Intelligent Intoxication

Are You a Mom Stuck in Explanations?

In the empty nest, long-standing explanations for why life can’t change often get louder. These stories once protected us—but now they may be quietly limiting our sense of agency, vitality, and connection.
1. The Pattern: Living in Explanation Mode
Constant reasons why change isn’t possible
Weight, marriage, energy, relationships, timing
Not laziness—protection
Explanations reduce risk, disappointment, and grief
“If it’s not my fault, I don’t have to risk failing… but I also don’t get to feel my power.”
2. Why This Shows Up in the Empty Nest
Fewer external demands
More time + space = more self-awareness
Old coping strategies resurface
Identity built on caretaking starts to loosen
3. The Hidden Cost
Stagnation 
Quiet resentment or numbness
Others feel fatigued or disengage
Conversations circle, but nothing opens
4. The Shift: From Explaining to Experimenting
Not “take responsibility”
Try small experiments
“What’s one thing I could try?”
“What feels even slightly enlivening?”
“What if curiosity replaced justification?”
5. For the Spouse, Friend, or Adult Child
What doesn’t help
Arguing with the explanation
Fixing or convincing
What helps
Reflect without rescuing: “That sounds heavy.”
Name choice gently: “I wonder what you want.”
Set boundaries when needed
“Loving someone doesn’t mean living inside their stuckness.”
6. Closing Reframe
Explanations are often fear in disguise
“Who am I when I no longer need a reason to stay the same?”
If you’re the mother of adult children who feels stuck in excuses or explanations, I can help you easily get unstuck.  I invite you to schedule a complimentary coaching call with me. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory

Empty Nesting: What's Actually Happening vs. The Story We're Telling

What if some of the hardest parts of empty nesting aren’t the circumstances themselves—but the stories our nervous system tells about them?
In this episode, we explore the difference between real empty nest changes and the meaning we attach to them when we’re unsettled or dysregulated. Drawing from ADHD and nervous system concepts, we look at why grief and anxiety can surface even when nothing is “wrong,” and how separating fact from story can restore clarity and agency.
If you’re the mother of adult children who might love some support as you identify and challenge your own “stories” about this stage, I can help you easily get unstuck.  I invite you to schedule a complimentary coaching call with me. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory

How To Habit As the Mom of Adult Children

Episode Description:
If your habits haven’t been what you wanted them to be so far in 2026, here’s a quick habit refresh for your consideration:
Identify whether you are an “abstainer” or a “moderator”. In her book, Better Than Before, author Gretchen Rubin explains:
“For abstainers, it’s easier to say no to everything than to say no to some things… moderators do better when they indulge in moderation, because occasional indulgence heightens their pleasure and strengthens their resolve.”
When it comes to changing habits, is it easier for you to stop the habit altogether, or to aim to do the habit in smaller quantities or less frequently?
When you’re trying to start a new habit, is it easier to practice the new habit every single day for a very short period of time (abstain from missing a day) or to practice the habit a few times a week (moderately)?
According to James Clear in Atomic Habits:
“We don’t rise to the level of our goals - we fall to the level of our systems.”
In order to create a “system”, simply grab a piece of paper and write down the small, specific steps you’ll take in order. 
For example, here’s my “daily walk system”:
At 4:45, put on shoes and coat. 
Grab airpods and phone. 
Leave the house. 
Walk around the neighborhood. 
The steps are clear and simple. When 4:45 hits, I don’t have to make a decision. I simply have to follow the steps. 
If you’re trying to start a habit, it’s helpful to attach a “feeling state” to the new habit. For example, I’ll get the benefit of feeling energized if I walk for 15 minutes. 
If you’re trying to stop a habit that no longer serves you, instead of focusing on what the habit is costing you, identify the immediate yet temporary benefit you get from the habit. For example, drinking while you make dinner might be giving you an escape from feeling restless or bored. Substitute a quick walk (moves the restless energy) and a Netflix show (solves for boredom) and you’re still getting the “benefit” without the long-term costs. 
In Atomic Habits, James Clear also teaches that the best way to start and a sustain a new habit is to attach a valued identity to the habit or system:
“The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.”
Everytime I walk, write, cook, or meet with a client, I am showing up as an “exerciser”, “author”, “foodie”, or “coach”. These identities are important to me and I want to embody them as often as possible. 
On the habit front, here are my favorite books for your consideration:
Atomic Habits by James Clear. 
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin. 
Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff
If you know you could use some support as you stop or start new habits this year as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory
 

