Chicken Soup for the Soul – Life Lessons for Busy Moms

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Fourth Trimester Podcast Episode 56: Chicken Soup for the Soul – Life Lessons for Busy Moms with Lynn Benson

The Fourth Trimester podcast focuses on postpartum care for new parents and their babies during their first few months following birth. Host Sarah Trott, co-host Esther Gallagher, and author and social worker Lynn Benson discuss the importance of self-assessment, setting boundaries with family and friends, and self-care for new parents. They also suggest organizing different aspects of childcare and preparing for the arrival of a baby by assessing resources and support systems.

On Episode 56 of the Fourth Trimester Podcast we speak with Lynn Benson, co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul Life Lessons for Busy Moms.” Lynn has an extensive background working in the early childhood education field and social work.

Her extensive background and education providing first hand guidance and assistance to families, children and the elderly, gives Lynn the unique ability to create a system that is efficient for use in both emergency situations and day-to-day family management.

Life Lessons For Busy Moms

Listen to hear about self care for busy moms, and learn about:

  • Signs you’re suffering from burnout as a result of caregiving
  • The physical, emotional stress and financial toll of caregiving
  • Tools and resources available to help family members with the challenges of caregiving

About Lynn Benson

Lynn earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work and carries a diverse and exceptional background. Lynn began her career as Director of Operations for a national multi-unit childcare and elder day care company overseeing numerous facilities throughout California. Lynn co-developed, launched and maintained innovative curriculum for Intergenerational Day Care Programs serving both children and seniors.

As a social worker, Lynn learned first hand the plight of the elderly who could not endure without outside assistance and Lynn became their advocate, providing the help, organization and facilitated services they needed day-to-day to endure and to survive crisis.

Lynn has co-authored Cherished Memories – The Story of My Life, The Senior Organizer and the Chicken Soup for the Soul book, Life Lessons for Busy Moms – 7 Essential Ingredients to Organize and Balance Your World.

 

Selected links

Connect with Lynn Benson Delphi Health Products

Lynn’s book Life Lessons for Busy Moms: Essential Ingredients to Organize and Balance Your World (Chicken Soup for the Soul) | BioBinder: Cherished Memories–The Story of My Life | The Senior Organizer: Personal, Medical, Legal, Financial

Learn more Self-Care is Critical to Caring for Others | Top 3 Episodes of the Fourth Trimester Podcast – Start here!

Connect with Fourth Trimester Facebook | InstagramAbout & Contact

Episode Transcript

Download transcript (as pdf)

Sarah Trott: [00:00:47] I’m here today with my co-host Esther Gallagher and our special guest, Lynn Benson, who I will introduce in just a moment.

Sarah Trott: [00:00:54] I wanted to remind all of our listeners today that we have a website which is https://fourthtrimesterpodcast.com/. You can go and sign up for our newsletter. You can also go onto Facebook and find us, Fourth Trimester Podcast, and join our community. Please go on Facebook and like us. That would be fantastic. And also we have Instagram. So if you enjoy Instagram, you can follow us, Fourth Trimester Podcast, on Instagram as well.

Sarah Trott: [00:01:19]  I’m going to introduce Lynn Benson now. She is someone who is an author, a co-author of a book called “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life lessons for busy Moms”. And she has quite an extensive background working in early childhood education and in social work. 

She’s earned her master’s degree in social work and she carries a diverse and exceptional background. She began her career as director of operations for a national multi unit childcare and elderly day care company overseeing numerous facilities throughout California. And she has co-developed, launched, and maintained an innovative curriculum for the intergenerational daycare programs which serves both children and seniors.

Sarah Trott: [00:02:04] So as a social worker she’s learned firsthand the plight of the elderly who cannot endure without outside assistance. And Lynn became their advocate providing help, organization and services that they needed day to day to endure and survive various crises that they might be going through. So we’re really honored to have her here on our program today. So thank you so much Lynn for being on our program.

