping that we could take.
So thank you.
(31:21):
But to, to talk aboutwhen you were in that phase,
you know, I heard youmention that, you know, you told
your partner I'm not goingto do anything.
But you were definitely downthere.
Were there particularsupports or things that, your
community did do aside from fromopening up, early to,
(31:42):
that really just helpedand resonated because I think
that's another thingthat I hear from,
from other people who are maybe,supporting or wanting to support
those that are going through it,but they don't really know
what to do, what to say.
Was there anything that for youjust really, really kind of hit
the nail on the head?
(32:03):
That would be helpfulfor anybody listening.
So I will tell you that the onlyperson that knew that we
were going through this for,I don't know, the year
and a half we were going throughthis was myself and my husband.
I mean, okay, I'm incredibly,incredibly close to my mom and
my family and I didn'ttell them.
(32:25):
So, like, if I had to dropmy older son off
at my mom's house super earlyin the morning for a 645
appointment, I just told herI had a meeting at work, and I
have no way to explain that,other than the fact that
what was going onwas so personal and so intimate.
And even though, like my mom ismy best friend, I just felt like
(32:47):
it was like me and my husbandand like it was our like it
was just so personal to us.
And then after we got pregnant,we obviously opened up
to everybody.
And I talk about itvery publicly because I don't
want people to think thatthey're alone.
So after I told my momthat we were pregnant,
it's like, why didn'tyou tell me?
Like, I would have beenthere for you.
I would have, I don't know,I would have, I would have
(33:10):
helped more.
Like Charity helped a lot.
She helped every timeI asked her if she didn't
lie, like she knowthe real reason why I'm there,
because sometimes people don't.
I do not want anyone tolook at me and just see sadness
and have to, like, tiptoe aroundtopics or things with me.
(33:30):
Which is a double edged sword,because when you have people
asking you all the time,when baby number two is coming
in, you're like.
I'm trying.
So my husband was literallymy only support, and the best
thing he ever did was justgive me hugs.
When I needed hugs, he would siton the couch and just
hold my hand where he wouldtake, like, the video
(33:53):
would take, like, pictures of usdoing something with our
other son or just readingor something he would like
take pictures or videos of like.
I think that was his way ofshowing like all these things
that are supposed to break youand like you are.
So he's also very, very kind andthe most realistic person.
I'm like a 0 to 100 personand he's like a very even keel.
(34:17):
And I think that's whatI needed. Like, you know,
I think it was just himbeing there.
And he was he was the only one.
And I think that was maybepart of what helped that
we weren't putting allof our health things on blast
while they were happening,like when it was still fresh.
I mean, now we put them on blastto some extent.
(34:38):
Not all the details, obviously,but like and mainly we do that
because we just wantpeople to know that, like
we're here for you.
I don't I don't cut people offwhen I'm driving anymore
because I'm like, wow, whatif they're on their way home
and therefore I and itdidn't work.
So like it changed us.
Yeah.
And we're both kindof like that.
(34:58):
So the best support is toliterally just be there.
And if you're going to tellother people besides your person
about anything that you're goingthrough, like, I almost
feel like you have topreface it like,
but we can still do fun things.
Even though I'm sad.
Yeah.
And perhaps it sounds likeeven the if there are
(35:19):
support people that arelistening, being willing to,
to show up and to support,even if you don't
necessarily know the reason whythat, you know, maybe,
maybe all will review itselfa little bit later.
But knowing thatthose things and, and just
loving on a person and,and acting like you
said, continue to actkind towards them, and help out
(35:40):
when you can, whether youhave an answer or not, that
maybe it's okay that you don'thave an answer and that,
like you said, maybe therethis is just a really
difficult time and they're justnot ready to to let that
part in yet.
Yeah, I think that that isthe biggest thing.
Like, you don't need tonecessarily know what's going on
in someone's life in order tojust be a good person
(36:03):
towards them, becausemaybe nothing's going on
in their life and they're livinga great life, and you should
still be a good fit in.
So and honestly, I I've changedmyself that way.
I let people in front of meat the grocery store when I have
a full cart and they havelike three items and,
you know, around Christmas time,I know everybody's happy.
But that could be difficultbecause you get all
these Christmas cards ofpeople's families, and if that's
(36:25):
all you want andyou don't have it,
that could be sad.
So I just try to keep itin the back of my mind that you
don't know people aregoing through, and maybe
it's nothing.
Not everybody has likeall this trauma.
But you can still just be nice.
Yeah.
That's why I love teaching, too,because I wanted to teach
that to the like.
I was always trying toteach that to the students.
(36:46):
So I went back, and Ithink it's such
a great reminder.
I'm curious as as you're walkingthrough this journey
and as you're learning, like yousaid, maybe now being at least
I'm on the commerce sidefor right now until children,
you know, always are awareof things.
Looking back, like, was therea particular aside from seeing,
(37:09):
you know, your cousinon the Instagram,
any other like, momentsthat really helped
you kind of shift or take adifferent perspective, or really
provided some insight for youthat helped you on your journey
of even, you know, going in and,into the space that you are
and who you are today.
Yeah.
And I think it's like the cornyreading teacher that still lives
(37:30):
in my heart, but like,I am big on like these quotes
and motivation and likeempowerment in general.
And so there's like a fewthat have stuck out to me and I
try to like, remember them and Ipass them along
to whoever I feel needs tohear them. And, the one that I
stuck with me throughout all theinfertility was, stronger than
(37:54):
the storm.
And so, like, look at allthat's happened to you
and you're still here, so evengot me a little bracelet
or the insides and strongerthan the storm.
So, like.
Yeah, I'm going hand in handwith that.
Another one I like is like,look at all the things that were
supposed to break you.
And here you are now.
So, yeah, I tryto remember those
(38:16):
in the moments oftoughness I like, I love, I love
corny quotes.
So I could tell you a million,but I'll just say one more.
It's like, when life,when life hands you lemons,
make orange juice and have themfigure out how you did it.
So I just, I just yeah, Ijust feel like there's some type
(38:37):
of motivation where you're like,I did that, and that was hard
as all hell.
I'm like, I did it for thesuper special.
Like the first timeI went grocery shopping with
both of my kids, and I thoughtI was gonna die right there
in the aisle when they werehaving a meltdown.
