It's time to take on attachment styles — the patterns underneath how we love, parent, connect, and ask for help.

After a September full of hard drop-offs (for our kids and, honestly, for us), we got a little nerdy. Michelle walks us through attachment theory and the four adult attachment styles — secure, anxious, avoidant, and fearful-avoidant — and we look at what each one can sound like in real life as married moms of little ones: at school drop-off, in the middle of a disagreement with our partners, and in that very familiar "I got it, I got it" moment.

We're sharing our takes on:

• What our kids call our friends (Mr. and Mrs. Last Name, Miss First Name, aunt and uncle, or just first names) — and why it's all about reading the room
• 2TNL: you can strive for kindness and empathy without striving to be likable
• Why a quick, loving goodbye at drop-off can help build secure attachment, even when every part of you wants to linger — and Dr. Becky's idea of being "long-term greedy"
• The difference between anticipating a need and expecting someone to read your mind
• Choosing to handle it solo from a place of peace versus "I'll just do it myself" from a place of resentment

The thread through all of it: our patterns are information, not our identity. Most of us carry a little of each, and noticing which one we lean toward — especially when we're stretched thin — gives us more choice in how we show up.

Come take on attachment styles with us.

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Woo Hoo! You're Doing Great! by Sandra Boynton: https://amzn.to/4i98mUa
• Dr. Becky on being "long-term greedy" in parenting:
  • Good Inside — My Number One Job as a Parent Is Not to Make You Happy: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-number-one-job-as-a-parent-is-not-to-make-you-happy/id1561689671?i=1000754406757
  • Call Her Daddy — Dr. Becky Parenting 101: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-becky-parenting-101/id1418960261?i=1000789894183
  • Good Inside with Dr. Becky: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-inside-with-dr-becky/id1561689671
• The Everygirl Podcast — October's Curriculum: Your Glow-Up Guide to Reclaiming Your Power: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7dc1nD5uEwJAq1MyIm6Acq
• Shop Mel's CRZ Yoga picks, and everything else we mention on the pod: https://shopmy.us/shop/themtake

Some links are affiliate links, which means The M Take may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We only share what genuinely fits the conversation.

It's time to take on season two.

We're back, besties! With a very large tahini pumpkin latte in one hand and home-brewed Rook in the other, we're catching up on everything since we last sat down: Mel's Harry Styles season (and a very responsible plan to see him in Paris), a September note that changed how we think about celebrating, and a question we heard on Good Hang that we've been asking ourselves ever since: does it get any better than this?

We're sharing our takes on:

• Why fandom is joy, not something you need to justify
• Noticing the small "does it get any better than this?" moments, and how we're trying to hold onto them
• Solo errands vs. together errands (both are true)
• The stranger who rolled down her window to say "you're doing great"
• A stressful morning, a very slow trip for paper towels, and the therapist question that changed how Mel thinks about repair: did something actually break?

Not every hard morning is a rupture. Sometimes a stressed response to a heavy week is a pretty healthy one, and what's needed isn't an apology. It's acknowledgment.

Come take on season two with us .

Xx, M&M

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Mentioned on this episode:

• 079: Taking on the 350 Theory
• Good Hang with Amy Poehler – Sandra Bullock
• Rook Coffee – New Orleans Style Subscription

It's time to take on summers off, cognitive flexibility, and our season two return.

Listen in as Mel and Michelle check in during their self-declared, fully-privileged summer break, and catch up the way only the real ones do: unfiltered, a little chaotic, and full of the small moments worth double clicking on.

We're sharing our takes on:

• The busy board era of parenting — and the muscle memory that gets you through it
• Teaching our kids (and ourselves) permission to change our minds
• The invisible judgment we carry into public parenting moments, and how to loosen its grip
• What's ahead for Season 2, kicking off this September

Two truths, no lies: we needed the break, and we could not wait to check back in.

Come take on this mid-summer check-in with us.