Abby Bridgeman (@theearlydaysnewzealand), y'all. She has quickly become one of my favourite people, and I am really grateful to this podcast for introducing me to her.

She wears so many hats: nurse, mum, neurodivergent, parenting educator, total badass, and we get into most of them on the pod!

I could yap on for a long time about how much I appreciate and value her education and her friendship, but I think it's pretty evident in the episode. I am so grateful to her for her vulnerability and trusting me to share her story on this platform. She really goes there and that is what makes this podcast good. I can only share as much as the guest shares. And Abby shared.

If you're a parent looking for some evidence-based, practical, actually helpful, easy to understand, calm down your anxieties, parenting education, Abby is ya gal.

I talk about it in the episode, but a heads up that in a month's time there will a month break from posting podcast episodes as the first season is 20 episodes. When I return for season 2, I will be posting episodes fortnightly. Just looking ahead to going back to full time work, I'm having to shift things to make it alllll a little bit workable. Hopefully eventually I will be able to go down to part time employment and part time with the podcast and return to weekly posting, but that's still a while away! I hope you all understand that I'm doing this to avoid burnout and make sure that I can keep posting on a consistent schedule.

While you're here, why not do all the things?! Follow, like, subscribe, rate, review, share. Or maybe do just ONE of the things? The stats show me that lots of people who listen to the pod aren't actually subscribed, which, wild! So go ahead and save yourself having to search for the pod, and just click subscribe.

Follow WDYPLT on social media!:

• Instagram
• TikTok

AND, if you wanna hear the secret sixth question I have asked Abby this week, you can subscribe to the substack (there is a free subscription, or a paid subscription! LESS THAN A CUP OF COFFEE!!!!! And monthly meltdown is due to come out in the next week, so a great time to get in there!):

• Substack

If you have a story you reckon would be interesting to hear on the pod, flick me an email at whydoyouparentlikethatpodcast@gmail.com

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It's episode 2 of our bonus EXPERT episodes! If you don't know what these are, listeners from the WDYPLT community have the opportunity to submit questions to parenting-adjacent experts for them to be answered. This week Shrenika has 5 questions that she answers from listeners in the WDYPLT community, and she answers them beautifully!

If you want to find Shrenika this is her website and this is her instagram! If you're thinking about getting some first aid knowledge, Shrenika is your gal! As I say in the episode, I have done a session with her and found it so totally helpful.

Our next expert episode is with Caylin from Pepi and Parent about all things baby/toddler/child sleep! If you have a question you'd like to ask her the submission form is here

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This week I had the joy of sitting down and speaking with Hannah Porter AKA the owner of Bear and Moo NZ! Bear and Moo obviously have a special place in my heart after they became the first ever sponsor of WDYPLT. It was absolutely lovely hearing about Hannah's journey to becoming a parent and her experience of parenthood, as well as running a business and how those two things intertwine.

Hannah is kind, switched on, funny, and you can tell that she is just such a loving and proud mum.

Hannah's other baby Bear and Moo are opening their first ever brick and mortar store in Kirikiriroa on June 25th from 4-6pm. I'll be there celebrating! Come and say hey! The store is at 1 Glennis Place, Frankton.

If you enjoyed this episode, give it a 5 star rating! Or share it! Or review the pod! And make sure you're following us! Annnndddd.. Look in the mirror and tell yourself "YOU ARE A SEXY, SEXY BITCH".

Follow WDYPLT on social media!:

• Instagram
• TikTok

AND, if you wanna hear the secret sixth question I have asked Hannah this week, you can subscribe to the substack (there is a free subscription, or a paid subscription!)

• Substack

If you have a story you reckon would be interesting to hear on the pod, flick me an email at whydoyouparentlikethatpodcast@gmail.com

OK LOOOOVVVEEEE YYYOOOOOUUUUU! (say it back)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holy friggin' moly can you believe that Aotearoa radio kuīni Sharyn Casey chatted with me for an hour about her parenting ~*jOuRnEy*~?! I certainly can't!

Sharyn sat down with me and shared so much about her experiences raising her two boys Tyson and Reuben with her husband (also radio royalty) Bryce Casey.

We talk fertility struggles, the 11 week early baby and NICU experience, raising boys to be loving and inclusive, instilling good values, not swearing til you're 18, dealing with parenting in the public eye, wiping poo off scrotums and so much more.

Sharyn is a joy to talk to, and had me cackling throughout the episode (my cackling was actually really hard to edit out, so apologies for how much of it you hear) but also had me really resonating with so much of her story.

I'm so thrilled we, as fans of Sharyn, got to hear this other side of her life that we don't hear about too often, and I'm so grateful for her vulnerability in sharing this aspect of her life that she has kept pretty private.

If you enjoyed this ep, why not share it? Go on, you know you want to. Send it to a boy mum, they'll bloody love it. Also, while you're at it, rate, review, and subscribe to the pod on whatever platform you're listening on.

For the voyeurs among you, the full visual ep is over on our YouTube

As per, follow along with the chaos and fun on the socials (including a giveaway to enter at the moment that you don't want to miss!!):

• Instagram
• TikTok

AND, if you wanna hear the secret sixth question I have asked Sharyn this week, you can subscribe to the substack (there is a free subscription, or a paid subscription!)

