What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

What does it really mean to be a Black single mother in America? Why are the stories we hear and tell about that experience so often incomplete?

Margaret talks with cultural critic, writer, and editor Jamilah Lemieux, author of Black. Single. Mother: Real-Life Tales of Longing and Belonging.

Jamilah discusses the fears she initially had about writing openly about single motherhood—and how the process ultimately became one of healing, honesty, and connection.

Together, they explore the realities behind the stereotypes surrounding Black single mothers and the complicated mix of love, resilience, struggle, and community that shapes these experiences.

Here's where you can find Jamilah Lemieux:

https://www.jamilahlemieux.com/

@jamilahlemieux on IG/Threads/X

facebook.com/jamilahlemieux

Buy BLACK. SINGLE. MOTHER: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780593447543

See the locations and dates for Jamilah's book tour here!

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

What Fresh Hell podcast, mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, Black single motherhood, Jamilah Lemieux interview, Black motherhood, single mother stereotypes, parenting and race, Black parenting stories, motherhood essays, cultural critic parenting, parenting and identity, race and motherhood, parenting interview, motherhood narratives
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Are screens ruining our kids' childhoods? Is AI going to rot our brains in the next thirty days? Or are these the latest examples of a very human tendency: the catastrophizing of change?

From the dawn of the printing press to the Satanic panic over heavy metal lyrics, we explore the long history of social panics, find familiar patterns, and discuss our findings, including:


Why parents are often thrust onto the front lines of new technology fears


Why each generation believes the newest media will cause moral or cognitive decline


The role of mass media and politics in amplifying fear


How parents can keep perspective while still setting healthy limits on technology

Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Brittany Wong for HuffPost: New Study Shows This Social Platform Can Shift Your Politics To The Right — And It Happens Very Fast

Wikipedia: definition of a moral panic

Jo Ellen Parker for Liberal Arts Online: Socrates on Technology

Christie Stratos: Why Did the Victorians Think It Was Dangerous for Women to Read Novels and Newspapers?

Ana Vogrinčič for Media Research Journal: The Novel-Reading Panic in 18thCentury in England: An Outline of an Early Moral Media Panic

Sarah Durn for Atlas Obscura: How Gruesome Penny Dreadfuls Got Victorian Children Reading

Miller Kern for Ball Bearings Magazine: The Downfall of Society

PS Art Books: The Comic Book Burnings of the 1940s: A Cultural Firestorm

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

What Fresh Hell podcast, mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parenting panics, moral panic parenting, screen time kids, technology and children, parenting fears, media panic history, parenting and technology, video games and kids, screen time debate, parenting anxiety, social media and kids, parenting trends history, generational parenting fears, digital parenting
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Based on a recent listener question about letting go as your kids get older and gain more independence, we're highlighting some of our past interview episodes that address this topic.

Anxiety is a natural response to stress. Sometimes it’s even useful, like when it alerts us to danger. But when anxiety grips our children, they often don’t (can’t) explain how they’re feeling, and their inner turmoil can take over.

In this episode we discuss:

coping strategies for all ages and stages

how anxiety in children can be easy to miss

the negative behaviors anxious kids might exhibit 

why letting our kids avoid anxiety-causing situations is counterproductive

how anxiety "lives in the future”

We also interview ⁠Dr. Lisa Damour⁠ about her book ⁠Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls⁠. Dr. Damour’s book is full of empathetic insight and useful takeaways for helping our anxious daughters (and sons).

Here’s links to other research and writing discussed in this episode:

Lindsay Holmes for Huffington Post Life: ⁠10 Things People Get Wrong About Anxiety ⁠

Liz Matheis for anxiety.org: ⁠Identifying Signs of Anxiety in Children ⁠

CDC: ⁠Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health⁠

Metropolitan CBT: ⁠About Anxiety⁠ 

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

What Fresh Hell podcast, mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, childhood anxiety, anxiety in kids, parenting anxious children, Dr. Lisa Damour, Under Pressure book, stress in girls, teen anxiety, kids mental health, coping strategies for anxiety, signs of anxiety in children, hidden anxiety, anxious behaviors, emotional regulation, anxiety and avoidance, resilience skills, helping kids manage stress, parenting teens, parenting girls, adolescent stress, school anxiety, social anxiety in kids, fear of the future, mindfulness for kids, mental health parenting, emotional support, psychology of anxiety, family mental wellness
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What do we misunderstand about teen mothers? How does stigma contribute to the difficulties teen mothers face? This week we're talking to Susan Sutton about her nonprofit The Ember Project, which supports teen and early mothers through mentorship, financial literacy, education support, and small but powerful financial grants.

Susan shares her own story of becoming a mother in 10th grade and how that experience shaped her mission to break cycles of generational poverty and teen pregnancy stigma.

We discuss:


The role of teen fathers and the importance of shared accountability


Why $500 can be the difference between dropping out and graduating for a teen mom


Mentorship as a bridge between survival mode and stability

Here's where you can find Susan:

www.theemberproject.org


"The Ember Project Podcast" wherever you get your podcasts

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

What Fresh Hell podcast, mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, Susan Sutton interview, The Ember Project nonprofit, teen motherhood support, teen mom education barriers, generational poverty cycle, interrupted college education teen moms, childcare and teen mothers, rapid repeat pregnancy, duct tape budgeting meaning, financial literacy for young moms, mentoring teen mothers, small grants for single moms, stigma of teen pregnancy, breaking poverty cycles, support for early mothers, parenting podcast teen moms, nonprofit helping single mothers
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We talk a lot about how to manage kids when they are being impossible. But it's supposed to be the terrible twos, not the terrible forty-somethings. What do we do when we're the one in the family who's dysregulated?

In this episode, we discuss:

How to know if you're emotionally dysregulated

Why parents (especially moms) are particularly vulnerable

How dysregulation can show up both as anger and as shutdown

The connection between rumination, shame, and reactivity

How emotional dysregulation can become contagious in a household—and how calm can be contagious, too

Practical ways to reset when you feel triggered

Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Cleveland Clinic: Emotional Dysregulation

Our Fresh Take with Erin Cox

Elif B. Koş Yalvaç et. al for Journal of Affective Disorders: Emotional dysregulation in adults: The influence of rumination and negative secondary appraisals of emotion

H.W. Koenigsberg for Journal of Personality Disorders: Affective instability: toward an integration of neuroscience and psychological perspectives

Rachel Schepke for PsyPost: Young children are more irritable when their mother has emotion regulation difficulties

Dominique Cave-Freeman, Vincent O. Mancini, et al for Journal of Personality and Individual Differences: Maternal Emotion Regulation and Early Childhood Irritability: The Role of Child Directed Emotion Regulation Strategies

Couples Therapy, Inc: Navigating a Marriage with an Emotionally Dysregulated Spouse

Rick Hanson et. al: Mother Nurture: A Mother's Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/⁠

mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, self-help for moms, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, parental stress, kids stress, emotional dysregulation in parents, parenting under stress, overwhelmed mom, reactive parenting, mom anger, yelling at kids, parental burnout, depleted mother syndrome, parenting anxiety, co-regulation, emotional regulation skills, parenting triggers, rumination and resentment, family emotional climate, repairing after yelling, parenting stress management, mom mental health, default parent stress, generational patterns parenting, managing big emotions as a parent
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