episodes

When our picky eaters turn up their noses at dinner, we're not failures as parents. Amy Palanjian, author of DINNERTIME SOS, explains how to take judgment and anxiety out of the dinnertime equation when feeding toddlers and kids.

Here are some of our favorite parenting tips and takeaways we learned in 2023, from experts and listeners and mom friends everywhere.

Each December 25th, most moms look at a living room full of scattered wrapping paper and vow to do less next year. But can you really downshift on how much Santa brings once a baseline has been established?

How does the wisdom of our cultural traditions inform the way we parent, for better and worse? Ed Center, founder of Village Well Parenting, explains how generational trauma informs parenting and how we can navigate it.

The more decisions you have to make, the more difficult it can become to make them. Decision fatigue is cumulative, and when it happens, we get frustrated more easily. Here's how to make fewer, better decisions.

The holidays are already intense, but if your family is interfaith, it can ratchet up the pressure for perfection times two. Guest Susan Katz Miller, author of THE INTERFAITH FAMILY JOURNAL, tells us how to draw a “sacred circle” around what matters.

Is being "touched out" just par for the course when you're a mom, or is there something deeper at work here? Amanda Montei, author of the new book TOUCHED OUT, discusses this concept in a broader cultural context.

The holiday season has unpleasant surprises around every corner. The Christmas gift we forgot to buy! The too-short wrapping paper! The three parties in one night! Here are our best worsts of this time of year.

According to a recent study, 41% of men strongly agreed that they can relax during the holidays. Only 27% of women felt the same. It’s the most everything time of the year, and we’re doing– and feeling– all the things.

What does it look like to successfully set and maintain boundaries, whether it's with our toddler or our in-laws? Erica Ladd and Kelsey Wharton, co-hosts of the The Girl Next Door Podcast, are the queens of boundary-setting.

Are our relationships with our partners ruined after kids enter the picture? Partnerships change when our kids are born, but those changes aren't forever, and fixing it doesn't have to begin and end with "date night."

Why does it seem like the holiday season starts earlier and earlier every year? And how do we navigate the many obligations and traditions thereof without crying into our creamed white onions?

When we're struggling, we tend to focus on what we lack rather than our considerable strengths. Nicole Walters, author of the memoir NOTHING IS MISSING, invites us to view ourselves with a sense of abundance.

When we first hear about highly sensitive kids– or sensory seekers– it can provide a profound connecting of dots for things that might have baffled us in the past, and a path to effectively address the otherwise confusing behaviors that might ensue.

Nerf guns. Beach vacations. Corn mazes. Parades. What do these things have in common? They really should be fun—but aren't.

How can we encourage our kids to connect with their grandparents in meaningful ways, and how much control over that relationship do we really have?

How can good leadership and good parenting intersect? Mother Gopi Gita, author of the new book LEADERSHIP PARENTING, explains how the spiritual traditions of India informed her leadership parenting model.

Are our kids growing up more slowly than we did? Is that necessarily a bad thing? Can we encourage our late bloomers to pick up the pace?

What exactly is growth mindset—and is it the crucial ingredient to our kids' future success that we've been told it is? We discuss the latest research about growth mindset and why it matters.

How can kids in fifth grade be expected to navigate the changes in their bodies, their friendships, and their emotions all at the same time? Fifth grade can be rough. Here's how parents can help.

Research suggests that kids really do want to talk about difficult subjects with their parents. So where do we start? Dr. Robyn Silverman, author of the bestselling book How to Talk to Kids About Anything, has ideas.

Kids who don't fit the mold can have it hard. So can their parents. While they’re lying down on second base instead of paying attention, we’re up at night worrying about the year 2035. The good news: the world is wider than it used to be.

All kids are defiant sometimes. Some kids are defiant all of the time—or at least it can feel that way. When kids push back constantly, it gets overwhelming. What are the best ways of understanding and responding to kids who argue about everything?

A listener who is all touched out at the end of the day is worried she is hurting her husband's feelings by rejecting his attempts to snuggle.