And my car was sothen there. Yeah.
And then I got them.
I got them into their car seats.
(38:58):
Everyone's screaming,I'm sweating, and I'm like,
going grocery shopping.
So I did not think about that.
Like, you still hearall that hard shit.
You went through all thetraumatizing things you made it
through.
You might not be on the otherside of it.
Yeah, but you're still here.
(39:19):
And I think that's such agood reminder too about that
reframe and being able togive yourself maybe a little bit
more credit than we're usedto giving ourselves a little bit
more compassion, a little bitmore grace.
And sometimes it's just the factthat we got our child up
and they have some thingon their body in this semblance
of clothes and maybe a shoe.
(39:41):
You know, we got a shoe on who,you know, and they eat something
today, something thatthat in itself is such a
huge feat.
And I feel like so many timeswe're so good at like,
you're going back to, you know,hearkening back to what
we're talking about earlier.
Like comparing ourselves.
Well, you know, they onlyhave one shoe and the outfit
(40:01):
doesn't match.
And oh, I gave them junk food.
Hey, they eat, they're alive.
I think we're I thinkwe're doing okay right now.
They have clothes on.
Yes. Right.
And even sometimes, if they'renot in there running around
the house with just a diaper or,you know, going
full on commando.
Hey, I know, you know,every time that my kids look,
(40:26):
well, like, in my opinion,like a nice static outfit and
I'm like, the hair is at leastbrushed and, you know, not all
the ponytails and stuff.
But I can tell you right now,I am always rolled out of bed,
messy bun, sweat pantsand sweatshirt.
And I'm like, but theylook good. Yeah, you can't have
it all day, right?
(40:47):
Like, either they look goodor you look good and you just
have to be content withevery once in a while.
Maybe, you know, ifif all the stars rise,
that's cool.
Okay.
So as we wrap up here, one of myfavorite questions to ask
is if you had access toa Delorean and you could go back
(41:07):
to some point in time, what agewould you go back to
for yourself?
Not necessarilyto change things, but maybe to
offer yourself some wordsor even just offer
yourself a hug.
When would you go back to whenand what would you offer?
(41:28):
I would say, I thinkI would go back to like
the early days of my husbandand I before we were married
and before we had kids.
And I would just I don't knowif this is the answer
to your question, but I wouldjust tell them, like,
tell myself, really?
Like so many goodthings are coming your way.
(41:48):
Like whatever you did to get tothis point was the
right decision.
Even if even if like.
Some of the decisions I madewhen the smartest one,
the most logical,the things coming that like
younger me doesn't knowyet are so good.
So like keep doing whatyou're doing.
(42:08):
The head on your shouldersis the only one you need.
The heart and the soul you haveis gonna get you to like
ultimate happiness.
Now that I feel like I'msomewhat on the other side
because I've never been as happyas I am these days,
and I think it's a lot of thingsthat definitely start with,
like taking a little risk,falling in love with the
(42:29):
right person.
Yeah.
And it sounds like,like you said, being able
to give yourselfsome sort of hope and an insight
to kind of keep on keepin on andand you've got it.
I love them.
So my last name isCamera Footage cameraman.
(42:52):
So you would say keep calm,like calm and carry.
Okay.
ROI on.
So that was my like weddinghashtag, which is so dumb
when I look back.
But that was importantwhen you were planning
a wedding.
Hey, all those things, right?
They had a reason.
So that's.
That's what we're like.
But that was So for anybody who,is wanting to connect with you,
(43:18):
what are your services?
How can they find you?
Now is the time for shamelessplug.
So please shamelessly plug.
Yes, you can find meon Facebook.
Carry cameras.
I made my own website for freeon Canva, so I'm a low budget
micro business.
And basically what I dois I help small businesses
(43:40):
grow, take the next stepand help help them to
fill in any gaps.
So like I write monthlynewsletters for clients
and send them, I writetheir monthly blog post.
I create, Instagram post, socialmedia posts.
I help get them on podcastsif if they feel comfortable
with it.
So basically I'm like theright hand man and I give myself
(44:03):
the title of Creative Businessstrategist.
Because I have a lotof creativity to offer that came
from my teaching world,and I love solving
a problem. So, people, anyphase of business, whether you
want to start it yourselfor you're stuck or you're
doing great and you want todo better, that's kind of what
I offer my services for.
(44:24):
And I have, like a linkon my website to book a site
if you want to chat.
Wonderful.
And as always, we'll make sureall of that is linked
in our show notes.
If you want to connectwith Carrie, make sure to
check those out.
Hey, thank you so muchfor being willing to share
your story.
Share your recipe.
I've got I've got my little guyshere.
(44:46):
You know.
Yeah, I'm excited.
So I'm gonna pop themin the oven, and get them
going. I'm.
I'm really excited.
My ovens warming up.
So we'll be good to go here.
Very shortly.
So thank you again so much forfor being willing to,
to pull back that current talkso, so raw and unfiltered
with us.
I think it's so needed,in this society
(45:09):
where it can seem really lonely,especially as parents,
when you're going through it.
Yeah.
Thank you for having me.
I was a joy talking to you.
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you, everyone, fortuning in.
We will see you next time.
If you or anyone that you knowis struggling with any of
the topics that we discussed intoday's episode, make sure
(45:32):
to check out our show notesfor support and resources.
You can get help.
So thanks again for joining uson today's episode of The
Real Family Eats.
If you're a parent readyto share your real life
parenting story, make sure toreach out to us and our website
found in the show notes.
And that goes for today's recipesocial media's support
(45:54):
and resources.
All of that can be foundin our show notes,
so make sure to check them outand make sure to follow, like,
share, subscribe, and stayup to date on all things
the real family Eats.
I hope you'll join us next timefor more food for thought
and thoughtful food!Enjoy your eats!
And anybody who's listeningthat's been doing infertility
going through it now, it is likean unfair unmapped-out world
where you need to figureevery single thing out yourself.
Hey everyone, thanks forjoining me.
(00:22):
My name is Reesa and I'myour host.
We are talking to real familiesabout real stories here on the
Real Family, where we'vegot food for thought
and thoughtful food.
So let's eat! Welcome backeverybody.
