When Did You Stop Taking Up Space? | After Hours With Amanda Season 6 - Ep. 6

This week, I’m sitting with a realization that made me cry in my car: my daughter is learning to take up space without first checking whether she is too much. Watching her at camp showed me that we really have created something different, even while I’m still untangling the childhood fears that taught me to shrink, scan the room, and control what I could.

We’re talking about parenting without projecting, breaking generational cycles, postpartum anxiety, family addiction, emotional safety, faith, and the strange gift of raising tiny queens who remind me who I was before I started editing myself. Maybe this is your permission, too: seasons don’t have to stall you, and you’re allowed to take up space again.

00:00 This Episode Needed to Be Heard
03:20 Camp Changed the Conversation
04:07 Becoming a Mom Felt Different Each Time
05:49 Postpartum Anxiety and Fear
06:42 The Illusion of Control in Parenting
08:31 Projecting Fear Onto Our Kids
10:10 I Want Them to Call Me First
11:06 Watching Her Take Up Space
13:21 When Did I Stop Taking Up Space?
14:08 Learning to Scan the Room
16:00 We Broke the Pattern
18:47 My Tiny Queens Reminded Me
21:00 Seasons Don’t Have to Stall You
22:09 Permission to Take Up Space
23:29 Who Is Cheering You On?