In this debut episode, Tammy and Shannon share the personal journeys that inspired the Guiding Parent Podcast. Discover how Tammy’s decades of experience in early childhood education, parenting, and real-life family experiences shaped the Guiding Mindset philosophy. From Tammy's passion for helping children reach their full potential to Shannon's perspective as both a daughter raised with these principles and as a parent applying them today, this episode introduces the heart behind the podcast and the mission to help families parent with greater ease, peace, and joy. Join them as they invite you into a supportive village where practical guidance meets real-life parenting.

The Shift Beneath the Words:

• The personal journey behind the Guiding Mindset
• Why Tammy and Shannon started the podcast together
• The philosophy of parenting with greater ease, peace, and joy
• Why today's parents need a different approach

Tammy discusses how many parents either repeat the way they were raised or swing to the opposite extreme. She argues that today's children need a new parenting mindset—one focused on understanding children's needs, building healthy relationships, and using practical, compassionate strategies rather than control or permissiveness.

Welcome to the Guiding Parent Podcast,

where you'll find the mindset and tools

to parent with greater confidence, clarity, and purpose,

even when there aren't any easy answers.

Together, we're going to explore

how to better nurture and guide our children,

to support who they are and who they're becoming,

so that they can fulfill their unique potential

and thrive in our ever-changing world.

I'm Tammy Ulrich, your host,

parenting and early childhood educator,

mom, and most fun, Gammy.

And I'm Shannon, your co-host.

I'm Tammy's daughter and mom

to a very energetic little dude called H.

We're glad you're here.

Let's get started.

Welcome to our very first podcast.

We're so excited that you're here.

If you're looking for a better way

to nurture and raise your child,

to understand what's going on

in those little minds and bodies,

and to be able to confidently and intentionally

navigate whatever arises,

regardless of the situation, the age, or the stage,

you're in the right place.

We're here to support you on your parenting journey.

In these first couple of episodes,

we're gonna share a little bit about ourselves

and some of our own journey,

and a bit of an overview of the guiding mindset principles

that support our becoming guiding parents.

So you can get to know us a little bit

and the framework that we apply to parenting.

Then in future episodes,

we'll be all about navigating those parenting moments

that we all share with practical tools

that allow us to parent with greater ease, peace, and joy.

So mom, can you tell us what brought you

to this moment of starting a podcast?

Oh, I've been working with children and families forever

for most of my life, 40 plus years.

And I am absolutely passionate

about making a difference for children and families.

I truly do believe that each child

is just this amazing little being

with unlimited potential and possibility.

And I just think how different we would all be,

how different our world would be

if we grew up with our needs met,

able to be our full selves,

and fulfill that vast potential

that we all come into the world with.

And so that's what I want for our kids.

You know, I've wanted to work with kids

as long as I can remember,

you know, start a school someday.

Except for that brief little time

when I was gonna be a ballerina.

But other than that, you know, that's been my dream.

And I grew up a Montessori child.

My dad was an educator

and he was actually the administrator

of the Montessori school that I went to.

And so then later when I went to college,

I got reintroduced to Montessori

and the instructor in those courses is just my mentor.

She was incredible and she is really the one

that just passed that flame, so to speak.

So, you know, I was taking her classes

and, you know, this was it.

You know, this was the direction I was gonna go.

And then I got my first job and I got fired.

So I was devastated.

It's like, oh my God, you know,

this is what I'm supposed to do.

And I, you know, I got fired.

And thankfully for Nancy,

she, you know, she was like, nope, that's not the issue.

So the reason I got fired was because we had

a little spicy boy who just, you know,

didn't do what he was supposed to

and was kind of the problem child.

So they took me and a couple other of the adults

into this small little room

and I was supposed to talk to this child.

So I got down on his level and I talked to him.

And instead of doing what they expected of me,

I failed to make him understand that I was the boss

and, you know, be very clear on how he was to behave

and who was the boss here.

And so they fired me.

But it also was one of my very first experiences

was seeing that the way we've been raising

and educating our kids, it isn't ideal.

It's not, you know, that's how so many of us were raised.

How so many of us see parenting is, you know,

we've got to let kids know we're the boss

and this is, they need to do what they're told.

But, you know, in this situation,

nobody was trying to understand the child.

Nobody was trying to figure out what's going on with him.

Instead it was just make sure he knows who's boss.

So luckily Nancy was there

and she actually hired me to work at her school.

And which was an amazing experience

and I went on to work at other schools.

And then you came along Shannon

and, you know, still I had this dream

that I was gonna have this school

but now I had to balance, okay,

now I've got this little person,

so how am I gonna be a mom?

And launch this dream at the same time.

But it all came together and I started Child's View

where I was the administrator and everything else,

teacher, janitor, you know, bottle washer,

all the things for 24 years,

working with children and families.

And along the way, you know,

your little brother came along

and, you know, I felt like you guys

were pretty much raised at the school.

We kind of almost lived there.

Then, you know, along the way I became a single mom

and so that was a whole nother experience.

And I remarried, got two more wonderful kids

out of the deal.

But now I was navigating co-parenting

and was able to see the perspective

of both the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent.

And so that's, you know, that was a very eye-opening

and helps to really consider with empathy

what we're all going through in those kind of situations.

But, you know, all the way along we had the school

and it was really cool because

all of the kids worked at the school

at some time or another.

They either went to the school

or they worked at the school in some way.

And one of my very favorite times

was when the summer when you were finally old enough

to be a true assistant.

And so you were my assistant

and we had your brother as our,

he wasn't old enough,

but he was too old for the summer elementary program.