(00:48):
Thanks so much for joining us.
I am so excited for today'sepisode.
And the recipe to this isone I haven’t tried.
I'm so excited.
And I've got a lovely Kerry herewith us.
Hi, Kerry.
Thank you so muchfor being willing
to join us today on theReal Family. Eat.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for having me.
I love this concept of,like, chatting and trying
(01:08):
new recipes to share with youraudience.
I'm super thrilled to be here.
Wonderful.
Well, for anybody who doesn'tknow you, can you introduce
yourself for us?
Yeah, sure.
I'm Kerry, so I am aformer teacher.
I taught, middle schoolreading in the same middle
school that I actually attendedwhen I was younger.
And I did that for ten years.
(01:30):
I have two sons.
My older son is going toturn four, and then my younger
son is one and a half,and my younger son is kind of
when things change, it's like aturning point, in my life,
which I'm sure thatwe'll get into.
But, yeah, my husband and Ihave been married for coming up
(01:51):
on six years.
I think we should gone tosix years.
But, yeah, we we both liveclose to our parents.
We have really goodsupport systems.
And, I feel like nowwhen I reflect on, like,
the past couple of years and allthe challenges that have been
thrown our way, I feel likewe made it, so to speak,
(02:11):
like we got everythingunder control.
We can kind of like sit backnow, which says a lot
because I'm sure as we diginto some things, I did not
feel this way not too long ago.
So yeah, good points andthings are going well.
Okay.
And yes, I am so readyto dig in.
But before let's talkabout recipes.
(02:33):
So what recipe are you sharingwith our audience
and myself today?
And why did you choose this one?
Okay, I'm laughing because thisis like the easiest recipe and.
For no reason at all.
I actually learned it in mymiddle school.
We call it SCA Family ConsumerSciences class and I've kept it
(02:56):
for this long.
So it's it's egg bundlesis what we call it.
Okay.
It is so simple.
I breakfast is my favorite mealof the day, and, there's really
no other reason that it's easyto make.
It fills you up, and I feellike it's whatever ingredients
you have on hand.
You can make it more complicatedor simple as you have it.
(03:17):
And people tend to like it,and we recreate it easily.
I love it, which, you know,as talking, we're talking to
other parents here,to being able to kind of
throw something together, usewhat you have, and be pretty
straight forward is alwaysa game changer.
I think it's very helpful.
So I love it.
Yeah, things with toomany ingredients.
(03:39):
I already push to the sidebecause if I have to go buy
jars of spices, it's not for me.
Yeah, okay.
Fair enough for sure.
Okay, so tell me, whatare the steps to your recipe
and I will get a samplingwhile we chat.
Yeah.
So I think the first stepis that you have to have hard
boiled eggs.
So I always make sureI have them ready to go
(04:01):
beforehand.
I just drop them in the waterbefore the water is boiling,
and then I set a timerfor 17 minutes.
That might not be the waypeople make hard boiled eggs,
but that's worked for me.
And then what?
You need, like roll or twoof Pillsbury crescent rolls.
And they actually are trianglesthat you keep two together
(04:22):
to make a rectangle, and youkind of pinch.
I'm like, you would likea pie crust.
Yeah.
And then you preheat the oven.
I think it's 350.
If I remember correctly.
It's whatever the oventemperature is on the crescent
rolls, to be honest with you,which I think is three 5375.
And then once the eggs are done,you kind of slice them up
real thin so that they'rekind of like, like a little chip
(04:45):
on us.
Okay, line them up.
You cut a piece of Americancheese or whatever
cheese in half, put that on topand then salt and pepper.
That could be it.
And then you pinchthe sides close.
Kind of like a Hot Pocket.
Okay.
Then if you have more andyou want to be fancy
and you want to put like baconor Porcaro or, peppers in there,
(05:06):
that's how you could spice it upfor the adults.
If the kids are going to gofor that, I love it.
Okay, well, I've got the,I'm going to stick to
to the original for today.
And that's what I'll bedoing on my side
while we dive in.
I know you mentioned youkind of gave us, like, a little,
a little hint that there wasa point as far as your
(05:28):
parent journey where kind ofthings are shifting.
And so I'd love for youto kind of start us off like,
what was that shift and what didyou experience and kind of
walk us through that.
Yeah.
So it started out slow rollingshift and then like, hit me
like a ton of bricksall at once.
So when my oldest son, was born,he was born in March.
(05:49):
And, I have like the12 weeks FMLA for maternity
leave, which is notreally maternity leave from
teaching.
Which actually put me to comeback to work like two weeks
before the end of that schoolyear.
So to me it was like, oh,I get to have my cake
and eat it to, do the FMLAfor 12 weeks.
Two weeks.
(06:09):
I'll go back, see my friendsat school, I get a change
of scenery, and then I haveall summer with him.
And I loved it.
I was like, this is amazing.
This is like the perfect.
Everyone says teaching is theperfect career for my mom.
And I will say that is prettymuch true.
Like you're home all summer,winter break, holiday, snow
days, whatever.
But when I had to go backin the spring or summer,
(06:31):
in the fall, I it kind of hitme at that point how exhausting
teaching is.
I always feel like as a teacherand I love teaching.
Okay?
I was like one of those peoplewho is born to be a teacher,
and I was obsessed with it.
I loved the idea ofaffecting kids lives in like
a positive way, especially inmiddle school, which can be
(06:52):
tricky, for them.
But when I wentback in the fall,
I was exhausted.
I felt like I had to puton a show for all my students.
I like 130 every day becausemiddle school rotate.
Yeah. Wow.
And it was likeevery 45 minutes, you gotta
have it back up again.
Like like, you know, like you'renot exhausted or whatever.
So I would then gopick my son up after a long day
(07:16):
and I was just like done.
I had nothing left.
And on top of that, we werethroughout that school year,
starting to expandour family more, and we
ended up having unexplainedsecondary infertility, which
for anybody going throughthe infertility journey I have,
there are no words to explainthe pain.
(07:38):
And like the pain is palpableand the sadness is like
you can feel it.
I've never been so sadmy entire life.
So that's like a full timejob in itself, on top of being
a teacher and then coming homeand just being exhausted
and like tryingto play with this little boy.
I know, by the way, like,I have a husband
who I should give someattention to.
