Mamatoto Radio

This week Katrina Oakley from Core Fitness for Moms visits the podcast. We talk about a lot of things like our kids teeth, body image, kids and social media, kids and tech and distance learning, and of course, Katrina's super power, distasis recti and pelvic floor.  Katrina is the founder of Core Fitness for Moms where she helps women with distasis recti get their core and pelvic floor back in shape.  Visit her website here: https://www.katrinaoakley.com/corefitnessformoms And her facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/CoreFitnessForMoms/

Today I wanted to start a conversation that I wish I would have had the courage to start a long time ago. I didn't feel ready, and I still don't feel ready, but it's time. I am thankful for you and our amazing community, and this my friends is the first step in an ongoing conversation.

Nikki McArthur is a mother of five, an author and an activist. We met when we were protesting the burkini ban in France a few years ago. Her new book "What have we got Toulouse: A family moving to France" is available where you buy books, she tells the story of her family moving to France, all the ups, downs and twists.  In the podcast this week she tells the story of when her son Ryan had a liver transplant after a scary liver failure that they still don't know the cause of. We talk about having babies in the UK and in France and we talk about raising activist kids. 

I this episode I talk about subtle shifts in our daily and weekly routines and how they serve us. This episode is brought to you by Kids Club, the safe, nurturing and creative space for your kids online. Get on the waitlist to join at www.mamatoto.info/kidsclub  

Jason Crandell is not only a well known yoga teacher, he is the yoga teacher of the yoga teachers. He visits us today to talk parenting. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful and excited I am to share this with you. We recorded this episode in late 2019, before the world went into chaos, I intended it to start off our new season in early February, but we all know what happened there. Jason and his wife Andrea have a wonderful yoga podcast called Yogaland, you should definitely check it out :)

Today I thought we could talk a little bit about little kids and social distancing. Recently when France started planning to reopen schools with social distancing in place we got some directives and some idea of what that kind of school would look like, and I will be honest with you, I was horrified. And, I don’t think it would work. If you have ever seen kids under ten interact, you know why. Let’s talk about why it horrified me and why I just don’t think it would work, and after we finish, I would love to hear from you.

Season 2 of Mamatoto Radio is here :) Months later than anticipated, we are back to talk about Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting in the time of Covid 19. Have a listen, tell me how you are doing, subscribe and share with your friends, and most of all, stay safe.

Tomorrow we start a new year, and a new decade. And my middle son Jakob turns 11. It's a big day :) In our New Year episode, I share with you Jakob's birth story, that we tell every year on his birthday. It's one of our traditions. Thank you everyone in the Mamatoto family for your support in 2019, I can't wait to see you in 2020 :)

Today is when we celebrate Christmas where I am from :) The past few months have brought some difficult things in the world of my kids, and I share how I have used some Radical Parenting ideas and techniques to navigate them. And I tell you about the free parenting workshop that starts on January 2 :) All of Mamatoto wishes you the best holidays :)

You know what drives me crazy?   Numbing is what. I will tell you why.   If we don’t know each other yet, I am Hanna, founder of Mamatoto.   I’m really happy you are here :)   Why does numbing drive me nuts, and what do I mean?   You know when parents roll their eyes when there is a difficult moment with their kids and say something to the effect “Mommy needs wine” and other parents nod and smile, click like and maybe even share. Whether in real life or on social media. Same same.   We get it, parenting is hard, let’s all drink, ignore the actual issue and make fun.   For me, this is problematic on several levels.   First I am going to be a super bummer and many of you guys who like to have a drink or two or five and don’t want anyone to challenge you on that will probably stop watching this video right now.   Still here, great, I will tell you something serious, and then I will encourage you to consider drinking or however you choose to numb yourself in a way that doesn’t harm you or the people around you. E

Darren is a San Francisco based yoga teacher and author. He leads the weekly yoga class in Grace Cathedral for hundreds of yogis and he has written many books on yoga and meditation. This week he shares his story of being a single dad to his son, what he wants for his son and when he knew he wanted to be a parent.  Talking to Darren made me feel so happy, he is just an extraordinary person and I am so happy he wanted to join me on the podcast.  To learn more about him go to www.darrenmain.com  

I am going to share something really personal with you today. Something that has been a red thread through all the things I have done and that I haven’t talked about in public before.   For those of you who don’t know me, I am Hanna, founder of Mamatoto.   When I was growing up there were things that were regular and things that weren’t. I will tell you one of the not so regular things today. When I was in the first years of primary school I didn’t have a lot of friends. I had the kids on my street that I played with, but at school I was bullied, and in the little village I lived in there wasn’t the knowledge or know how of how to deal with bullies, so how they dealt with it was that they didn’t. At age nine I changed schools, I had to ride with my dad to the city and go to a school there, and things got a lot better.   But I didn’t quite know how to connect. Being in a school that didn’t accept the kind of bullying I had gotten used to was amazing, but I was pretty hurt, and I didn’t know how to get close to