Lynn Benson: [00:02:28] Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.

Sarah Trott: [00:02:31] Yeah. And Lynn, you’re a mom. We’d love to hear a little bit about your own fourth trimester experience.

Lynn Benson: [00:02:41] So both of my daughters are teenagers now, 13 and 15 years of age. But I do remember my fourth trimester quite well. I have to say with my background of social work and working in the early childhood education field, I felt that I was going to be quite prepared for being a new mom.

Lynn Benson: [00:03:03] And it was much more challenging than I thought. And fortunately, I wouldn’t say I anticipated it but after reaching out and speaking to other new moms, which I think is such an important thing to do, and just talking with others and finding out other people’s experiences, it was highly encouraged for me to get a doula. 

And money was tight and  fortunately I did make that decision. And it was just really for a few hours a day just for the first few weeks just to help get my bearings. But with my first child it was a really really tough delivery process. It was a very very tough process in terms of me recuperating from that. And my daughter ended up in the NICU after five days for about five days she was in the NICU. And that whole process was just really really challenging.

Lynn Benson: [00:04:12] So yeah. I could go on and on but I’m not sure you know. I will just say that in general, it was a tough process. And I learned a lot along the way. I definitely felt with my second one that I was more prepared to put certain things in places that would help me further along with all aspects in terms of my, you know, emotional and mental health wellbeing and a greater support system and organized approach to help facilitate the process especially with having, at the time, you know a two year old and a newborn. So I learned a lot along the way.

Sarah Trott: [00:04:59] Yeah that sounds hard. We had a guest recently talk about her experience with twins and her twins were preemies. And her babies were in the NICU and she said it was so hard to have family constantly asking when the babies are coming home because that was her question too. And there was no answer for that. They just didn’t know. And just as a personal experience that sounds very hard.

Lynn Benson: [00:05:23] It really is. You’re just going by you know crying and having faith that it will be OK. And it’s a very very scary process.

Sarah Trott: [00:05:34] Well thank you for sharing that. And so you talked about being a little more prepared for the second time around and having a little one. What do you think was the main difference there for you? Was it just like having had a newborn once before, you know more about what to expect.

Lynn Benson: [00:05:55] I do think that you know for many new moms that are really willing to share the first few months.

Lynn Benson: [00:06:05] You know many do go into that survival mode of just really trying to just get through each day with taking care of their little one and making sure they get sleep. It’s a really tough process.

Lynn Benson: [00:06:18] I do think that you see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I really don’t want to go negative. There’s definitely moments in the experience where you’re just amazed by this newborn child and amazed by these milestones and there’s so much beauty and wonderful things that go along the way. So it’s just that I don’t think enough people will talk about that there are no real challenges as well. The sleep deprivation, you’re trying to heal. For those that breastfeed you know that in itself for many can be a really tough journey. So it’s just a new experience. You know along the way.

Lynn Benson: [00:07:02] After a few months, especially by the time your baby is about six months old, there tends to be a little bit more of a routine and there’s more systems in place and the confidence starts to build a little bit as a parent and you’re able to get out more and do more things. But those first few months can be very very tricky especially for those that don’t have a strong support system in place. You know, depending on how available their partner is, their spouse. 

There may be family in the area within a few miles but everyone has different circumstances going on where for many they’re not available. So everyone is very unique and different in terms of their support systems and their own personal disposition and their ability just to navigate you know day to day.

Sarah Trott: [00:08:04] And your support system included a doula it sounds like.

Lynn Benson: [00:08:08] Yes. And so that’s the other thing I want to emphasize. I think it’s really important for each person that before having your child to sort of tap into that self-awareness piece and really self assess how you operate and what you think your own personal needs are and what are your resources and what is your support system.

Lynn Benson: [00:08:30] And that is one thing that I did with my first. One of the best gifts that my parents gave me because they weren’t as available as they wanted to be. They also actually helped as a gift, helping pay for part of the doula which I was so grateful for. 

