In the Arena with the Eyre Sisters

Join us this week as we talk about the difference between seeing our children as growing seeds with inherent complex, internal personalities and traits, or as lumps of clay that we can mold into what we want. We discuss how hard it is to relenquish our desire to push our kids towards what we think would be great for them and share times when we've failed as well as times when we have done a pretty good job. We'd love to hear your thoughts about this - we'd love to know how you nurture your little seedlings. Come join the conversation @eyresisters on Instagram. Show Notes:   Dr. Russell Barkley on Parent as Shepherds      Ross Green, The Explosive Child     "We don't see things as they are" Quote     Episode 25 where we talk about control with Tal  

This week's episode features our amazing sister-in-law, Anita. Anita is a life coach and she offered us some simple but powerful principles that can help transform our parenting thoughts and actions. We learned about managing our expectations, being our word, paying attention to our train of thought, and more. Anita generously offered a free hour of coaching to all our listeners so head to her website to schedule your free session right away! Show Notes:   Byron Katie, 4 Liberating Questions     The Power of Words (Maya Angelou Quote)     Share Your Story (Brene Brown Quote #1)     Stand Your Sacred Ground (Brown Brown Quote #2)     Anita's Instagram Feed     Anita's Life Coaching Website      

Welcome back for Season 3! We are so excited to be starting off another season with you. In this episode, recorded at the tail end of our annual Bear Lake reunion, we share how we do reunions and talk about the things we love and the challenges we face. How do you handle reunions in your family? What suggestions do you have for balancing scheduled time vs. free time? We'd love to hear your experiences! Come share with us on Instagram @eyresisters.  Show Notes: Shawni's blog post about Grandfather's Secrets and Grammie Camp Shawni's blog post about Eyrealm Reunion 2023 (this episode of our podcast was recorded at the close of this reunion) Saren's post: 3 Keys to a Great Family Reunion (from 2018)    

Summer is just around the corner! Join us for our last episode of season 2 as we discuss ideas for meaningful and do-able summer activities. We dive into ideas for little kids, elementary-aged kids, high school kids, and even your adult kids. What do you do to make summer awesome in your family? This week's challenge is to come up with the summer plan that best fits YOUR familiy. We'd love to have you share your ideas and plans with us on Instagram! @eyresisters Have a great summer, and we'll see you next season!  Show Notes:  Saren's post about her Do-it-Yourself Summer Camp   Shawni's blog post for summer ideas   Shawni's blog post on Claire's experience    Shawni's blog post on summer goals with a plan   Shawni's other blog post on summer goals    The Parenting Breakthrough book

Listen in today as we discuss technology! It's a hot topic, for good reason. We discuss the good that technology brings, and we also discuss the difficulties - setting limits, keeping our kids engaged with the world, the problems with comparison & the effects on self-esteem, how technology affects our ability to focus, the waste of time... there is so much to think about. Come join us for this discussion! We also challenge you to go have a screen competition with someone to see how little you can use your phone this week! And don't forget to check in on Instagram @eyresisters and let us know how it goes.    Show Notes:  Book Saydi talked about - Stolen Focus Technology contract from Shawni -  Book Shawni quoted from - The Tech-Wise Family 15-minute book summaries app - Blinkist or Headway

Here's another episode of us answering questions submitted by you! We had a lot of fun talking about what we do for fun, how invovled we are in our kids' relationships, homeschooling, meal planning, and more. We love your questions! Thanks for asking. Don't forget to visit us on Instagram and add your thoughts - @eyresisters.  Show Notes: Shawni's blog post on Family Mottos Saydi's list of red flags for emotional immaturity podcast episode where Saren offers ideas about choosing schooling for your kids podcast episode where Saren interviews her twins about their homeschooling experience

Join us this week as we talk with our brother, Talmadge (Tal). He lives in Switzerland with his wife and daughter. He's a poetry-reading, basketball-playing, book-writing, deep-thinking guy, and he has a lot to share!  Tal talks with us about his experience as a kid who really struggled wtih reading, the challenges that he and his wife had with infertility, and the intentional practices he's taken from his education in positive psychology, including locus of control, explanatory style, and blind spots. We're sure you will love learning from the awesome little brother we used to call "Tam the Lamb." Share what you learned with us on Instagram @eyresisters.    Locus of Control   Shadow Work   The Writer's Almanac   Mary Oliver    Wild Geese   The Summer Day

We get asked all the time how we are so close as siblings. In this week's episode, we discuss ways we've built and maintained relationships with each as we've grown up and have our own families. We talk about how we work through differences, issues we've had with hurt feelings and tensions, the bond we have through our religion, and how we try to connect individually with each other. What do you do to build your relationship with your siblings? Come share with us on Instagram @eyresisters.   

This week we answer a listener's question about what our parents did to help us deal with negativity, and how we're working to build resilience in ourselves and our kids. We loved this discussion!  We share experiences that have helped us develop thick skin - from the time a guy proudly announced that he'd burned the book our dad gave him to dealing with negative blog comments. We share ideas about how our parents taught us resilience and ways we can help cultivate resilience in our kids. What do you do in your home to teach resilience? Come share with us on Instagram @eyresisters.  Show Notes: Brene Brown quote

Parenting adult kids is a whole new ballgame, folks! We talk about how our parents approached parenting us in our adulthood then Saren and Shawni share their experiences with adult kids as they've moved from parenting to coaching to cheerleading. Saydi chimes in with a lot of great questions she's been thinking about as her oldest is about to head off to college soon. Do you have adult kids? What works for you? Share your ideas and thoughts on Instagram @eyresisters.  Show Notes:  Grandparenting course by our parents Shawni’s post on parenting adult kids A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza (book mentioned by Shawni) Quote shared by Saydi about having a child is like having your heart walking around outside of your body    