(08:00):
So that's when the ideawas like, this is so, so much.
And like, as much as I loveteaching is, it's worth it.
So my second son, Devin,who's a year and a half, he was
the result is a very successfulfourth UI. So we found that
out on Christmas Eve that yearwhich was like a true Christmas
(08:20):
miracle.
Oh my goodness.
Oh yeah.
This little boythat's changed me
in all the ways.
He is sweet and affectionatebut oh my god, he is chaotic.
Okay true.
Second child.
He didn't sleep up until he'sa year and a half.
(08:40):
He didn't sleep until, like twomonths ago.
Basically.
Pride only wanted usto hold him just you name it.
It was impossible.
And I was like, how am I goingto go back to work with,
like, him?
Like, he's not evenadjusted to us and we're his
mom and dad, and then I'm goingto pass him off to either,
like my mom to watch him ordaycare to watch him. And
(09:04):
I was like, something hasto give.
So I tried, to find another wayto make income.
Much like Fast Forward ended upbeing successful.
Maternity leave, if you cancall it that, was,
the time to try because I wasn'tmaking money anyway.
So if this new endeavor flopped,okay, it's because I
had no paycheck from teachingregardless.
(09:26):
So yeah, now I ownmy own business and I'm in
like the virtual service worldand I resigned from teaching,
so I didn't go back afterI had him.
And it has been a huge gamechanger for our whole family,
like physically, mentally,emotionally.
And we are in a very good spot.
Wow. Okay.
(09:46):
So I'd love to just I mean, evenstart kind of towards
the beginning of,of your journey.
And as you mentioned,that there's this level
of exhaustion and then havingto kind of go back to work
and to, you know, I heardyou mention in there
kind of perform.
And I wanted to circle backto that because I feel like
(10:08):
I've heard that from so manyparents that especially ones
that return to thework environment
and that there's just maybeI don't know if it's a lack
of understanding and truly,like you said, the depth
of the exhaustion and whatthat's like, maybe it's
that just our society is like,that's not, you know, pretty
(10:29):
to look at.
So we're just not hereto talk about it.
But I wanted to take a moment.
If it's okay with youto kind of chat, can you tell us
a little bit more into thatkind of what what we're
experiencing?
How did that then impacthow you were able to to show up
in the job, to show up at home?
So I don't I'm not, like,super proud to admit this,
(10:51):
but I would show up at the jobbecause it's my job.
I'm a professional.
I'm getting paid to do this.
I also had a pretty highstandard for myself as a teacher
because really, like,I'm comparing my own self
to my self as a teacher beforeI have kids.
And I was like, Papi always hadthese hands on activities
that take so much set upon the back end and like,
(11:13):
I didn't want to let myself downwith that.
And I guess, like, I didn't wantto let down students who,
you know, knew thatI was capable of that.
And then I'm just likehanding out worksheets.
So I'm not proud of it as a mom.
But like, I would just putall my energy into teaching
because to me, that was like myprofessional obligation.
(11:37):
And so when I would give it all,I mean, yeah, don't
get me wrong, my lessonplans were still amazing.
My kids, my students,what I call my kids up until now
that I don't have them anymore,which I do miss them, but,
they were like performingso well.
They would jump a few of themwho had like some serious issues
going on at home with likejump up multiple reading levels
(12:01):
in one school year.
And I just felt so proud of thatbecause, like, I know that
that was a reflection of mewith, you know, at the risk
of sounding like arrogantand conceded, I know that
the way I was teaching themwas helping them.
And so to me, that wasalmost like the reward, like,
keep going, you're doing it.
But then when I get home,I just want to collapse
on the couch.
(12:21):
And that's really sadfor at that point, my one
son who was learning how towalk or learning how to throw
a ball and and I'm just like,oh, but but walk over there
while I decompress and scrollthrough my phone and sit on
the couch and yeah, you know,the days where I didn't do that
and I was like, I'm going toget on the ground and play
(12:41):
with them, like, talk abouta whole nother level
of exhaustion and performingwhere it's like, me and you
and I don't genuinelywant to ride this little train
around this room and like,so guilty.
So mom, guilt was like timesa thousand.
Yeah.
And I imagine too, because youmentioned in there this is
comparison of what I could dobefore kids versus
(13:06):
what was happening right now.
And I think that's so commonbecause and I hear that even
just with regards to like, what,you know, romantic relationship
with your partner might bethat so many times we're kind of
looking at that and we'recomparing, oh,
we ought to be able to do thisbecause we did it before,
and there's so much of that.
(13:26):
Like, is it kind of addit sounds like added pressure
to kind of live up to this ideathat was that around the lines
of kind of what you wereexperiencing personally.
Yeah.
I mean, the easiest wayto think about it is like,
think about all your cutegoing out clothes from college.
Like, I don't know about you,but I wore some questionable
(13:48):
things.
There's no shot that I'm wearingthose again, whether they fit
or not.
It's not who I am anymore.
I mean, they definitelydon't fit, don't get me wrong.
But even if they did, that isnot my vibe.
So like, it's funny because inthe aspect of like clothes,
I know that I'm not goingto put pressure on myself
(14:09):
to go wear that crazy dressthat I one day wore, because
it feels like icky to me,like it's not my version
of me anymore.
And for some reason, like,that's okay.
But then when you think aboutcomparing yourself as like
the teacher or professionalor even like partner or wife
or whatever it is before,then suddenly you're like,
maybe I should beable to go back, but then change
(14:30):
the scenario and you can't.
So it's an odd wayto look at it.
It's a really weird place to beuntil you come to terms
with, like accepting whoyou are now and like not just
accepting it, but being like,proud of it and happy with it.
Yeah. For you.
You know, like if you're kind ofreflecting back maybe
(14:53):
where did that constructornarrative kind of come from
for you as far as this?
Like you said, thatyou can maybe accept that and
and acknowledge and totallybe like, yeah, that makes sense
when it comes to clothes.
But for parenting and for justhow you're doing things in the
work environment, why that wassuch maybe, more difficult
(15:14):
shift to me.
Yeah, I think it's because,like, you build something up
and especially females,I feel build something up
in your head for so long.
Like one day I'm going toget married.
One day I'm going to be a momand have kids.
