Made Possible by Parenthood

What if the exhaustion so many of us feel as parents isn't a sign that we need to try harder — but a sign that we've mistaken a living process for a project to manage?In this episode, Lindsay and Charlie are joined by Justin Wise — founder of Third Space, integral development coach, and a beloved teacher to them both. Justin trained each of them (ten years apart!) on the integral coaching program that shaped their work and their parenting, and this conversation is a homecoming as much as an interview.Together they explore what it means to parent off autopilot: how fear pulls us into control and over-efforting, why "who do I want to be?" is a countercultural question, and what becomes possible when we treat parenting as something to forever learn rather than something to get right. Justin — now a father of three adult children — shares what this way of living has made possible in his relationships with his kids, including the revelation of learning to repair: to say "I made a mistake, I'm sorry, here's what I wish I'd done."The conversation closes with a reframe that has stayed with Lindsay for months: people are not projects, they are processes. We are less like tables and houses, more like rivers, trees, and thunderstorms — and so are our children. Justin ends by reading from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet: "Your children are not your children..."Justin Wise is the founder of Third Space and an integral development coach since 2008, holding a PCC credential with the International Coaching Federation. His work sits at the intersection of philosophy, adult development, and how we actually live in response to the complexity of the world — cultivating the kind of human freedom that allows us to see ourselves clearly and act with courage, integrity, and wisdom. He is a husband, community leader, and father of three.Third Space — Justin's practice and body of workWendy Palmer — teacher and author on the body, relationships, and leadership embodimentKhalil Gibran, The Prophet — "On Children"We'd love to hear what this conversation opened up for you. Find us on Instagram @madepossiblebyparenthood, and if this episode resonated, share it with a fellow parent who needs to hear that they were never meant to get it all right.About Justin WiseLinks from this episodeConnect With Us

In this episode of Made Possible by Parenthood, Lindsay and Charlie turn their attention to one of the most universal sources of suffering in parenthood — our relationship with time. Not how to manage it, hack it, or squeeze more out of it, but how to fundamentally shift the way we live inside it.Inspired by Oliver Burkeman's 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, this is a conversation that invites parents to confront the finite, precious nature of time — and to ask themselves honestly what they're actually saying yes and no to each day.Together they explore:How becoming a parent cracked open a whole new relationship with time for both Lindsay and CharlieThe suffering that comes from letting time have us — rather than the other way aroundThe identity trap of busyness and productivity, and how it quietly shapes our daysWhat we're really saying no to every time we say yes — and vice versaThe difference between time being scarce and the things we actually value being scarceHow spaciousness, presence and slowing down can literally change our experience of timeFinding the natural rhythm of your unique family rather than forcing a borrowed one"You can do it like it's really hard, or you can do it like it's a dance."

In this episode of Made Possible by Parenthood, Lindsay and Charlie welcome Diana — working parent, mother of two, and what they describe as someone who carries a rare and beautiful ability to feel the sun even while trudging through the thickest mud.Diana shares her journey as a parent carer to her youngest daughter, who has cerebral palsy — from the early days of noticing something was different, through the spiral of guilt that followed her daughter's diagnosis, and into the hard-won grace and joy that defines her family's life today.This is a conversation about letting go of the milestone chart, protecting your own capacity to show up, and finding the beauty in a journey that doesn't follow anyone else's map.Together they explore:What it really means to be a parent carer — and why that label carries important weightThe non-linear nature of this journey and why the roller coaster never fully stopsHow Diana worked through profound guilt around her daughter's diagnosis and found her way to self-compassionThe power of separating fact from opinion when guilt threatens to consume usWhy protecting your own mental and emotional space is an act of love for your childThe art of seeing your child for who they are — beyond the forms, checkboxes and milestone chartsWhat grace really looks like in practice, day after day"Give yourself grace. You're doing the best that you can. And that's okay."

In this episode of Made Possible by Parenthood, Lindsay and Charlie are joined by Dr. Varisa Perlman — pediatrician, mother, and what Lindsay describes as a "master responder" — for one of the most profound conversations the podcast has hosted.Dr. P shares her family's story with extraordinary openness and grace: from her own journey of finding her true self through medical school, to supporting her husband's leap from medicine to law, to walking alongside her cshild Izzy through gender dysphoria, depression, suicidality, and ultimately into joy and self-expression.At the heart of this conversation is a simple but powerful idea: that the only way through life's storms is to become the eye of them.Together they explore:The concept of "correcting the dissonance" — and how Dr. P has returned to this thread again and again throughout her lifeWhat it really means to be present with your child, beyond just putting your phone downHow Dr. P supported her husband's career transition — and what that taught her about holding space for the people we loveThe journey of raising a transgender child through gender dysphoria and into their truest selfWhy fear and guilt are poison for parents — and how to begin releasing themThe incredible role COVID played in opening a door for Izzy's transitionWhy children are born the way they are to heal the family"You cannot go through the chaos of life not being able to be centered. You must be the eye of the storm."

In this episode of Made Possible by Parenthood, Lindsay and Charlie dive into one of the most quietly exhausting companions of parenthood — perfectionism. But rather than treating it as something to fix, overcome, or engineer out of our lives, they explore what happens when we simply allow it to be known.Through honest reflection and personal story, they unpack why perfectionism so often feels slippery — showing up in one area of life just as we think we've dealt with it in another — and why the goal was never to get rid of it at all.This is a conversation about befriending the parts of ourselves that aren't going anywhere, and discovering what becomes possible when we stop fighting them.Together, Lindsay and Charlie explore:Why perfectionism is a forever known part of us — and why that's actually okayHow perfectionism can serve us as a resource rather than drain us as a burdenThe whack-a-mole nature of perfectionism in parenthood — and where it tends to hideThe physical and relational experience of being in perfectionismThe moth and the flame — why we keep flying toward the light even when we know it might burn usWhat devotion offers as an alternative orientation to our effort and careHow to channel deep caring without being beholden to outcome"It's not about getting rid of perfectionism. It's about knowing what to do with it when it shows up."