Hi SweetSmarties, I got to interview my brothers this episode! We discussed their perspectives on their own individual masculinities, as well as societal gender views, and they are very different, especially in this specific way, so it was very interesting to hear where they aligned and where they deviated. I had expectations, and hopes, going into this experience, and certain moments definitely surprised me! My favorite part is just bonding with my brothers of course, and this episode is really different from my previous ones, because we're more comfortable with each other, so we felt more emboldened to disagree, we know each other super well, since we grew up together in the same family, and my brothers communicate very differently than I do, so that contrast was pretty striking for me.

We talk about so many different influencing variables, I posit many theories, and we get really deep and incredibly honest about our personal experiences, perspectives, and relationships, including with each other, our parents, and their friends, classmates, and past and present romantic partners (Kenny's past and Jeff's present, since Kenny's single right now, and Jeff isn't - his girlfriend Victoria was present for the interview, which we mention at the beginning. 😊).

One very unexpected moment was Kenny crying, which were the first tears ever on my show! We totally embraced his vulnerability of course, and I commended his bravery and openness to freely express his emotions like that. 💓

My brothers are extremely honest, like I said, especially to me, so this episode was incredibly authentic, and if you're curious about us in this way, you can really get to know us well by listening to this interview. ✨

Our conversation is very long, because I tried to cover as much as I could. It took a lot of stamina to get through, so I understand if you need to listen to it in more than one sitting. lol

Alrighty my beautiful souls, I hope you love our discussion, and I'll talk to you next episode when I interview our mom! 💥

I got to interview my closest friend, Mariah Weigert! She's an Astrologer and an Artist, as you can see in the title of this episode, and she's been studying Astrology since 2021. She also has a bachelors degree in Psychology, and professional experience in Human Resources and Recruiting.

I've always found Astrology to be fun and interesting, and I enjoy using it as a paradigm to explore and understand myself, which has led to even greater self-love and appreciation! It's also a helpful relationship adaptation tool, because the better you know each other, the healthier your connection will likely become.

You don't have to believe in this complex framework completely to still benefit from it! I personally am kind of in between (like I am with most things, which actually aligns really well with my natal Astrology information lol - for example, the day I was born spanned both spring and summer, so I entered the world during a seasonal transition 🪻☀️), but I've found learning about myself through this lens to be so affirming, uplifting, and enlightening! You can always just embrace what resonates with you, and not worry about anything that doesn't. 😇

She lays the foundation, to introduce beginners to this complicated system that is a lot more intricate and detailed than some people may think. She then gets a bit intermediary for those in the next stage of their education, like I happen to be. She teaches us about our "big three" - our sun, ascendant, and moon signs, which is honestly all I have really needed to benefit immensely from this perspective. 🥰

We also talk briefly about synastry, which is discovering how your birth chart relates to someone else's (she explains what a birth chart is and how to find your own, before we get into this). We discuss how this can help cultivate healthy relationships of all kinds, including between caregivers and children. We use our friendship as an example, and earlier, I share how I view my big 3 as a wonderful team helping me be the lovely person I am. 💖

We touch on mundane Astrology, which is the daily fluctuations, such as planetary movement, moon phases, solstices, equinoxes, eclipses, and all the elements that directly overlap with Astronomy. We mention the history in the beginning of the episode, and later add in this section that Astronomy and Astrology used to be the same thing, before they diverged into separate disciplines, so they still overlap quite a bit. 🔭 It's nice to relate this field to nature as well, because outer space, our experience on Earth, human development, and perhaps a spiritual or supernatural element are all integrated into this multifaceted viewpoint. 🔮

We speak about what it's like to work with her. You can currently book a birth chart reading, and she's developing a course, which will hopefully be available next year! You can also buy some of her photography prints (I have four framed in my house), and I really hope she'll create prints of her paintings in the future! I'm lucky enough to own an original, and I want more people to be able to admire her beautiful artwork in their homes as well.

For clarification, when we spoke about the lunar eclipse, those tend to be in the opposite sign of the sun. The most recent one was in Pisces, which is opposite Virgo. That part of the interview was confusing, so I wanted to shed some more light here. 🌖

Alright, SweetSmarties, I think that's enough to include in this description. You can learn more about her work, book a reading, buy her art, and hopefully study with her soon at mariahweigert.square.site. Thanks so much, and talk to you next time! 💫

Hey SweetSmarties, I got to interview pediatric dietitian Jessica Rosecrance this month! It was honestly so fun, and you’ll hear plenty of delightful giggles in this episode! :D

I really appreciate her relaxed approach to food and eating, and I love how honest and accessible she is! We agree that it’s so important to be truthful, and it helps tremendously to share an authentic perspective about topics that are often glamorized or highly curated. We connected this idea to social media, which can foster comparison, and we reminded everyone that most people are very intentional about what they chose to show, which is usually the highlights of their lives, so it’s important to keep in mind that we’re only seeing a small fraction of their experiences.

