IDIOT with Laura Clery

Why would you spend time with your ex after everything? That was the first question we pulled from your most-liked comments, and it's a fair one. Stephen and I are divorced, we're friends, and we raise our kids together.He's a year sober. We were best friends for fifteen years, and that doesn't just go away. I've chosen to forgive him, not just for his sake but for mine, and I take it one day at a time. We also get into what actually works for him after three trips to rehab, what co-parenting looks like with two houses a mile apart, and the fridge.If you've ever wondered how that works, then this one's for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On my one-year sober birthday, I was sitting outside my drug dealer's apartment waiting for him to get home. I'd deleted his number, found him on Facebook anyway, and made up my mind. I was going out.I called my sponsor only because she told me to, and when she didn't pick up, I took that as a sign. What happened when she called back is the reason I just celebrated 15 years sober. I'm telling the whole story, plus how I got sober in the first place and what keeps me sober now.Grab a slice of cake and come celebrate with me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When my son was diagnosed at two, all I could find were horror stories. Then I saw an old video of Toren as a little kid and my jaw dropped, because it was Alfie. Serenity and Toren have become real friends, and honestly mentors to me as a mom. We talk about meltdowns, regressions when our kids get sick, and the rejection sensitivity Serenity and I both live with. How the heck am I a content creator with that? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you regret having kids? Or do you regret not having them? Be real. I asked that on this episode and I genuinely want to know, because Manon Mathews and I don't totally agree.She thinks the regret of not having them lasts way longer than anyone who regrets having them. I told her about a whole account of parents anonymously admitting the opposite. By the end, we'd both moved a little.If you've ever been on the fence, then this one's for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My cycle app says nine days until my period, and I woke up already in it. Sore, irritable, emotions turned all the way up, and parenting while PMS, which is honestly my idea of hell.So today I go through all four phases of the cycle and why they feel more intense now that I'm 40, what the research says about the best kind of parenting and where I actually land, and then I call my mom, because sometimes you just need your mommy. She's in the thick of it with my dad's physical therapy, which he has decided is karate.Come along. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stephen doesn't fully recognize the person he was during his relapse. Honestly, neither do I.He's my ex-husband, and today he tells me what actually happened during the year I only saw from the outside -- the restraining order, an FBI investigation into threats we now know he never sent, and a trip to Moldova for a medically induced detox. A year sober later, he's back in our kids' lives, and back on my couch as a friend.Come sit with me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My friend Manon Matthews came here straight from an energy healing in Topanga, a birthday gift, and it mostly made her tired. By the end she'd sworn she's never seeing a psychic again, and I gave her about a week.We also get into the dream crush she told her entire in-laws about at breakfast, the party I throw in the car on the way to school, why every massage should be 90 minutes, and why women seem to end relationships out of nowhere.Grab the beverage of your choice and come sit with me. And remember to subscribe to my Patreon at Patreon.com/lauraclery for exclusives and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has one person ever stood between you and the version of your life where you quit? Amie has one, and hers would not sign a piece of paper.She walked in to withdraw from college while her first marriage was falling apart. Her professor told her to come back tomorrow, and then handed it back unsigned, because she had talked it over with the other professors and they all thought that if they let her go she would not come back. Amie finished with a 4.0 while raising four kids. She teaches now, she runs a legal studies program, and in 2025 she won professor of the year.If somebody once refused to let you quit, then this one's for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever gotten hurt doing the most normal thing in the world and had almost no one believe you? Same.Former WWE Superstar Leah Van Dale spent years in the ring without a single major injury, and then went into labor with her first son and came out with nerve damage in her leg. We talk about that, plus the WWE title she won by cheating, meeting her husband while he was technically still married, and why she built an entire podcast around being a mom who refuses to stop being hot.If any of that sounds familiar, then this one's for you. And remember to subscribe to my Patreon at Patreon.com/lauraclery for exclusives and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My son can't be left alone for ten seconds — I found that out again this morning when he hopped our front gate in his boxers and beat me to school on his own scooter.By the time I caught up he was mid-meltdown on campus, and I walked away scratched and bitten and trying not to spiral. I get into what actually helped — a book I'm currently obsessed with, the exact phrases I use to talk him down, and why I think last night's birthday-party sugar had a lot to do with it. Then we lighten it way up: my daughter's new favorite phrase, a week of creatine and some concerning bloat, and whether it's a bad idea to bring my ex-boyfriend to a wedding in Cabo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices