Life Lessons for the Modern Mom

Ever wondered what true intelligence in parenting looks like? It’s not just about acing exams or mastering textbook knowledge; it's about learning from life, experiences, and good old common sense. Join me on the Single Moms United podcast as I open up about the proactive journey of teaching our children essential life skills—like money management—beyond what schools can offer. I share my own story of embracing new learning curves, like mastering podcasting, illustrating the power of taking control of our education. Let’s rethink the role of intelligence in parenting and how we, as single moms, can equip our kids for the future.

On another note, let’s talk about unity and empowerment for single moms. This episode underscores the heart of "Single Moms United," a community where we uplift and inspire each other through shared experiences. It's a podcast with a mission to create a supportive network, ensuring that single moms never feel isolated. Let’s redefine community—encouraging feedback, interaction, and engagement through our YouTube and website. Together, let’s build a positive, empowered collective where every single mom feels seen, heard, and supported, one episode at a time.

https://singlemomsunitedpodcast.com/

As Mom's we are more than nurturers we are Mentors to our children.

Transcript

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Teaching Intelligence in Parenting

Speaker 1 0:03

Hey ladies , welcome to the Single Moms United podcast , where it's not about how you arrived at the single mom title , but what you do with it . Hey , if this is your first time joining , welcome If you are a repeat listener . Thank you for your loyalty . All right , so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on what our topic is today , so I'm just going to jump right in , okay , and extracting words from the letter I and applying it to your parenting skills , and so , if you've been following me these past few weeks , you'll notice I pull several different words from the letter I in hopes that it will help you or at least give you something to think about , because that's what this podcast is all about . It's about critical thinking . It's not a one size fits all , because everybody has different or unique perspectives on life and how they navigate through life , but this is something to think about that can apply to your parenting skills , and I'm going to say it in my out loud voice yes , I wish I had somebody like me Well , and I kind of did , I kind of did , so let me not do that but someone that can provide guidance or at least make me think I did have my mom and my kid's grandmother and some other folks that helped me along the way as it relates to my parenting . So I'm so ever grateful for those folks that poured into my life to help me out , because I was young , I didn't know any better and so I was doing a lot of feeling around in the dark as it relates to parenting . Again , that's what this podcast is designed to do . If you are kind of feeling around in the dark when it comes to some things , hopefully by this episode or listening to other episodes , you feel encouraged and say , yeah , that's something to think about , right , because at the end of this podcast , that's what you should be saying . Or you should be left with thinking that , oh , I didn't even think of it that way . Let me take another look , or let me reassess that . Let me see if that can't be applied to my own parenting skills . All right , ladies , so here we go . So here we go .

Speaker 1 2:41

Today's word is intelligence or intelligent , whichever form you prefer to use . Unfortunately , I'm not always grammatically correct and as I present something , so hopefully you won't hold that against me . Thank you , appreciate you , but I'm talking about intelligence and you know me personally . I was always somewhat intimidated when I hear the word intelligent , right , because that means you're super smart , right , you know more than the average person . So I was often intimidated by that because I just felt like I didn't know a lot and , as a result of me not knowing a lot , I couldn't teach my children or my kids about some of the basics of life .

Speaker 1 3:36

Here's the good news when we talk about intelligence , or intelligence , it's just knowledge . How do you get knowledge ? It's from learning . How do you learn ? Either book smart or street smart , I think , is the term , or common sense , whatever term you choose , it's all about knowledge . And again , how do we get knowledge ? We get knowledge through learning . So , guess what , ladies , you're intelligent , because if you learn some things along life's journey , like I have , guess what ? We have moved over into the intelligent world . Yeah , and I don't know if I would say super smart , but I just experienced a lot throughout my life that now I feel comfortable in sharing , like through this podcast , when we think about knowledge and learning as a single mom or as a mom period . So if there's moms just listening to this podcast , or irregardless of your status , we have to be in position to teach our children .

Speaker 1 4:56

I was talking to a friend of mine earlier today . One of the things I expressed to her as I was raising my kids that I regret is not really educating them . I was relying on other schools , my church and other organizations to teach my kids . If you've heard any of my prior episodes , I break down what a good mom is and what a bad mom is , or a parent . Either way , right , if a fellow is listening , a good mom teaches and a bad mom doesn't . It's just that simple . There is no perfect mom . We're not going to get it right all the time , we are not going to make the right decision every time , but as a parent a good parent we should be teaching our children . We shouldn't rely on the schools and other organizations to do this for us . We birthed these kids , we carried them for nine months and sometimes a little longer on our hip right , but we did that . We did that . So why would we put the onus of teaching our children with someone else that don't even know them ? Think about that , mom .