And so, like, you justdon't want to let that down.
I'm like, wow, now I have kidsand like, look at me.
(15:35):
I'm too exhausted toplay with them.
Especially whenyou have a child.
After wanting that childfor so damn long and not
being able to have them.
So in my case, unexplainedsecondary infertility
like we had my first sonas soon as we wanted to.
So the fact thatwe had tried for so long
(15:56):
and went through so manychallenges and just
like heartbreaks to have himnow even guiltier
with the second, that it's like,how am I not happy to be up
between 2 and 4 a.m.
every morning like he's here?
So I feel obligated to be happyto be awake right now.
And like, I can't namea single mom who feels happy
(16:19):
to be awake between the hoursof two and 4 a.m..
So yeah, it's just oddpressure of like,
but this is whatI always wanted, so I need
to enjoy every moment.
Like now I'm I'm thrilledthat my younger son is learning
how to use a spoonto eat yogurt.
I'm not thrilled to cleanup his face an entire tray.
And for after he eats it.
So like it's just a you don'thave to love every single part
(16:44):
of it.
And that actuallymakes it easier to be happy
on the parts that you do love.
Yeah.
Could you talk a littlebit more?
How did you get to that shiftin mindset?
Like was that something thatjust like one morning
you woke up and it was a shift?
Or tell me more?
(17:04):
Yeah, honestly,this is the truth of it.
I was scrollingthrough Instagram
with the newborn in my armtrying to find some kind of mom
hack to get him to sleep,and I came across my cousin,
who I'm not super close,and she lives in Florida.
I'm in Pennsylvania.
So, like, we don't seeeach other hardly at all.
But she also had a newborn,and her picture on her story
(17:26):
was a newborn sleepingin her arms and her with her
computer app, and hercaption was, I'm so lucky that
I get to do both right now.
Like I can provide for my familyand snuggle all these snuggles
during the day.
And then I reached out to her,which to her was probably
out of nowhere because wedon't really.
We're so far apart, likewe don't talk that much.
(17:48):
I was like, how are you doingthis?
And she's like, I just,I started my own business
and I was like, okay,that sounds intimidating as
all hell.
But I think that if I want tosee change in like the way
I'm feeling, I need tomake change in what I'm doing.
So I just kind of tookthe plunge and tried it again.
(18:08):
There was no maternity leave,so if I tried it and it
went horribly, I would justgo back to work and figure it
out somewhere else downthe line.
But the thing that changedthe whole thing was me
taking that huge chunk ofpressure off, which was
teaching and like having ain person, you can call it
9 to 5.
Other teaching was more like730 to 3.
(18:31):
That structure, which wasn'tgoing to work for my life
anymore.
Like, I still work, I work 20to 25 hours a week, but it's on
my own time when I can.
Some days I don't work,some days I do work and I get
everything done.
But it's definitely not,like the 9 to 5 structure that
the majority of people have.
(18:53):
Yeah.
And I live kind of what youmentioned of it sounds like
really taking maybe a little bitof creativity in what your life
can look like now versustrying to fit it into to
maybe somebody else's definitionof what it ought to look like.
(19:14):
Is that a fair statement?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Because I mean, you look aroundand there's other people in the
professional world who havethree or 4 or 5 kids, and
they've been teaching in myteaching world.
They've been teaching forhow many, 25 years?
And I'm like, I've only beendoing it for ten, and I've only
had a kid in the mix for like,the past three of them.
(19:36):
So what's like what's goingon with me?
But it's just it's justI think what I, what makes me
happy, honestly, is liketaking my older son out
from preschool at 1145in the middle of the day,
which I couldn't formally do.
He could he had to goto a full day daycare and
I would get him when I got him.
I like going to storytimeon Mondays.
(19:58):
I like going for walks when it'srandomly nice out.
In a funny way.
I like, feeling likea decent wife in terms
of making dinner.
I don't make dinner every night,but I make dinner like three
times a week and we haveleftovers.
So I feel decent about that.
And I think I'm just like, I'ma completely different person
and I'm very much okay with it.
(20:20):
Yeah.
Did you find yourselfespecially, like,
at the beginning, because Iheard you mention,
you know, that there aresome teachers that have
4 or 5 kids and they've beendoing it for 20 years.
If you find yourself at leastyour brain kind of trying
to want to compare yourselfto those people and almost
kind of go to that inner critic.
Yeah, yeah.
(20:41):
Because sometimes you're like,well, maybe this is
just something we do.
And like, you know, theythey're obviously a little older
than me as well.
So like, maybe it'sjust something that everybody
does.
It's just kind of part of it.
Kind of like how, you know,like when you have
a newborn, it's just kind ofpart of it not going to sleep
through the nightfor however long it's just
(21:03):
part of it.
It's like you, you put that inwith you.
What is it my husbandcalls it like, you know, it's
our only rite of passage.
It's our turn now to be upall night.
And so I just kind of thought,like, yeah, it's it's my turn to
do the hard thingsand teach all day
and then go home to my familyand figure it out. Yeah.
(21:24):
And I think you'reso right where,
I find especially at least,like, in, in my parents kind of
generation, that there wasso much of that there was,
you know, almost a normalizationof sucking it up and just
like stuffing your feelings downand that you just have
to push on whether youlike it or not, whether you're
(21:46):
exhausted or not, you just itdon't cry about it.
That's, that's weaknessor that's, you know, whatever
other messages are out there.
So much so that it was it wasso interesting because just
on a personal, you know, I know,I remember, very distinctly
that, I was taking my, my motherin my was, was coming
(22:08):
and visiting, and I wastaking her out.
We were going to go geta pedicure.
And she just was like,can you do this?
Like, after man?
And it was alwaysjust like this.
Like, how?
Like that wasn't a luxury.
Like, to her, that was a luxuryto be able to go
and do something like thatand to to spend
some of that time and, and gosh,I just sat there and I was like,
(22:29):
I'm so sorry that nobodyever told you you can take
time for yourself like that.
But yeah, yeah.
Oh my gosh, I know.
And that's totally, I think,a generational thing.
I mean, I can't speakfor the people that generation,
but I feel like it's also likeI don't know how much help the,
the other parent.
