The Quiet Years Podcast
1. What are The Quiet Years?
Episode 1: What The Quiet Years Actually Are A lot of people don’t really warns you about this part of parenting. You hear about the early years. You hear about empty nest. But there’s a stage in the middle that mostly gets skipped over, or bundled into labels that don’t quite fit. This episode is about that stage. The Quiet Years start when your child doesn’t need you in the same way anymore. They’re walking to school alone. Spending more time in their bedroom. Going out with friends. Choosing not to come food shopping with you. It happens slowly, and then one day you’re doing something you used to do together and you realise how different it feels now. That’s where it begins. In this episode Sarah talks about what The Quiet Years actually are, why this stage gets missed, and why it matters that we start talking about it now, before empty nest, before midlife, while things are still steady enough to do something with. In this episode: What The Quiet Years are and when they start Why this stage gets bundled into empty nest or midlife crisis, and why that isn’t quite right What happens to your identity when the role you’ve built yourself around starts to change Why the feeling of something being off doesn’t go away on its own The one question worth sitting with at the end The question Sarah leaves you with: Who are you, without your job, your family, or the fact that you’re a parent? You don’t have to answer it out loud. Just sit with what comes up. Mentioned in this episode: The Quiet Years Orientation Guide, the best place to start if you want to understand this stage more. It’s Free! Link below. Download Here
Welcome To The Quiet Years Podcast
The Quiet Years: Becoming Unhidden as a parent. What happens when your kids start needing you less, when they start being more independent and suddenly have way too much time on your hands? No one tells you what’s next for you do they? The Quiet Years is a podcast about the strange quieter space parents tend to find themselves in and they suddenly don’t know what to do with themselves anymore. Your life might look fine. Nothing has fallen apart. Things are just changing right now. And you just feel off don’t you? Each month on The Quiet Years, we will talk about what this stage is, what is going on, about identity after your role as a parent changes, the quiet grief that can come with being needed less and the slow process of becoming yourself again. I’m Sarah Tilsley, and this is The Quiet Years, a podcast about becoming unhidden as a parent. If you want to find find out more about The Quiet Years, my Free Orientation Guide is for you. Download Here