Art Creativity & Wellbeing

We've got a great August coming up for you, a whole series of new episodes on overcoming the perils of back-to-school! Starting with today's episode, in which I share three ways to know if your child is ready – for preschool, for kindergarten, for first or second grade, for relocating to a new school… You name it and we cover it in this episode. If, after you listen, you're thinking "maybe my kid...

Talking with returning champion KJ Dell'Antonia is always a pleasure, and this episode is maybe my favorite conversation with her yet! KJ has got a book coming out later this month, and if you're feeling the pressures of parenting, you are going to LOVE her book, How to be a Happier Parent . Like so many of my favorite conversations, this one zooms around and goes in directions that I didn't envis...

What's toughest for you about this time of year? Maybe it's your worries about how your child will handle the upcoming school year … Or maybe it's just that you can't stand the thought of the crazy schedule changes that are coming your way… Or maybe you're worrying about how to work with teachers or administrators? I'm creating a Back to School Bootcamp to directly address your toughest struggles!...

Welcome to Part 5 of our series on how to have good weeknights with your kids! Click here for our FREE Tame the Weeknight Chaos Guide Today we are talking about what to do when things go wrong with even the best-planned weeknight.. I've got 3 easy steps that you can use to overcome the frustrations, troubleshoot the problems that come up, and truly enjoy weeknights with your children! Watch this v...

Welcome to Part 4 of our series on how to have good weeknights with your kids! Click here for the FREE Tame the Weeknight Chaos Guide Today we are talking about how to say positive, weeknight after weeknight, even when you are burned out on family time.. I've got 3 easy steps that you can use to overcome the feeling of being fed up and instead truly enjoy weeknights with your children! Watch this...

Welcome to Part 3 of our Taming the Weeknight Chaos series! Click here for the FREE Tame the Weeknight Chaos Guide, including Video & Checklist Today we are talking about how to start weeknights off right. I've got 3 easy steps that you can use to get a peaceful and enjoyable start to this very evening! Want my complete, free Guide to Taming Weeknight chaos , which includes a 6-point checklist and...

Welcome to Part 2 of our Taming the Weeknight Chaos series! Today we address a huge challenge in every parent's efforts to create enjoyable, smooth family weeknights: there's just not enough time to get everything done. In fact today is a troubleshooting episode, because we tackle that problem – and also the "I'm always the bad cop" problem that comes up for tons of parents! You'll find this episo...

Today is the start of a new series here at We Turned Out okay! It's all about taming the chaotic and crazy weeknights that so many of us experience in raising kids. We start by investigating: WHY are weeknights so tough? For us parents, evenings – especially weeknights – are a constant slog. I want to make this series tailored exactly to your needs, and in order to do that I need you to respond to...

Today we're talking about safety – just simple safety. I've got three unconventional ways to help you ensure that your child is safe, in a variety of situations and from the time that they are very small… For notes on the three ways I share this episode to keep your child safe, and also for every podcast back episode, Go to weturnedoutokay.com/231 And for podcast extras you will LOVE go to patreon...

I'm so happy to share this wonderful conversation with Charlie Hoehn, dad, podcaster, person who helps people publish books, and (most important for our conversation today) author. Charlie's book, Play It Away , shares his experience with soul-sucking anxiety, and the simple cure he found. The thing about this cure is, it's something humans all do naturally, and it's as important to us as sleep. B...

I'm so excited to bring you this week's show, all about timeouts! Also: I announce the name of the parenting book I'm working on right now! And I share some exciting news: the introduction to this book is available for you to read, for free, at Patreon.com/weturnedoutokay ! This week's Magic Words for Parents video shares a quick phrase you can use to stop your child's begging and whining in store...

Special thanks to: Nancy, Diane, Ben, and Max, each of whom became patrons of the show in Patreon this week! They're getting helpful stuff like access to my Patron-only feed, Extra Magic Words for Parents videos, and early access to chapters of parenting books I'm working on right now - plus I'm saying thanks to them in today's episode! Get GREAT extras and a shout-out in next week's We Turned Out...

