Sarah Chandler really did her research for this Minnesota Monthly article about Marti & Erin. She attended last year’s A Night Out for ME event, quietly observed during a recording session, interviewed Marti & Erin and listened to many shows from our 400-plus episode library. And Sarah beautifully describes it all in this article.
Here is an excerpt:
On a “Mom Enough” episode about the importance of self-care for parents, Dr. Marti recalls a stressful time when the demands of parenting two school-aged kids and writing her dissertation completely overwhelmed her.
Her proposal: While her husband manned the fort back home, she would check into a local hotel for three nights to work and relax in peace. Her husband, Ron, brought the kids to the hotel pool each afternoon, after which they returned home, so she could eat dinner on her own and finally enjoy a little downtime.
Years later, an older Erin recalled those three days to her mother as the period of time when “you and Dad were separated.”
“That was kind of a wake-up call for me that I needed to explain more clearly to my kids what I was doing about ‘me time,’ ” Dr. Marti reflects. That vulnerability and openness can be a challenge. Some parents, she says, “have the idea that they shouldn’t be vulnerable with their children, as it might undermine their authority.”
And another:
When the Ericksons let listeners into their family lives, they’re not squeamish. They reveal their foibles with the kind of candor and self-deprecatory humor that you might hope to find in your seatmate at the next PTA meeting.
During “The Whole-Brain Child,” a 2013 episode featuring child psychiatrist and author Dan Siegel, Dr. Erin puts a face to Dr. Siegel’s research with anecdotes about her son McKinley. One of his favorite phrases at age 6, she explains, was “My brain made me do it.”
As a consequence for an unnamed transgression, he was not allowed to have a treat offered by a neighbor. This was a tough moment. “He told me, ‘My brain is telling me to reach over and grab one of those treats! But I’m not going to,’ ” she recalls.
For the entire article, click here.
