Claim OwnershipReframing Me - Self-Development & Parenting Teens for Midlife Moms
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Your kids are growing up - but so are you. Reframing Me is the podcast for moms of teens ready to reframe family, identity, and self-development in midlife.
Parenting teens is hard -and parenting while rediscovering yourself in midlife can feel even harder. Reframing Me is the parenting podcast for moms raising teenagers who are also navigating the transition out of hands-on motherhood, identity shifts, and the search for balance, fulfillment, and self-development.
Hosted by Dr. Jennifer Brubaker, a Communication Studies professor, mom of three teens, and intrapersonal communication expert, each episode blends family communication strategies, honest conversations about parenting teens, and self-reflection tools to help moms strengthen family relationships while rediscovering who they are as women.
Together we’ll talk about the issues moms face but don’t always say out loud: changing family dynamics, feeling invisible, letting go of control, and creating new purpose. Through research, theory, and compassionate conversation, you’ll find support, strategies, and a sense of community in this season of parenting and personal growth.
Join the Reframing Me community to connect with other midlife moms, share your stories, and reframe how you see yourself, your family, and your future.
Send emails to jen@reframing-me.com; or on socials: Reframing Me on FacebookAND join the Facebook group Reframing Me: The Podcast Community; @reframingme on Instagram; Reframing Me on YouTube @reframingme on TikTok
253 Episodes
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Send us a text Thank you so much for being here! Today, I'd like you to think about this: You can begin again anytime. Not next week. Not next semester. Not when life “calms down” because we all know that’s never. Not when the kids launch or when the holidays end or when the stars realign. Just… begin again. What if beginning again is simply the next breath you take? The next thought you choose? The next decision you make without dragging your past self into it? YOU are the one who decides wh...
Send us a text Welcome back to the show! I’m so grateful you’re here! And I’m so happy to have my voice back to normal after an icky cold that I may have rambled a bit more than usual – hahaha! But today, we’re talking about something many families do without ever naming itn - recreational arguing. You know the dynamic: nothing is actually wrong, but yet somehow you’re in a debate about tone, or not listening, or why someone “waited until now” to mention something. But underneath the surface-...
Send us a text What if it wasn’t you after all? What if that rejection was a redirection to something better or to where you are supposed to be? Thank you so much for being here! In today’s Jen is Zen, I’m inviting you to look at rejection through a completely differ...
Send us a text In this Thanksgiving episode, I am extra thankful for you being here! Many moms (including me!) are anxious to have their college students home for the holiday, but that doesn't mean it won't be without its possible challenges. We'll have a conversation exploring the joys and challenges of welcoming college freshmen back home for the holidays. As our families reconnect, we need to adapt to the changes our child has experienced in their first months at college, from newfound in...
Send us a text Thank you so much for being here! You can create your own magic. You can create your own future. You do not have to be chosen. You do not have to wait to be chosen. You are the creator of your own life. There's a moment that so many midlife moms quietly fear: the one where they sense that their purpose is fading just as their children’s lives are expanding. Being caregiving becomes an identity, and how losing that role can feel like losing yourself...
Send us a text It's the home stretch for my years as a "Football Mom," and I am feeling the feels. When your kids are involved in an activity that becomes consuming of your time, energy, and money, and when we find ourselves on the sideline or in the stands or seats watching day after day, week after week, year after year, there comes a point when it all ends. For many, senior year is that end. But for some, it happens sooner, whether they don’t make the team or grow out of love with the spor...
Send us a text This month, the focus will be on gratitude. To show my gratitude to all of you, I've unlocked this November meditation, so you can have a peek inside, and because gratitude is something that you must have before you can receive. It’s not simply something you feel after something good happens. So today we’re going to cultivate that feeling of gratitude for what we do have so we can be open to the abundance of all that we want. Support the show Thank you for listening and b...
