EPISODES

Episode 52: Disney feminists, teaching kids about money, and a little announcement

19/9/2016

After a couple of thwarted attempts to get this episode into your ears, we made it! This week Emma and Tess chat about the evolution of feminism in Disney films (and in the world), how to make your kids understand the value of a hard-earned dollar, and have a little (NOT-pregnancy related) announcement. Plus, our recent reads, TV recc's and what to do with a feral goat (seriously). Enjoy!

Books: You'll grow out of it by Jessi Klein and The Regulars by Georgia Clark
Podcasts: Ideas at the House, How to Be Amazing
TV: The Americans, Homeland, The Affair
Article: Why You Should Tell Your Children How Much Money You Make
Documentary: Dis(Honesty): The Truth About Lies

PLUS you can subscribe to Tess' new weekly newsletter Sylloge for more interesting reading/podcast recommendations at creativemindshq.com/sylloge, or follow Emma's writings over at ArtsHub.com.au

Suggest a guest! Or just say hi / encourage us on our quest for sanity: thenewnormalpodcast@gmail.com.

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Episode 51: Claire Berry on the ups and downs of surrogacy

30/8/2016

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Excuse the chewing sounds in this episode, Claire brought cake to share and obviously we couldn't wait to hoe in! Claire Berry's story begins like most of our interviews, with a self-employed mum of two young kids, and then takes a sharp turn when she discusses the (frankly, fascinating) story of having her second child through a surrogate. Claire has a medical condition which prevented her from carrying a second child, so her and her husband went through the process of surrogacy, which was a minefield of bureaucracy, but ultimately led to the safe arrival of her son.

Claire is a medical industry interview consultant and works from home, so we also discuss the joy and despair of working from home with kids underfoot, the added stress of managing a medical condition while parenting, and our very 'spirited' toddlers.

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Episode 50: Happy marriage how-tos, attachment parenting, and the (hilarious) difficulty of trying for a second child

16/8/2016

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It's episode 50! And thus we celebrate by recording this episode sans-bras (but remember it's audio only, creepy internet people). As usual we criss-cross the stratosphere of topics and touch on attachment parenting, arranged marriages, polyamory, and learning about Tinder when you've been married for almost a decade. Less click-baity discussion topics include our tips for taking a "holiday" with young kids (read: doing parenting in a different place for a predetermined period of time) and how to get rid of head lice the cheap way.

Books: Liane Moriarty's Truly, Madly, Guilty and The Hypnotist's Love Story
Book: Ann Lamott's Bird by Bird
TV show: You Can't Ask That on iView
Podcast: Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History
Funny article: The Ugly Volvo - The Difficulties of Trying for a Second Child
Podcast: Science Vs Attachment Parenting
Book: Alain de Botton The Course of Love

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Episode 49: Bec Mutch on co-working, taking risks and the term 'mumpreneur'

3/8/2016

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Bec Mutch is the lady behind The CoworkCo, a boutique co-working space in Brunswick. She saw a niche for an excellent co-working space that blends the best parts of creative studios, corporate offices and working from home. After beginning her career in luxury goods (fancy!), she began freelancing after her kids were born and struggled to find a decent co-working option, so began her own!

On this episode (where, as usual, we forget we are recording and go off on huge rambling tangents) we chat about the highs and lows of starting a business, and have a mini feminism rant about the term 'mumpreneur' (where are all the dadpreneurs?!).

On that note, we are holding our very first podcasting event at The CoworkCo! Come and chat to Tess and Emma, plus our past guests Kylie Lewis and Julia May about all things parenting, business and creativity.
LIVE PANEL EVENT ~ Mums in business: Making it work ~ 2pm, Saturday 27 August 2016 @ The CoWorkCo, 421 Lygon St Brunswick East, Melbourne. Tickets here!

Listen in at our website on iTunes ;)

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Episode 48: Screen time, celebrity couple crushes, and what we're strict about with our kids

11/7/2016

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Emma and Tess are back this episode discussing their usual wide range of parenting topics... this time we touch on screen time rules at home (and whether or not shaming mums for using screens to entertain the kids is anti-feminist); how they discipline their preschoolers and what behaviours they're strict about; plus - importantly - who their celebrity couple idols are. Emma also has a whole cookbook to recommend after so many of you enjoyed her cheesy broccoli tip in Episode 42. Show notes as follows!

