Hey, y'all welcome back to the Don't Lomalone Podcast. I'm your host Heather McFadden and this

is the place where I get to walk alongside you and connect you with people and resources

so you know that you don't mom alone. And in this episode, number 378, we are going

into the next part of our ages and stages series, the Elementary Years with Dr. Meg Meeker.

What forms a child's identity, what gives them self-esteem is conversations they have with

their parents, a sentence here or a sentence there. Dr. Meeker is a mom. She's also been a

practicing pediatrician for over 30 years and so she comes to us today with lots of wisdom and

perspective and advice when it comes to helping raise elementary aged kids. She's going to

encourage us to let them slow down and grow and self-esteem and empathy. We're going to cover

a range of topics from identity formation to sensory issues to extracurricular activities.

But I also want to give a caveat that because this episode is more advice-like than I usually do,

if you are a mom and you're listening and something Dr. Meeker says,

pricks your heart and you feel discomfort or maybe even guilt. I want to encourage you

to one, bring those things to God because we know that he cares more about you being surrendered to him

who is a good God than to your keeping of a quote unquote good mom formula, which doesn't exist.

And so we're going to ask God, hey, why am I feeling this? Is this from you or is this not from you?

And then maybe even have a conversation with a trusted friend on what was going on in you.

Because we can't know every nuance of your situation. I know that God gave you your kids for

reason and that you are being led by his spirit. And so trust that first. I just want to say that.

All right, let's get right to it. Here we go.

Dr. Meeker, welcome to the Don't Lomolone podcast. We're so happy to have you here.

Thank you so much. I love being here. We have been alongside each other in the podcast world

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