Nothing could prepare me for the shock of seeing a picture of myself and my beautiful little baby a few days after she was born. My belly was a beast on its own, spreading, sprawling, floating all over the place. You know what I felt? I felt like a few days ago people were in awe of my big round beautiful belly, I felt validated. Now I was just fat and the race was on to get back into my pre pregnancy body, into shape, into better shape than ever. All these words twirling around, six pack, abs, get back into jeans, bla bla bla.

How do you think about the ways you know how to deal with stuff, how you know what to do and what to try in different situations? I think of it as a toolbox, and all the things I know are my tools and as I get better at using them I can adjust them to different situations.   It’s not just in parenting, but because part of my work is helping parents have a closer and better relationship with their kids, that’s what we will talk about here.   I often hear, and get the feeling that many parents think they are supposed to just know how to parent. Alternatively many go on auto pilot and do pretty much what their parents did, more or less.   Most people can be wonderful parents, and to parent with intention there are some tools you will want to have in your tool box and as you get more and more confident in using them, you will be able to combine them and use them across topics effortlessly.   In this short video I want to tell you some functions I think your parenting tools should be able to do.   First, as a cent

Talking parenting with Jeremiah is such a treat. We talk about breaking patterns, how to show up and how to model for our kids what we want them to learn.  Jeremiah is an amazing artist and dad, I am so happy he wanted to be on the podcast.  Find him on Instagram: @jeremiahjenkinsart  

You know what I think? I think there is so much more judgement than necessary when it comes to parenting, and I bet a lot of it is from insecurity.   If we haven’t met, I am Hanna, founder of Mamatoto and The Nest. I am so happy we found each other :)   Have you ever found yourself judging another parent? I have, and I bet if you are honest with yourself you have too.   When I was a new mom I lived in San Francisco, and back then there was a city wide yahoo group of moms that scared me shitless. I guess the purpose of the group was to support, but the tone and the language when talking about all kinds of stuff was anything but kind and definitely not supportive. The lack of empathy and generosity in having an even slightly different approach to parenting than whatever the mom police had decided was right was super intimidating to me and it made me feel isolated and afraid to ask questions or share experiences. It left people so tightly wound and our of proportion paranoid that I saw moms seriously anxious abo

Have you ever found yourself in a twisted competition with another parent about whose kid reaches the milestones first?

I would like to ask you a question, how do you show up for yourself? Do you take good enough care of yourself or are you always taking care of others?   If we don’t know each other yet, I am Hanna, founder of Mamatoto and the parenting community The Nest. I am so happy we found each other :)   I talk to parents a lot about relating to their kids, how to raise awesome kids and how to be and stay connected to them.   And you know what one of the first things to do is? To begin at the beginning, you have to start with you. You know when you are on a plane and they go through security protocol. When they tell you how to operate the oxygen mask they tell you to put on your mask before helping others. It’s exactly that that I want to talk to you about today.   For many people when we start talking about self care, of taking care of ourselves they think in big bold statements, aspirational maybe and often so monumental that it never happens. Self care doesn’t have to be a weekend, or even a day at a spa. It can be t

Daniel was one of my professors in grad school in San Francisco. His lectures were part of my day to day during my first pregnancy and my first years of motherhood, he had a bigger impact on how I parent, who I am as a mother, than most books or guides I had at the time. I am so thankful that he wanted to come on the podcast and talk parenting with me, I hope he will help you shift your mind like he does mine.  To find out more about Daniel and his work, go to www.joyfulcomplexity.com

You know what drives me crazy?   Dismissing our kids is what. I will tell you why.   If we don’t know each other yet, I am Hanna, founder of Mamatoto.   I’m really happy you are here :)   Maybe dismissing isn’t the right word.   What I am talking about is when you say that your kid is two years old, or fifteen years old for example and people immediately go to “oh, the terrible twos” or, “the nightmare of parenting a teenager”.   You know what I think? I think it’s fucking rude. And I think grouping together kids into over simplified ways to dismiss what the developmental part of growing up they are in as problematic is problematic in itself.   I know, it’s super fun making fun of toddlers. Making videos of them losing their shit over having the wrong spoon. Super fun.   I fully acknowledge the support the parents need during the more intense parts of parenting, that’s why I am here, that’s what I do, it’s my work, but I would encourage you to think about this:   Would you like some of the more difficult mome