Celebrity couple idol: The Obamas Plus Impossibly Cute Photos of Barack Obama With Kids
Article: Worrying over kids playing with phones and tablets is just another way to shame mothers by Libby Nelson
Book: The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
App: Pocket (for saving articles online)
Book: Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood
Book: Useful by Debra Oswald
Recipe book: Karen Martini's Everyday cookbook (specifically the meatball sub recipe!)
What would a feminist do? podcast by The Guardian
Dumbo Feather podcast
Watching: Orange is the New Black Season 4

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Episode 47: Freelance photographer Martina Gemmola on freelancing, fibroids and fertility

2/7/2016

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Even if you haven't heard of Martina Gemmola, you've probably seen her gorgeous images. As a freelance photographer (who is married to another freelance photographer!) she calmly negotiates her work life with parenting her young son.

Martina generously shares her story of having a fibroid tumour in the wall of her uterus that scarily tripled in size until it was as large as a pawpaw. Thankfully, everything worked out fine and Martina fell pregnant with no issues.

You can also listen on iTunes! We would love it if you left a review on iTunes too - there's a handy how-to here!

And here's the book about IVF that Tess mentions in the episode: Avalanche by Julia Leigh.

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Episode 46: Raising boys in a footy-mad culture, finding family-friendly workplaces, and surviving kid's birthday parties

15/6/2016

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Birthday party planning has been the topic du jour for both Emma and Tess' kids recently, and in this episode we ask ourselves - who is this epic birthday event really for, anyway? Alongside flipping through the pages of the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake Book, we've also been reading proper grown up books, and thinking about what we'll do with our careers now and in the future (which admittedly seems very, very far away some days). Show notes below!

Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph
This House of Grief by Helen Garner
Night Games by Anna Krien
Having Children Can Nurture Creativity by Elissa Strauss (a response to this article from episode 44)
How to Stealthily Tell if a Company Cares About Work-Life Balance by Allyson Downey
Design Life podcast
So You Want to Be A Writer podcast
Far From The Tree (book) plus the interview with writer Andrew Solomon
Kirstie Abbott on Ants (from Conversations with Richard Fidler)
Outlander (TV Show)

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Episode 45: Fashion and 'mum style' with stylist Rebecca Jane

2/6/2016

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Every mum knows that along with your boobs, your handbag and your ladyparts, your wardrobe is one thing that will completely change once kids are on the scene. It's easy to spend days in ratty leggings and baggy cardigans, (or in our case, striped tops and skinny jeans!) but personal stylist Rebecca Jane is an expert on how to look - and feel - great with your post-baby body.

We chat about her path to becoming a stylist, her top tips for mums and a sad story about a treasured wool coat.

You can also listen on iTunes! We would love it if you left a review on iTunes too - there's a handy how-to here!

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Episode 44: HONY, mum handbags, and how to avoid overwhelm when work + sickness collide

18/5/2016

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Parenthood itself might not be a creativity killer, but the seemingly endless bouts of acute sickness can definitely throw a spanner in your work schedule, especially if you're self-employed. On this episode, we talk about our overwhelm-reduction strategies when the winter sniffles (or vom marathons) strike, as well as our usual stable of awesome content-consumption recommendations!

Show notes:

Is Parenthood the Enemy of Creative work?
Inside Annabel Crabb's handbag
Rebecca Sparrow and her books Find Your Tribe and Ask Me Anything
Helen Garne's new bookEverywhere I Look
The Moth
The Mama Mia podcast network
Book: How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
Reply All: Milk Wanted episode
Debbie Millman's Design Matters interview with Humans of New York's Brandon Stanton
Shameless (the US version)
Web series' The Katering Show and High Maintenance

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Episode 43: Nicole Avery from Planning with Kids on meal planning, blogging and the wonders of single tasking

3/5/2016

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Nicole Avery is one of those people who has a whole lot on her plate, but balances it all with finesse. She is a professional blogger at Planning with Kids, an author, speaker and marathon runner - on top of being a mum to five kids aged seven to 17.