When caregivers say how can I help? Even though I had a wealth of experience and a background again I don’t feel like ever before really prepared. And the doula that came in with our first child, she was absolutely incredible and we were so exhausted. And again my daughter was in and out of the NICU and she came in and the first thing she did was she looked around our home and she said OK I’m going to create this coffee table which is somewhat high and elevated into another diaper changing station for different reasons. 

You know each home is unique and different things that could be helpful. But she basically went around the house and just kind of reorganized and re-shifted things just to help our home function better. And then you know she was very direct, which I very much appreciated and in a very nurturing manner. She said Please both of you go take a nap. This is what I’m going to be doing. You know you’re not really. I mean it was very much. It’s all about you know. OK. What do you apparently do at this particular time, at this particular day this particular moment. So that’s what was our greatest need with our first child. 

[00:09:54] With our second child, I was working. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to work for the first handful of weeks or what have you. Working from home. But still I knew I was going, it was all about eating and sleeping and taking care of you know the basic needs. But I knew I had a 2 year old at that point. And I did have a nanny a few days a week to help because I was working and we kept that in place because I knew that we needed help with our two year old. 

But where I’m going with this is that again, rethinking ahead of time what were our needs. It was the middle of the night that I knew I was going to need help with and I would pump breast milk whenever possible. And the doula came in the middle of the night for about seven hours so I could get as much sleep as possible. So ahead of time it’s thinking and planning what are the actual needs of each individual depending on their circumstances. I just thank God for that decision. It really made a difference.

Esther Gallagher: [00:11:03] Well I just want to break in, Lynn, and say to our listeners, our newer listeners, that we talk a little bit more in-depth about what those needs will be since from our vantage point, most people who haven’t had children actually don’t know. Right. They don’t know that they’re going to need 10 ounces of food for every ounce of breast milk they’re producing in addition to the calories that keep them alive. 

They don’t know that they’re not going to be in a position to prepare their own meals and snacks and therefore someone needs to organize that appropriately. And frankly most friends and family don’t know what that means. So we go in-depth into just how to make that self-assessment. It’s not based on only the things you know about yourself. It’s based on some things you don’t know about what it means to be postpartum. So that’s why we do this show. 

Lynn Benson: [00:12:09] That’s right. That’s great. It’s wonderful that you guys do the show. It’s so needed. Everyone’s different in terms of their comfort level to outreach. And you know to talk to others to you know to get the real deal.

Lynn Benson: [00:12:23] And there are some that are just not as comfortable. So to be able to have a platform of what you guys provide is tremendous. It’s really, I think it’s wonderful.

Esther Gallagher: [00:12:32] We’re so happy to have you.

Lynn Benson: [00:12:35] Yeah I mean another thing that I think is worth mentioning is part of the process, again is before having your child is trying to think through a bit about your own personality and the family dynamics and you know how tricky it can get you know in terms of conflicts, which is normal. You know conflict is a part of our everyday lives and it’s how we you know work through that which you know is often it can get tricky at times especially with family and and so you know it’s a time to figure out a way you know to really tap into what are you know what are my needs as a new mom and a new dad. 

Everyone has an opinion. You’re going to get a ton of opinions from a lot of different people. And so what I’ve encouraged others to do you know is respectfully listen because these are wise people you know from their own experiences but again, everyone’s unique and different. And I think it’s really important for people that you know go ahead and listen to your loved ones, what do they have to say and then you as a collective team you know to figure out, OK what do we think makes sense in how to do this and move forward. 

And also to really figure out a way to get insight and ability to be assertive with you know no I’m not comfortable with you coming and going with us for a week. That’s just not going to work. That’s different for everybody. Right I mean it’s you know it’s not so easy to say that and do that.