In this episode, we focus on a specific age group - little kids! In answer to listener questions, we share our experiences and tips on sleeping, eating, emotional disregulation (temper tantrums!), promoting cooperation, and the joys of little kids. These years can be exhausting, but they are also full of so much fun! Please share your favorite little kid ideas on our Instagram page @eyresisters.  Show Notes: Joy School Still face Early Childhood Development Class Don’t Carpe Diem Hand Brain Model Lava Concept Documentary on Babies Zones of Regulation Book on Cooperation

In this episode, we share our best tips for family travel. We talk about how to make time for travel, how to find the money to travel, how to feed your family inexpensively while traveling, how to involve your kids in the planning, how to travel with younger children, and more! As with family life in general, traveling with your family can feel pretty un-glamorous when you're in the middle of it but when you look back, the experiences are cherished. We share some crazy stories and some beautiful memories alongside practical ideas for how you can make family travel happen if that's something you'd like to do with your family. Our challenge for you to sit down with your spouse and make a plan for some sort of trip you'd like to take with your family.  Show Notes Ian's post about traveling on credit card points Saren blog post about making travel affordable Food you can find and make in pretty much every country: Pasta and red sauce with cheese Fresh fruits and veggies (produce is typically more flavorful in other countries) Fresh crusty bread with cheese/salami No bake cookies (oatmeal, cocoa, butter, sugar (it's fine to leave out the vanilla) French toast (even for dinner) with honey instead of syrup Scrambled eggs  Homemade pizzas (local bread topped by red sauce and cheese cooked in the oven) Rice and beans with garlic, onions, chili powder (with cheese on top) Frozen prepared meals are available in many places (especially frozen pizza)  

Our brother Jonah marches to the beat of his own drum and has created a rich and beautiful life for his family while living very frugally. Join us as we interview Jonah and learn more about the unique approach to life and parenting that he and his wife, Aja, have chosen. We talk about everything from killing your own food for meat to moving to New Zealand after being inspired by Lord of the Rings to fixing up cars so they run on old vegetable oil. We hope you find Jonah as inspiring as we do! Join us on Instagram, @eyresisters, and let us know what out-of-the-norm things you've chosen for your family or what you'd like to do after listening to Jonah. We can't wait to hear from you! Show Notes: Wagon (Ana's award-winning film about driving cross-country in an old G-Wagon)  A blog post about Thanksgiving with Jonah & Aja   

This week we decided to answer a bunch of questions from our listeners. We answer questions about our names, flops in our family growing up, how we take care of ourselves as mothers, etc. Go grab your favorite dessert and come join us for a fun chat!  Show Notes: Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Browne Boyack

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we decided to discuss some of the joys and challenges of parenting alongside our Valentines. We discuss how to prioritize your spouse, how to handle the inevitable disagreements, differing ideas about parenting, and what works for us when it comes to division of labor. The challenge this week is to do something for your partner that will be really helpful for them. Hop on Instagram and let us know what you decide to do. Happy Valentine's Day!  Show Notes: Gottman institute: The Four Horsemen   Brooke Romney Post: His Yin to My Yang Shawni’s Blog Post: Valentine's Edition Love Languages Little Dad painting by Brian Kershisnik Dr. Becky, Good Inside

In this week's episode, we share some key aspects of the religious beliefs and attitudes we grew up with and how our parents' take on the gospel and our church affected the development of our faith and our desire to remain active members of our church. We discuss transactional religion vs. transformational religion and share what matters most to us about our faith. We also talk about how to nurture healthy spirituality so our children can have the capacity to really connect with God and Jesus. We would love to hear your thoughts over on Instagram. How do you nurture faith and spirituality in your home? What are the key ideas you hope your children are getting about religion and about Jesus?   Show Notes: The Chosen Series God's Many Voices (Michael Wilcox): Searching Foot Podcast Richard Rohr Meditations Patricia Holland, "A Quiet Heart" Blog Post about Lucy What Mother Teresa Teaches About Prayer

This week we talk about how much or how little we should try to control various aspects of our kids' lives. It can be tough! We want to protect and guide them but we also want to help them become confident and independent as they make their own decisions. Join us as we discuss our parents' approach to control in our family growing up examine the approach we each take in our mothering. Do you lean more towards helicopter or lawnmower parenting? Or do you tend to be more permissive? What tips do you have for striking the balance? Hop onto Instagram and let us know your thoughts!    References: Country Bunny and the Golden Shoes Destiny of the Republic - Candice Millard Parents.com - Why the Best Parenting Style isn’t one style at all, but many

Welcome back for Season 2! This week we talk with our parents about questions that came up during Season 1 - questions like, "Mom, how did you actually feel about Dad surprising you with the land at Bear Lake?!" We also ask them questions about how they came up with their parenting approaches and if they have any regrets. Join us for an entertaining, inspiring episode that will have you laughing at stories of living in the Eyre house, as well as feeling emotional at beautiful reminders like "each child is a seedling." Don't forget to join us on Instagram @eyresisters! 

Join us this week as we discuss how to have difficult conversations with our kids. We acknowledge the messiness, discuss ways to prepare ahead of time, and give ideas to each other on how to approach these tricky conversations. We would love to hear your thoughts! How do you approach difficult topics with your kids? Hop on Instagram and let us know! @eyresisters   Show Notes: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber

We are so excited to have our mom, Linda Eyre, join us in this week's episode as we chat about parenting through the generations. We discuss the differences and similarities between parenting when our mom had young kids, through Saren and Shawni, to Saydi, who's in the middle, and then Charity, who still has young kids. We hope you can relate as we talk about the challenges as well as the good things about our time of parenting. Hop on Instagram and let us know your thoughts! @eyresisters   Show Notes:  Our parents' free books