Birds In A Tree artwork

Birds In A Tree

by Bridget Manley

Birds In A Tree features stories about parenting. Topics include family, birth, adoption, fostering, autism, military, stepchildren, loss, addiction, ADHD, politics and everything in between. We focus on the good, the bad, the hard and the glorious. Through each story, we hope to find the bond and similarities that we all share.

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Latest Episodes

Mar 13, 2018 · 38 min
Lacey is a supermom. She won't tell you that, but she is. Knowing she wanted to be a mother, and realizing at 25 that she might not be on a traditional route to motherhood, Lacey decided to explore foster parenting. After completing the training, Lacey received a call at four in the morning that cha…
Mar 6, 2018 · 21 min
Kaitlin is raising her son Oliver and navigating a co-parenting relationship with her ex-wife. Kaitlin admits that although after five years of marriage she thought that they both wanted to have a baby, however in hindsight feels as though her ex-wife wasn't fully prepared to make such a major life …
Feb 27, 2018 · 32 min
Ingrid and her partner have one son and live in Canada. Ingrid admits that she never really thought she wanted to be a mother, but when the feeling hit she couldn't think of anything else. Their journey to parenthood is its own great story and makes the bonds of a family even more special. Giving bi…
Feb 20, 2018 · 36 min
Melissa and her husband have always had a love of the outdoors. As avid climbers, hikers, bikers, skiers, and campers, they are now raising a daughter to love these activities as much as they do. Even though Melissa admits they can't be as extreme as they were before children, they are giving their …
Feb 20, 2018 · 36 min
Melissa and her husband have always had a love of the outdoors. As avid climbers, hikers, bikers, skiers, and campers, they are now raising a daughter to love these activities as much as they do. Even though Melissa admits they can't be as extreme as they were before children, they are giving their …
Feb 13, 2018 · 31 min
Fern is the mother two boys, one of whom has autism. Fern admits that because her son didn't fit into a typical autism mold - he made eye contact, loved to cuddle - she didn't believe that he could be autistic. However, as months passed and doctors, friends, and family asked more questions, Fern had…
Feb 6, 2018 · 29 min
Veronica is the mother of two sons and has been sober from alcohol and drugs for over 17 years. As a licensed therapist and recovery coach, Veronica has spent most of her adult life working with others to maintain their sobriety. Veronica has written two popular books on the subject - Why You Drink …
Jan 30, 2018 · 17 min
Melissa and her husband have one son, Miles, and have decided that they are a one-child family. What makes her choice to have one child interesting is that Melissa is one of six sisters - born eight and a half years apart. Melissa and her sisters have always had a unique bond - and even though they …
Jan 16, 2018 · 31 min
Katie and her husband are raising two children, and have spent their careers are professional classical working musicians. Meeting in college, they both knew that they would be moving and traveling as part of their work. Now that they are raising children, she feels fortunate to surround the kids wi…
Jan 9, 2018 · 25 min
Mia is an employee of her communities school system and the mother of a six-year-old daughter. Mia has spent her career working with schools and seeing what they can offer children - but when it was time to enroll her own daughter, she admits the process was daunting. Her daughter was academically a…
Jan 2, 2018 · 30 min
Jan is the ultimate "Mother of Boys" - she raised six of them. With six boys spread ten years apart, she says life was as full of joy as it was rambunctious. Now a grandmother, she says she is proud of the men they have become and of the friendships and bond they share between them.  She offers her …
Jan 2, 2018 · 30 min
Jan is the ultimate "Mother of Boys" - she raised six of them. With six boys spread ten years apart, she says life was as full of joy as it was rambunctious. Now a grandmother, she says she is proud of the men they have become and of the friendships and bond they share between them.  She offers her …
Dec 12, 2017 · 22 min
Catherine and her husband are currently raising their one-year-old son Jack. Catherine is American and her husband is British, and the couple has lived on "both sides of the pond." After agreeing through most of their relationship that they did not want children, a pregnancy scare forced Catherine t…
Dec 5, 2017 · 29 min
Leah is a mother of two boys living on a farm in West Virginia. She and her husband are "theater people" and have had to carve out professions piecing together jobs in their rural community. They spend their days hiking and being boys, but she has always been aware of the need to have her children u…
Nov 28, 2017 · 36 min
Mark is the other half of the parenting/business/success team of our last guest, Kendall. When Kendall brought Mark the idea of moving back to his rural hometown, it took a minute to believe she was serious. He had a full-time job in the city, they had friends and social obligations, but he had alwa…
Nov 14, 2017 · 39 min
Kendall is the mother of two girls, and is one of the bravest boss women I know. Before becoming a mother, Kendall decided that instead of working for a company, she wanted to start her own graphic design business.  So she took business classes, got mentors, networked, and taught herself how to beco…
Nov 7, 2017 · 33 min
April and her husband have two children, ages 11 and 8, and they are a military family. April spends much of the year away from her husband while he is off with the special forces, and she navigates her way through parenting solo. Even though they talk nearly every day, the family still faces parent…
Oct 31, 2017 · 22 min
Alex is the mother of two children and a step-mother of three children. Alex and her husband met while serving their country in Iraq, and with both parents being in active military service the family is always thinking about what they will do if both parents are called up to duty. Alex came into the…
Oct 24, 2017 · 24 min
Amanda is a single mother to two pre-teen girls, and the journey through divorce and co-parenting have not been easy.  During the separation and divorce, Amanda had to work through lawyers and even spoke only through email as the communication of last resort. Things have gotten easier for her, but o…
Oct 17, 2017 · 44 min
Alyse is a mother with a lot on her plate. With four children under the age of six, Alyse and her husband spent the first part of their marriage as a military family. She knew when her first child was six months old that something was not "normal" and spent five years working with a host of doctors …