Married couple of almost 9 years with 4 kids gets honest about what parenthood really did to their marriage—the resentment, the loneliness, and what saved them.

Today I have my husband Mike on the podcast—and we're going there.

We've been married almost 9 years. We have 4 kids ages 6, 4, 2, and 6 months. We've had no family help for 6 years. And there have been seasons where we almost lost each other in the chaos of parenthood.

This is the conversation most couples are too afraid to have out loud.

What we cover:

• What our marriage was like before kids
• The hardest season of our marriage
• Feeling alone—and how loneliness shows up differently for each of us
• How resentment crept in
• The invisible mental load
• How intimacy changed after 4 kids
• What actually helped
• The biggest mindset shift
• What we're still figuring out

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Mom of 4 shares the messy truth about chasing dreams while raising tiny humans—the guilt, the doubt, the lies she stopped believing, and why she refuses to wait.

I was deep in motherhood. Doing all the things. But I didn't recognize myself anymore.

I lost my passions. My hobbies. My identity outside of being a mom. And somewhere in the chaos of diapers, feedings, and sleep deprivation, I started believing a lie—that this wasn't my season. That good moms put their dreams on hold. That my time would come later.

But my dreams wouldn't let me rest.

In this episode, I'm getting honest about what it actually looks like to build something while raising four kids under six. I have a seven-month-old. I homeschool. I have no time. And I started a podcast anyway.

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Corporate finance mom of 2 shares the raw truth about returning to work after maternity leave—the guilt, mom brain, marriage strain, and how she found herself again.

Going back to work after baby broke my sister. And then she did it again.

Sarah has spent over 10 years in corporate finance at companies like Nestle and Meta. She's a mom of two under four. And she's returned to work after maternity leave twice—once with six months off, and once just seven weeks postpartum.

In this episode, she's pulling back the curtain on what it's really like to be a working mom. The stuff no one warns you about.

We get into:

• The moment she returned to work and couldn't do a simple Excel function—mom brain shattered her confidence
• The guilt of being pulled between career and motherhood and never feeling fully present at either
• How her marriage changed after kids—"What time does my husband get?"
• Why her corporate ambitions completely shifted—from wanting to be CFO to questioning everything
• The chaotic reality of sick kids, daycare closures, and having to call out on her third day at a new job
• The year she almost broke—"I was one sickness away from needing to be institutionalized"
• What actually helped: systems, routines, outsourcing, and learning to ask for help
• How going back to work unexpectedly helped her find herself again

Sarah's advice for moms about to return to work:

• Put a plan in place—childcare, backup care, financial planning
• Set expectations with your employer early—ask for flexibility
• Build your village before you need it
• Take a pulse check on your mental health—don't ignore the warning signs
• Even if you don't want to do it, do it anyway—your future self will thank you

If you're about to walk this road, in the middle of it, or just need to feel seen—this one's for you.

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Subscribe and share this episode with a mom who needs to hear she's not alone.

Connect with The Mom Dept. on Instagram and TikTok: @themomdept.co

Find us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@deborahwoodson_

Connect with me on TikTok: @deborahwoodson_

Connect with me on Instagram: @_deborahwoodson