Like pretty much the, the dadput into that like in previous
(22:53):
generations, I don'tI don't see dad's ten years
as many diapers as my husbandchanges.
Like I just think that it'sa generational shift.
And I think that in a sense,like we're very lucky now.
So we understand that we cantake time for ourself and
get a pedicure.
And we also understandthat, like, I can go
do something and my husband canbe with the kids and he's not
their babysitter,he's their dad.
(23:13):
He's just as capable as me.
So I think we're lucky to havethose realizations,
like in the world that we'rein right now.
Yeah.
And like you said,I think that's a great topic of
I mean, we could probablytalk days as far as just
that shift rate of being ableto look at fathers
and not see them as babysitters.
(23:37):
Because there there are somany amazing dads out there
that are, you know, so entirelycapable, sometimes even
more capable in some areasthan, you know, those
that are more female mompresenting kind of,
energy as well.
And so that's I guessthat's a whole nother topic
for another day.
Oh yeah.
And the old it's funny becausethe older people will see
(24:00):
him like, you know,feeding a baby out in public
and they're like, oh,what a great father.
He's feeding his kid.
He's not like climbing a treeand holding a thing
and not like, yeah, like,what are our standards for?
Great. But okay.
Yes.
You're right, he's great.
I think he's great, but notbecause of that for sure.
Absolutely.
(24:21):
Yes I agree thatis a whole topic right.
So I'm curious if if it'sokay with you, I also kind of
want to circle back to also,it sounds like you said
the experience in this shiftand then also experiencing
that secondary kind ofinfertility.
And what I imaginebecause like you said,
(24:42):
you're already goingthrough this like really
exhausted or amountof exhaustion trying to
figure out this new role, thisnew identity, how does this
all fit?
And then to also havethat level, just heart
wrenching kind of griefto have to like, go through
some of that.
(25:03):
Would you be willing to sharea little bit more about that?
Yeah, I, I, I remember the daysso vividly because the nurses in
these facilities were like,because it's not just
your regular ObGyn, it's likea specialized fertility clinic.
There are angels.
(25:23):
I mean, I had to beat work at 730 every single day,
and their facility didn't open
until 8 (25:30):
00.
And as a teacher, you only getso many days and, half days.
And the amount of effortthat goes into taking a
half day with lesson plansand stuff.
And so these womenwould literally
open early for me and wow,draw my blood
at 6 (25:47):
45 a.m.
and give me the ultrasoundsand measure everything
that needs to be measured,
literally at 7 (25:54):
00 so that I was, at work on time
and that went on for likefive months that they were
doing that.
And so as hard as it was, Ireally had to acknowledge,
like that that is a pieceof my village that I
didn't understand I would everhave.
(26:15):
Like, you know, they could justbe like, I'm so sorry, man,
but we open at
8 (26:19):
00.
And so suddenly they became apart of my village.
So all of that to say thatthe sadness was horrible.
And anybody who's listeningthat's been doing fertility
or is going through it now,it is like an unfair UN mapped
out world where you needto figure every single thing
out yourself.
(26:39):
In my state, nothing's paid forand it's expensive.
It's literally a second job.
I remember one time laying onthe couch after I had
found out that, like one ofthe eyes, I forget which one,
didn't work right, likeI wasn't pregnant at that time.
After all of the effortwe put in that month, with all
the appointments and everythingelse.
(27:01):
And I still have a baby, right?
Like my son was still my firstson was still there, and I had
to, like, roll over on the couchand tell my husband, like,
I am so sad right now.
So I feel like I need totell you that I'm not
going to do anything to myself,I promise you.
Because I could imagine thatas an outsider, I probably
(27:23):
walked on on the edgeof something traumatic
because of how sad I was.
But I in my head,I was not going to act on it.
I knew that, but I imaginethat's how I looked.
And so that likelevel of sadness.
But it was just horrible.
I don't wish it on anybody.
But, when you step out of itfor one second and look at
(27:46):
your village and the peoplethat support you,
whether they're the nursesor your husband or maybe the
baby, you do have, likethere's a lot to
be thankful for.
Yeah, it's certainly difficult.
That is a full timeinfertility is a full time
job in itself.
So having and the timejob is crazy.
(28:07):
I can gosh, I can only imagine,like you said, to kind of
have to then alsokind of navigate, how do I go
through this?
And if they have, like you said,maybe said sorry, you know,
you can't we don't openuntil this time.
Then I have to like potentiallynavigate which do I choose.
And you know that just I mean,that just sounds like an awful
(28:29):
and impossible decision to bein a position to be put in.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm sure like ifteaching's a pretty
particular job in termsof schedule and timing
and classes and whatever,I'm sure that if I had, like
a corporate job that therewould be a little bit
more flexibility, that, oh,I have an hour Lunchbreak
(28:50):
do you mind if I take an hourin 20 to squeeze this
appointment in?
But, that's not how it works.
Yeah. So I imagine that there'smore flexibility depending on
the job you have, but it'sstill just as many appointments,
procedures and like, intensefeelings.
Yeah.
And and like you said, for itto be like a second job, that's,
(29:14):
that's a whole lot of, stress.
And I imagine a whole notherlevel of exhaustion to.
Yeah, yeah.
And I'm playing the babythat you do have.
Yeah.
I just, I just did all theseprocedures.
I'm so fucking sad.
And now I'm going to goplay ball right.
And and I can actuallythen appreciate.
(29:36):
And you can tell me if I'mso wrong with this, but because
I heard you say thateven at times feeling like
you have to perform as a parentkind of with your own child,
were those particular momentswhere, like you said, you were
feeling like all of thisand then having to, like,
show up and play ball,potentially for for the
child that is there.
(29:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it was I wanted himto understand irrationally.
I wanted him to understandmore than any child
could that like I'm havinga really, really,
really hard time.
So I can't have you cryingbecause I cut the apple
(30:17):
in a different shapethan you wanted the apple
to be cut.
And like, every kid will cryif you cut their apple.
Wrong.
I don't advise doing that onpurpose, but, I was like,
why can't he justunderstand that?
Like, I gave him the apple?
I'm like, I it's allI have. It's all.
And so you, you start hopingthings that are so unrealistic
(30:39):
and irrational for them tounderstand and it's a
weird world to be in.
