Parenting with Language That Heals, Not Hurts | Amy Hughes (Bonus Episode)
Minimalist Moms Podcast | Simple Living for Overwhelmed Moms
Diane Boden
4.8 • 952 Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Our words matter more than we realize. The phrases we use with our children—often without thinking—can leave lasting impressions on their hearts, shaping how they see themselves and their relationship with us as parents. In this episode, I’m joined by Amy Hughes—writer, speaker, and mother of nine—whose new book Words Like Honey helps parents recognize the unintended harm in common phrases like “Hurry up,” “Calm down,” or “Don’t be sad.” Amy explains how these words can cause stress, anxiety, or self-doubt, and offers life-giving alternatives that nurture confidence, security, and resilience. Filled with relatable stories and practical wisdom, this conversation will encourage you to parent with intention and use words that truly build your child up.
Links Discussed in This Episode |
- Connect with Amy:
- Website
- Book: Words Like Honey: How to Avoid Unintentional Harm, Model Kindness, and Nurture Your Child's Faith Through What You Say
About Amy |
Amy Hughes is a mother of nine, a writer, a speaker, and a parenting coach living on the central coast of California. A featured writer for Wild + Free, Amy is a sought-after keynote and conference speaker and has been published in Scary Mommy, (in)Courage, Simplify Magazine, The Fallow House, The Natural Family, Rhythm of the Home, Christian Unschooling, and more. She reads too many books and drinks too much coffee, plus she thinks she's incredibly funny. She lives in Paso Robles, California.
Episode Sponsors |
The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal!
Enjoy the Podcast?
Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less.
Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity.
Questions |
- You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook.
- Checkout the podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane.
- If you’ve been struggling with motivation to declutter or work through bad habits that keep you stuck, I’d love to help you achieve your goals! We’ll work together (locally or virtually) to discover what areas in your life are high priority to get you feeling less overwhelmed right away. For more info on my processes, fees, and availability please contact!
Our Sponsors:
* Check out Acorns Early: https://acornsearly.com/MINIMALISTMOMS
* Check out Moon & Skin and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://moonandskin.com
* Check out Mr. Pen and use my code MINIMALIST10 for a great deal: https://mrpen.com
* Check out Washington Red Raspberries: https://redrazz.org
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/minimalist-moms-podcast-all-things-minimalism-intentionality-and/exclusive-content
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | For those of you that are new around here, I release bonus episodes that serve a niche part of my audience. |
| 0:04.8 | I have listeners of all faith backgrounds that listen to the podcast. |
| 0:08.3 | This episode is coming from a Christian perspective. |
| 0:10.5 | So if that's something that doesn't fit what you're looking for, check out the other episode that dropped this week. |
| 0:14.7 | Or join me back here next Tuesday for a conversation that you don't want to miss. |
| 0:19.1 | I think there are so many things that we don't even realize |
| 0:22.3 | that our kids are not developmentally ready to understand the way that we mean them. There's |
| 0:29.1 | actually something called hurried child syndrome. And it's all about the anxiety that our kids |
| 0:34.0 | experience based on that constant, you know, that constant hurry and the feeling like |
| 0:40.5 | they constantly need to be quick, be faster, you know, understanding child development, |
| 0:45.0 | understanding neuroscience, understanding our own personal, unique children, how are they taking |
| 0:51.1 | in this word or this phrase or this type of speech? |
| 0:56.7 | But repair is always possible. |
| 0:59.2 | And that is just the simple apology without justification, you know, just, hey, I'm sorry. |
| 1:05.5 | I shouldn't have set that. |
| 1:07.3 | Learning to say I'm sorry to our kids really helps to build a strong and authentic connection with them. |
| 1:15.9 | And on the same time, it also teaches them to say sorry. It also teaches them to take ownership of things. |
| 1:21.3 | Think before we speak. You know, it's something that we say to our kids all the time, but like, do we ever utilize that? |
| 1:29.5 | Not often, you know? |
| 1:35.2 | Hello and welcome to the minimalist moms podcast. Our words matter more than we realize. |
| 1:40.8 | The phrases we use with our children, often without thinking, can leave lasting impressions on their hearts, shaping how they see themselves and their relationship with us as |
| 1:44.4 | parents. In today's episode, I'm joined by Amy Hughes, writer, speaker, and mother of nine, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Diane Boden, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Diane Boden and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.