How To Create and Maintain Friendships As the Mom of Adult Children

Moms of adult children often struggle to create or maintain emotionally mature relationships in the second season of life. 
What if creating new connections can actually be simple, not complicated?
Here are my top three tips for creating and maintaining connections:
Be interested. No one wants to be impressed by you. Women want to feel seen and heard and that you’re genuinely interested in who they are. 
The best way to do this is to ask them questions using the prompt:
“I’m so curious… “
Be fun and entertaining. Bring the joy into every interaction you have with other women. Don’t be a “Debbie Downer”. Don’t  complain. 
Be willing to initiate activities with other women. 
If you know you could use some help creating and maintaining connections as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory
 

How To Quietly Quit as the Mom of Adult Children

I use the concept “quiet quitting” to describe the intentional decision to  create an internal boundary regarding what we are no longer willing to do, be, or what or to whom we’re no longer willing to grant access to, or determining the amount of space you need between you and another person in order to truly love and accept them and yourself at the same time.
“Quitting” is not giving up - it’s deciding that you’re no longer willing to invest your limited time, energy, and resources into an activity or relationship.
“Quiet quitting” is not a reaction to an uncomfortable emotion like anger, fear, or sadness - it is an intentional response given our current needs and circumstances. 
If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory

The Emotional Whiplash Moms of Adult Kids Feel When They Leave Again

If you’re a mom of adult children and you’re feeling discombobulated after the holidays — this episode is for you.
When your kids come home, life often shifts into anticipation mode. We look forward to their arrival, savor the time together, and then suddenly… they’re gone. And you’re left trying to restart your life again.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why the transition after the holidays feels so emotionally jarring
How living in anticipation can quietly put your own life on hold
The four-part cycle we experience when our adult kids are coming home:
Anticipation
Connection
Emptiness
Recalibration
This isn’t about “bouncing back.”It’s about honoring the transition — and learning how to live fully in the season you’re actually in.
 
If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory

How To Feel Better When You're Struggling As the Mom of Adult Kids

In the second stage of motherhood, many women struggle to just “feel better”. 
In this episode, we explore both top-down and bottom-up approaches to healing and wellbeing as the mom of adult children. 
You’ll learn:
What top-down work looks like (mindset, values, identity, belief-shifting)
What bottom-up support includes (therapy, medication, nervous system care, lifestyle shifts)
Why insight alone doesn’t always bring relief
Why needing support at this stage of life is not a failure—but a biological and emotional reality
How integrating both approaches can create stability, clarity, and renewed meaning
This conversation is for moms with adult children who feel unsettled, exhausted, or unsure of what’s next—and want to stop judging themselves for how they’re feeling.
The second stage of life isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about learning how to truly support yourself.
 
If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory

How To Stop Anticipating Time With Your Adult Children

In this episode, we explore the subtle but powerful difference between anticipation and presence — and how it impacts your daily peace and joy as the mother of adult children in your second season of life. 
Anticipation pulls your mind into the future, imagining what hasn’t happened yet. While it can create excitement, it often keeps us in a state of waiting, overthinking, or low-grade anxiety.
Presence brings us back to the moment we’re in. It’s the practice of rooting ourselves where our body is, rather than living in a future we can’t control or a past we can’t change. Presence feels grounded, calm, and connected.
This episode invites you to notice where anticipation may be pulling you out of your life — and how gently returning to the present can restore a sense of ease and emotional steadiness.
I invite you to consider this question: 
Who might you be and what might you do if you didn’t wait for the text, call, or visit today?
If you know you could use some help as you navigate a new identity as the mother of adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory

Gifts Your Adult Children Really Want - Part 2

On tonight’s episode, we’ll discuss 10 more “gifts” a mother can give her adult children that cost nothing but create emotional spaciousness, safety, and connection. These acts of emotional generosity will help your relationship grow, breathe, and thrive.
The Best Gifts a Mother Can Give Her Adult Children (That Money Can’t Buy)
11. A Soft Landing, Not a Sticky Trap
Offering warmth, humor, listening, and ease when you’re together — the kind of presence that makes them want to come back.
12. Flexibility Instead of Fragility
Being adaptable to schedules, changes, and realities — without pouting, withdrawing, or dramatizing.
13. Trust in Their Competence
Believing they can handle their lives. Letting them struggle, solve, grow, and get stronger without rushing in.
14. Acceptance of Their Pace
Not needing frequent contact to feel connected. Letting the relationship breathe without fear.
15. A Safe, Nonjudgmental Presence
A place where they can show up imperfectly without being evaluated, corrected, or advised.
16. Your Own Friendships and Community
So they don’t carry the weight of being your only source of belonging.
17. Emotional Congruence
Showing them someone who is living authentically — aligned, honest, humble, grounded.
18. Genuine Enjoyment
Letting your face light up when they walk into the room or call you — not with desperation, but with delight.
19. The Gift of Letting Go
Releasing the fantasy child, the fantasy relationship, the fantasy closeness — and loving the real adult in front of you.
20. Loving Them Without Needing to Manage Them
The simplest, hardest, and most beautiful gift: I love you exactly as you are, and my life is full even when you’re not with me.
If you know you could use some help as you navigate your connectioons to your adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
 
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory
 

Gifts Your Adult Children Really Want

On tonight’s episode, we’ll discuss “gifts” a mother can give her adult children that cost nothing but create emotional spaciousness, safety, and connection. These acts of emotional generosity will help your relationship grow, breathe, and thrive.
The Best Gifts a Mother Can Give Her Adult Children (That Money Can’t Buy)
1. A Life You Love and Live Fully
A purposeful, engaged, meaningful life so they never feel responsible for your happiness.A parallel life, not a dependent one.
2. Emotional Lightness
Letting go of chronic complaining, negativity, or emotional heaviness so time with you feels nourishing, not draining.
3. Interesting Energy
Bringing new ideas, stories, perspectives, hobbies, or adventures to the table — not disguised advice, not commentary on their choices, but genuine aliveness.
4. Non-Needy Connection
Not depending on them as your primary social, emotional, or practical support system. Knowing they are not your “everyday people.”
5. Celebration of Their Independent Life
Being truly happy when they make plans with friends, partners, coworkers, or communities — without taking it personally.
6. Respect for Their Autonomy
Honoring the life they’re building, the choices they’re making, and the people they love. Cheering for them from the sidelines, not trying to run onto the field.
7. Mature Communication
Texts that are warm and simple. Phone calls that don’t become marathons. Conversations that feel like choice, not obligation.
8. Emotional Self-Regulation
Managing your own anxiety, triggers, expectations, and disappointments so they never feel like they have to soothe or stabilize you.
9. Boundaries That Feel Like Love
Letting them come and go without guilt, emotional punishment, or subtle manipulation. Showing that your love isn’t measured by access.
10. Curiosity Without Control
Asking about their life from a place of curiosity, not wanting influence.Letting them tell their own story without over-responding.
If you know you could use some help as you navigate your connectioons to your adult children, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call with me in January, 2026. Here’s the link:
Coaching Call with Terri
Thank you for investing your valuable time and energy into listening to the podcast. I’m so very grateful for you. 
If you enjoyed this episode, you can “tip the bartender” by rating and reviewing the podcast. Your review makes it easier for others to find the podcast. 
Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to be notified any time I pour out a new episode. 
My new book Intentional Intoxication: How To Deliberately Distill The Different Life You Desire, is available on Amazon. You can imbibe on the entire book in one, short, intentionally happier hour:
Intentional Intoxication Book
If you’re interested to know about how I can support you in overcoming the habit of escaping or chasing, I invite you to reach out to me by using the email below and we find a time to chat:
terribradwaylifecoaching@coachbradway.com
For a quick shot of your life’s current level of intoxication, I invite you to complete the 10 Questions on my Intoxication Inventory:
Intoxication Inventory