Imaginary Friend

Three schools. Spirit Week. Halloween hot takes. 🎃 Why are we doing trunk-or-treats when we have haunted houses four doors down and Dave sitting in his yard dressed like a skeleton garden gnome? 😂 Also, my kids never trust my family costume ideas until they see the finished product, and my daughter wants a Halloween party… which I immediately shot down. Mom life in Houston is a LOT.#Htx #MomLife #Halloween #TrunkOrTreat #SpiritWeek #FunnyParenting #FamilyHalloweenCostumes #ParentingPodcast

WADDLES ESCAPED HER PEN. 🐷😳My daughters got to the barn expecting to see their FFA pig, Waddles, and instead found an EMPTY PEN. Cue one daughter crying, the other calling me worried that I’m about to freak out, and me trying to figure out where in the world our pig went. 😂We did find her, thankfully, but not without a little panic first. Because apparently, adding an FFA pig to the family means adding a whole new level I did not sign up to beat in this game they call parenting! I did not have lost pig on my parenting bingo card.🎧 Listen to Shhh My Kids Are Asleep for the full story of Waddles’ great escape! If you love real-life parenting stories, mom life, family stories, and the unexpected adventures of raising kids (and apparently livestock), this episode is for you.I just wanted to support my kid in FFA. I did not realize we were raising an escape artist. 🫠🐷

My daughter got an FFA pig named Waddles. 🐷😂 Because apparently, raising four kids wasn't enough. We're adding livestock to the family plot.In this episode of Shhh My Kids Are Asleep, we're talking about my daughter's FFA pig, Waddles, and what happens when your kid gets involved in FFA (Future Farmers of America). Suddenly you're learning about a whole new world of raising animals, youth agriculture, and livestock projects.Listen, I'm a mom. I've survived school activities, teenage drama, sports schedules, and approximately 47 different school communication apps. But an FFA pig named Waddles? That's a new chapter.If you're a parent raising kids, navigating FFA, or figuring out how livestock projects fit into family life, come hang out with me. We're doing our best, making memories, and occasionally wondering how we got here.Because I love my kids. I really do. But nobody told me motherhood might involve a pig named Waddles. 🐷Are you an FFA or former FFA family? I want to hear all things raising livestock-related and, of course, animal types and names!!! DM or email me!#FFA #FFAPig #WaddlesThePig #FutureFarmersOfAmerica #YouthAgriculture #LivestockProject #ParentingTeens #MomLife #ParentingPodcast #ShhhMyKidsAreAsleep

The day has finally arrived: my daughter is going to get her driver’s license. 🚗Except first, I have to pick her up from school because she doesn’t feel good. Then she throws up. Twice. The first time I’m thinking, Wait… is she contagious? The second time I’m thinking, Okay, maybe we need urgent care instead of the DPS.And then… magically better. 👀 Weird.So off we go to the Texas DPS, where I immediately begin sweating over paperwork, including the California driving record I had to print out because we’re out-of-state transplants. Of course, the website says everything should be OFFICIAL, and naturally, the copy I brought is… unofficial. Cool. Cool cool cool.Eventually, I’m told to sit down and watch my precious baby girl walk out of the building to take her driving test.And now I wait.Did she pass? And who from a previous episode was actually her driving instructor?!Buckle up. Yes, that pun was absolutely intended. 😂This week on Shhh My Kids Are Asleep: She Can Drive Legally Now?

I didn't think this kid was real. Sometimes your kid tells you something so casually that you don’t even think to question it. When my daughter was in 3rd or 4th grade, she started talking about a new friend with a name that sounded way too cool to be real. I took her completely seriously… and somehow convinced myself my kid had an imaginary friend.Fast-forward to open house night, when I got a very rude awakening.Turns out, I had fallen victim to one of the most dangerous combinations known to motherhood: a creative kid, a sarcastic sense of humor, and a mom who apparently doesn’t ask enough follow-up questions.In this episode, I let you in on the “imaginary friend” who was actually very much real and why, when you have a sarcastic child, you might want to keep your eyes and ears open.#Parenting #FunnyMomStories #MomLife #KidsAreFunny #ParentingHumor #MomHumor #KidsSayTheDarndestThings #SarcasticKids #ParentingStories #FunnyParenting #RaisingKids #FamilyLife #MomPodcast #ParentingPodcast #RealMomLife #imaginaryfriend #htx #htown #htxmomsConnect with Rachel: Follow over on Instagram@shhhmykidsareasleep to connect sociallyHave a CarpoolConfession? Submit your messy parenting story or ask a question [email protected] to be featured on a future episode.  Love the show? Tap follow and hit the 5-star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help otheroverstimulated moms find the podcast.

