Where's The Lemonade
Finding lemonade when life gives you lemons.
with Darren & Paige Pulsipher
Travel 
Blending Families 
Relationships 
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Episodes
Men are from Mars. Women from Venus Part 1
Paige finds a Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus quiz online and Darren and Paige take the quiz and reveal some interesting differences between men and women.
Having kids now vs 20 years ago
Darren and Paige have 4 grandkids. 8, 5, 3 and 6 months. They are so fun to be around and it is so fun to see our kids be parents. They were just talking about how so much has changed since they had babies. From childbirth, what to feed your babies, how to raise them, parent involvement etc.. Let’s explore the differences and see if these differences are for the better or ….
It's summer time with teenagers
Darren and Paige celebrate summer with a house full of teenagers and young adults, which makes the summer busy and fun. As their kids transition into adulthood, scheduling and managing expectations can be difficult. Listen to their approach to this tricky time for parents and children.
#6.8 Have fun on your work cruise!!! Without me!!
Darren recently returned from a “work cruise” while Paige was left at home to hold down the fort. Darren frequently travels for work and, when not traveling, works from home, so it is all or nothing. How does this impact their relationship? How do they handle the separation? Does Paige party and look forward to Darren being gone?? Does Darren party and look forward to work trips??
#6.7 Generative AI in the Household
This week, Darren and Paige join forces for the first cross-over episode of Embracing Digital Transformation and Where's The Lemonade. They talk about GenAI in the household and how it can help manage a big, complex family.
#6.6 True Crime!!! Why do we love it so much???
Darren and Paige delve into the topic of True Crime entertainment, including podcasts, documentaries, and books. They discuss the reasons behind the fact that women make up the largest demographic of listeners and viewers in this genre.
#6.5 Embarking on an Adventure: Traveling with Teens
Darren and Paige report on a trip with their 18 year old getting ready to graduate this spring. His last spring trip before we send him off to college in the Fall. Listen to their tips and tricks to travelling with teens in Europe.
#6.4 Co-parenting, Money, and Adult Children
In the world of blended families, navigating issues related to co-parenting adult children can be complex and challenging. Some familiar questions might center on the financial responsibility of each parent in relation to costs like college fees, health insurance, and other unforeseen expenses. This post examines the convolutions faced by co-parents, particularly with regards to shared-cost decisions and financial commitments to their adult children.
#6.3 Are you Supportive?
For this episode, Darren and Paige discuss strategies for cultivating a supportive atmosphere in personal relationships. They highlight the importance of active listening, respecting personal space, regular check-ins, physical affection, self-care, and effective communication in maintaining a healthy and supportive relationship. Through their conversation, they provide insights on how to overcome common relational challenges and foster a nurturing environment in personal relationships.
Plane Etiquette
As Paige was searching for a current event to talk about this week, she kept seeing in the news and on social media the debate about plane etiquette. Even Paige and Darren disagree on some plane etiquette. Let’s delve into what the “rules” are for flying.
#6.1 We're back and we are not stuck in a rut, or are we?
Is your marriage stuck in a rut?? Darren and Paige have been talking recently about being stuck in a rut, kind of bored, and very predictable. When they aren’t traveling or at something for the kids, they watch a show.
#5.13 How Young is too Young to Leave Your Kids Alone?
Darren & Paige, the hosts of Where's the Lemonade? recently sparked debate with their episode discussing whether leaving young kids unattended is okay. While opinions vary on appropriate ages and circumstances, most agree child maturity levels differ.
#5.12 Event Etiquette in Co-Parenting
We just had a wedding!! Julianne and Boyd were married this past weekend and it made us think about the balancing act that they had to do between 3 different families. How can we help them in their balancing act? There are always going to be big events that you have to attend with your coparent and possibly a significant other. How can we make this easier on the kids?
