Amy Peterson is a mother of 3 boys, wife, coach and Special Education parent champion. Amy and I met when her son, Henry came out to play football. She and I were more of acquaintances. A year later she volunteered at the snack stand for our youth football program and we chatted and found a similar mindset and common interests. During this episode we discuss our experiences as parents, youth sports, and special education.

We discussed the importance of being involved, setting good examples as parents and the challenges we see with mindset and grit in youth today. Providing structure, consistency and discipline to set your children up for success. Parenting children with special needs and the challenges you face when dealing with the Special Education world. Being an advocate but knowing it's ok to ask for help. We discussed her experience as a HS field hockey and softball coach and how that has helped her raise her boys and nephew navigate youth & HS sports today.

Thank you to Amy for sharing her story.

We didn't discuss is but Amy's husband, Greg has his own business, GSP Industrial. https://gspindustrial.com/

GSP Industrial is a locally owned Winzer franchise with access to over 70,000 high quality core line products available to ship same day. In addition GSP Industrial has access to over 2 million additional products with a specialty in hard to find fasteners in over 100 different materials.

Offering full service vendor managed inventory to customer managed inventory to online ordering-GSP Industrial can supply almost any customer no matter their size.

Local South Jersey Resources:

Performcare- https://www.performcarenj.org/

https://www.cgsresourcenet.org/

https://www.cgsresourcenet.org/community-services/arts-recreation/adaptive-sports/

TopSports- mullica hill

Marlton Sports Unity Program

The Mother Load is about the unrealistic expectations of moms and the challenges we face trying to survive. This is a longer than expected episode, but it needed to be for how challenging this topic can be. I review the feedback from fellow Mom's and what they identify as their "load." I went from "shoulding" all over to needing a filter on my mouth. I shared some of the real me and my kids even joined (unexpectedly and multiple times). This was an emotional topic for me and may be for you, so I am including mental health resources below:

Mental Health Information & Referrals- 1-800-382-6717

NJ Hope Line- suicide prevention- 1-855-654-6735

National Suicide Hotline- 1-800-273-8255

NJ Mental Health Care- 1-866-202-4357

Crisis Lifeline- 988 or 911 for emergencies

What advice would I tell my 20 year old self?? Reflection on the choices I've made, hmmm. It's not always easy to think about the mistake in the past but what did I do right to get where I'm at? I share a pieces of me in my younger years. The good, bad and ugly from anxiety to changing college majors and reaching goals. Allow yourself to make mistakes, change friends, jobs, whatever you want.

Guess who's Back?? But did anyone really notice...It's been a minute (maybe 3 years) since I last recorded an episode. Today I'm reflecting on why I've come back to the world of podcasting and my pursuit of happiness. This episode features me, myself and I so sit back, relax and enjoy!

*Sorry for the background noise this episode, it's been so long that I forgot how to use the equipment! I'll be sure to work on it for my next episode. ;)

On my first episode we discuss the in's and out's of buying and selling a home. My guest on this episode is a phenomenal realtor(and one of my best friends), Colette Montague. She works in the South Jersey area for Keller Williams Hometown Realty. In this episode you would get useful information about the buying and selling process with some great tips and tricks. The market is on FIRE right now with some of lowest interests rates in years! Now is a great time if you want to buy and/or sell a home.

If you are interested in buying and/or selling and in South Jersey and surrounding areas, contact Colette for all your real estate needs. colettemontague@hotmail.com; C: 609-221-216; O: 856-241-4343; 5 Myers r. Suite 104, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062

I highly recommend finding yourself a great local mortgage lender like I did! Contact Fred Burt, Senior Loan Officer at Guaranteed Rate. fred.burt@rate.com; www.rate.com/FredBurt; O: 609-294-4620 - C: 609-617-2144 - F: 609-294-4639; 975 Route 73 North Suite E, Marlton, NJ 08053

Hello!!! My name is Christie Knapp and I am a newbie podcaster. Yah! In this intro podcast I will share a little background information about me and what you can expect with this podcast. I will share my knowledge as a School Psychologist, mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister and any other name you want to call me (haha). I will invite family, friends, acquaintances and maybe even strangers to join while we discuss various topics challenging our everyday lives. I hope you enjoy listening, learning, reflecting and sharing with others. I will share a link for listener feedback, comments and questions. Please rate and review each episode once we get rolling.