Life lately
Abby recounts all of the effort that went into to setting up a rock box for Plum.
Sarah is celebrating being two-toilet family again. Bathroom renovation, complete!
Reading lately
Abby worked her way through a poetry collection: Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
Sarah thoroughly enjoyed From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon.
[one_third]
At home parenting
We share how we made and continue to make decisions around at-home-parenting, what frustrates us most about the cultural narratives around these choices, and how we see things evolving as our kids get older.
Eating lately
Sarah made a mushroom quiche based on Mark Bittman’s recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.
Abby prepared fancy sandwiches: brie and turkey on focaccia, topped with either garlic aioli or cherry preserves.
If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!
Friendlier 
Confession: I almost skipped this show because I don’t have kids and thought I couldn’t relate.
But, I SO appreciated the comments you shared about the value of the (often unpaid) work of women, and also nodding to the fact that not everyone is ambitious about pursuing a career and climbing all of the ladders. I’m not a mom (which I also often feel the need to apologize for…oof, culture), but I did earn a degree and then ditched my career, which had turned out to be soul crushing and unhealthy for a variety of reasons.
Now, I’m underemployed in a field completely unrelated to my degree, and it actually works much better. But, I’m judged (very) harshly for that decision (especially since I’m not raising children), even though our family is much healthier for it.
And, I’ve definitely had those awkward moments with the “what do you do?” conversation starter, both when I had a job and hated it and also when I didn’t have a job. As a result, my go-to conversation starter has evolved “What do you do for fun?” People say all kinds of things. It turns out, most people don’t really want to talk about their jobs in any case.
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Love that question as a conversation starter! I am going to start using it. And as you said, how much more interesting to talk about anyhow!
You and the rest of the UP crew we’re hugely inspirational to me in feeling confident in my belief that there is more to who I am than how I am (or am not) employed.
And the fact that having kids somehow legitimizes my decision to be home in the eyes of society in a way it wasn’t before… As you said, oof. It feels like there is no winning no matter what choice we make, so we may as well do what works for us!
-S
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