Her blog is a goldmine of tips, advice and lessons on managing family life, from meal planning to ways to fit in me-time, all with Nic's trademark practical and approachable style. We chat about her path to professional blogging, just how she manages to cook for and feed seven people, and the steep learning curves of parenting.

You can also listen on iTunes!

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Episode 42: Learning to be an adult, creative wellsprings, and talking to kids about the birds and the bees

20/4/2016

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Do you ever feel like being a parent means having to be prepared to answer ANY question from your kids about ANY life thing at ANY given moment? In this episode, we talk about scrambling for age-appropriate answers to questions from our kids about their bodies, sex, and those strange noises they might have heard coming from the next room after bedtime. *Ahem*.

Other not-NSFW topics of conversation include our current reads online and off, whether motherhood makes you more creative, and even a recipe to try for dinner.

If you like this episode, or any of our other 41 chat-a-thons, we'd love it if you left us a review at iTunes. See thenewnormalpodcast.com/review for step-by-step instructions. Thanks!

SHOW NOTES
Podcast Dear Sugar (again!)
Books: Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things
Book: Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed
Book: Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project
Article: A millennial and a baby boomer trade places by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett and Michele Hanson
Blog/book: Adulting
Blog post: Why Do Teenagers Rebel? Thoughts from a 19-Year-Old Who Didn’t
Recipe: Jamie Oliver's Cheesy Broccoli Cauliflower Bake
Hot topic article: A list of behavioural things to expect from preschoolers when they are learning about their bodies
Book: Where Did I Come From?
Yay: Miranda July
Yay: You can still buy Gratton Design furniture!

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Episode 41: Joanna Francis on living in France

9/4/2016

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Joanna Francis from Miette Handmade has recently returned to Melbourne after spending six months living in France with her French husband and their two kids Anouk and Leo. We ask her definitively whether French children really do throw food (newsflash: they totally do!) and what its like to raise bilingual kids.

With a background in international aid work, including a stint living in Afghanistan, we talk about how to talk to your kids about different cultures and teaching empathy, plus how to prepare for long plane flights with little kids.

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Episode 40: Assisted dying, the pomodoro technique, and an update on Tess' Paid Parental Leave story

22/3/2016

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Whoa, we really cover a lot of ground on today's episode - our 40th! Off the back of a bunch of podcast recommendations, we talk about how introverted kids adapt to the online world, as well as touch on the topic of voluntary assisted dying which is the focus of Andrew Denton's new podcast series. Emma's trialling a new way to be productive in short bursts of work time, and at last, Tess has an update on her Paid Parental Leave saga as described in Episode 34.

Leave us a review on iTunes if we float your boat :)

Show notes:
Podcast: Andrew Denton’s Better Off Dead
Podcast: Parenting Rebels
Podcast: Edit your Life
Podcast: Quiet with Susan Cain
Book: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi on Cup Of Jo
Book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain
Article/book: The Collapse of Parenting by Dr Leonard Sax
App: Touchnote
App: Snapfish
App/book: The Pomodoro Technique
Flashback: Tess’ Paid Parental Leave appeal letter and the original story explained in episode 34.

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Episode 39: Artist Hannah Fox on calling herself an artist, pricing work and sharing kids on social media

9/3/2016

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Hannah Fox is a successful and talented mixed media artist and mother of three boys under five. She shares her journey to becoming a full-time artist after stints in events and graphic design, including what happens when your studio has to become a nursery.

In this episode, we cover the whole gamut of the parenting and business world, from having kids who aren't interested in arts and crafts, to how to put a monetary value on your creative work.

You can also follow us on iTunes. If you like this episode, feel free to leave a review on iTunes - it helps other busy parents to find our podcast. Thanks!

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Episode 38: Emma and Tess chat about how to spark joy, reminisce about teenage obsessions, and assign our kids' legal guardians

24/2/2016

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In this episode, Tess is housesitting, Emma recounts a rather messy night-before-an-auction tale, and we discuss who we've decided will raise our kids if the unthinkable happens. And as usual, we have lots of great recommendations for your eyes, ears, and brains to keep you sane.