• Substack

If you have a story you reckon would be interesting to hear on the pod, flick me an email at whydoyouparentlikethatpodcast@gmail.com

OK LOOOOVVVEEEE YYYOOOOOUUUUU! (say it back)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I know I bang on about it a lot, but I will just never get over how lucky I am that people as cool and interesting as Rāniera want to talk to me. Rāniera Procter (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Ngāti Porou) joined me for an incredibly insightful conversation about his whānau and the values they live. In particular his mission to raise his children with te reo Māori as their first language, a taonga he was also raised with.

Rāniera is a father who walks the walk, but he's very honest that it took him a while to get there. Becoming a dad at 22 was not in the plan, and Rāniera spoke to me about how that woke him up to becoming an adult, as well as ignited his passion for the revitalisation of Māori language and culture.

Rāniera has three children with his ex-wife and he and his wife Kawai are expecting their first pēpi together literally any day now. This is their second pregnancy, after they lost their first baby, Hinepūororangi, who was born still at 33 weeks last year. If stillbirth is a difficult topic for you, please look after yourself.

Rāniera is humble, funny, kind, passionate, gentle, reflective, and just a really great guy to chat to. I am so glad that people like him exist, and families like his exist. Particularly in regards to the incredible de-colonisation/reindigenisation work they are doing for their community.

These stories are worth sharing, so please share this episode with someone you know. Also, give us five stars while you're up there, go on, the button is just there!

If you like to watch your podcasts, full visual episodes are available on our YouTube

If you wanna follow along with the general excitement of the pod, come follow our socials:

• Instagram
• TikTok
• Substack

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Your political ranting, mother-advocate, chaos aunties are back for another week! Here for your listening pleasure is the second half of my conversation with Charlotte Kells Robertson (aka @phdmamanz). In this episode, Charlotte answers the third, fourth, and fifth questions and as you can probably tell from the title, we manage to cover quite a lot of ground! (Us? Chatting? It can't be!) Charlotte, thank you for your knowledge and honesty and humour and alllll the taonga you gave me during this conversation.

I know by this point you are all absolutely in love with Charlotte and her whole vibe, so be sure to follow her here so you can keep up with all her goings on (including her refreshingly real insight to being a mum whilst doing a PhD!)

A huge, huge ngā mihi to Viva La Vulva for sponsoring this episode! It is such an honour to be a small part of the VLV whānau, and I am so proud to be associated with a brand doing such wonderful things for the vulvas of Aotearoa (and beyond!) the product I shouted out this week are the Soothing Postpartum Ice Packs and based on the fact that I still use them at least once a week with my gung-ho toddler, I think they're high on my recommendations list! Don't forget to use code VIVAMAMA for 20% off any orders over $50! Say it with me, everyone! "We love you, Viva La Vulva!!!!"

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

• Josie aka @playbasedpepi

A link to all my socials and my NEWSLETTER!:

• Instagram
• TikTok
• Substack/Newsletter
• YouTube

Don't forget to rate, review, subscribe, comment, laugh, cry, feel the rain on your skin, and share with a friend!

Also, if you've read this far, here is a secret. I was drinking white wine out of my Artemis Ceramics boob mug during this episode, and by the end of the two hours I was eeeeever so slightly tipsy. You may notice that I get a bit louder and a bit gigglier by the end of the episode, THAT WOULD BE WHY. Ok now you know my secret. I trust you. Keep it safe.

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The best thing about this podcast is that I get to approach people I admire and get them to have a conversation with me, and that is exactly what happened in this situation. I have followed Charlotte Kells Robertson (aka @phdmamanz) for a good, long while now. Her knowledge and insight on motherhood has always left me looking like the mind-blown emoji, and this time she got to see that reaction in person! I could have spoken to Charlotte all night, but I had to cut it off at 2 hours (which is still one hour longer than we were meant to talk - oops!) But, don't worry, Charlotte and I have become fast friends and I can absolutely see some more PHDMAMANZxWDYPLT content in our future.

As I say in this introduction, you're all in luck because we get Charlotte next week too! So this week is the first two answers, and next week is the last three.

Big shout out to Viva La Vulva for sponsoring this week's episode! I can highly recommend the perineal power pack, I purchased it before birth with both of my kids and found the products sooooo good. If you use code VIVAMAMA at checkout you will get 20% off any order over $50. THANK YOU, VLV!

As mentioned in the introduction, WDYPLT is now on the iHeart Radio Podcast Network! Bloody exciting stuff, to put it lightly! I am so thrilled to be partnering with the iHeart team to help this poddy grow, and the community of listeners to grow! I've written a post on my substack about it, which you can read here if you would like to know more, but the TLDR is: nothing is changing from a listener perspective, other than you will hear some ads throughout the episodes. The change is mainly coming on my end of things, with having a big support system helping me learn, and grow, and get better at the podcasting thaaang. This is a really exciting step forward for the pod, and I see great things coming down the pipeline.

As usual, pls do all the things, like, share, subscribe, rate, review, and follow me on social media! instagram, tiktok, and substack!

If you have a story that you believe would be good for the pod, send me an email with a brief overview of your journey! whydoyouparentlikethatpodcast@gmail.com

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.