Fresh Take: Meagan Francis, THE LAST PARENTING BOOK YOU'LL EVER READ

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood

Parenting, Kids & Family, Comedy

4.6 • 962 Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Amy chats with parenting writer and The Mom Hour podcaster Meagan Francis about her new book, The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read: How We Let Our Kids Go and Embrace What’s Next. Together, they reflect on the identity shift that comes with parenting an emptying nest, the emotional complexity of "lasts," and why transitioning out of the "hands-on" years of parenting requires the same patience with ourselves that entering those years did. Listen to the Substack Live Amy and Meagan did recently to discuss Amy's book HAPPY TO HELP! 🎧 Amy and Meagan discuss: Why "arms full to hands-free" parenting isn't so bad How to navigate the emptying nest without feeling a loss of identity Why cherishing every moment is overrated—and impossible The truth about staying close to your adult kids The importance of maintaining our own friendships and identity as our kids grow Here are all the places you can hear more from Meagan: The Mom Hour Podcast Meagan's solo podcast, The Kettle Follow Meagan on Substack: https://meaganfrancis.substack.com @momhour and @meaganfrancis on IG Buy THE LAST PARENTING BOOK YOU'LL EVER READ: ⁠https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781464225161⁠ https://meaganfrancis.com And watch for Meagan’s new podcast, "Midlife Lady Leisure Pursuits," launching soon! We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, empty nest, adult children, parent of teens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody. Welcome to Fresh Take from What Fresh Hell Laughing in the Face of Motherhood. This is Amy. Today I am with my good friend, Megan Francis. She is the mother of five kids, ages teen to young adult. She's been a parenting writer for 25 years and the co-host of the Mom Hour podcast, which has been in constant
0:23.3	publication for 10 years and downloaded over 15 million times. Megan is also the author of a new
0:31.3	book we'll be talking about today. It's called The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read,
0:36.0	How We Let Our Kids Go and Embrace What's Next. Welcome, Megan.
0:40.0	Well, what a great setup. You just created for me there, Amy. Hello, hello. Hello. Happy to be here with you.
0:46.2	You are a true originator in the parenting podcast space. And we've been doing this together for a long time.
0:53.8	We have been. We have been. And I know this is not our first time that we've gotten on the
0:57.6	mic or on the camera with each other. But I haven't been on this show in a while. So this is
1:01.4	exciting. This is really fun. And I feel a little long in the tooth as a mom. I got to say,
1:06.8	as you were reading off that bio. It was like, oh, wow, 25 years. Oh, yes. Okay. My kids are getting
1:13.4	older now. My oldest is 27. So there's, it's been a, yeah, it's been a long ride. I've been in this
1:19.0	a long time already. Yes. Yeah. And there's definitely wisdom to impart, but it also feels
1:24.2	it's interesting, right? To meet parenting content creators who are 15, 20 years younger.
1:28.8	Just because they're in the parenting zone also.
1:30.8	I'm like, oh, it's a new generation.
1:32.2	It is.
1:32.6	Do you remember the first time you were like at the park and you looked over and you saw
1:36.9	a mom maybe like pushing your little kid on the on the swing or something and thought,
1:41.7	oh, I'm not, I'm not the young mom anymore.
1:44.3	No.
1:44.8	What happens?
1:45.1	It is a weird feeling.
	...

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