Marie Kondo (The Konmari Method) author of Spark Joy and The Lifechanging Magic of Tidying Up
The Minimalists podcast
Simple Matters (book) and Reading My Tea Leaves (blog) by Erin Boyle
Cold Light by Frank Moorhouse
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Stout
Practising Simplicity blog (and the 'How to take photos of your child without revealing their identity' post)
Lessons to Excel in your 30s by Mark Manson
I know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkamm
Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein
Broad City
Cherry Healy
Sharon Horgan's Secrets of a Good Marriage and On The Verge Of A Midlife Crisis

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Podcasts for Australian entrepreneurs ~ The New Normal

23/2/2016

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This week, Emma and I were pretty stoked to find ourselves in the pages of The Age/SMH/Brisbane Times and other national paper's Business section, talking about why we started our podcast for parents who run small businesses (though admittedly we talk more about the parenting side of life and less about business stuff, for the most part. But, it's there! In all its mish-mashy glory.)

Read the article by Cara Waters online here.

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Episode 37: Creative lady Annette Wagner on parenting different genders, post-natal depression and, um, Michael Flatley

10/2/2016

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Annette Wagner is a lady of many talents: branding, marketing, demographics, product design, graphic design... truly multidisciplinary! On top of all that, she is mum to William and Charlotte, aged seven and four respectively.

We chat about the angst of figuring out whether your kid is ready for school, parenting boys vs girls and coping with miscarriage and post-natal depression.

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Episode 36: Tess and Emma on modern meditation, minimalism, and are we turning into our parents?

26/1/2016

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This episode of The New Normal is teleported to you via the Internet tubes in more ways than one (which explains why it sounds like Tess is inside a cupboard, which she is not). We talk about our summer holiday reads and podcast recommendations, our yays and nays (which include meditating in the carpark of Coles and lamenting the natural weaning process), and ask each other if there are things we do/would do differently in raising our kids that our parents did to us (pre-apologies to any of our parents listening to this!).

Podcasts:
The Minimalists
Dear Sugar
Chat 10 Looks 3 with Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales
Real Simple

Books:
Clutter Free With Kids by Joel Becker
Better Than Before by Gretchin Rubin
The Eye of the Sheep by Sophie Laguna
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Lucky Us by Amy Bloom
Why Not Me/Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling
Bossypants by Tina Fey
I Know I Am But What Are You by Samantha Bee

Plus...
Smiling Mind meditation app

You can also find us on iTunes.

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Episode 35: Michelle Francis on moving her family to Detroit

14/1/2016

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Picture this: your husband comes home and says he has a great job offer overseas. Not in New York, not London, but in... Detroit? If you are Michelle Francis, you grab hold of the opportunity with both hands, pack up your three daughters and all your possessions and move!

Local creatives may know Michelle from Frankie and Swiss, the boutique digital printing business that Michelle founded with her sister Jacquie Swies. Michelle still plays a big part in Frankie and Swiss, albeit remotely. She discusses what it really like to live in the US of A, (big portions! community spirit! guns!) and shares a story of her run-in with the cops.

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Why I think Paid Parental Leave is unfair to women and self-employed parents - the extended version

29/12/2015

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Hey friends!

Tess here. In our last episode, I talked a bit about the Paid Parental Leave Scheme in Australia and the issues I had receiving it (or rather, NOT receiving it) after little O was born earlier this year.

To explain the issue a little more clearly, I've pasted below an abridged version of a letter I sent in December to the current Federal Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer, Ms Kelly O'Dwyer, detailing my thoughts about the unfair criteria to receive PPL (especially for self-employed people like myself) versus the other optional parenting payment available to fathers/partners, Dad And Partner Pay.

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Under the current legislation, the eligibility requirements for parents to receive the federal Paid Parental Leave (PPL) Payment fail to address the needs of those who are self-employed or are employed in a contract/freelance capacity, and are unfair to women who choose to run their own businesses in order to earn an income whilst providing full-time care to their young children.

Since 2008, I have worked independently as a self-employed graphic designer and publisher. I currently work from home. I have no employees and my income is derived from a combination of service-based design work and product sales.