#5.11 Nacho Parenting
Darren and Paige have heard about Nacho parenting and always thought it was definitely not for them, but they only had heard about extreme Nacho parenting. After a dive into what it really is, Paige is not totally against it; she can see why some families would adopt this type of parenting in a blended family.
#5.10 Marriage Myth: Don't Go To Bed Angry
Ok, so we all hear the saying, Don't go to bed Angry. You probably hear this marriage advice at almost all weddings or bridal showers. Is it that important not to go to bed angry?
#5.9 Two Households, Two Sets of Rules
Let's start with a frequently asked question in divorced households: When my child goes to their dad’s house, he has different rules. When they come home, they think they can do whatever they want. I am tired of the battle. How can I help them adjust to the different house rules?
#5.8 Spending Too Much Time Together
March 2020 was the beginning of a new reality for most of us—kids at home, adults at home, adult kids at home, everyone at home. As time passed, kids went back to school, but many adults continued working from home, which could be a significant change for many of us.
#5.7 Let's Stay in Love
When a relationship is new, you see the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything is fresh and new. As you look at each other, you see someone who is exciting and perfect. Even the world around you seems brighter and happier than before you found each other.
#5.6 You Asked, We Answered
This week Darren and Paige asked their listeners to submit questions that we have not addressed on the show. Some of these questions were hard to answer but we did it anyway.
#5.5 Don't Say That!! Dumb Things We Say to Kids of Divorce
Are we saying the wrong things to our kids about the divorce??? Probably!! We think we are saying good healthy things to help our kids thru the divorce, but are we?
#5.4 The Horrible First Year Revisited
The first year of blending families can be pretty tricky and downright horrible. In this episode, we talk about the challenges of throwing two families together and how we dealt with the obstacles we ran into.
#5.3 Why is our Marriage Boring????
Paige approached Darren about a topic for the podcast. Monotony in marriage. He was a little shocked. Is our marriage boring? Is it too monotonous? Where has the excitement and fun gone??
#5.2 Coping with Uncertainty
Darren and Paige have been thinking a lot about 2023. There is so much uncertainty in the future right now. Darren has had a lot of luck with his work and will continue this year. They have had friends lose their jobs, friends waiting to see if they will lose their jobs, companies changing their compensation packages, the economy is slow simmering into a recession…a lot of uncertainty.
#5.1 What happened in 2022
On this episode, Darren and Paige recap the crazy year of 2022 with major surgery, COVID, three college graduations, two weddings, and constantly changing travel schedules.
#4.17 Understanding the Differences between Men and Women
Most marriage difficulties center around one fact, that men and women are totally different. There are emotional, mental and physical differences. We can have happier marriages if we make an effort to understand the differences.
#4.16 It's Summer Time!! Screen Time How Much is Too Much?
Ok, so here we are again in the summertime!! It is a beautiful time of year. Kids are home, enjoying a nice break from school. It's time for them to relax and chill. But what happens when their chillin involves hours and hours of screen time each day? How much is too much? Do we as parents ban screen time completely? Or limit it? Do we keep them super busy with other things? Let's dive in and see what we can figure out.
#4.15 What Not To Do When you Travel
Darren & Paige are in Portugal for a week away from work and kids, but not podcasting. In this week's episode. Find out what they learned not to do when they travel. Some of it from personal experience. Some of it by watching other tourists standing out. :)
#4.14 Travel Tips from Portugal
This week Darren & Paige are in Portugal. Why Portugal? You have to listen to find out. They talk about some of the travel tips they have learned over the last eleven years of traveling together, including what not to pack and how to tip your waiter.
#4.13 Wise Considerations before Blending Families
Darren and Paige decided to tackle, should you blend these two families? It can be a colossal mistake to blend families too quickly. (says the couple who combined very quickly) There are some essential things to know before agreeing. (Do you like camping, do you want a dog, or do you want more kids??) The need for companionship can drive you too quickly.