For a long time, the podcast was the tool. Then I wrote Positive Discipline Ninja Tactics – and we had 2 tools. And now, a little more than three years in, we've got a multitude of tools for parenting and happy family time ... Today's episode is a discussion of some of the best tools, a description of how parents are changing their families' lives by utilizing these tools , and a roadmap so that y...

Picture this: you're in the car, in a parking lot, with your screaming three-year-old and six-month-old. You're on a call with work, and you've got the call muted so that you can hear what's going on – but your coworkers can't hear the car chaos. Until one of your coworkers says "Shannon, what do you think?" – and you know that as soon as you unmute the call everyone on it will hear the screaming....

This episode, we focus on a serious issue. It's one you may have been wondering about, but not known what to do about – or even if it was a big deal at all: Does tablet or smartphone use contribute to a child's behavior problems? We live in this world, which is absolutely filled with tech. The tech doesn't appear to be going anywhere fast… So what's the answer? Does tablet use contribute to behavi...

Maybe you have said to yourself, when you're watching a parent fail miserably to bring a recalcitrant child under control, "that will NEVER be me. I pride myself on order and discipline in my house!" Or, maybe you've heard snide comments from teachers or relatives about your child "ruling the roost," and it's frustrating because you don't want to be a disciplinarian. That's not why you had kids, t...

To us grown-ups, summer can mean headaches caused by heat and humidity, too much time spent in air-conditioning, and unwelcome changes in routine. Also, the endless application of sunscreen on our littles. But to kids, just being outside can be a revelation . There's birdsong, and water, and dirt… Summer is a great time for reconnecting with your child, for truly listening to him or her - for deep...

As you probably did, I got spanked as a kid. But, probably unlike you, I became an early childhood educator and lesson one was "we never, EVER spank a child." Still, it's tempting, especially if it means stopping a behavior that you cannot stand for one more minute. So, is it ever okay to spank your child? Do you ever do it? Today – on We Turned Out Okay's THIRD birthday! – we dig into why parents...

Lots of us parents are pretty freaked out by the thought of money, finances, and all the stuff we don't understand about it. Ben (my husband and the producer of our show) and I have spent the last year or so confronting our concerns about money, really looking our finances squarely in the face and conquering our fears… Through this process, we have become more of a team than we were before! Our go...

Today's conversation is super special, because it's with our personal financial planner, Steven Taylor – the man who has helped Ben and I align our goals and begin truly working together to achieve our dreams. Like many of the best conversations, ours doesn't stick strictly to the subject at hand. It starts off with sports and quickly develops into a meaningful conversation about parenting (Steven...

If we're being honest, who among us has NOT bribed a kid? (Listen to this episode to hear about how we potty trained our youngest… using entire donuts as bribes.) But is there a better way? Something we could do to change our child's behavior from bad to good? Something that would stop us feeling like we're being emotionally blackmailed by our kids? Listen to today's episode to understand exactly...

Working with parents of young children, one phrase comes up again and again – one really dangerous phrase. It's dangerous because it perpetuates bad behavior from our kids , which none of us want… Yet, it is really hard not to use it. You probably use this phrase yourself; I know I have. Today I share: – Exactly what the two most dangerous words in a parent's vocabulary are – Why these words get u...

Did you ever wish that you could find just the right book to help your child understand some large issue that you're just not sure how to talk about? Then today's episode is for you – my guest Ashia Ray runs booksforlittles.com , a website dedicated to helping parents find great books, on every subject. Listen to find out: – How to use books to make your parenting life easier and better – When a b...

We live in a complicated world, financially speaking, which can seem completely shrouded in mystery to us parents – never mind the kids! What with credit cards, bitcoin, Apple pay, swiping, tapping, and sliding, the value of an actual dollar can get com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/sub...

I'm sure you've heard that it costs tons of money to raise a child to the age of eighteen – $233,610 in 2015, according to the Money/CNN report I read in preparing for this episode. If that number has you freaked out, you are not alone! But is it really accurate? That's the question we are looking into today. Go to weturnedoutokay.com/216 for key links and the most adorable picture of one of my ch...