Earlier this year I gave birth to my second son.

In my application to Centrelink to receive PPL, I stated that I wished to claim PPL payments for 18 weeks from the time that my son turned 6 months old. The claim was rejected by Centrelink on the grounds that I had stated on my application that I had returned to work since his birth.

It’s true – since one month after his birth, I have spent an average of 4 hours per week working from home during his daily naps, or after he is asleep in the evening. Being self-employed, I’m lucky to be able to reduce my workload to accommodate the needs of my family, and the kind of work I have done since his birth includes designing a logo for a client (a project that saw approximately 10 hours work completed over an 8-week period), posting to my business’ social media accounts, and making updates to a client’s existing poster design.

I understood that according to the Act, self-employed parents could still engage in ‘light administrative duties’, however I would not class these examples as ‘administrative tasks’. I regard them as ‘work’ – but not a ‘return to work’ that prevents me from being fully available, physically and emotionally, to my baby son.

My desire to delay the receipt of PPL until my son was six months of age was entirely based on wanting to be able to choose when, within his first year of age, I would stop work completely and receive PPL, to best suit his needs and the needs of my business. Now, at seven months of age, I can attest that his needs (and waking hours) are far greater than when he was a newborn, and my availability to work in my business has been greatly reduced.

The current PPL legislation forced my husband and I to investigate other parental benefits, and in doing so we uncovered a number of issues within the Act that unfairly disadvantages self-employed women and families where both parents are self-employed or run a small business.

1. Criteria of PPL discriminates against women in comparison to Dad And Partner Pay (DAPP)
Under the current scheme, the requirements for a person to receive DAPP stipulate that they "be on unpaid leave or not working during your Dad and Partner Pay period".

The primary stipulation is that for dads and partners to receive government-funded parental pay they must simply not be acting in a capacity that constitutes work during that time. Further, the eligibility requirements state that "If you choose to take your Dad and Partner Pay period at a later date, we will pay you at that time."

The same flexibility in parental payment is not afforded to women under PPL, who under that scheme are required to "be on leave or not working from when you become the child's primary carer until the end of your Paid Parental Leave period.’

It is not clear why women cannot also choose to take their paid parental leave at a later date and be paid at that time.

The difference in eligibility criteria between PPL and Dad Or Partner Pay is detrimental and patronising to female business owners such as myself, as it assumes that I cannot manage a business or engage in work from home at the same time as providing full-time care for a newborn, even when that newborn will sleep (on average) 16-20 hours per day in the first 18 weeks of its life.

Yet Dad Or Partner Pay – identified in the Act to "allow fathers and partners to take a greater share of caring responsibilities and to support mothers and partners from the beginning" – allows men and partners to take time off from work at a time convenient to themselves, the child, and the mother, whether that be immediately after the birth or several months down the track, and be compensated for it if they meet all other eligibility criteria.

2. Criteria of PPL discriminates against self-employed/freelance women AND men
Patrick, my husband and father of our two children, is a freelance film and TV editor whose income is derived from short-term contracts with a range of employers, as well as freelance clients. He also has the option to work from home.

Under the PPL scheme, Patrick is allowed to receive some or all of the PPL payment. This situation would have suited our family, as sharing the leave period would mean that as parents we could share the role of full-time carer of our son but not be absent from our work/business for as long.

However, the scheme requires that Patrick would also have to have not returned to work since our son's birth – a financial situation that would see our two-parent family surviving on a single minimum wage income for at least part of the first 18 weeks of our son's life.

This situation is quite unrealistic, given that as freelancers and business owners, we do not receive holiday pay or carer pay from an employer to assist our family financially during this time.

Why allowing families the option to delay the payment of PPL to any time within a child's first year makes sense
The criterion that claimants must not have returned to work in any capacity (other than the ambiguous ‘occasional administrative task’) since the birth of their child in order to receive PPL is short-sighted, when you consider the circumstances of a self-employed mother or father who works from home.

Small business owners, the self-employed, freelancers, contractors and entrepreneurs who work from home are in a unique position to provide attentive, full-time care to their infant children while managing business tasks as required within the first 18 weeks of their life.