#4.12 Success In Marriage
Is there a magic secret to a happy marriage? If we are told to do A, B, and C to make our marriage work would we do it? Do we do it? Or is it different for every single couple? Darren and Paige were curious about the tips that couples would give on how to keep a lasting marriage happy. They asked a lot of their friends and family that have been married for decades to see if there was some advice or if it is entirely different for each couple. Maybe a sense of humor isn't that important to a more severe couple but essential to another.
#4.11 Why is Mother's Day so hard??
Darren and Paige had a different podcast subject planned for today. However, after Mother's Day came around, we saw a lot of feelings around this day and thought we would do another episode on this topic. This day is hard for many; how can we make it better????
#4.10 How to handle co-parenting with an ex you don't see eye to eye with.
This week, Darren and Paige discuss tips and tricks to help with a problematic co-parenting situation. This is hard stuff!! You are divorced for a reason, and now you still have to make many decisions together around the children. Let's dive in!
#4.9 Perspective...Hard to Maintain!!
This week Darren and Paige talk about how to maintain perspective when things don't go they way you planned or want. They will talk about the some challenges and disappointment over the past few weeks. How do you maintain perspective??
#4.8 Selfishness in Marriage
This week Darren & Paige explore selfishness in Marriage with a quiz. Are you selfish in your marriage? Is your marriage about you or about your spouse?
#4.7 K-Drama
On today's episode Darren & Paige talk about their excursion into watching Korean Dramas. Ok just one K-Drama Crash Landing On You, but they are considering watching another one.
#4.6 How to Reconnect With Your Spouse
Sometimes in our very busy lives we lose that connection and spark and just get set in the doldrums and monotony of just going through the motions of life. Darren and Paige are somewhat there. They have been through a lot in the last 6 months and need to reconnect in a way that Darren isn't Paige's caretaker.
#4.5 Balancing Act Between Fun and Strict Parenting
Madeline and Paige were talking the other day about different parenting styles. Some are too lax; they just want to be their kid's friends. Some are too strict, hovering, helicopter parents. Some are too serious; where is the fun?
#4.4 Living in Two Households
In this episode, Darren talks to three of his kids about what it is like to have two households as teenagers? What it is like now that they are adults? and What advise they have for other kids that navigate two households?
#4.3 Stop Having Fun Without Me!
How to be happy when my spouse is doing something fun without me???? “Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening.”
#4.2 Expectations in Marriage: What to do with them
Are you effectively communicating your expectations to your spouse? How do you even attempt to talk about your wants and needs in your relationship? Have you just given up on expecting anything? Check out Darren and Paige's discovery of how to navigate this tough subject.
#4.1 We're Back!! Kick off to 2022
It has been six months since our last episode. Where have we been? What have we been doing? Why did we stop? Why are we starting up again? Find out in this kick off to season 4.
#3.11 The Over Communicative Ex
Does your spouse spend too much time on the phone with their Ex? Does the Ex just walk into the house and help themselves to food? In this episode Darren & Paige look at the Over Communicative Ex. The problem is not the Ex it is your spouse. They cover some practical tips to establish boundaries.
#3.10 Kindness in Marriage
Darren & Paige look at how kindness or lack thereof can shape a marriage relationship. It does not mean that they don't have disagreements, but they show how kindness can still be a part of everything.
#3.9 The Silent Ex Spouse
Does your ex-spouse communicate with you? Or is it just silence when you try to co-parent. Listen to Darren and Paige talk about techniques to open the communications channels and improve co-parenting.
#3.8 30 Day Relationship Challenge
In this episode, Darren and Paige look at a 30-day relationship challenge calendar. Find out what they think works and what doesn't work. We used the calendar from the website www.endlessblissblog.com.
#3.7 (Don't) Die hard in Traditions
In this episode we revisit traditions. We start questioning some of the traditions we stuck with when we first blended after one of our kids mentioned how busy Christmas is and how it would be nice if it was a bit slower.