[00:14:11] But in certain circumstances that might need to and it may create a rift and in other circumstances you know in my situation my mother in law is from the East Coast, because we were living in California at the time. She came out to be with us with both you know when both of my girls were born and we knew that we needed to get the lay of the land for the first few weeks before having her out. We just kind of drew the line and she was fine with it. She wanted to come out earlier. We said no this is what we need. And she respected it. And then at one point also his personal story again in the spirit of being assertive with taking care of our needs. She was fascinated by breastfeeding.

Lynn Benson: [00:14:56] In her generation many didn’t breastfeed and she wanted to watch me pump, when I was pumping the breast milk and I remember feeling sort of uncomfortable with that.

Lynn Benson: [00:15:14] But at the same time you know I was like OK I’ll go ahead and do this. And she was fascinated watching the whole process. It was a bit uncomfortable but I got through it. But you know every now and then I would pump and the next time she watched I remember thinking OK this is really out of my comfort zone but I didn’t feel comfortable saying anything. Even me who at the time I felt I was a fairly assertive person. 

And then finally at the third time you know I just said “You know Betty, I love you. I really appreciate your support. I’m super uncomfortable with you sitting here watching me. I need my own space.” And she you know she got it. So again we’ve got to figure out a way to really make sure that we nurture and take care of ourselves in the process.

Esther Gallagher: [00:16:08] Right. And I will just add in there you know your feeling uncomfortable during a moment where you’re trying to produce milk for your child doesn’t help you produce milk for your child.

Lynn Benson: [00:16:21] Right.

Esther Gallagher: [00:16:23] It can have a dampening effect on milk production. Of course your mother-in-law didn’t understand that, right? Personally or in any way. And hopefully, again, our podcast goes a long way towards helping those friends and family learn about the impacts they might have for better or worse on new moms and their new families. And this is one of those things like just you know it may feel to you like oh I was just uncomfortable and I need it to be a sort of well, there’s a whole physiology behind that discomfort that’s going to effect you and your child.

Lynn Benson: [00:17:03] Yeah I’m really glad you brought that up because that is such an important component as well. It’s all so interconnected and it’s so important to recognize that.

Esther Gallagher: [00:17:14] And you know when you’re the new mom you may or may not know this information but you don’t need to be in a position to have to explain it all either.

Lynn Benson: [00:17:23] Yeah and I’m sure this is another thing that you guys talk about on your show is you know the other piece that I remember struggling with was you know again wanting to be supermom, superhero super all of you know I can do it all and needing to really put that just to be mindful of figuring out a way to shed that you know at all costs and to really tap into you know, I’m a very compassionate person. 

I deeply care and love other people. And it was a process of having to really focus on that self compassion and being gentle with myself and taking care of myself just the way I do for other people. And I think that’s such an important process that new moms… We’re so hard on ourselves. Many of us know throughout our journey of motherhood. And you know I remember just feeling very vulnerable as a new mom. You know, am I doing this right, am I taking care of my child OK. You know and I’ll share the story when my daughter ended up in the NICU, that was devastating.

Lynn Benson: [00:18:35] And at one point I blamed myself. She had jaundice and it was one of those things where this is where I will say to emphasized parents you know to you know pay attention to your gut instinct and this is where I will praise myself because I certainly did that. When Alana, my older daughter was five days old and I was in the middle of breastfeeding and I and I remember the pediatrician saying you know look out for jaundice. I didn’t know much about jaundice, I really didn’t. 

Look, these are the signs for jaundice. You know, look out for that. Anyway, she seemed very healthy. She seemed to be thriving but I saw a little bit of yellow in the corner of her eye, very little, and honestly my husband didn’t notice it, the doula didn’t notice it. It was very mild. But I pointed it out to the doula and the doula said, “I see what you’re talking about. I really think to be on the safe side you know just bring her into this pediatrician.” 

And then I was going back and forth. Am I overreacting, is it too much you know. Kudos to the doula for saying that because that helped with my inner voice as well. Got her to the pediatrician and the pediatrician was like “she might be a little bit jaundiced. The worst case scenario is that we send home some lights you know for her, I’m not too worried”. 