But this does not mean they should therefore be excluded from receiving PPL simply because they choose – or may need – to continue running their businesses, even in a greatly reduced capacity, in the early months of their child’s life.

The Act’s objectives are to "promote equality between men and women" and "encourage women to continue to participate in the workforce" – but I do not believe that the current criteria to receive PPL is conducive to everyone to achieving these objects.

Giving families the option to delay the payment of PPL to any time within a child’s first year of life would allow parents who are self-employed to use their best judgement when to take a break from their business to receive PPL – to care for their child, strategically remove themselves from their business duties, and to divide the share of PPL between both mother and father where required – while also ensuring that their business can continue as a going concern

It is unfair that despite the tax that we pay and the contributions myself and my husband make to our nation via our respective businesses, as well as meeting all other criteria for the PPL payment, that we are denied any flexibility in our receipt of PPL.
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So there you have it. My story, my opinion.

As self-employed women/parents, we shouldn't accept the government telling us that we should not return to work 'for even one hour' after the birth of our babies 'in order to encourage bonding with the child' (as a "helpful" Centrelink employee told me on one of many phone conversations with them).

I'm not 'anti-government' by any means, but along the same lines as legislation telling me which person of which gender I can or can't marry, the government should not question my ability to bond with my child and use my brain to make money at the same time. If they're going to offer a parental leave scheme, by all means set some parameters, but then let citizens work out for themselves how they can incorporate it best into their lives.

Even though my opportunity to receive PPL this time around (or ever again - this baby-making factory is now closed!) has passed, my hope is that talking about this encourages review and change of the PPL payment criteria for future applicants.

I haven't yet heard back from Ms O'Dwyer's office, but will update the post here if/when I do.

x Tess

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Episode 34: Sexist parental leave policies, new habits and Emma and Tess's year in review

23/12/2015

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For the lucky last episode of 2015, we discuss our highs, lows and in-betweens of 2015, which includes Emma randomly purchasing a new house (!), Tess giving birth to TWO babies only months apart (NB: One is a book baby!), and our personal, professional and parenting goals for 2016.

Lena Dunham's Women of the Hour podcast and her Lenny newsletter

Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) podcast

Zadie Smith's novel N-W

Novel Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Non-fiction book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

TV show Tyrant

Hitting Home doco on domestic violence

The incredible Rosie Batty and The Luke Batty Foundation

Netflix's latest show Master of None

Owning It by Sharon Givoni and published by Tess McCabe!

Emma's business Gratton Design

... And the Centrelink criteria for Paid Parental Leave Pay in comparison to Dad And Partner Pay

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Episode 33: Not sleeping like a baby with Lara Cameron

11/12/2015

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Designer Lara Cameron is the co-founder of Ink & Spindle, a Melbourne textile printing company with focusses on ethical and enviro-friendly materials and business practices.

Lara is also mum to 19 month old Adelaide, a gorgeous and very awake toddler! Lara has been through a tumultuous sleep journey, from sleep schools and home consultants to long walks in the Ergo and 5.00am starts - on a good day. We commiserate and share battle stories of the horrors of sleep deprivation, learning to let go and what actually happens in the hallowed halls of sleep school.

*Kids in the room note: there's a few swear words in this ep... what can we say, sleep is a delicate topic!*

You can also listen oniTunes.

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Give us the gift of an iTunes review for Christmas!

9/12/2015

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Friends, lovers, listeners... We love making The New Normal for you and it would be great if more people knew about us. A good way to get our rankings up in iTunes is if we have lots of REVIEWS (nice ones ;)).

So we're hoping that if you like our show, you might want to declare your love publicly (or you can use a pseudonym!) on iTunes. Instructions below!

On your desktop:

Open iTunes
Click on the Podcasts icon or go View > Podcasts
Type the podcast name in the Search bar and hit enter
Click the podcast in the search results and a page of episodes will appear
Click ‘Ratings and reviews’
Under Customer Reviews click ‘Write a Review’
Enter the details is asks for and give it a rating out of 5 stars.
Click submit
You’re done!

