The Mom Room

September 24, 2026: The way we raise kids today may be making it harder for them to thrive, especially boys. Renee shares the parenting shifts that are changing how she sees screens, physical activity, and what it really means to help a child grow into a confident, capable young person. Inspired by Dr. Shefali’s new book, Raising Conscious Sons, Renee breaks down the ideas that hit hardest as a boy mom and why this book feels especially urgent now that her son is getting older.
Why boys may need far more movement than modern schedules allow.
How screens don’t just take up time, they replace boredom, creativity, and independence.
Why letting kids feel useful and needed matters more than doing everything for them.
The difference between structured activities and the kind of free play many kids are missing.
Simple ways to replace screen time with real connection, responsibility, and physical play.

If you’re a parent, especially of a boy, or you’ve ever wondered whether modern childhood is giving kids what they truly need, this episode will leave you thinking differently about everything from after-school routines to the role of boredom.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mental health is health, and sometimes our kids need support that we simply cannot provide on our own. Which is why The Mom Room is partnering with Family of Support: Child & Youth Mental Health Initiative, led by the Empire Family of Brands, The Sobey Foundation and Canada's Children's Hospital Foundations.
Renee is joined by Jenna Kedy, a 22 year old National Patient Youth Ambassador who has navigated anxiety, arthritis, depression and an eating disorder, and by Renée Hopfner, Head of Corporate Citizenship at Empire. Jenna shares her experience with mental health, including the signs adults missed, the "bad kid" label that gets stuck on struggling kids, and why health class taught her about the wrong illnesses. Renée explains why families wait so long, and why early intervention is so important. We hope this conversation gives you some information, some perspective, and most importantly, some hope.

"You can be so close to your child and still not know." - Jenna Kedy on youth mental health.

HOW TO SUPPORT
The Family of Support in store giving campaign runs September 17 to October 4 in English Canada, and September 17 to October 7 in Quebec. You can contribute at your local Sobeys, FreshCo, Safeway, Thrifty Foods or Foodland, or donate any time at FamilyofSupport.com. 100% of every donation stays local and supports your local children's hospital.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:
AquaOmega: For your daily dose of Omega-3’s, go to myaquaomega.com/MOMROOM and use code MOMROOM for 20% off.
Fatty15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/MOMROOM and using code MOMROOM at checkout.
Freestyle: Get 30% off your first 3 months of a Freestyle diaper subscription at freestyle.world/MOMROOM with code MOMROOM. That's a full month of premium diapers delivered to your door for just $49/month for your first 3 months.
HIYA: Receive 50% off your first order at hiyahealth.com/MOMROOM.
Merit Beauty: Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their Signature Makeup Bag FREE with your first order at meritbeauty.com.
Quince: Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/MOMROOM. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.
Skims: Shop SKIMS Cotton, and all of my favorite pieces, at https://skims.com/momroom.
Wayfair: Head to Wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home.

RENEE REINA
Instagram: @themomroom | @thereneereina
TikTok: @thereneereina
Facebook Community - The Mom Room Community
Youtube: Renee Reina - The Mom Room Podcast
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

