Show Notes
In this episode of Van Talk, we’re talking about the kind of environment we want to create at home. We want our kids to act the same in our house as they would out in the world. We talk about parenting out of conflict, why positive parenting matters, and how being your kids’ biggest cheerleader can shape their confidence for life. The conversation also turns to sibling relationships and why theres no jealousy. Celebrating each other’s wins and building a family culture where everyone’s success is shared. We also touch on something we all deal with: getting out of a funk. From small mindset shifts to simply getting up, getting ready, and showing up for the day, sometimes the “look good, feel good” mindset can reset everything.
More from Rydel's Van Talk
IT’S OUR 50TH EPISODE OF VAN TALK!!! 🎉🚐💛We’re celebrating 50 episodes with a very special rapid-fire Q&A, and absolutely nothing is off limits! 😂Do we ever hide in the bathroom just to get five minutes of peace? Are we secretly snoops? Who has BO? Who’s better at keeping up with laundry? And would we ever work at Disney?!We’re answering all kinds of hilarious, random, and surprisingly revealing questions about motherhood, family life, personal habits, and everything in between.Plus, we’re talking R5 reunion questions and taking a little trip down memory lane!50 episodes of laughs, parenting conversations, family stories, and plenty of opinions. Thank you for riding along with us every week and being part of our little Van Talk family!Here’s to 50 more! 🥂💛
In this episode of Van Talk, we’re talking about family traditions, motherhood, and some of the big decisions that come with raising kids! 🚐💛First up, we recently started having the kids ASK for what they want instead of constantly whining, “I want! I need!” and how those little everyday habits can make such a difference.We also talk about the importance of weekly family traditions and why we LOVE our Sunday sports gatherings! 🏈 There’s just something about everyone coming together, cheering on their teams, and having a reason to spend time as a family every single week. We especially love how sports bring all the boys together!Then we’re getting into some interesting mom conversations, including navigating jealousy from other moms, what it’s like having a husband who works from home while you’re a stay-at-home mom, and why making a good old-fashioned pros and cons list can help when you’re figuring out what works best for your family.And of course, we’re answering a BIG question: How do you know when you’re done having kids?! Is there ever a moment when you just know your family is complete?Finally, we’re talking about why it’s so important to know who’s in your kids’ ears. The people surrounding your children can have a huge influence on their confidence.
In this episode of Van Talk, we’re asking a big question: which generation has had it hardest when it comes to raising kids, especially now that technology, social media, and the internet are part of everyday life? We talk about why we want to be a “living room family,” spending time together in the same space instead of everyone disappearing into separate rooms and separate screens. That means phones away at the dinner table, family meals filled with actual conversation, and intentionally creating opportunities to connect. We also share why we LOVE being activity moms. Dance, cheer, hockey, parkour, swimming, diving, riding bikes… bring it on. 😂 We believe giving kids opportunities to try lots of different things, learn new skills, and discover what they love can help build confidence along the way. And activities don’t have to cost a fortune. We talk about finding the free things happening around you, from libraries and community programs to churches and Mommy & Me activities, and surrounding your family with people who share the values that matter to you. Most importantly, we talk about making home a safe place for your kids. No teasing them, degrading them, or making them the punchline of the joke. We want our kids to know that home is where they can completely be themselves and that the people closest to them are always in their corner.
In this episode of Van Talk, we’re talking about that feeling every mom knows: you clean one room, turn around, and somehow the rest of the house has exploded. 😂We share how we try to stay on top of the never-ending housework, why we teach kids to “pick up their trails” as they move through the house, and how little habits can keep the mess from becoming completely overwhelming.And we HAVE to talk about our phones. Doom scrolling can quietly eat up so much of the day, and sometimes the reason we feel like we don’t have enough time isn’t actually a lack of time… it’s the tiny screen in our hand stealing 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there. 📱👀We also get into the older-kid years and how to encourage teens to care about their appearance and basic hygiene, from showering and shaving to smelling good and learning how to present themselves, without making appearance their entire identity.And finally… Stormie and Rydel had their FIRST FIGHT?! 😂 Except calling it a “fight” might be extremely generous. We talk about why we almost never fight, what happened this time, and why the whole thing was basically over before it started.
This week on Van Talk, we’re going all the way back to the very beginning of R5. 🎸Before the tours, the albums, the screaming crowds, and the R5 Family, there were a bunch of kids learning instruments, practicing constantly, writing our first songs, and playing anywhere we could.We’re telling the story of our very first band, how each of us started playing our instruments, our earliest practices and shows, the first songs we wrote, and some of the funniest memories from those first few years.We also tell the story of Rocky having to practice guitar for an hour before he could play video games… until eventually he loved playing guitar so much that the video games basically disappeared. 😂But more than anything, this episode is about the part of the story people didn’t see. We practiced and worked at this EVERY DAY for years before anything big happened.This is essentially R5: Chapter One. Where it started, what those early years actually looked like, and all the little moments that eventually became something much bigger. 💛🎸