52. She Fought for Me When Everyone Else Gave Up. I Interview Mom on Mother's Day
For this Mother's Day special, I sat down with my biggest fan, the woman who raised me — my mom, Jackie Carr, aka Nana — for a conversation about childhood, parenting, shame, unconditional love, and what it looks like when a kid who never fit the mold grows up to become a dad who's trying to do it better.
My mom was in every parent conference. She heard the same words on repeat — bright, enthusiastic, but…. doesn't stay in his seat, can't pay attention, wants to do his own thing — and while the teachers saw those as problems, she saw something else. She could see I was different and fought for me to be tested even when schools pushed back. She held me back a grade when experts said it would hurt me. She wrote notes to teachers. She showed up. She invested heavily in my love for theatre and performing. And when other parents told her she was “enabling” me, she kept supporting me anyway.
Then she listened to my podcast — and found out there was something she hadn't known.
This episode is a rare, honest, multigenerational conversation about what it costs to raise a kid the system keeps flagging, what unconditional love actually looks like in practice, and how the things our parents did — and didn't do — shape the parents we become.
In this episode:
Why my mom fought back when schools refused to test me or label me
The line between advocating for your kid and enabling them
Why she stopped spanking — and why the research backed her up
How a diagnosis changed the way I saw myself as a kid
The shame I carried that she didn't know about until this podcast
What unconditional love actually looked like in our house
What she sees now watching me parent Della — and what she wishes she'd done differently
How watching my parents' marriage made me commit to doing it differently
If this episode hit close to home, listen next:
How to Raise an Autistic Kid to Thrive: https://youtu.be/iU4SnpnAxwY
A Mom Picks Apart her partner on Camera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-NuUeBn2ac&t=2058s
Why We Don’t Punish or Reward Our Daughter (What We Do Instead), https://youtu.be/TAF35tAQxh4
Resources Mentioned
Get 15% Off IQ Bars:https://www.eatiqbar.com/DADICATED15
Skds Formula
Sining Prairie meat sticks
La leche league
Watch the Full Episode
Joe Carr is an entrepreneur, advocate, and passionate educator on fatherhood and partnership. Driven by a desire to provide high-quality, nutrient-dense baby food for his daughter Della, Joe and his wife founded Serenity Kids baby food brand after experiencing their own health transformations through clean eating. Now, alongside his work in revolutionizing baby nutrition, Joe is on a mission to help new dads navigate the transformational journey of fatherhood. Through his podcast and social media platform Dadicated Joe, he shares real, honest conversations about showing up for your children, supporting your partner, and embracing the identity shift that comes with becoming a dad.
👉 Get 15% off your first Serenity Kids order with code: DADICATED15 https://myserenitykids.com/