#3.6 Valentine's Day Reboot
Have you ever wondered why Valentine's Day is so stressful? We can tell you why. Expectations vs Reality. Listen to the latest Where's the Lemonade? to hear how Darren & Paige handle or don't handle this curious holiday so well.
#3.5 Disneyland Dad Syndrome
Disneyland Dad Syndrome is real and affects blended families every day. It is so prevalent that there is a legal definition for it. So how do you become a Disneyland Dad? How do you deal with a Disneyland Dad? Darren & Paige give their insight into this problem in Blended Families.
#3.4 It all began in Panama
We recently had facebook and google give us reminders of where we were 2 years ago today. What came up is the inception of our podcast. On a trip to Panama for a getaway of time alone together, we dreamt up a crazy idea of podcasting our experiences of blending a large family. In today's episode, we went back and listened to our first episode, and wrote down what we thought.
#3.3 Pass the Xanax : Dealing with Anxiety in a Blended Family
Blended families bring lots of new stressors into a relationship. Anxiety is high and sometimes your attempts to help your family to blend just increases the anxiety for everyone. In this episode, Darren & Paige talk about causes of anxiety and how to deal with anxiety in your family.
#3.2 The Lemonade of Blended Families
There are many studies on the adverse effects of divorce and the trials of blended families. In this episode, Darren & Paige are only looking at the Lemonade of blended families. That is right put on your Rose Colored Glasses and look at all of the benefits of a blended family. If you want all of the hard things that come with a blended family check out all of our other episodes. :)
#3.1 What a year 2020 in review
In this episode, we review what happened in 2020. What our plans were, how they adjusted, and how we grew closer together as a family. Learn about travel plans, weddings, eating habits, toilet paper, and how we handled it.
What a year 2020 in review
In this episode, we review what happened in 2020. What our plans were, how they adjusted, and how we grew closer together as a family. Learn about travel plans, weddings, eating habits, toilet paper, and how we handled it.
#2.22 Don't Judge Me
Blended families get judged. No doubt about it. The kids get judged, they come from a broken family, they are going to have issues in school, and in relationships in the future. And the adults do too. They didn't try hard enough in the previous marriage, they gave up too easily, or be careful around them. In this episode, Paige and Darren explore the judgment they have made and have been victims.
#2.21 Even Stevens in a Blended Family
In this episode, Darren & Paige try to figure out how to keep things even between the kids, the ex(s), and the different houses. This is not an easy task! In fact, we find that it is impossible and probably a waste of time and effort. Time to swallow your pride and do what is best for the kids and not worry about keeping up with your ex.
#2.20 Resolving Conflict in Marriage
In this episode, Darren & Paige discuss how to resolve conflict in marriage. Sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't. Not every resolution results in a WIN-WIN solution, sometimes it is just good enough to push the answer until later. Find out how we navigate this part of our marriage.
#2.19 Unity not Equality in Marriage
In this episode, Darren and Paige discuss how things in a marriage are not always equally balanced, but focusing on unity in a marriage can overcome the ups and downs of the equality equation. How do you balance the leadership roles with household management, discipline of kids, managing money, fostering romance, and providing for the family.
#2.18 Back to School with COVID and Blended Families
Darren & Paige talk about the big decision on where to educate the kids. Due to COVID-19 and restrictions of being in person face to face. Tough decisions had to be made on what to do with the kids education. Once the decision was made making it all happen and as painless as possible is the next trip. Find out how we navigated the uncharted waters we are traveling.
#2.17 When Kids get Married in a Blended Family
Find out how to throw a COVID-19 wedding when children of a blended family get married. Something that could be over the top stressful turns out to be wonderful and very low stress. Thank you Jacob and Andie.
#2.16 Taking a Break from COVID
Darren and Paige spend a week away from the world with the family. No COVID, no riots, just the forests, canyons, and family. Learn how we disconnect from our worldly cares and have a fun time decompressing.
