Nobody Shows the Real Shit: Why Fake Motherhood Content Is Stressing Us All Out

Nobody Shows the Real Shit: Why Fake Motherhood Content Is Stressing Us All Out

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I'm going somewhere I've been stewing on for a while, because there is zero accurate depiction of real motherhood anywhere. Not in movies, not on reality TV, not on social media. Nowhere.  I'm not coming for anyone. But I am coming for the beige outfits, the timestamped morning routines, and the 47th Amazon haul of the week because, momma, it's making all of us feel like we're failing, and we're not. In this episode I get real about:  * Why The Valley might actually be one of the only shows doing it right and what Secret Lives of Mormon Wives missed the mark on * The social media scroll that's leaving us feeling like garbage (and why it's literally designed to do that) * Amazon hauls, storefronts, and the closet full of clothes I bought and never wore two months postpartum * The timestamped morning routine content that makes me want to throw my phone across the room * Why I'm in my "unfollow everything that makes me feel like sh*t" era * The 2018 concealer confession you didn't know you needed to hear * What my actual nighttime routine looks like…and it includes a toddler slapping my butt This one's for the mom who opened Instagram today and closed it feeling worse than when she opened it. It’s not you, the content is not reality. Join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] to get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. Listen to new episodes of Hot Mom Shit dropping every Tuesday. Follow along wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_6Leah] Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/] "Top Tier Matriarch" — written and produced by Quantum PlectrumEpisode Production by KNWN [https://theknwn.com/]

Holy Eye Bags, Batman: The Truth About My Plastic Surgery

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I get real about something I've been sitting with my entire life…the eye bags that have followed me since birth. Yes, I am talking about my lower bleph surgery today.  But, don’t come at me and do not hear me say to fix your face. This is my story and something I’ve wanted to do for decades. But do hear me say, momma it’s time to stop waiting to do the thing you’ve been waiting to do.  In this episode I get real about:  * The acting class moment that stuck with me for 22 years (and why a grown a$$ woman had no business saying that to a 16-year-old girl) * What a lower bleph actually is and what I had done * Matt's reaction: skeptical going in, full nurse mode coming out * My pre and post-surgery non-negotiables * Why this wasn't about changing my face it was about feeling like myself  * The PSA every mom needs to hear: stop putting it off, the time is gonna pass anyway Momma, do what makes you feel good. Whether that's plastic surgery, a gym membership, or just lunch with a friend. I'm four weeks out and I feel like a different person in the best way.  Join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] to get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. New episodes of Hot Mom Shit drop every Tuesday. Follow along wherever you listen to podcasts.  Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_5Leah]Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/] "Top Tier Matriarch" — written and produced by Quantum PlectrumEpisode Production by KNWN [https://theknwn.com/]

Mental Load, Mom Guilt & Quitting Breastfeeding Without the Shame with Dr. Sanam Shamtobi

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I'm introducing someone who is going to become a regular around here, Dr. Sanam Shamtobi or as we like call her, Dr. S, a maternal mental health psychologist and a mom herself. And we're jumping straight into the deep end. I came in with a breastfeeding question. I left with a completely different way of thinking about mom guilt, identity, and why the mental load feels so invisible to the people we live with. In this episode we get real about: * Why partners aren't clueless, they just need a different kind of direction (Dr. S literally makes handouts for husbands in therapy) * The mental load and why it's so hard to explain to someone who isn't carrying it * How to hold onto your identity when it feels like "mom" swallowed everything else * Do dads love their kids the same way moms do? Dr. S gets into it * Pumping six months in and wanting to quit, Dr. S gives me the permission I didn't know I needed * Why mom guilt will always find a new target no matter what you do Want to hear the full conversation? Join Snatch Chat [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=guestsegment&utm_content=episode_4Sanam] and get access to the whole episode along with a community of women who get it.  Momma, we're all figuring this out together. None of us have every box checked and Dr. S is proof that even the experts are navigating this in real time. See you inside. When you join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] you get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=guestsegment&utm_content=episode_4Sanam] Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/]

Our Truth About Postpartum and Marriage

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I'm bringing on my very first guest — my husband, Matt — and we're getting into one of the most honest conversations we've had about what postpartum and our marriage. If you caught the first episode, you know about the Bluetooth incident. But this one is about what happened after. The conversation we had when I walked upstairs from the gym, three months postpartum, completely undone, and tried to explain to my husband that I felt like I was stuck at the bottom of a well. And he said: I feel like I'm flying around in the air and I don't know where to land. That one exchange cracked something open. Because we weren't just in different rooms — we were in completely different atmospheres. And this episode is us unpacking what that actually looked like, and what it's taken to close some of that distance. In this episode I get real about: * The infamous Bluetooth incident — Matt's side of the story  * The hormone science behind why you don't want sex when you're breastfeeding * Why "I want my wife back" is triggering  * The sushi analogy — the best way I've found to explain postpartum to a man * What couples therapy has taught us about being heard vs. being fixed * The three H's: Held, Heard, or Help — and why naming what you need changes everything * What we'd tell any couple heading into the postpartum season This one's for the couple in the car who needed to hear that they're not alone. Play this one loud. New episodes of Hot Mom Shit drop every Tuesday. Follow along wherever you listen to podcasts. Join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] to get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ourtruthabout&utm_content=episode_3Matt]Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/] "Top Tier Matriarch" — written and produced by Quantum PlectrumEpisode Production by KNWN [https://theknwn.com/]

Who Am I If I'm Not Carmella?

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I'm getting real about something I've been quietly carrying for three years: the complete unraveling of my identity. It started with a single observation from my couples therapist — that somewhere in the middle of miscarriages, pregnancies, postpartum, and two kids under two, nobody stopped to acknowledge what I had actually lost. My career. My income. My sense of self. The woman the world knew as Carmella — 12 years under contract with WWE, traveling the world, performing in front of thousands — walked away from all of it. And then became a mom. And then did it again. That's not one identity shift. That's three. All at once. And this episode is the first time I'm really saying that out loud. In this episode I chat about: * What my therapist said that stopped me in my tracks * 12 years as Carmella — what it gave me and what it cost me * Two miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy, and the limbo of trying to become a mom while still under contract * The moment my WWE contract expired and what the finality of that felt like * Going from five nights a week on the road to never leaving the house * What it means to lose your financial independence — and why it's not about the purse * My mom's story and why it matters * What I want for myself that I couldn't name yet * The Snatch community — why I built it and who it's for This one goes deep. But it ends with something that feels like the beginning of something. Join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] to get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://www.snatch.co/] Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/]