May is kind of a crapshoot, isn't it? Between recitals and end of the year projects and regional track meets (plus a week of teacher appreciation thrown in), we can often feel overwhelmed by the mayhem. This week we're talking about ALL of it.

With one part positivity and two parts solidarity, we can get through it together!

Find Rebecca Giantonio Moran's Maycember blessing here.

Grab your copy of 10 things you need in midlife (and 10 things you absolutely do not) here!

One day you're rocking a newborn, the next day you're watching that same kid graduate from high school. In this episode, Mikala takes us through senior year as a mom watching (and helping!) her teen prepare to leave the nest, and she shares what she's learned after navigating this process twice (so far!) And you'll probably be surprised by one big thing she DID NOT do, that surprisingly hasn't impacted senior year at all.

Don't forget to grab your free copy of 10 Things You Need in Midlife (and 10 things you absolutely do not) here https://www.mikalaalbertsonmd.com/real-midlife-podcast

Leslie Means is the creator of the wildly popular online site Her View From Home, and in our conversation today we jump right into all things perimenopause, hormones, and teens. Because isn't that what midlife is? Everything all at once? We laugh a lot, cry a little, and we don't hold anything back.

Find more from Leslie here and here. Or look for her books So God Made a Mother and So God Made a Grandma here.

And if you're looking for more information from a board certified family practice doctor on all things perimenopause, hormones, and loving the body you actually have, check out Mikala's book Everything I Wish I Could Tell You About Midlife on sale for $10 here!

As women, we're constantly being told that something is wrong with the way we look, perhaps especially when our bodies begin to show signs of aging. No wonder the anti-aging industry is a $55 billion industry!! We need to fix those wrinkles and jawlines and bellies—THEN we'll be happy. But we're not buying it. What if we just...lived? In this episode, we talk about ALL the anti-aging "fixes" we're doing without and how what we're really hoping to accomplish has nothing to do with wrinkles or weight. We can't wait for you to listen.

Don't forget to grab 10 Things You Need in Midlife (and 10 things you absolutely do not!) here.

And apparently, we really are loving this book: Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again here.

The world feels like it is on fire, yet we're mostly just going to the grocery store and making dinner and cleaning up our garden beds like everything is fine. It isn't fine. And it feels weird to simply live. It feels selfish. But also, we don't know what else to do. We feel helpless. We feel afraid. And we feel paralyzed.

So how do we survive? Today we're talking about ALL of it. Along with actual ways we are getting by. We talk about staying informed, limiting our inputs, noticing small joys, practicing simple acts of kindness, loving our neighbors, creating beautiful things, getting outside and moving our bodies, contacting our representatives, praying, and more.

Don't forget to grab 10 Things You Need in Midlife (and 10 things you absolutely do not!) here.

Check out Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again here.

Today we're talking with Whitney Fleming, author, blogger, and owner of the wildly popular website Parenting Teens and Tweens. In this episode, we deep dive into trusting our teens, navigating the college and young adult years with our kids, and parenting for the long game (play chess not checkers!). Whitney is chock full of wisdom on teenagers, helping us remember that having a relationship our kids long after they live under our roof is the ultimate goal.

Hear more from Whitney at https://parentingteensandtweens.com/author/whitney/

Check out Whitney's books:

You're Not a Failure: My Teen Doesn't Like Me Either

https://amzn.to/47DCSA8

Loving Hard When They're Hard to Love

https://amzn.to/47FoKq5

And don't forget to grab your free copy of 10 Things You Need in Midlife (and 10 things you absolutely do not) here https://www.mikalaalbertsonmd.com/real-midlife-podcast

Is it just us, or do other women struggle with feeling guilty for...almost everything? In this episode, we consider the root of our guilt, discuss categories of guilt, and ask ourselves "did I actually cause harm?" or "did I actually do something wrong?" Whether the answer is yes or no, what can we do to move forward?

• Check out the Psychology Today article, The Guilt That Women Suffer, here.
• You can grab 10 Things You Need in Midlife and 10 Things You Absolutely Do Not FREE right here.

“Fun? What’s that?” Many of us are really trying to have fun, but we mostly end up going through the motions. So, where does fun fit into the endless To Do lists of family and work and home life and caregiving older parents plus the endless emails and health concerns or financial constraints alongside the stress of parenting teenagers? In midlife, oftentimes, fun just never makes the cut.

So, what can we do? Where can we find fun in midlife? And why does it matter? In today's episode of Real (Mid)life we're talking about ALL of it.

• You can read more about fun in midlife (including what's happening in our brains when the blahs set in) here.
• You can grab 10 Things You Need in Midlife and 10 Things You Absolutely Do Not FREE right here.