FIM 65: Making Choices in Motherhood that Work for You with Roula Abou Haidar

Explicit content warning

08/15/24 • 55 min

Unpopular opinion: motherhood can be boring.

Not everyone adapts well to the demands and slow pace and ultimate isolation of baby life. But also, not enough women talk about the new mom struggles because they feel so guilty for feeling that way to begin with and are terrified of being judged.

In short: mom guilt keeps us from finding the other women who are sharing our struggles who could validate our experience.

This week host Amanda Haro is joined by Roula Abou Haidar, who shares her story of motherhood with the honesty we’ve all been waiting for.

They discuss:

✨ The challenges of being a new mom as an immigrant

✨ Hating being a stay at home mom

✨ How hard and painful breastfeeding can be and letting go of the mom guilt around using formula

✨ Divorce and peaceful co-parenting

✨ The decision to remarry & choosing to have another kid

✨ The importance of having boundaries as a mom

Connect more with Amanda, burnout and confidence coach for moms, here.

Roula’s Podcast, The Life Affairs.

Connect with Roula on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode, Roula's favorite book: Courageous Parents: Becoming a good anchor for your children

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro

4:20 Being a built in babysitter as a kid turned me off to motherhood

6:37 The struggles of meeting new mom friends as an immigrant

14:15 I felt like my life was over when I became a mom

29:45 Divorce & peaceful co-parenting & finally finding myself

40:40 Remarrying & choosing to have another child

43:54 Tales of raising teenagers

47:02 The importance of boundaries as a mom

50:34 Lightening questions

Mom guilt, boundaries, mental health, self care, self compassion, divorce, co-parenting, blended family, motherhood, making mom friends, breastfeeding, societal pressure, postpartum support, motherhood tales, immigrant family stories

Unpopular opinion: motherhood can be boring.

In short: mom guilt keeps us from finding the other women who are sharing our struggles who could validate our experience.

This week host Amanda Haro is joined by Roula Abou Haidar, who shares her story of motherhood with the honesty we’ve all been waiting for.

They discuss:

✨ The challenges of being a new mom as an immigrant

✨ Hating being a stay at home mom

✨ How hard and painful breastfeeding can be and letting go of the mom guilt around using formula

✨ Divorce and peaceful co-parenting

✨ The decision to remarry & choosing to have another kid

✨ The importance of having boundaries as a mom

Connect more with Amanda, burnout and confidence coach for moms, here.

Roula’s Podcast, The Life Affairs.

Connect with Roula on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode, Roula's favorite book: Courageous Parents: Becoming a good anchor for your children

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro

4:20 Being a built in babysitter as a kid turned me off to motherhood

6:37 The struggles of meeting new mom friends as an immigrant

14:15 I felt like my life was over when I became a mom

29:45 Divorce & peaceful co-parenting & finally finding myself

40:40 Remarrying & choosing to have another child

43:54 Tales of raising teenagers

47:02 The importance of boundaries as a mom

50:34 Lightening questions

Previous Episode

FIM 64: Letting Go of Perfectionism to Embrace Happiness with Olivia Ganguzza

Did you follow the American formula for a successful life?

Graduate from college ✔️

Get married ✔️

Have kids ✔️

Balance mom life and still kick ass at corporate job ✔️

...but do you still find yourself riddled with anxiety and ultimately not happy even though you did everything you were supposed to do?

This week host Amanda Haro is joined by Olivia Ganguzza, coach for high-achieving women, and she shares her personal story of being that perfectionist, high-achieving career woman who had everything but was left anxious and unhappy.

They discuss:

✨ How socialization and traditional gender roles have shaped work culture and why it does not work for the modern family

✨ Realizing perfectionism created anxiety, not happiness

✨ The physical consequences of untreated anxiety and burnout

✨ The importance of identifying your values as a mom so you can confidently make decisions without the anxiety of being judged

✨ How to stay curious with your negative feelings so you can break out of the cycle of harmful negative self talk and learn to have self compassion

✨ How to practice mindfulness as a mom to help reduce mom stress and burnout

✨ How to let go of perfectionism and the social media compare and despair so you can fully embrace yourself and your uniqueness

Connect more with Amanda Haro, burnout and confidence coach, here.

Connect more with Olivia Ganguzza, coach for high achieving women, here.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro

1:48 Creating space for well being when you are an over achiever and perfectionist

5:15 Balancing work and family life as a working mom

12:46 Why women need to stop trying to be likable by everyone

18:00 Asking for help & letting go of societal expectations in motherhood

30:26 Letting go of perfectionism in the social media age

36:35 Embracing our whole selves; you need all of your emotions

45:49 Making peace with your anxiety

55:51 Lightening questions

Self improvement, self help, mental health, emotional intelligence, work life balance, mom life, motherhood tales, mindfulness, core values, authenticity, self care, connection, perfectionism, burnout, stress, anxiety

Next Episode

FIM 66: Traveling with Kids: The One Where We Almost Missed Our Flight

Traveling with kids is always an adventure. Moms can plan all they want but we might still forget to pack diapers, one of the kids might sleep puke on the flight, and the youngest child might still have a hangry tantrum while we’re figuring out the dilemma with the rental car.

The key to a successful family travel day is learning to let go and go with the flow.

On this week’s episode host Amanda Haro shares her personal day in the life story of her most recent travel adventure as a single mom with her 4 girls. Including:

😷 The whole family getting Covid 10 days before leaving for vacation

🚗 Los Angeles traffic

🛫 Being seconds away from missing their return flight home

🧘‍♀️ Going with the flow and trusting the universe in the height of stress

She also shares her new favorite female centered movies. If we want things to change, we must seek out the change on purpose. Go out of your way to support female movies, female art, and female comics!

Are you ready to say ‘yes’ to that burning passion inside your soul? Schedule your free 1 hour consultation today. You’ve put yourself on the back burner long enough, mama.

Follow Amanda on Instagram and YouTube.

Mentioned in this episode:

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro

1:00 Podcasting behind the scenes

10:52 Kids who have been traveling since birth

13:50 Being flexible & letting go on family travel days

14:39 Surprise, everyone has Covid

21:47 Almost missing our return flight

38:10 Female centered must see movies

Motherhood tales, mom life, single mom, single mom ditl, travel day, family travel, traveling with children, air travel with kids, single mom travel, day in my life, large family, travel experiences