Send us a text What does it really take to build openness, honesty, and trust with our kids as they grow into teens? It's not by becoming the "cool mom" and loosening all boundaries, but it is by evolving right alongside them. As kids grow up, parent–child relationships shift from vertical to horizontal -from top-down authority to side-by-side connection - and this change asks us to redefine what authority, influence, and love look like in modern families. Believe it or not, both openness and...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 8 - Our Discontent. Our discontent often comes from our desire to control the situation and to predict the outcome. Acceptance that we can’t do that can be a huge relief and an opportunity to move forward. M...
Send us a text Welcome back to the show! I hope you enjoy this episode - it's not a typical episode; instead, it's more of a guided walk-through of the ReFRAME process, a six-phase model for personal and identity transformation. Do you feel like you're not quite sure who you're becoming, but you know you're not who you were? Identity discovery is a fluid, ongoing practice of communication between our past, present, and emerging selves, and the ReFRAME model exists to help you through it. The...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 6 - Feeling the Feels. We waste so much energy avoiding uncomfortable emotions. Whether it’s sadness, worry, fear, or uncertainty, pushing feelings away doesn’t make them disappear - it only delays heali...
Send us a text I hope you enjoy this episode! Teen friendships can be beautiful -and brutal. This episode explores why some kids become “mean girls,” how exclusion and gossip take root, and what’s really happening beneath the surface. Drawing from Relational Aggression and Social Identity Theory, it explains how insecurity, power dynamics, and the need to belong shape behavior in middle and high school friend groups. The discussion discusses how social media magnifies hierarchy and comparison...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 5 - The In Between. This episode feels a little different — more like a page from my journal than a polished podcast. But that’s the point of all of this, right? Identity isn’t something we talk about from a safe ...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 4 - Underneath the Emotions. It's ok to feel all of the feels, but we just can't live there. We are not our emotions; emotions are like the weather - just passing through - and we are the clear blue sky ...
Send us a text Kindness realigns us - one small, intentional act can shift our energy and open our hearts to something bigger. When we lead with kindness, we invite joy. That joy clears the lens through which we see the world, allowing us to view life and people through love. Love naturally awakens gratitude - not the performative kind, but the deep, grounding awareness that helps us see the good that’s still here. Gratitude builds confidence - quiet, steady, authentic confidence —- the kind...
Send us a text College application season brings pressure, opinions, and plenty of myths about what makes higher education valuable. This episode unpacks the biggest fallacy of higher education - that college is job training - and explores four common misconceptions parents often hear: choosing majors only for profitability, dismissing the value of minors, chasing prestige instead of fit when selecting a school, and assuming general education courses are a waste of time. With a mix of practic...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 3 - Life's a Rollercoaster, and it's appropriate because I know I often find myself comparing where I'm at on my journey and questioning if I will ever be "successful" if someone else "has ALL of the suc...
Send us a text In this Jen is Zen , we explore the difference between balance and harmony in midlife. Balance often feels like an impossible demand, dividing time, energy, and attention equally across parenting teens, family communication, relationships, career, and self-care. Harmony, on the other hand, invites flow, flexibility, and grace. Harmony can help us navigate midlife transitions, embrace both joy and struggle, and live with more peace and presence. This episode offers inspiration f...
Send us a text In this bonus episode, we continue our weekly series, reading and discussing excerpts from my new book, Reframe the Moment. It's super fun and appropriate because each essay grew out of a Jen is Zen episode, so why not bring it full circle. Today we talk about Chapter 2 - I Am, and it's really relevant because of how off balance I've been feeling this week. Video is available on YouTube, my website, and socials (I think y'all know how rare that is for me! I guess I'm turning ov...
Send us a text I could NEVER forget my Southern Hemisphere friends (I see you and love you, Australia!) Reposting just for you :) It's the Spring Equinox! For the Southern Hemisphere, brighter days are on the horizon. It makes us realize that sometimes, it's our time to shine (literally!), and sometimes, it isn't. Can we celebrate others and know that it's just not our time right now, but still trust that we are on the right path? Manifesting is about speaking it out loud – and writing it dow...
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