And like I said in the beginningof this, I'm thankful that it's
not the space I'm in anymore.
But a lot of things kind of likefell into place.
And on top of that, like we madethings happen and I made
(31:00):
things happen to make surethat that wasn't our our long
term space.
Like it was truly a phaseand the phase was in
the trenches.
But we're not there anymore.
So, yeah.
And speaking of that,I think that's you're opening up
for the Segway.
I was hoping that we could take.
So thank you.
(31:21):
But to, to talk aboutwhen you were in that phase,
you know, I heard youmention that, you know, you told
your partner I'm not goingto do anything.
But you were definitely downthere.
Were there particularsupports or things that, your
community did do aside from fromopening up, early to,
(31:42):
that really just helpedand resonated because I think
that's another thingthat I hear from,
from other people who are maybe,supporting or wanting to support
those that are going through it,but they don't really know
what to do, what to say.
Was there anything that for youjust really, really kind of hit
the nail on the head?
(32:03):
That would be helpfulfor anybody listening.
So I will tell you that the onlyperson that knew that we
were going through this for,I don't know, the year
and a half we were going throughthis was myself and my husband.
I mean, okay, I'm incredibly,incredibly close to my mom and
my family and I didn'ttell them.
(32:25):
So, like, if I had to dropmy older son off
at my mom's house super earlyin the morning for a 645
appointment, I just told herI had a meeting at work, and I
have no way to explain that,other than the fact that
what was going onwas so personal and so intimate.
And even though, like my mom ismy best friend, I just felt like
(32:47):
it was like me and my husbandand like it was our like it
was just so personal to us.
And then after we got pregnant,we obviously opened up
to everybody.
And I talk about itvery publicly because I don't
want people to think thatthey're alone.
So after I told my momthat we were pregnant,
it's like, why didn'tyou tell me?
Like, I would have beenthere for you.
I would have, I don't know,I would have, I would have
(33:10):
helped more.
Like Charity helped a lot.
She helped every timeI asked her if she didn't
lie, like she knowthe real reason why I'm there,
because sometimes people don't.
I do not want anyone tolook at me and just see sadness
and have to, like, tiptoe aroundtopics or things with me.
(33:30):
Which is a double edged sword,because when you have people
asking you all the time,when baby number two is coming
in, you're like.
I'm trying.
So my husband was literallymy only support, and the best
thing he ever did was justgive me hugs.
When I needed hugs, he would siton the couch and just
hold my hand where he wouldtake, like, the video
(33:53):
would take, like, pictures of usdoing something with our
other son or just readingor something he would like
take pictures or videos of like.
I think that was his way ofshowing like all these things
that are supposed to break youand like you are.
So he's also very, very kind andthe most realistic person.
I'm like a 0 to 100 personand he's like a very even keel.
(34:17):
And I think that's whatI needed. Like, you know,
I think it was just himbeing there.
And he was he was the only one.
And I think that was maybepart of what helped that
we weren't putting allof our health things on blast
while they were happening,like when it was still fresh.
I mean, now we put them on blastto some extent.
(34:38):
Not all the details, obviously,but like and mainly we do that
because we just wantpeople to know that, like
we're here for you.
I don't I don't cut people offwhen I'm driving anymore
because I'm like, wow, whatif they're on their way home
and therefore I and itdidn't work.
So like it changed us.
Yeah.
And we're both kindof like that.
(34:58):
So the best support is toliterally just be there.
And if you're going to tellother people besides your person
about anything that you're goingthrough, like, I almost
feel like you have topreface it like,
but we can still do fun things.
Even though I'm sad.
Yeah.
And perhaps it sounds likeeven the if there are
(35:19):
support people that arelistening, being willing to,
to show up and to support,even if you don't
necessarily know the reason whythat, you know, maybe,
maybe all will review itselfa little bit later.
But knowing thatthose things and, and just
loving on a person and,and acting like you
said, continue to actkind towards them, and help out
(35:40):
when you can, whether youhave an answer or not, that
maybe it's okay that you don'thave an answer and that,
like you said, maybe therethis is just a really
difficult time and they're justnot ready to to let that
part in yet.
Yeah, I think that that isthe biggest thing.
Like, you don't need tonecessarily know what's going on
in someone's life in order tojust be a good person
(36:03):
towards them, becausemaybe nothing's going on
in their life and they're livinga great life, and you should
still be a good fit in.
So and honestly, I I've changedmyself that way.
I let people in front of meat the grocery store when I have
a full cart and they havelike three items and,
you know, around Christmas time,I know everybody's happy.
But that could be difficultbecause you get all
these Christmas cards ofpeople's families, and if that's
(36:25):
all you want andyou don't have it,
that could be sad.
So I just try to keep itin the back of my mind that you
don't know people aregoing through, and maybe
it's nothing.
Not everybody has likeall this trauma.
But you can still just be nice.
Yeah.
That's why I love teaching, too,because I wanted to teach
that to the like.
I was always trying toteach that to the students.
(36:46):
So I went back, and Ithink it's such
a great reminder.
I'm curious as as you're walkingthrough this journey
and as you're learning, like yousaid, maybe now being at least
I'm on the commerce sidefor right now until children,
you know, always are awareof things.
Looking back, like, was therea particular aside from seeing,
(37:09):
you know, your cousinon the Instagram,
any other like, momentsthat really helped
you kind of shift or take adifferent perspective, or really
provided some insight for youthat helped you on your journey
of even, you know, going in and,into the space that you are
and who you are today.
Yeah.
And I think it's like the cornyreading teacher that still lives
(37:30):
in my heart, but like,I am big on like these quotes
and motivation and likeempowerment in general.
And so there's like a fewthat have stuck out to me and I
try to like, remember them and Ipass them along
to whoever I feel needs tohear them. And, the one that I
stuck with me throughout all theinfertility was, stronger than
(37:54):
the storm.
And so, like, look at allthat's happened to you
and you're still here, so evengot me a little bracelet
or the insides and strongerthan the storm.
So, like.
Yeah, I'm going hand in handwith that.
Another one I like is like,look at all the things that were
supposed to break you.
And here you are now.
So, yeah, I tryto remember those
(38:16):
in the moments oftoughness I like, I love, I love
corny quotes.