#2.15 COVID the Great Divide
COVID-19 is starting to divide our nation and its families. Imagine trying to co-parent with different opinions on COVID safety, money problems due to layoffs, or school plans when schools start up again. There seems to be no gray area when it comes to people's feelings on all of these subjects with respect to COVID and the quarantine. In this episode, we call on a dear friend Reice Morris, a life coach, (www.riecemorris.com) to help us understand how people are dealing with this.
#2.14 Fighting the Stereotypes of Divorce and Blended Families
COVID-19 and the corresponding quarantine has brought out some interesting stereotypes that we have seen over the last 3 months. This recognition of stereotypes has given Paige and Darren an internal look at stereotypes that they have had about divorce and blended families. In this episode, we expose the different stereotypes of divorced people, their blended families, and how to overcome those stereotypes.
#2.13 Quarantine Fatigue (Week 8 of COVID Pandemic)
COVID-19 got you down. Quarantine is playing a number on our emotional and physical selves. In this episode listen to how Darren & Paige handle their Cabin Fever. Will anger and anxiousness take over or are there some things they have found work to ease the stress of uncertainty.
#2.12 Feeling like Multiple Families
Nine years ago when we got married we had the perfect vision of blending our families. Of course, we wanted it to be like a nuclear family with white picket fences and a dog. What we ended up with was several different family groups and plenty of lessons learned. But we love our blended family and constantly nurture and feed it. Check out how we got there in this episode.
#2.11 Episode 2:11- Dealing with Stress (Covid-19 Week 3)
We have noticed an uptick on blended families have issues in their families that just seem insurmountable. Stress from the COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty in health, job stability, and the economy is driving wedges in relationships between husband and wife and kids. In this episode learn how to identify the signs of stress, their causes and how to deal with stress in a productive way.
#2.10 Week 2 of COVID-19 (Finding lemonade)
It is week 2 of the Shelter in Place order from the state of California. In this episode learn how Darren & Paige handle uncertainty. anxiety, and lots of food. We focus on staying connected with friends and family, finding comfort, and finding lemonade when there are lots of lemons.
#2.9 Adjusting to Everyone at Home (Covid 19)
In this episode find out how Darren & Paige handle the first week of having everyone home in a Shelter in Place order by the state of California due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Are we going to grow closer together or drive each other crazy?
#2.8 Money, Kids and Blending Families
Money and kids can be hard in any family. When you throw two families together with different histories and expectations Money can be a tough issue to navigate. In this episode, Darren and Paige reveal some of the hard money issues they faced when they first got married and even pop up today. Everything is up for debate when it comes to money: College, Cars, Cell phones, Soda at restaurants who pays for what and when.
#2.7 How to Destroy Your Marriage
In this episode, we talk about the key things that you can do to destroy your marriage. We researched some articles and found some interesting things that we need to work on to have a stronger relationship. Check out these great ideas.
#2.6 Valentine's Day Expectations vs Reality
Valentine's Day is always a stressful time for people. Expectations of the perfect romantic day never match the reality of the day. In this episode, we talk about our successes and failures of Valentine's Days past. It is a funny look at a difficult time of the year for many men and women throughout the world.
#2.5 Why Blended Families Fail
When we first got married we believed that love would conquer all. Blending families would be as simple as moving all of our stuff into a house and making it a home. Successfully blending families is hard work and takes some careful planning. we learned some invaluable lessons over the years. In this episode find out what worked and what completely failed in our attempt to bring two families together.
#2.4 Using Counseling to Strengthen Your Marriage
We had to go to marriage counseling to resolve a problem that has bubbled up over time. In this episode, find out how we have used marriage counseling to strengthen our marriage and help us feel like we can tackle the problems thrown at us (with some help, of course).