She started in geriatric care, and then quickly moved to pediatric, which caused me to comment on the circularity of our lives: the beginning and end have a lot of similarities, which was very relevant to her dietitian work, and elicited our first bout of chuckles, followed by many more!

I asked her how she helps people develop a healthy relationship with food, eating, and their bodies, which matters immensely to me! We spoke about practical strategies, and were always very understanding and compassionate, which is essential when navigating something so challenging, vulnerable, and complex.

We discussed a lot of the language we’ve learned to speak about this inclusively, like the phrases “all foods fit,” “fed is best,” and “health at every size.” She focuses on adding foods, rather than taking them away, and I mentioned the potential harm of a restrictive mentality, as well as how much stress and anxiety can hurt us, so I was so glad to hear about this additive approach!

I also mentioned my two main guiding principles of balance and variety, and how helpful and healthy it is to be more laid back about our food choices, acknowledging the exceptions of medical conditions, allergies, and other necessary adjustments.

We talked about the social and cultural elements of eating, delving into how food is much more than just nutrition! I brought up my Crohn’s disease, which I’ve had since I was 8 years old, and how being intravenously fed at various points of my life really emphasized that to me. We also discussed her learning her mom’s Korean recipes, and I asked her how to help people find joy in eating.

She provided some great advice about how to respond to picky eating behavior, and she clarified that she doesn’t treat eating disorders or people with more complicated situations, like my Inflammatory Bowel Disease for example.

We unexpectedly spoke about my sleep struggles and just other aspects of her life, like her kitchen remodel and zany temporary commute flying from Northern to Southern California and back in one day every 10 days for 6 weeks!

Lastly, we talked about her mommy and baby group beginning next month, called Starting Solids, and we also spoke about her cancer diagnosis, as well as a health scare she experienced with her youngest son. I asked about how her dietitian work connects to all that, and what I really enjoyed was our conversation about the psychology of it. I appreciated her speaking about the fear and falling down research rabbit holes, which I can definitely relate to, so it was nice to bond over that, among many other aspects of our discussion. :)

She takes insurance, which is rare for a dietitian, and if you want to work with her, you can visit https://www.nutritionbyjessrose.com/! She also has a vibrant instagram presence @yourpediatricdietitian, so you can follow her account for some entertaining, informative content (just like our interview)!

This conversation was our first meeting, and I love how much we were able to laugh together, while also covering deep issues, being open and genuine in the most relatable, helpful, educational way!

I hope you enjoy this discussion, and I’m excited to return with a new one next month! ✨

Hi, SweetSmarties! I got to interview Emily Bloom this month! I met her last month at my college reunion in New York, because she teaches at my alma mater! She started there after I graduated, so I didn’t get to formally study with her as an undergraduate, but I did get to participate in the seminar she taught during my reunion, The Pregnancy Plot: Conceptions and Misconceptions. She introduced us to her book, I Cannot Control Everything Forever, which I subsequently read in its entirety to prepare for our interview. :) The title really resonated with me, because I try very hard to control so much of my life! A big part of our interview deals with accepting uncertainty, and learning to let go when we have no other option, embracing possibility, while also understanding that wondering about the paths we didn’t take is part of being human. It’s really hard to choose among majorly diverging routes, like whether or not to have children, which we discuss heavily in this episode. There are some aspects of our lives that we can never be completely sure we made the right, best choice for ourselves, and even more challengingly for other people, especially those who depend on us. Emily is actually really interested in the idea of uncertainty, and our conversation about how we navigate these significantly influential decisions was so helpful, fascinating, and empathetic, so I hope our discussion benefits you a lot too. 💜

We talk about why she wanted to be a parent, which is a really important question I think everyone considering parenthood should contemplate! We cover genetic testing, and go into certain medical challenges her daughter faces, as well as touching upon mine. I was really interested in exchanging the perspectives of someone with dramatic childhood medical experiences and the caregiver of a child in that position, me being the former and her being the latter. We speak about disability in general, and what it was like for her to grow up with a disabled sibling, and in turn be raised in the disability community. One of my favorite topics we touched on throughout our time together is how disability, medical challenges, and just difficult experiences, beginning at a young age, shape us so positively! We really can choose a beautiful, beneficial, true frame for ourselves, while still acknowledging the hardships we encounter, because we genuinely feel grateful for this part of our lives, despite the difficulty involved. These ideas are so complex and multidimensional, they require a certain amount of mental flexibility to comprehend the various, sometimes contradictory, elements.

