Hello & Welcome

Raising Them Well Means Letting Go Slowly

When I first started thinking about this podcast, I kept coming back to one phrase that felt both right and uncomfortable at the same time: Raise and Release.

Uncomfortable because, if I’m honest, I don’t always love the idea of release.
Right because I know it’s the goal.

In the very first episode of this podcast, I shared the heart behind the name—and why I believe one of our most important jobs as parents is to parent ourselves out of a job. That phrase didn’t originate in parenting for me. It came years ago when I was teaching and heard someone say that a teacher’s goal is to teach themselves out of a job. In other words, if students still need you at the end of the year in the same way they needed you at the beginning, something has been missed.

That idea stayed with me. And once I became a mom, it reshaped everything.

Parenting Is Emotional—and That’s What Makes It Hard

Parenting is deeply emotional. We love our children in a way that’s hard to put into words. When they’re little, it feels impossible to imagine a day when they won’t need us for everything. And when that day starts to come—when they ask less, need less, lean away instead of toward—it can feel like loss.

I’ve grieved stages of motherhood. I still do.

But over time, I’ve learned that grief and purpose can exist at the same time. We can miss who our children were while still preparing them for who they’re becoming.

That’s where raise and release really lives.

Parenting Is Discipleship, Not Control

One of the most important mindset shifts I’ve made as a parent is understanding that parenting is discipleship. We are planting seeds. We are watering them. But we are not responsible for making them grow.

That truth was freeing for me—because for a long time, I carried the weight of outcomes. I worried about who my children would become, the choices they would make, and whether I was doing enough or doing it right.

But growth doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to God.

My role is faithfulness. Intentionality. Presence.
Not control.

Raising for the Future, Not Just Today

When we parent with the goal of release in mind, it changes how we make decisions. We start asking different questions.

Will this matter five years from now?
Is this building confidence or dependence?
Am I helping my child become capable—or just compliant?

That perspective helped me loosen my grip on things that felt urgent in the moment but weren’t actually important in the long run. It also helped me focus on what mattered most: relationship, trust, and preparation for independence.

The Hard Part of Letting Go

Release doesn’t happen all at once. It happens slowly, in small moments—when we step back instead of stepping in, when we allow freedom, when we trust our children with responsibility.

And release isn’t just about our children. It’s about us.

It’s about releasing fear.
Releasing the need to control outcomes.
Releasing the pressure to be perfect.

That’s not easy work. But it’s necessary work.

Why This Podcast Exists

I created Raise and Release because parenting can feel isolating. Because so many moms are carrying pressure they were never meant to carry. And because I believe parents don’t need more strategies as much as they need clarity, encouragement, and grounding principles.

This podcast is a place to talk honestly about parenting—what works, what doesn’t, and how we grow along the way. It’s a reminder that you’re not alone, and that you don’t have to get everything right to be a good parent.

You’re planting seeds—even when you can’t see the growth yet.

And one day, little by little, you’ll release what you’ve raised.

If this encouraged you, the podcast goes deeper.