Lynn Benson: [00:19:53] And I kid you not, about two and a half hours later or three hours later they get the blood work back right away. He said, “stop everything you’re doing. Get your daughter to Cedars Sinai in LA immediately. The NICU is waiting for her”. Her bilirubin levels were at 30 which is devastating. For those that know about you know bilirubin levels and he said it must be a mistake. She would have been orange. 

You know he as a pediatrician couldn’t fathom. So I get her over there and I said well I’m just going to feed her. Can I feed her? No, don’t feed her. Get her to the NICU. And you know they retested and she tested at 29. And you know bilirubin. And so she, you know, fortunately made it through it and did OK.

Lynn Benson: [00:20:41] But it was a very, very scary time and I don’t bring this up to scare parents because you know a lot of times you know this is a very unique situation in terms of what happened on my end.

Lynn Benson: [00:20:53] But I just think that there is something to what people say: trust your instincts. And again, I went through a process of being very hard on myself. Did I do something to create that situation? It can be a challenging process for sure.

Sarah Trott: [00:21:15] Well you said it yourself earlier, people go into survival mode and they think they just have to suffer through. That includes physical pain and that includes things that you’re talking about like self-doubt saying like, Oh just you know I just have to I’m just being anxious I just have to get through this. But no, actually your intuition was a very legitimate concern that potentially saved your daughter’s life.

Lynn Benson: [00:21:43] Yeah I see that now. I see that now.

Sarah Trott: [00:21:45] There’s something to self care and to getting out of survival mode and being respectful of oneself physically, mentally, emotionally and having the wherewithal to say, wait a minute, I think something’s not right. And listening to that. And it sounds like your doula,

Sarah Trott: [00:22:05] and to be specific, it sounds like she’s a postpartum doula not just a birth doula because she was there with your newborn. Correct. Yeah right. She was also there to help reinforce your feelings and your gut instinct which was absolutely right. So that sounds like a close call on a scary situation.

Lynn Benson: [00:22:25] Very much so. Yes. Yes. 

[00:22:32] My mind’s racing with so many things in terms of I’m sure the other thing that you talk about on your show quite a bit is self care you know and how to you know make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves of our basic needs and. And one of the things I’ll just mention that I found to be very helpful is having an organized approach to the best of our abilities and this is something that nuance can do before having their child. You know it is it is to think through different organs that can make things go wrong in the end the easier Asadi so for example I created a form for breastfeeding.

[00:23:20] So I knew which breast I was leaving off with and how much time was spent on each breast. I had a clipboard and you know with a pen that I would have you know completely accessible. And I also had to sleep on a diapering foam because of what the pediatrician asked especially with the diapering the urine output and the bowel movement. What color was it. You know that’s a lot to remember so I had you know a bizarre forms of being able to you know keep track of everything. 

And that was really really helpful for sure. And then you know again just trying to keep it you know sections of the refrigerator this may seem silly but having a section of the refrigerator that’s just for you where you have a yogurt or a string cheese or you know some almonds or in the cabinet you know just a section where you just know where everything is when you’re exhausted.

[00:24:14] You need to grab something super quickly.

[00:24:17] And the other thing that I can’t emphasize enough is is to do whatever you can to get outside at least once a day. And if it’s raining out, maybe stand under an overhang, go in the backyard and stay in your pajamas if you just feel like you can’t take a walk down the street. But just getting outside in terms of that self care component can make just really can make such a difference to be connected with nature and something beyond you know the inside walls of of your home.

[00:24:51] Because I do think that isolation is a really challenging component to this.

Lynn Benson: [00:24:59] And staying connected if you’re too tired to try to connect to someone you know for an hour which could be so helpful on so many levels of connecting with others. But again just even getting outside you know is trying to identify specific steps that can help with their mental health wellbeing.