So I could tell you a million,but I'll just say one more.
It's like, when life,when life hands you lemons,
make orange juice and have themfigure out how you did it.
So I just, I just yeah, Ijust feel like there's some type
(38:37):
of motivation where you're like,I did that, and that was hard
as all hell.
I'm like, I did it for thesuper special.
Like the first timeI went grocery shopping with
both of my kids, and I thoughtI was gonna die right there
in the aisle when they werehaving a meltdown.
And my car was sothen there. Yeah.
And then I got them.
I got them into their car seats.
(38:58):
Everyone's screaming,I'm sweating, and I'm like,
going grocery shopping.
So I did not think about that.
Like, you still hearall that hard shit.
You went through all thetraumatizing things you made it
through.
You might not be on the otherside of it.
Yeah, but you're still here.
(39:19):
And I think that's such agood reminder too about that
reframe and being able togive yourself maybe a little bit
more credit than we're usedto giving ourselves a little bit
more compassion, a little bitmore grace.
And sometimes it's just the factthat we got our child up
and they have some thingon their body in this semblance
of clothes and maybe a shoe.
(39:41):
You know, we got a shoe on who,you know, and they eat something
today, something thatthat in itself is such a
huge feat.
And I feel like so many timeswe're so good at like,
you're going back to, you know,hearkening back to what
we're talking about earlier.
Like comparing ourselves.
Well, you know, they onlyhave one shoe and the outfit
(40:01):
doesn't match.
And oh, I gave them junk food.
Hey, they eat, they're alive.
I think we're I thinkwe're doing okay right now.
They have clothes on.
Yes. Right.
And even sometimes, if they'renot in there running around
the house with just a diaper or,you know, going
full on commando.
Hey, I know, you know,every time that my kids look,
(40:26):
well, like, in my opinion,like a nice static outfit and
I'm like, the hair is at leastbrushed and, you know, not all
the ponytails and stuff.
But I can tell you right now,I am always rolled out of bed,
messy bun, sweat pantsand sweatshirt.
And I'm like, but theylook good. Yeah, you can't have
it all day, right?
(40:47):
Like, either they look goodor you look good and you just
have to be content withevery once in a while.
Maybe, you know, ifif all the stars rise,
that's cool.
Okay.
So as we wrap up here, one of myfavorite questions to ask
is if you had access toa Delorean and you could go back
(41:07):
to some point in time, what agewould you go back to
for yourself?
Not necessarilyto change things, but maybe to
offer yourself some wordsor even just offer
yourself a hug.
When would you go back to whenand what would you offer?
(41:28):
I would say, I thinkI would go back to like
the early days of my husbandand I before we were married
and before we had kids.
And I would just I don't knowif this is the answer
to your question, but I wouldjust tell them, like,
tell myself, really?
Like so many goodthings are coming your way.
(41:48):
Like whatever you did to get tothis point was the
right decision.
Even if even if like.
Some of the decisions I madewhen the smartest one,
the most logical,the things coming that like
younger me doesn't knowyet are so good.
So like keep doing whatyou're doing.
(42:08):
The head on your shouldersis the only one you need.
The heart and the soul you haveis gonna get you to like
ultimate happiness.
Now that I feel like I'msomewhat on the other side
because I've never been as happyas I am these days,
and I think it's a lot of thingsthat definitely start with,
like taking a little risk,falling in love with the
(42:29):
right person.
Yeah.
And it sounds like,like you said, being able
to give yourselfsome sort of hope and an insight
to kind of keep on keepin on andand you've got it.
I love them.
So my last name isCamera Footage cameraman.
(42:52):
So you would say keep calm,like calm and carry.
Okay.
ROI on.
So that was my like weddinghashtag, which is so dumb
when I look back.
But that was importantwhen you were planning
a wedding.
Hey, all those things, right?
They had a reason.
So that's.
That's what we're like.
But that was So for anybody who,is wanting to connect with you,
(43:18):
what are your services?
How can they find you?
Now is the time for shamelessplug.
So please shamelessly plug.
Yes, you can find meon Facebook.
Carry cameras.
I made my own website for freeon Canva, so I'm a low budget
micro business.
And basically what I dois I help small businesses
(43:40):
grow, take the next stepand help help them to
fill in any gaps.
So like I write monthlynewsletters for clients
and send them, I writetheir monthly blog post.
I create, Instagram post, socialmedia posts.
I help get them on podcastsif if they feel comfortable
with it.
So basically I'm like theright hand man and I give myself
(44:03):
the title of Creative Businessstrategist.
Because I have a lotof creativity to offer that came
from my teaching world,and I love solving
a problem. So, people, anyphase of business, whether you
want to start it yourselfor you're stuck or you're
doing great and you want todo better, that's kind of what
I offer my services for.
(44:24):
And I have, like a linkon my website to book a site
if you want to chat.
Wonderful.
And as always, we'll make sureall of that is linked
in our show notes.
If you want to connectwith Carrie, make sure to
check those out.
Hey, thank you so muchfor being willing to share
your story.
Share your recipe.
I've got I've got my little guyshere.
(44:46):
You know.
Yeah, I'm excited.
So I'm gonna pop themin the oven, and get them
going. I'm.
I'm really excited.
My ovens warming up.
So we'll be good to go here.
Very shortly.
So thank you again so much forfor being willing to,
to pull back that current talkso, so raw and unfiltered
with us.
I think it's so needed,in this society
(45:09):
where it can seem really lonely,especially as parents,
when you're going through it.
Yeah.
Thank you for having me.
I was a joy talking to you.
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you, everyone, fortuning in.
We will see you next time.
If you or anyone that you knowis struggling with any of
the topics that we discussed intoday's episode, make sure
(45:32):
to check out our show notesfor support and resources.
You can get help.
So thanks again for joining uson today's episode of The
Real Family Eats.
If you're a parent readyto share your real life
parenting story, make sure toreach out to us and our website
found in the show notes.
And that goes for today's recipesocial media's support
(45:54):
and resources.
All of that can be foundin our show notes,
so make sure to check them outand make sure to follow, like,
share, subscribe, and stayup to date on all things
the real family Eats.
I hope you'll join us next timefor more food for thought
and thoughtful food!Enjoy your eats!
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