September 17th, 2026: Has motherhood become performative?
In Part 2 of this conversation, Renee continues exploring how social media has changed motherhood, and the way we actually experience our lives as moms.
Are we enjoying the moment, or are we thinking about how the moment will look in a photo? Are we creating memories for our kids, or unconsciously thinking about how those memories will translate to social media?
Renee talks about how motherhood has increasingly become performative, how documenting everything can pull us out of actually experiencing it, and why social media can leave moms feeling like their lives, homes, routines, and parenting are never quite enough.
She also dives into the constant stream of parenting clickbait: the videos and posts that introduce us to problems we didn't even know we were supposed to worry about. Suddenly we're questioning the way our kids sleep, eat, play, learn, behave, socialize, and develop, and researching decisions we may never have thought twice about before.
With unlimited parenting advice at our fingertips, are we becoming more informed… or are we becoming disconnected from our own parenting instincts?
Ultimately, social media is supposed to be the thing we turn to when we want a break from the overwhelm of motherhood. But what happens when our escape becomes one of the biggest sources of our overwhelm?
This episode is a conversation about social media and motherhood, performative parenting, mom guilt, parenting anxiety, comparison, mental load, parenting instincts, clickbait, perfectionism, being present with our kids, and why modern motherhood can feel so overwhelming.
SPONSORS:
AquaOmega: For your daily dose of Omega-3’s, go to myaquaomega.com/MOMROOM and use code MOMROOM for 20% off.
Fatty15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/MOMROOM and using code MOMROOM at checkout.
Freestyle: Get 30% off your first 3 months of a Freestyle diaper subscription at freestyle.world/MOMROOM with code MOMROOM. That's a full month of premium diapers delivered to your door for just $49/month for your first 3 months.
HIYA: Receive 50% off your first order at hiyahealth.com/MOMROOM.
Merit Beauty: Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their Signature Makeup Bag FREE with your first order at meritbeauty.com.
Quince: Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/MOMROOM. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.
Skims: Shop SKIMS Cotton, and all of my favorite pieces, at https://skims.com/momroom.
Wayfair: Head to Wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home.

RENEE REINA
Instagram: @themomroom | @thereneereina
TikTok: @thereneereina
Facebook Community - The Mom Room Community
Youtube: Renee Reina - The Mom Room Podcast
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After preparing for birth, who prepares your marriage? Six weeks into having his third baby, couples therapist Eli Weinstein joins The Mom Room to talk about what happens to a relationship after kids. He wrote the book on it while living it!
Renee and Eli get into the conversations worth having before the baby arrives, how to ask for what you need without playing head games, and his rule that you respect the ask every time. He explains the pushout, the moment a parent decides it is easier to do it themselves and quietly teaches their partner that they never have to learn. They also talk about what to do when the two of you feel more like roommates than partners. And, his number one piece of advice for dads is a little sassy... "Open your damn eyes and be aware of how much your wife does. Step it up, bro."

Eli's book "From I Do to We Do" is out now!

FOLLOW ELI WEINSTEIN
@eliweinstein_lcsw
eliweinsteinlcsw.com

SPONSORS:
AquaOmega: For your daily dose of Omega-3’s, go to myaquaomega.com/MOMROOM and use code MOMROOM for 20% off.
Fatty15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/MOMROOM and using code MOMROOM at checkout.
Freestyle: Get 30% off your first 3 months of a Freestyle diaper subscription at freestyle.world/MOMROOM with code MOMROOM. That's a full month of premium diapers delivered to your door for just $49/month for your first 3 months.
HIYA: Receive 50% off your first order at hiyahealth.com/MOMROOM.
Merit Beauty: Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their Signature Makeup Bag FREE with your first order at meritbeauty.com.
Quince: Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com/MOMROOM. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too.
Skims: Shop SKIMS Cotton, and all of my favorite pieces, at https://skims.com/momroom.
Wayfair: Head to Wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home.

RENEE REINA
Instagram: @themomroom | @thereneereina
TikTok: @thereneereina
Facebook Community - The Mom Room Community
Youtube: Renee Reina - The Mom Room Podcast
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

September 10th, 2026: In this solo episode of The Mom Room, I’m recapping our Labour Day weekend, Milo’s pickleball birthday party, and his first day back at school. And somehow, what was supposed to feel like a fresh start has turned into… anxiety?!
I’ve realized I put WAY too much pressure on September and back-to-school. Get back into a routine! Be productive! Get organized! Get ahead! Fix everything! But really… it’s just another day.
After spending the last few months making small changes that helped me feel less burnt out, I can already feel myself slipping back into some of my old habits. So, I’m checking in with myself and revisiting the things that actually give me energy, make me feel good, and help me stay out of the burnout zone.
We’re talking back-to-school anxiety, the pressure to get your life together in September, routines, motherhood, burnout recovery, and the reminder I apparently needed: getting back into a routine doesn’t mean trying to change everything at once.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.