For the mom trying to give her kids a magical summer without losing herself
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You know those conversations that start with Slip ’N Slides, splash pads, Costco pools, and “’90s summer”…and somehow end up at the deep emotional truth that maybe your kids are not the only ones who need screen time boundaries?
That was today’s episode.
We started with summer. The kind where the kids are home, the hose is out, the $20 backyard pool is doing the heavy lifting, and everyone is trying to make “low-lift fun” feel like enough.
Honestly? We support this math.
But then Mary Scott (our guest this week & one of Meredith’s best friends who quickly become one of ours) said something that reset the conversation:
I wonder if my inability to hold personal boundaries is gonna pour over into my inability to keep boundaries with my kids.
And there it was.
The conversation turned into: what happens when motherhood gets loud, overstimulating, repetitive, and relentless, and we find ourselves reaching for whatever gives us a little escape. A phone, p podcast, audiobook, Instagram. Anything that makes the backyard, the whining, the snack requests, the 5:30 a.m. wakeups, and the 14th “Mommy?” feel a little less consuming.
Because we love our kids…and we’re only human.
The hard part of summer is not just the kids being home
Summer with little kids can sound so simple from the outside. Let them play outside, give them popsicles, fill up the kiddie pool, go to the library, let them be bored. Bring back the ’90s summer!!
Great. Love that. Fully on board.
But the actual experience can feel very different.
Because you are still managing sunscreen, snacks, sibling fights, hydration, towels, “watch this,” “watch this again,” and someone crying because the hose water is too cold.
And if you are a mom with young kids, you may not be getting the clean, quiet morning routine people on the internet are always trying to sell you.
If you’re like Mary Scott, you may be trying to read at 5:08 a.m. while one kid crawls into your bed, another kid wakes up at 5:38 asking for cheese balls, and you are whisper-yelling because one wrong floorboard creak could wake the whole house.
So when we talk about boundaries, we are not talking about cute, aesthetic boundaries. We are talking about the kind you need when you are already overstimulated before 6:00 a.m.
What we walked away with
This episode was not a neat and tidy “five ways to survive summer with kids” conversation, but there were a lot of takeaways that felt immediately useful:
Set yourself up before the day starts bossing you around.
Sometimes the most regulating thing you can do is put the water cups out the night before. Or set breakfast bowls where the kids can reach them. Or put a basket of quiet toys, books, or the Toniebox by the couch where you actually sit in the morning. Not because you are trying to become a perfect systems mom, but because 5:30 a.m. you would love those small acts of prep.Notice what you are reaching for.
This conversation was never really just about phones. It was about the constant input. Instagram, podcasts, audiobooks, music, noise, anything that keeps us from sitting in the discomfort of the moment. Sometimes the question is not, “Why am I on my phone again?” Sometimes it is, “What am I trying not to feel right now?”What down what you love.
Literally, make a list and put it on the fridge like Hannah did. That way, when you do have pockets of downtime, you don’t have to reach for more noise, you have a reminder of hobbies that refuel you without having to do the mental gymnastics of remembering what you even like with the 15 minutes you have.
Let jealousy give you information.
Mary Scott talked about looking back on the school year and feeling frustrated that she had childcare hours but still did not do some of the things she wanted to do. Write. Create. Start the Substack. Have something that felt like fruit. Hannah’s response was so helpful:
what if the things you feel jealous of are not there to shame you, but to show you what you really want?
Reset the day when it starts sideways.
If the morning starts in full reactive mode, you are allowed to call a redo. You can literally say, “You know what? We’re starting over.” Go back into your room, walk out again, make it silly and fun, and let your kids see that a bad moment does not have to become a bad day.Repeat after me, “I am the mom”
One of the biggest themes in this conversation was how easy it is to parent from a reactive place. Staying calm is sometimes as easy as remembering that you are the one in charge. You get to decide your family’s rhythms, routines, and habits. And that’s a gift, not a burden.
This episode is for the mom who wants to be present but also wants to be a person
There are so many competing messages in motherhood.
Be present, but let them be bored. Enjoy every second, but have your own hobbies. Don’t make your kids the center of the universe, but remember this is their only childhood. Take care of yourself, but also be emotionally available, regulated, patient, playful, structured, flexible, and somehow not annoyed when someone asks for a snack 11 minutes after breakfast.
No wonder we are tired.
This conversation does not tie all of that up in a neat bow, because real motherhood rarely works that way. But it does give language to something a lot of moms are living right now.
You can love your kids deeply and still want to escape sometimes. You can set boundaries with your kids and realize you need some with yourself too. You can create a magical summer without making yourself the cruise director. You can be present without being constantly available. You can be the mom and still be a person.
And maybe this summer doesn’t have to be about doing more. Maybe it can be about noticing what is not working, releasing some shame, making a few tiny changes, and remembering that you are allowed to lead your home with calm, confidence, and a little more mercy for yourself.
If this episode hit close to home
If you’re anything like Mary Scott, maybe you noticed a gap between the mom you are in real life and the mom you want to be in your head because motherhood has a way of exposing the places where our own boundaries, rhythms, expectations, and coping mechanisms are not quite working anymore.
And sometimes, you just need someone to help you name what’s happening, get curious about what’s underneath it, and find a few practical next steps that actually fit the season you’re in.
If you loved the way Hannah and Meredith helped Mary Scott walk through what she was feeling, our coaches would love to do the same for you.
You can learn more about coaching by booking a call with Meredith, or send us a DM on Instagram @getmomready.
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