Esther Gallagher: [00:25:18] I will pop in on this and just say that I think it’s also important for parents to have somebody who knows enough about the physiological recovery period that can actually advise them in the first two to six weeks one day at a time about whether their body and their healing processes is coming along sufficiently that taking a walk outside the home is appropriate.

Esther Gallagher: [00:25:47] It’s not to say that it wouldn’t be but I do think that moms often hear ‘take a walk every day‘ and they think they’re going to walk around the block.

Esther Gallagher: [00:25:59] Right. And that could be devastating actually.

Esther Gallagher: [00:26:03] So just knowing what’s appropriate from one day to the next in your initial physiological recovery period as we’ve stressed again and again and show is is quite important for moms so that they can balance that you know those various leads and then and then to not go on a walk with somebody who’s used to going on a three mile run and go for a walk with somebody who can walk beside you at your speed and check in with you every few steps. OK, what do you think, we have to get all the way back home, would now be the right time to turn around? And instead of like let’s see if we can make it to the next corner.

Sarah Trott: [00:26:51] That is not helpful to healing and recovering.

Esther Gallagher: [00:26:55] Yes Sarah I appreciate you bringing everything you just brought up.

Lynn Benson: [00:26:58] I appreciate you bringing that up because I will say that with my first born on the first the first three to four weeks. Physically it was a very very tough delivery. I was prepped for c section and was given maybe a few more chances to push and which ended up working out but my body I probably would have recovered faster and better if I honestly had the c section it was and it was very tricky.

Lynn Benson: [00:27:27] But my recovery process was brutal and I do appreciate you bringing that up because that’s correct. I wasn’t in a place where I could just walk around the block. In the beginning that is completely accurate.

[00:27:42] And I would say that just getting outside in my backyard though which I did by myself or with Awana just sitting outside at times was healing.

[00:27:59] You know that’s all I was the same on your face right. Right. They are better than staying cooped up in the house.

[00:28:07] Right. And that was that. Yeah that was my capacity at that particular time and place before I was able to take it a step further.

Esther Gallagher: [00:28:15] You know so assuming that your body is at a place where physically it’s ok going outside and getting some fresh air inside is definitely highly recommended. Within the realm of what’s appropriate for a healing process.

Sarah Trott: [00:28:37] So it’s something that we wanted to touch on with you since caregiving is an area that you were caught on live land. What are the signs that someone might be suffering from burnout as a result of caregiving?

Lynn Benson: [00:28:50] The pure exhaustion that people feel and lack of energy and not being able to think straight. And you know it’s tricky because in many cases as a new mom we will go in and out of those experiences. The part that we’re we’re as a social worker with my social work background in addition to working with elders I also worked with with children youth and family and a mental health clinic and I’ve done outpatient work and different things.

[00:29:20] And when it gets to a point where you’re not able to function you know where it’s causing significant distress or impairment and being able to function that’s really where the bigger concern comes in the word burnout and fatigue. A lot of times. To me it seems that it can go hand in hand as a new mom depending on the day. You know and what’s and what’s going on 

I think that the the burn out is again is that when that excessive fatigue and exhaustion is just getting to be so much there needs to be a way to you know reassess and figure out and re Look I again you know resources support system and start figuring out a way to you know problem solve it with some decision making to try to help get more support to address that burnout and isn’t it ironic that in those moments of burnout and feeling completely exhausted that’s the hardest time to make decisions and to pull resources together that’s just so unfair.

Esther Gallagher: [00:30:28] It’s so true now that it really is because we have it out here.

[00:30:33] We’d never be burnt out if we could pull ourselves together and ask for help.

[00:30:39] Now. I know it’s it’s you know it’s so true and it’s yeah I know that

[00:30:47] The burnout thing is I mean we can all I think most of us can relate.

Lynn Benson: [00:30:52] It’s very real. And I also think that we just have to figure out a way to allow ourselves to be again gentle on ourselves up we’re going to be tired at times. We have to get into it I guess and you know I said before having kids I used to have a fairly organized home and everything had its place and it wasn’t super hyper clean but you know I had a system in place for everything. And I think that you know once having kids the dishes piled up a bit more on the sink and you know and certain things were not tidy and we really did that to avoid that burnout.

