What to Expect When You’re Empty Nesting (with BFF Megan)

Watch the podcast, above, or listen below.

My best friend Megan and I, who have five young adult children between us, reflect on our transition to an empty nest together this fall. We share the story of our unique lifelong friendship, and our shared experience entering motherhood, midlife, and now empty nesting together. We recount some of our favourite parts of living without kids again and some of the unforeseen challenges (or are they perks?) like chocolate-covered peanuts for lunch and key lime pie for dinner, playlist control (Piano Chill, anyone?), finding a “new normal” with your partner, and the lack of any requirement to follow a routine.

We discuss the toughest parts of not having your children close by and share what we did to find our own sense of purpose before our nests emptied and how that has helped to make this a surprisingly joyful time of life. We explore the idea of anticipatory grief and provide some very helpful insight into how to...

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Emptying the Nest: The Grief & Joy of Letting Go

Watch the podcast, above, or listen below.  

In this short podcast episode, I provide listeners with an update on my abrupt transition to empty nester this fall, including the blindsiding grief I felt this spring and how I worked through it to find the joy on the other side. Since my children are only seven months apart, and in the same grade, they both left their childhood home for university residences the same week.

I share a piece I wrote called “Emptying the Nest” that will resonate with mothers everywhere, where I explore how it feels as your young adult children begin their slow leaving process and then disappear from your home.

If you’ve got children (or nieces, nephews or step-kids or godchildren), don’t skip this one – it’s short and bittersweet but also universal in the emotions involved in this natural transition period in midlife.

Please feel free to share this episode with any moms (or dads!) you know who are in...

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Season Opener: What We Both Learned this Summer (with Sarah Baillie, N.D.)

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Welcome to Season 3 of Bite-Sized Balance! In today's episode, Sarah and I catch up, sharing what we did this summer and some of the life lessons we both learned this past year.

Sarah opens up about a recent loss and her insight into her instinct to try to control everything, and how it serves her better to hold life’s outcomes more loosely. I share an update regarding my emptying nest and the emotions that have accompanied selling my kids’ childhood home and readying them both to leave for their first year of university.

We discuss the importance of learning to trust your gut in midlife. I also share how I'm feeling about another birthday and how the best word to describe how I'm feeling about my 50s is that I have “agency” again. As always, this conversation will resonate and uplift you, and provide a few nuggets to take away and consider in your own journey...

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Pregancy Loss & Grief: Wendy's Story

Watch the podcast, above, or listen below.

1 in 4 pregnancies ends in loss, and it’s high time we started talking about it.

In this episode, with the help of my BFF Megan, I tell my personal story of recurrent miscarriage and grief.

Of my five pregnancies, only one resulted in a live birth. My friend Megan was there for the grief and joy along the way and shares what she learned about how to best support someone who’s going through infertility and/or loss. I recollect some of the toughest moments, but also the lovely ways I was supported by so many.

The goal of this episode is to help anyone who’s been through this feel less alone and to change the conversation by increasing awareness and sensitivity around this really common struggle for women.

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