#2.3 Dating your Spouse
After years of marriage, our date night consisted of finding a rom-com and falling asleep on the couch. We freshened things up with new date ideas including trying to find something open after 9pm in Folsom. We ended up going to a grocery store and making more healthy brownies. Check out our episode about how to spark excitement in your marriage.
#2.2 Getting Organized in the New Year
The Christmas clutter leads us to start an early spring cleaning and organizing. In this episode, we uncover our deepest darkest secret, we are Organizational Posers. We hide our inability to stay organized by putting all of the stuff in a couple places in the house (Office, and Garage). We learned some tips on how to survive the dreaded post-Christmas de-clutter.
#2.1 Goal Setting in a Blended Family
We have been setting goals with our kids every year at the beginning of the year since we started blending families. We would spend a day after new years day and talk to the kids about the importance of setting and achieving goals. We would write our goals down and then put them in a box in the entertainment center. Then the next year at New Year's day we would dust off the box and look at the goals stored inside. These weren't goals, just forgotten wishes.
#1.39 Managing Christmas Stress
Christmas is a wonderful time to reflect and give thanks. But it is often a time of stress, college kids returning home, and in-laws visiting. All of the normal pressures of Christmas Expectations is compounded when you add a blended family. Sharing time with your kids, duplicate presents, and who gets to take the kids to the latest Star Wars are just some of the things you have to worry about.
#1.38 An Attitude of Gratitude
In this episode find out how gratitude helps fight depression and anxiety by re-wiring the brain. Find out how we have tried to teach our kids real gratitude, what works and what we did wrong.
#1.37 Competing with your Ex to be the Favorite
Divorce can bring out the worst in people. Competition between ex(s) only magnifies the bad feelings and contention in the relationship. Many times kids can feel this tension and can even become the center of the competition, feeling like a pawn in a highly competitive chess match. In this episode, we talk about how to avoid competition with your Ex or your Ex's spouse.
#1.36 Step Parent Boundries
In this episode, we talk about setting and sticking to boundaries as a step-parent. Boundaries with step kids and ex-spouses.
#1.35 Our time to reconnect in Greece
In this episode, Darren and Paige spend some time together alone. No kids. This time in Greece. Follow their adventures to Athens, Santorini, and Peloponnese.
#1.34 Retrospective on 8 years of Blending families
In this episode learn why it is important to take time to frequently renew your relationship. In our recent time away we recorded this podcast about the last eight years of our marriage. Find out our highs and lows and what we learned from it all.
#1.33 Decorating for the Holidays with going Insane
Decorating for the Holidays is a great tradition that turns a house into a home. For Paige and Darren, this was critical to helping their kids feel somewhat normal after blending the families. Even though we love the way our home is decorated, Darren's aversion to a disaster of a garage and piles of boxes made this time a year a time of dread and anxiety. Find out how we made our way through this.
#1.32 Making your own Lemonade, Overcoming hardship
Many times we are searching for the perfect lemonade when we are dealt lemons. We know if we are positive enough and with enough sugar, we can find good in anything thrown our way. But sometimes we need to adjust our expectations to fit the current situation. In this episode, we talk about finding our own lemonade in these tough situations.
#1.31 Surviving Middle School Kids in a Blended Family
Find out how Darren & Paige handle Middle Schoolers that are going through The Change from perfect little kids to tweenies and teenagers with raging hormones and attitudes as they try and learn to become adults. Throw a blended family and two sets of parents and problems become even more difficult to manage.
#1.30 Managing Unsolvable and Solvable Problems
This week Paige continues to teach Darren what she learned at Education Week. This episode we tackle managing problems, not solving problem, managing them. Some problems, like putting socks in the hamper, take a long to solve, but all problems can be managed.
#1.29 Girl's Trips? Heck yes!
In this episode, Darren and Paige cover the importance of Girl's trips, the emotions of the husband left behind.