I loved our conversation so much: she’s brilliant, kind, insightful, strong, and has many more gorgeous qualities I’m excited for you to hear! This interview was remote, since we were on opposite coasts when it happened, so not every word is audible unfortunately, and if you need clarification about anything we said, you can always reach out to me. 😇

Thanks for listening, and I’ll reconnect with you next time! 🫧

Hi SweetSmarties! I finished my card deck, SweetSmarty Shuffle!! I'll let you know when you can officially buy it, and I am so excited to continue each step of this long, complex, effortful, yet ultimately gratifying process!

In this rare solo episode, I speak about that, review the interviews I've published so far this season, and let you know what's coming up in the second half!

There's a lot of amazing conversations to anticipate, and so much incredible work on the horizon, so I can't wait to finally reveal everything I've had to hide this year! You know keeping secrets is so difficult for me, especially because of how proud I am of all these cards I've made, so please buy this deck, so I can show you at last!

Other than all that, I just talk about how I'm thinking about everything, and the different directions in which this project could evolve in the years to come. :)

Thank you so much for being here, and I look forward to learning and growing together, like always! 💖

P.S. I have a new link for you! In addition to visiting progressiveparentingproject.org, you can also now find all of my work at sweetsmartysociety.com! 🪻🦋

SweetSmarties! I had an amazing conversation with Transitional Kindergarten teacher Megan Larquier this month! I've considered doing her job, have already done a version of it, and am currently earning a certificate to do it to a greater extent, if I choose to pursue that path in the future, so we were very well-matched for this discussion! She's incredibly knowledgable, and I was fascinated to learn what she has to share!

She has a Master's degree from Cal State Fullerton, and the Literacy component taught her all this Linguistics information that I studied too, in a different context, so hearing about that was such a joy to me, and definitely one of my favorite parts of our talk!

I also adored speaking about Social Emotional Learning of course, and it was so fun to nerd out about Human Development Theory as well!

I love her approach, and the children she teaches are so lucky to be in her class!

We agree on the significance of her role, and what a profound influence and responsibility she has to help these kids build a healthy foundation and literally learn how to be people!

I can't overstate how important and valuable that is, so to know how well she's doing it is such a treasure! What a gift to the world!

Anyway, I think I've gushed enough, so you'll need to listen to the episode to find out any more. lol I hope you feel even a fraction of the genuine intrigue, delight, and poignancy I felt during our interaction. <3 (:

Hi SweetSmarties! I got to interview Nancy Jo Rettig this month! We bonded so well and had so much to discuss, our recorded conversation lasted two hours! I decided to divide our interview into two parts, and here is the second!

I mention this in the epilogue to Part 1, but just to write it here as well: She has 40 years of experience as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, and she was a school counselor for 25 years! She also has a degree in Addictions Counseling!

In the first part of our interview, which you can listen to in the previous episode, we spoke about about her background, how we initially connected, our recurring segment about our interpretations of the phrase Progressive Parenting, her match-making company, the Bob Newhart Show, Televised Therapy, and her practical, direct, goal-oriented approach. During the final part of last episode, we discuss my sleep issues, and we end with how I feel about my current phase of life, regarding my biological clock, dating, marriage, and if I would like to have children one day (the answer may surprise you, if you haven't already heard part 1!).

In this second part of our discussion, we cover the patterns she noticed during her school counselor career, how they've changed over time, potential solutions for our widespread stress and anxiety, and we finish with her one final piece of advice to us, which you'll have to listen to the episode to find out! ;)

I loved talking to her so much, and I hope you enjoy both parts of our interview! :) <3

Hi SweetSmarties! I got to interview Nancy Jo Rettig this month! We bonded so well and had so much to discuss, our recorded conversation lasted two hours! I decided to divide our interview into two parts, and here is the first!

I mention this in my epilogue, but just to write it here as well: She has 40 years of experience as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, and she was a school counselor for 25 years! She also has a degree in Addictions Counseling!

In this first part, we speak about her background, how we initially connected, our recurring segment about our interpretations of the phrase Progressive Parenting, her match-making company, the Bob Newhart Show, Televised Therapy, and her practical, direct, goal-oriented approach. During the last part of this episode, we discuss my sleep issues, and we end with how I feel about my current phase of life, regarding my biological clock, dating, marriage, and if I would like to have children one day (the answer may surprise you!).

In the next part, we cover the patterns she noticed during her school counselor career, how they've changed over time, potential solutions for our widespread stress and anxiety, and we finish our conversation with her one final piece of advice to us, which you'll have to listen to the episode to find out! ;)

I loved talking to her so much, and I hope you'll enjoy listening to both parts of our interview! :) <3