Via your phone/tablet:

Open the Apple Podcasts app
Click the search icon at the bottom
Type the podcast name in the Search bar and hit enter
Click the podcast in the search results and a page of episodes will appear
Click ‘reviews’
Under iTunes Customer Reviews click ‘Write a Review’ (you may need to sign in to your Apple account here)
Tap to give a rating out of 5 stars, and enter your title and review details
Click send
You’re done!

THANK YOU and merry Christmas! xx Emma and Tess

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Episode 32: Tess and Emma on losing a favourite toy, contraception, and taking kids to the dentist

24/11/2015

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On this week's episode, we sit in Tess' kitchen and chat about our various methods of contraception over the years and what we are using currently (AKA how to never ever have any more babies, ever). We also wonder why kids need to watch TV at the dentist, give a virtual high-five to famous person and fellow mum Kate Winslet, and extoll the virtues of party playlists during playtime.

Show notes:

Pop Pilates (specifically the terribly-named but excellent Bubble Butt Clenching My Booty Workout)

The book I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam

The book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert...

... and the accompanying podcast Magic Lessons

The documentaries The True Cost, Amy, and Twenty Feet From Stardom

Kate Winslet on social media + kids at The Guardian

The book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture

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Episode 31: Katie Evans on craft for kids, book publishing and how teenagers are easier than babies

11/11/2015

The hilarious Katie Evans had a varied career, including stocking the heavily scented shelves of Lush, to acting on Neighbours, to antique selling, before settling on a career in publishing after being inspired by Seinfeld's Elaine Benes.

Katie worked for eight years at Penguin editing children's books and now works as a freelance writer and editor. She is a mum to a teenage girl and a young son, and has recently written a craft book called Little Things for Busy Hands (although she admits that her own kids are not that into crafting!).

Aside from huge tangents about our Neighbours-watching days and the history of Penguin, Katie takes us behind the scenes in the world of children's books and publishing, and gives her top tips for keeping your house looking presentable with kids around.

<<Previous

The New Normal

Episode 52: Disney feminists, teaching kids about money, and a little announcement

Episode 51: Claire Berry on the ups and downs of surrogacy

Episode 50: Happy marriage how-tos, attachment parenting, and the (hilarious) difficulty of trying for a second child

Episode 49: Bec Mutch on co-working, taking risks and the term 'mumpreneur'

Episode 48: Screen time, celebrity couple crushes, and what we're strict about with our kids

Episode 47: Freelance photographer Martina Gemmola on freelancing, fibroids and fertility

Episode 46: Raising boys in a footy-mad culture, finding family-friendly workplaces, and surviving kid's birthday parties

Episode 45: Fashion and 'mum style' with stylist Rebecca Jane

Episode 44: HONY, mum handbags, and how to avoid overwhelm when work + sickness collide

Episode 43: Nicole Avery from Planning with Kids on meal planning, blogging and the wonders of single tasking

Episode 42: Learning to be an adult, creative wellsprings, and talking to kids about the birds and the bees

Episode 41: Joanna Francis on living in France

Episode 40: Assisted dying, the pomodoro technique, and an update on Tess' Paid Parental Leave story

Episode 39: Artist Hannah Fox on calling herself an artist, pricing work and sharing kids on social media

Episode 38: Emma and Tess chat about how to spark joy, reminisce about teenage obsessions, and assign our kids' legal guardians

Podcasts for Australian entrepreneurs ~ The New Normal

Episode 37: Creative lady Annette Wagner on parenting different genders, post-natal depression and, um, Michael Flatley

Episode 36: Tess and Emma on modern meditation, minimalism, and are we turning into our parents?

Episode 35: Michelle Francis on moving her family to Detroit

Why I think Paid Parental Leave is unfair to women and self-employed parents - the extended version

Episode 34: Sexist parental leave policies, new habits and Emma and Tess's year in review

Episode 33: Not sleeping like a baby with Lara Cameron

Give us the gift of an iTunes review for Christmas!

Episode 32: Tess and Emma on losing a favourite toy, contraception, and taking kids to the dentist

Episode 31: Katie Evans on craft for kids, book publishing and how teenagers are easier than babies

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