[00:31:30] It’s really important that we just have to kind of you know rework you know some of those expectations and you know kind of give in to not having to have everything you know so so perfect I think appropriately lowering what we think are our standards to a manageable place and by manageable I mean you know we’re taking care of your your basic human needs first the basic human needs are first sleep nourishment and positive human interaction.

[00:32:13] Right it is not a basic human need to live in a house that’s pristine you know actually right yeah.

[00:32:20] And the thing is that you know I don’t remember the exact percentage but I think about 60 percent of what we do day in and day out is very behaviorally driven. So we just we just just like brushing or teeth we tend to have a certain routine in the morning we wake up we do we brush our teeth you measure heart whatever it is we’re very behavioral driven and so part of what has to happen once we become a new mom is we really need to look at that and try to you know take in different behaviors that can help support us. You know to be you know more balance in the process of that self care.

Sarah Trott: [00:33:04] Yep. What you can’t outsource don’t do just don’t just leave it alone. Yeah yeah.

[00:33:12] So let’s talk about how we can prepare before the baby arrives. Nice.

Lynn Benson: [00:33:17] Yeah just going back to assess your resources and your support system is key and ensuring that you whether it’s hiring a doula or having a certain family member lined up that you feel they could do well in that process. Those are all very important factors in the home environment.

 To the best of our ability I will say that it’s really important for us and the best is the home environment and see homes that are on the path that will help support your own family lifestyle wherever. So for example something that I did with my 2 year old was still in diapers which many two year olds are. You know when my newborn was coming I brought the stroller in the house floor literally just an actual stroller. You know I understand that at times our newborns were going to cry and people will say you know it’s not often a cry for a few minutes and so on. But my anxiety level at times I just needed peace. I needed it. 

You know when she was two weeks and three weeks old. You know if she was in a situation where I got to be trimmer half times I would wear the stroller and with one foot I would wrap the stroller back and forth while I was changing her, not her Awana as a diaper transition. That in itself has just helped me have peace. It just helped with the whole mental health wellbeing. You just made a difference and then you know I even at times I’ll even admit I don’t know what this is you know a little light but you know times again it generally isn’t a place where she needed you know some extra holding an issue.

[00:35:17] And that experience of being in the stroller which is a really nice stroller a very comfort you know calm comfortable mentally you know getting through the dishes because it was I remember this visit is piled way high. Jenna was having a tough time and I had the stroller right next to me and I was doing dishes while I had a stroller just moving it gently back and forth in it for me it was it was night and day. 

Another thing that I did from the organizational perspective was that my 2 year old needed supervision at that point. She was a late walker and she would fall a lot and she just needed extra supervision. So we had you know an upstairs downstairs it was one of those things where at times you would need to be in the same room while I was taking care of Jenna. But I had a basket with age-appropriate things in each main room of the house. I had a few key areas you know where there was a fenced in each room of the house where we spent a lot of time wearing a lot that was able to be busy and engage with age appropriate activities like that. 

[00:36:42] Yeah I love that I personally learned that trick later that night. Looking back on it I wish I had those little baskets – awesome.

Sarah Trott: [00:36:50] I totally agree with. Yeah. Well great. Thank you so much again for being a guest in our program. We’ve really enjoyed our conversation with you.

Lynn Benson: [00:36:59] Likewise I appreciate it so much. Thank you for the great work you guys are doing.

Sarah Trott: [00:37:03] Thanks Lynn. And thanks again to our listeners out there please as a reminder you can check us out at fourthtrimesterpodcast.com. We’ll see you next time on the fourth trimester.

 

The content provided in this article(s) is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. Neither Sarah Trott nor Buckeye Media LLC (DBA Fourth Trimester) are liable for claims arising from the use of or reliance on information contained in this article.