So he was our aid or, you know,

he thought of it more as he was the gopher.

So I got to work this whole summer with the two of you

and it was just so amazing.

And, you know, you were like the best assistant

that I ever had in all of that time.

But anyway, since finally the time came

for me to leave Child's View

and since leaving Child's View

I've been teaching early childhood education

and parenting courses at a local community college

and facilitating courses and workshops

for both parents and educators,

as well as consulting and doing some parent coaching.

Started the Guiding Mindset to support parents

as well as a sister site for educators

called Educating the Essence.

Now I'm also working on the Guiding Parent book

that will be out soon.

And so now here we are

and I'm so excited that we're launching

this podcast together.

So I know you're excited about this too.

What brings you to this moment?

So, I mean, obviously you just said like

this has been your philosophy since before I existed.

And so I kind of joke,

like I got the beta version of the Guiding Mindset

before it had a name, before it was fully fleshed out.

And so, yeah, being parented this way

makes me really passionate

about making sure that other parents are aware

of this kind of a parenting philosophy.

This is how I parent my own child.

And I'm able to see just kind of the difference

in my parenting peers

and how sometimes they're meeting challenges

or struggling and seeing if they just had

a little bit more information,

the difference that it could potentially make.

But I still have times where I have to call my mommy

and mom, walk me through this.

How do I better handle this particular scenario?

And so, yeah, I mean, we literally have these conversations

weekly, if not more frequently.

And so it feels like the podcast

is just sort of an extension of these conversations

that we're already having

as I navigate my own parenting journey.

And to me, it's really important that,

again, my parenting peers have access to information

that can really help ease their process of being a parent

and just their family culture and all of that

can be a little bit more easeful.

And I want my kid to grow up with peers

that are well-adjusted

and have had positive parenting.

And I love my mom.

So I'm here to support her.

And I love that we get to do this together.

Me too.

I'm really excited.

You mentioned having greater ease

and that's really something that

the guiding mindset is all about.

That's kind of our thing is that

you'll be able to parent with greater ease, peace and joy.

I think it's really important that we differentiate

between ease and easy.

I mean, parenting is hard.

It's not easy.

So ease doesn't mean that,

all of a sudden it's gonna be easy peasy

and no more challenges or troubles.

It means you'll just have a whole lot less flailing around

wondering what the heck do I do now

or going down the wrong direction

that just causes you more difficulty

and more stress and angst.

So thinking about those other pieces,

we have ease, peace and joy.

Having that peace just reflects

that we're gonna have a sense of calm,

less struggle, less conflict,

as well as that's also something that's possible

for ourselves in our world

is to have a more peaceful feeling.

I believe when kids have this ability

to be raised in this way.

And I really want to see so much joy

being brought to parents

so that we're actually enjoying our children

and enjoying our lives together.

So the difference really is that it's not necessarily easy,

but we know what to do.

And so we still have those challenges,

but we can work through them

with intention and with confidence.

I feel like, yeah, you can totally love your child.

You can love parenting and still be exhausted by it,

still find it challenging.

There's obviously, I think for every parent,

there's times of the day,

there's different things that you just don't love.

I know for me, like don't love bedtime transition,

but that one has been one that,

for my kids entire life has been a dicey part of our day.

And so we're hoping that we can help you move

from dreading those kinds of times

of your parenting journey

into just having them be another part of your day.

Maybe it never becomes your favorite part of the day,

but it's not something that you have to dread anymore.

Right, absolutely.

Yeah, I feel like also, our world has changed so much

and we need to change with it.

So many of us were parented

with kind of this old way of thinking

and those ideals just really don't work anymore

in today's world.

Or we didn't like how we were parented,

so we've gone in exactly the opposite direction,

which hasn't worked either.

So we really need a different type of mindset.

So this just gives us the opportunity to have conversations

so we can better understand what our kids need.

So they'll be successful in today's world.

And that also, how we can deal

with today's parenting challenges

with practical strategies and tools.

As we change and nurture and guide our kids,

we change what's possible for them,

for ourselves and ultimately the world.

So it takes a village

and we just really wanna be a part of your village.

We're really lucky my mom has this amazing experience

and expertise on early childhood

and family structures and all of that.

For this entirety of her career,

I really feel like she's been advocating for kids

and what they need and creating circumstances

for the best amount of their development

to ensure that they really can become

the best versions of themselves.

She's got four kiddos included and now two grandbabies.

Who aren't really babies anymore.

That's true.

Yes.

You know, and you've been living this, you know,

but the thing about it is you're right there in the trenches.

You know, you're living and breathing this

every single day.

So, you know, you bring those real challenges

that parents are experiencing every day.

So we get to work through them together

and together we'll find solutions

that fits everybody involved.

The child, the family, and the child and the parents

and the family as a whole.

So that everybody's needs are met.

And, you know, it's not just about how do we make,

you know, do things for our child

or not thinking about them and just doing what parents want,

but really making a nice cohesive way that, you know,

where the whole family is supported

and is having their needs met.

So next episode, we're going to dig briefly

into what those guiding mindset principles are.

And then you'll have those to kind of,

as kind of a reference.

And then all the upcoming episodes,

we're going to dig right into the issues

and challenges that we all deal with.

So we hope you'll join our village

and join the conversation.

Let us know what you want to talk about,

because, you know, we want to talk about

what you want to hear and what those difficulties are

that you're experiencing.

So give us your parenting challenges

and you'll find all the links in the show notes

to follow along and subscribe.

We'll see you next episode.