#1.28 Identifying and Avoiding Toxic Behavior
Paige went to Education Week and attended several marriage relationship classes. In this episode, Paige talks to Darren about what she learned on how we can avoid toxic behavior in our relationship and strengthen our marriage.
#1.27 Back to School Boohoo Woohoo
The fall brings kids going back to school or even leaving home to go to College for the first time. In this episode, we talk about the perils of back to school in a blended family and the emotions of sending kids off to college for the first time.
#1.26 Protecting Your Marriage when You're Apart
Time apart can be hard and taxing on a marriage. But there are many situations where it is inevitable. Time apart comes in many forms, work travel, traveling to see kids, a spouse in the military, it all takes a toll on your marriage and your relationship. In this episode, we talk about the dangers of being apart and some tips to overcome the side effects.
#1.25 Friends and Divorce
Friends are yet another tricky subject in divorce. Who gets what friends after a divorce? Does your new spouse make friends with your friends? What happens if you are in the same social circles still? Are there people that want to be friends with both you and your ex? It gets complicated really fast. In this episode, we talk about the pitfalls and traps and how to avoid them.
#1.24 Dealing with Child Support and Alimony
When people get divorces there is a huge financial explosion. All of the assets you have built together are now going to be exploded and divided. Not just two ways, lawyers will get their cut as well. But your financial obligation does not stop there, it is just the beginning. The emotions around money in divorce, alimony, and child support are pretty raw. In this episode, we investigate those feelings and how to deal with them.
#1.23 Divorce Dog, Disneyland and Skydiving
Right after a divorce is hard for everyone. You and your kids will be going through all ranges of emotion. You have a tendency to act based on those emotions of fear, guilt, sadness, and anger. Many times, this leads to uncharacteristically doing things you would not normally do. Like, getting a dog even though you are allergic, or skydiving, or heading to Disneyland. In this episode, we explore those first few months after a divorce and how to try to not overindulge your kids.
#1.22 Preparing for the Worst Day of Your Life - Navigate Kids Through the Separation.
One of the worst days in our lives was telling our kids we were getting divorced. Turns out it is also the worst day in the lives of our kids too. In this episode, we discuss how we navigated the tricky conversation that we had with our kids. Our approaches were very different but we found some common things that seemed to work, and some things that did not work so well.
#1.21 Open Communication with your Spouse, Kids, and Exes
Open communication is important to any relationship. Don't mistake open communication for transparency like we did. Transparency is about visibility, open communication is more about how, when and where you communicate. In this episode find out how Darren & Paige muddle through their journey to open communication in their marriage.
#1.20 Triggers, How to Avoid and Deal with Them
Triggers exist from previous marriages, childhood trauma and just living life. In this episode, we discuss how we have been able to navigate triggers, sometimes successfully sometimes not so much. Find out how to handle triggers, avoid them and recover from them.
#1.19 Flexibility in Travelling Together
In this episode learn how a trip to the Oregon Coast quickly turned into a business trip to Washington DC for Darren. Paige decided to join him so they could have some quality time alone together. Travel log and some nice back and forth about a missed romantic trip.
#1.18 Discipline in Blended Families
How do you discipline children in a blended family? How do you combine your two styles? How do you teach children across multiple households? There are many techniques and opinions on this subject. Now you get to hear our perspective on how we learned how to navigate this treacherous part of blending families.
#1.17 Custody Scheduling Nightmares and Successes
Are you having a hard time figuring out custody schedules with your ex? Are you 50/50 and don't know if you should be a week on week off? Or are you looking at a 2-2-5-5? If you don't even know what these are you can hear the nightmare of scheduling when you have a blended family in this podcast. We discuss the pitfalls and successes we found in negotiating and working custody schedules.
#1.16 Step Mother's Day
In this episode we discuss how hard it is to be a step-mom on Mother's Day, heck even Biological Mom's have a hard time with Mother's Day. Find out how we deal with this great day to remember the Moms in our lives.
