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1. Steph shares her guilty secret from when her kids were younger: she preferred them in small doses. 
2. The delights of “parallel play” with your kids—sharing time and space while still doing the things you enjoy. 
3. How alone time, and the perception of it, changes when your kids hit the tween and teen years. 
4. A reminder before we enter the holidays: You aren’t a bad mom for craving time to yourself, so take it!

In this solo episode, Steph reads an essay she wrote years ago—“I’m Back for Tea Time”—about how she preferred her young children in small doses. After more family togetherness than she had planned during a month of prolonged illness, she reflects on how things have changed since “alone time” was such a hard-won pleasure when her kids were young, and what it looks like on the other side. 

WHERE TO FIND US NOW

Connect with Stacey

• 🎧 The Next Phase Podcast —  
• on Apple & Spotify 
• 📸 Instagram: @stacehutson

Connect with Steph

• 🎧 The Peri-Normal Podcast
  on Apple and Spotify
• ✍️ The Reclamation Era
  on Substack
• 📝 MidCircle
  — a writing community for midlife women
• 📸 Instagram: @stephsprenger