Bare Naked Moms

Becoming a Mother When No One Taught You How (Sarah Vacchiano)

Sarah Vacchiano, General Council at United Artists and mom to three-year-old Gus, just published a novel. Soft Launch is a coming-of-adulthood tale based on Sarah’s 30-year-old self: freshly divorced, just graduated from law school, and working round the clock as a first year associate at a big NYC law firm. All 40-something moms now, Alanna, Milano, and Sarah get into the idea of our past selves and reinvention. Is it possible to change course as a parent—or a professional after a certain age?  Sarah and Milano, who both had Bipolar mothers, talk about the illusion of being “ready” for motherhood and squaring their own rocky upbringings with the childhoods they want for their kids. This conversation reminds us that who we are when we’re 30 isn’t who we at 40 or 50. And that constant movement forward confirms we’re doing something right—in parenting and in life.  Fun fact: Sarah’s also launching a podcast called Civic EQ which is all about incorporating civics into everyday family life. In This Episode: 👉 Becoming a mom when your own mom was mentally-ill. 👉 Raising civics-minded kids. 👉 Modeling vulnerability and reinvention for our kids. =============== 📩 Follow Sarah Vacchiano on Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahvacchiano [https://substack.com/@sarahvacchiano] 📱Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barenakedmoms/@barenakedmoms [https://www.instagram.com/barenakedmoms/]  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BareNakedMoms [https://www.youtube.com/@BareNakedMoms]

Raising Champions: One Mom, Three Lacrosse Legends (Sarah Humphrey)

Behind every standout athlete (or artist or musician) is a parent cheering from the sidelines—snacks in hand, heart in throat. But what’s it like to raise three daughters who went on to make sports history together? Meet Sarah Humphrey, mom to Nicole, Ashley, and Chloe—the trio who united at UNC to win the 2025 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship. She shares the winding roads that led them there, how she found her calm at home amid flying lacrosse balls, and yes… some heated family moments leading up to the big game. In This Episode: 👉 Talent vs. hustle (and why grit always wins) 👉 Why being “great at everything” is overrated 👉 The question their little brother never wants to hear again 👉 What Sarah wishes she’d known when the girls were just starting out 📱Follow Nicole [https://www.instagram.com/nhumphrey23/?hl=en], Ashley [https://www.instagram.com/ashleyhumphrey_/?hl=en], Chloe [https://www.instagram.com/chloehumphreyy/?hl=en] & Chloe Humphrey Lacrosse [https://www.instagram.com/chloehumphreylacrosse] Follow us: 📱 Instagram: @barenakedmoms [https://www.instagram.com/barenakedmoms/] ▶️ YouTube: @barenakedmoms [https://www.youtube.com/@BareNakedMoms]

Parenting Through Grief: A Widow’s Guide to Surviving the Unthinkable (Candace Hewit)

In June 2020, my oldest friend, Candace, lost her husband (and father of their three young kids). Rusty went to the ER thinking he had COVID, and he never left. He died in the hospital three days later—not from COVID, but from Acute Myeloid Leukemia, which had hijacked his body in the mere six months since his last wellness checkup. Candace talks to us about chugging along as a mother of three young children (ages 6, 4, and 2 at the time) amidst this hellish trauma of tragic, sudden loss. The amazing yet simple things people did for her in the early days (coffee fairies, Costco fairies, laundry fairies), the resources that really moved the needle for her and her kids, the advice she’d give to someone new to grief, how this experience has changed her as a mother—Candace shares all of this (and more) with Alanna and Milano. In This Episode: 👉 Three things someone who loses their spouse and parenting partner needs to know 👉 Social Media is an amazing resource for people in grief 👉 What to do and say to someone experiencing loss and grief 👉 How grief changes you as a parent 👉 Grieving fully leads to living fully 📱 Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/barenakedmoms/]

Have We Been Thinking About ADHD All Wrong? (Paul Tough)

Paul Tough’s New York Times Magazine article “Have We Been Thinking About ADHD All Wrong?” really stirred the ADHD pot by calling BS on so much of the collective reasoning around what ADHD is and how to treat it. Is it nature (biology)? Is it nurture (environment)? What does “having it” really mean? And how do you go about “having it” less, or not at all? Milano, who, along with two of her three kids (so far!) “has” ADHD, came away from Tough’s article with a strong thoughts and feelings—a response made all the more complicated by the fact that she’s a big fan of Tough’s work, including his bestselling books How Children Succeed and Helping Children Succeed. Milano had so many questions and counterpoints scribbled in the margins of the article, she asked him to come on the show and get into all of it.  Paul and Milano (Alanna is just a producer on this one) unpack so many layers of this incredibly slippery subject. And they offer each other different ways of looking at each one of those layers. Trust - you do NOT want to miss this rich, fascinating conversation that deepens the bigger ADHD conversation and helps explain why the topic—and the response to Tough’s article— is so heated.  In This Episode: 👉 The symptoms and causes of ADHD 👉 Hotly debated treatments for ADHD: biology, environment, or both? 👉 Why the glasses metaphor doesn’t work 👉 When medication is the right path  👉 Links between ADHD and Trauma 🔗 Learn more about Paul [https://paultough.com/] 📱 Follow us on Instagram @barenakedmoms [https://www.instagram.com/barenakedmoms/]

Eating Disorders in Kids: A Psychiatrist’s Guide to Early Signs and Intervention (Dr. Lauren Ozbolt)

Most of us are doing our absolute best when it comes to feeding our kids. But are our well-intentioned choices helping build a healthy relationship with food… or quietly making things harder? In this episode, eating disorder specialist and mom of two Dr. Lauren Ozbolt unpacks the “perfect storm” of factors that can lead to disordered eating in kids and teens. She also explains how family dynamics and cultural messages play a powerful role and what actually makes a difference in everyday life. The result is a grounded, hopeful conversation that replaces fear with clarity—and gives parents concrete tools they can use right away. In This Episode: 👉 Why high-achieving, perfection-prone kids can be especially vulnerable 👉 How our food histories and past generations shape kids’ eating relationships 👉 Why regular family meals matter more than you think 👉 Why labeling foods as “good” or “bad” can backfire 👉 The most reassuring truth of all: When eating disorders are identified early and treated aggressively, recovery is very possible. ========================== 📱Learn more about Dr. Ozbolt [http://laurenozboltmd.com/] 📱Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/barenakedmoms/@barenakedmoms [https://www.instagram.com/barenakedmoms/]