Real Moms Too

Real Moms Too is a mom-support podcast led by two co-hosts, Alana and Sia. Titles such as 'Ep. 47: Real Moms Are Teachers Too', 'Ep. 44: Real Moms Complete the Census Too' and 'Ep. 48: Real Moms Plan For More Kids Too' play on the show's name. Read in a row, they show the range. Parenting sits next to paperwork, and personal stories sit next to guest interviews. Several episodes were made in the early stretch of the COVID-19 lockdown, and the hosts do not pretend it is going smoothly. One marks the fourth day at home with the kids; another counts week three of an Ohio stay-at-home order. That pressure feeds the subjects. In the teaching conversation, a speaker who once taught a class at mixed reading levels describes planning home lessons for two children around one theme, bugs, then adjusting the difficulty for each child and working with them in small groups. The hosts send listeners to a guest's Instagram for more ideas. The episode on more kids stays closer to home. The pair compare their own families, from siblings born about seven years apart to a child whose cousins are mostly a decade older, and close by urging couples to make the choice deliberately and share how they decided. Guests carry the specialist material. A guest named Susan explains the 2020 census, the effort to count every child, and a free Statistics in Schools program with worksheets and activities she has used with Girl Scout troops. An estate-planning guest describes the field as very white and very male, calls it biased against women and people of color, and warns that writing a will from a web search is a real risk. The same guest presses for conversations about wills between parents and grown children, and the hosts predict it will become one of their staple episodes. Work and culture get room as well. 'Ep. 26: Real Moms Too: How to Tell Your Boss You're Expecting' sets out to give tips on breaking the news at work and talking through options, framed around mothers building careers and businesses. For Women's History Month, the hosts discuss an actress's comments on how the media pits women against one another. The talk is casual and affectionate, with quick asides and the occasional nod to faith. What a listener takes away is company plus something usable: a census link, a push toward a will, a plan for telling a manager.