Not Fit for the Feed: confessions and conversations of parenting through the hard stuff

Not Fit for the Feed is a podcast for parents who are in the thick of it — the stuff that doesn't make it onto social media. Hosted by Brettne Shootman, a former teacher and mother of four, this narrative memoir podcast tells the real, messy, lived experience of a family quietly surviving addiction, mental health crises, international adoption, and trauma — and the kind of parenting moments that leave you wondering if you're doing any of it right.

Brettne isn't a therapist or an expert. She's someone who has lived through a lot and learned even more — and she believes that when we stop hiding our stories, they lose their power over us. If you've ever felt completely alone in your parenting, this show is for you.

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Not Fit for the Feed: confessions and conversations of parenting through the hard stuff

Trailer

September 25, 2026 • Brettne Shootman • Season 1

0:00 | 1:49

Brettne Shootman 0:03

Hello, and welcome to Not Fit for the Feed: Confessions and Conversations about Parenting Through the Hard Stuff, the podcast for parents and caregivers who have ever felt completely alone because of what's happening in their homes. We all know it takes a village to raise a kid, and yet our villages have shrunk down to the four walls of our individual homes, where so many of us are suffering in silence. Hi, I'm Brettne Shootman. I'm not a psychologist or a family therapist. I've just managed to survive a lot of unexpected and extremely hard things, both as a child and with my own kids. I am a former teacher, and I read all the parenting books, so I thought I knew what I was doing. But the reality is kids aren't predictable, and sometimes before you know it, you're in the middle of a crisis you didn't plan and have no idea how to handle. That's what happened to me, and I had to learn to handle and overcome these types of situations and the stress and grief that accompany them. After opening up to friends over the years, I've realized that a lot of people are carrying some version of the same experiences I had. They just didn't say it out loud for fear of judgment and gossip. But here's what I believe: when we release our fears and our pain out into the sunshine, instead of keeping them locked away, they lose their power over us. When we share our stories, we stop being alone in them. So welcome to Not Fit for the Feed, the place to converse, to confess, to cope, and to find hope