Speaker 1 6:26

And one of my episodes I talked about . You know where I saw on social media where they said things the school should be teaching . I said in my out loud voice no , that is not the school's responsibility . It's the responsibility to teach our kids about money and how to manage money . That's our responsibility . Now , if you say , well , you know what and I'm just going to speak for myself in my out loud voice I'm not good at managing money . At least I wasn't when I was raising my kids . I was horrible . Number one , I wasn't taught . And then , number two , I didn't try to learn . Absorb that , ladies .

Speaker 1 7:07

Just because we aren't taught something doesn't mean that we don't take that ownership and go learn it . You know , I use this podcast as an example . I didn't know anything about podcasting , I had no idea . But I went and learned how to do it , what systems I need , what microphones and all of that that I need to produce a podcast . And here we are today , two years later , I'm doing a podcast with over 7,000 downloads and I'm like whoa wait , what just happened ? But if I would have waited for someone to come and teach me , I would have never learned .

Speaker 1 7:52

So , ladies , today's takeaway is just because you weren't taught doesn't mean you don't go out and try to learn , because now it's your responsibility to educate your children , because now you know if they get it or they don't get it when in a school , you know they'd say this is the curriculum that was taught , but you don't know if they really get it or not , unless you look at the grades . But then you still don't know what they're struggling with . When you're the teacher , you get that opportunity to uncover what they're not getting , and that's the important piece to this process . Ladies , now , as a mom , as a good mom , as you're paying it forward to your child or your children , you can start out with basic stuff , with teaching them , okay . So here's today's takeaway . As far as something basic you can teach your child , I always like to give you a little push in the right direction . If you say you know what , I don't know , I'm not sure where to go with this . Well , here's a hint and I challenge you . Okay , if your child isn't already doing this . But here's today's challenge Teach your kids how to say thank you .

Speaker 1 9:19

That's very basic . Well , when should they say thank you ? That's very basic . Well , when should they say thank you ? When they're given something ? Okay , and it's two words thank you . If your child isn't doing that , and if they are kudos , mom , you eight steps ahead . But if they are not moms , I challenge you . Teach your child to say thank you when someone gives them something and guess what and it's just not somebody outside of your circle Teach them how to thank you . It goes a long way and I said it before in one of my prior episodes .

Speaker 1 9:58

My stepfather , when I was raising my kids , he taught my kids how to tell me thank you and I'm so appreciative of that because it was survival mode for me . As I mentioned before , finances were just . It was a huge struggle . I didn't know how I was going to make it from day to day . My check was already spent before I got it . Again , when my kids come back and I got a little something extra for them , or they ask for something from the store this and that and I get it for them and they say thank you , wow , wow is all I can say , cause you don't know that feeling when you're struggling and you're out trying to survive , trying to do the best that you can , knowing that they're not taking it for granted . So that's one thing I definitely cherish with my stepfather and may he rest in peace , because he did try to teach my kids some of those fundamental things in life that they should do , and guess what , when they started thanking me , guess what ? They automatically started thanking others . It became a natural response when someone gave them something .

Speaker 1 11:24

So , moms , again , that's very basic . You can take it up a notch because , again , this is all about critical thinking . You can take it up a notch . What are you teaching your child ? What are you going to take ownership of ? Now , I just gave you a simple task to teach your child . But if your child is already there , so they're set up for something greater as it relates to knowledge and intelligence , and it starts with you . Mom , yep , I'm pointing at you , you see my finger , I'm pointing at you . Love you , ladies .

Empowering Single Moms Through Podcast

Speaker 1 12:05

All right , if you enjoyed this episode , tell another single mom this podcast . It states single moms united . But what it means is we are encouraging one another . So when you see that united , that's how you translate that word encouraging one another . So I'm encouraging you through this podcast , but if you know another single mom , then talk on it , encourage them . Girl , you're going to get through this Because a lot of people look at my podcast or the title of it as being , you know , setting up some kind of coup or something like that . But no , it's all about encouragement . Again , tell another single mom . I hope you enjoyed this episode . If you did , let me know . Let me know . You can visit my YouTube page or you can go to singlemomsunitedpodcastcom and leave me some feedback there . I would love to hear from you . Take care , ladies .