Apparently, not all high school activities are created equal. In this episode, I’m rating school organizations from a mom’s perspective, starting with cheerleading vs. water polo. And let me just say… these two organizations could not be more different.Cheer? A well-oiled machine. Calendars, communication, uniforms, traditions, senior nights, the whole thing.Water polo? Let’s just say there’s a little more “wait…what are we doing?” energy. After having kids involved in different school activities, I’ve learned that every organization has its own personality, level of chaos, parent involvement, and completely different way of doing things.So let’s rate them. Because if I’m going to spend years driving to practices, games, meetings and senior nights, I feel like I’ve earned the right to have opinions.Cheer vs. water polo: Which organization gets the mom stamp of approval?Listen in for the ratings and the very real differences between two completely different high school activities.#Parenting #HighSchool #Cheerleading #WaterPolo #SchoolActivities #Teenagers #MomLife #HighSchoolSports #HoustonMoms #TexasMoms

My 4th grader got lost at Disneyland in the rain… or at least that’s how she remembers it. 😂 She turned the whole 5–7 minute parenting panic into a school story about getting lost at Disneyland, searching every ride, and eventually being rescued by a Disney employee.We found her, everyone was okay, and now it’s a funny Disneyland family vacation story with a bigger reminder: parenting is messy, kids remember things differently, and none of us get it right every time. In fact, they will even make you revisit those scary times when they go to school sharing the story. Have you had a scare like that?Tell me about your last Disney trip! ·  ✨ Connect withRachel: Follow the daily chaos over on Instagram @shhhmykidsareasleep to watch this week's reels!·  💬 Have a Question? Submit your messy parenting story or ask a question at [email protected] to be featured on a future episode.·  🎧 Love the show?Tap the 5-star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help other moms find the show!#tx #htx #Houston #moms #lost #Disneyland

The Six-Line S is BACK. 😂If you were a 90s kid or an early-2000s teen, you already know exactly what I’m talking about. That weird little S we doodled absolutely everywhere has somehow made its way into my kids’ school pictures… as MARKETING.Excuse me?! Who approved this?! 😂Obviously, someone on that marketing team is our age, because there is no other explanation. I had to say something. Cut it out. LOL.#90sKids #2000sKids #90sNostalgia #MillennialMoms #MomHumor #ParentingHumor #Nostalgia #ParentingPodcast #Houston #Texas #Texasmom

I tried to make an episode about mom group chats.I really did.But sometimes you have a topic in mind, a plan in your head, and absolutely none of it wants to cooperate. So instead of forcing the mom-group-chat episode, I gave up and talked about what actually happened over Labor Day weekend.My husband decided we were going to relax. Like… actually relax. And for once, I didn’t fight it.Then my daughter decided I had a much more important assignment: becoming the official camera woman for her very own “Tim McGraw” weekend, thanks in part to one very specific Tim McGraw lyric that apparently became the soundtrack to the whole thing.And because I have now been a Texas mom for an entire YEAR, naturally I have some questions.Specifically: MUMS.I know girls wear them for homecoming. I know they can be enormous. And beyond that? Ma’am. I am lost.So if you are a Texas mom who understands the sacred tradition of mums, please know that I need the 101 course because apparently I have been living here for a year and missed the orientation.Basically, this episode is what happens when you stop trying to make the pieces fit and just let the weekend become the episode.And yes… I had to end it exactly where I felt it needed to end. (Again I do not own the rights to any Tim Mcgraw Music.)#Houston #texas #texasmoms #TimMcGraw #LaborDayWeekend #HOCO #Mums

🎉 ANNIVERSARY EDITION!!! ....of Shhh My Kids Are Asleep! 🎉WE MADE IT! One episode every Tuesday. Another year of hitting records, telling stories, oversharing a little, laughing a lot, and somehow keeping this thing going week after week. ❤️For this special anniversary episode, I’m answering YOUR questions—and a few of my own. We’re talking about me, the podcast, motherhood, marriage, raising four kids, the things I’ve learned, the things I’m still figuring out, and what it’s really like to keep creating something when you have absolutely no idea where it’s going to take you.What has motherhood taught me?Has marriage changed after four kids?What have I learned about myself?And after a full year of podcasting…was it worth it?Most importantly, we're celebrating something I'm genuinely proud of: a published episode every single Tuesday for an entire year. 🎙️And if I didn't answer a question you think I NEED to answer... send it my way! 😂📧 Email me at [email protected], and your question could make it into a future episode.Thank you for listening, sharing, laughing with me, and letting me talk into a microphone about the beautiful, crazy, unpredictable, ridiculously silly thing that is life with kids.Here’s to another fun year. 🥂Now…let’s see what happens next.