#1.15 From Bad to Worse. Still Found a Couple Lemon Squares
This was a rough week for Paige & Darren, as Paige's mom is checked into the ER and while there her dad suddenly passes away. Darren was 3000 miles away on a work trip and Darren learned how to rely on friends to help out in the hopeless situation. A thousand-mile roundtrip, a broken down car and an emotionally and physically exhausting week led to many lessons learned.
#1.14 Sandwiches (Mustard/Mayo) - Making kids feel special in a Large Family
Sandwiches might have nothing to do with treating kids as individuals, but in our house it does. Learn how just some small questions of our kids helped us find out how to treat them as an individual in our blended family.
#1.13 Your Previous Life in your current marriage
Your history has a profound effect on who you are. When you are in a second marriage that includes your relationship with your previous spouse. Sometimes learning about your spouse's previous relationships can be difficult, but we have found over the years that it has given us a better understanding of each other, where we have come from and what has shaped and molded each of us.
#1.12 Compromise in Blended Families- Know when the hold'm, fold'm and walk away
Every marriage includes different times when you have to compromise. In a blended family, there are even more opportunities to practice your compromising skills. In this episode, we explore different kinds of compromise and how best to work through the hard decisions you have to make.
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Summary
#1.10 Family Heritage Tour
Family Heritage Roadtrips help give your kids a sense of belonging and roots. With a blended family, it can be tricky if you don't plan things out carefully. This episode is a travel episode of our Heritage road, find out what worked well for us and did not.
#1.9 Working together thru Depression and Anxiety
We thought the topic of depression and anxiety was important to cover because Paige suffers from clinical depression and Darren has suffered from situational depression in the past. In this episode, we talk about tools to help your spouse through their depression, how to identify the difference between the situational and clinical depression, and how to decrease the triggers that contribute to depression and anxiety.
#1.8 Transparency or Privacy in Marriage
Transparency in Marriage is a hot topic in social media right now. The constant pull between personal privacy and sharing everything with your spouse has several couples at odds and is lighting up the blended family social groups. In this episode, we discuss how we tackle this hard issue.
#1.7 Being part of a Bigger Extended Family (Blending into your spouse's family)
It can be really difficult blending families, imagine what is like to blend with 10 siblings. Blending includes not just your kids it includes your siblings and parents as well. In this episode, we look at the pitfalls and the success of joining a big family that already has a history with your spouse's former spouse.
#1.6 The Horrible First Year - Overcoming obstacles when blending families
The first year of blending families can be pretty difficult, downright horrible. In this episode, we talk about the challenges of throwing two families together and how we dealt with the obstacles we ran into.
#1.5 Family Road-trips survival of the fittest
This episode is about surviving and maybe even enjoying, road trips with your family. They can really be a time of bonding (or total stress!) with some preparation. Food, audible, games and electronics can get you through it!!
#1.4 There is No Step in Grandma and Grandpa - Extending the blended family across multiple generations
How do you extend your blending family through the generations? Our parents showed us through their example of accepting and bringing our blended family directly into our family. We have learned as we are starting to add grandchildren that who they biologically belong to really does not matter. In this episode, we talk about how to make the blending extended beyond just our family. We have found that there is no step in Grandma and Grandpa, or Aunt and Uncle.
#1.3 Egg's Benedict and Sausage Fondue - Building foundations through traditions
Establishing traditions is important to give your family (blended or not) a foundation that your children can hold on to when things are difficult. This can be tricky when you are combining traditions from multiple families. You have to figure out when to keep traditions when to blend them, when to throw them out and when to create new ones. In this episode, we talk about some of our challenges in navigating traditions in our blended family.
#1.2 Spending Time Alone (Together)
Spending time as a couple (no kids) is very important when you are married for a second time. In this episode, Darren and Paige go to Panama for a week.
#1.1 When life gives you lemons
The first episode of the Where's the Lemonade podcast where we talk about why we are podcasting in the first place.