Art Creativity & Wellbeing

Today's episode – which has some swears, please listen away from your kids or with headphones – is one I've been working on putting together for a really long time: in it, a corporate lawyer, a midwife, and I sit down in a roundtable and discuss 3 topics really relevant to you, one chosen by each of us. Corporate lawyer and mom-of-2 Angela Gregory lived down the street from us until just a few yea...

"When [my young daughter] is being impatient or persistent about doing something: at this age, how would I teach her to be patient?" When listener Sherif asked this question recently, I knew it had to be part of the Common Parenting Challenges series! Sherif asks some really pertinent follow-up questions: – Is that possible at this age? – Should I just distract her with something else? – Should I...

Back in episode 140, parenting author KJ Dell'Antonia gave us many more great ideas than could be digested in one conversation… So for the first time in We Turned Out Okay history she's got 3 Your Child Explained episodes all to herself! In our conversation KJ commented: "after a month we get tired of nagging, "… it's easier just to load this dishwasher myself…" and then we do - and then we're bac...

Today's episode – which has some swears, please listen away from your kids or with headphones – is one I've been working on putting together for a really long time: in it, a corporate lawyer, a midwife, and I sit down in a roundtable and discuss 3 topics really relevant to you, one chosen by each of us. Corporate lawyer and mom-of-2 Angela Gregory lived down the street from us until just a few yea...

"My four-year-old daughter is fine with our schedule a lot of the time. But sometimes she rejects it altogether! How can I make it so she's going along?" Recently I spoke with a mom who shared 3 key parenting struggles; I knew that you'd be struggling (most likely, anyway) with the same stuff, so I've put together a series of Common Parenting Challenges based on our conversation. Today, we dig int...

A few weeks ago, in episode 140 , guest KJ Dell'Antonia dropped so many knowledge bombs that I knew we'd need more than one Your Child Explained to really comprehend them all. Here's part 2 of 3 – all about homework and how to intervene when your child can't take anymore! Click weturnedoutokay.com/144 for show notes, links to last fall's homework episode and conversation with the president of the...

"How do I keep my kids safe online? How do I keep my devices safe from hackers?" If you've ever asked yourself either of these questions, you are going to love today's episode. Today's guest, Rich Stearman, president of the web design company Ashdown Technologies, addresses these issues and lots more on the show! Ben, our boys, and I have been really close with Rich, his wife Kathy, and their boys...

You don't want your kids to have any more screen time – and your spouse plops them in front of the tube. You know that giving in to a temper tantrum is the fastest route to more, and longer, temper tantrums; yet your spouse gives in again and again. Sound familiar? Today we talk all about how to handle when your spouse isn't on the same page (and your page is the right page). Recently while talkin...

During Tuesday's guest conversation , mom and author KJ Dell'Antonia shared the results of a pretty big (1000-person) survey of parents she commissioned as research for her upcoming book. The thing that parents worry about most? "Discipline," KJ shares. Discipline enters into many aspects of our parenting lives. It's firmness in enforcing rules; consistency in keeping routines established; being g...

Today's guest didn't set out to be a writer. But after getting her law degree and being a practicing attorney for six years, she made a discovery: law just wasn't her thing; instead, she found, she was a writer. In the spirit of finding stuff out through writing, KJ Dell'Antonia began freelancing about motherhood; she's written for Slate magazine, Parenting magazine, Parents magazine, and many oth...

When listener Marcy wrote recently, asking for help with her son, whom "counselors and therapists believe may be suffering from depression and anxiety," and the decision to either keep him in school or pull him out to homeschool, I initially thought I'd answer her question in a Your Child Explained episode, and address the school-homeschool decision. On reflection, however, I saw something bigger...

I've been really wanting to do a show on potty training, but I've held back for a few reasons: one biggie is that I just haven't found a great book on the subject, and another is that my experience potty training my oldest was really tough! But recently I heard from listener Erika, who had this to say: "I have to have the most stubborn child on the planet and have tried everything I can think of....

Lots of things can happen over the course of a day to make us all feel anxious…How does your child handle anxiety?  Today licensed mental health counselor, play expert, and mom-to-2 Janine Halloran gives us some wonderful – and very specific – tools to help our kids handle stress. True to the nature of We Turned Out Okay, my hour-long conversation with Janine covers lots more than this! Janine and...

As a podcaster who helps you advocate better for your young children, I meet and hear from an awful lot of you who are… Unhappy. Stuck. Sinking under all your worries and fears for your children – and awfully hard on yourselves. In January I did two episodes about goal-setting and affirmations, and I shared about one particular life-changing exercise I've done every night for more than a year: spe...

Maybe you think that self-acceptance and self-forgiveness are fine for other people, but not for you (I know I used to feel this way.) I work with a lot of moms and dads who struggle with this – and the struggle 100% affects their parenting, and thus their kids . If you need a kick in the pants – or a guide into the world of not scowling in the mirror – then sign up for my free Friendly Mirror 10-...

Remember a few weeks ago, when I got emotional about talking to myself in the mirror every night? (Listen to that episode, We Turned Out Okay's second annual goal-setting episode, by clicking here .)   If you struggle with self-acceptance and self-forgiveness – and if you also want to be a better example for your child – click this link to listen to today's episode! You can read the full text of l...

Diving into the archives of We Turned Out Okay, and finding wonderful shows like this one which you may not have heard before (and will get something out of even if you have heard it already), seems like a fitting start to a new year. My guest today, Gift of Failure author Jessica Lahey, has helped me in so many ways: to be a better mom, to forgive myself when I screw up, to take the long view on...

Just about a year ago, on the Flipped Lifestyle podcast, co-host Shane Sams asked me if what I do here at We Turned Out Okay is to teach people how to combat their kids' "evil Jedi mind tricks" – which I thought was such a great definition! In the last few weeks my family and I saw and loved Rogue 1, and also mourned the loss of Carrie Fisher; it seems fitting to talk about all that with you today...

Today's show asks the question: how can I help you go to bat for your child? It's easier to think about standing up for our children that it is, oftentimes, for us to stand up for ourselves. But sometimes – especially when an authority figure like a doctor or a teacher is doing the pushing – it can be hard to know how to stand up for our children. Today's show is brought to you by the Ninja Parent...

Diving into the archives of We Turned Out Okay, and finding wonderful shows like this one which you may not have heard before (and will get something out of even if you have heard it already), seems like a fitting start to a new year. Today's guest, along with his wife and children, have been special people in my family's life ever since we had the excellent luck of moving in across the street fro...

This early in the new year, everyone is thinking about resolutions and how to keep them; today, I'm asking you to think a little bit differently about resolutions – in fact, I'm asking you to not even use the word "resolution!" I prefer the shorter, less-charged "goals." Goals can be short-term, medium-term, or long… And the goals we choose for ourselves today don't just help us; the goals we choo...

In our first Your Child Explained episode of the new year, listener Jennifer asks: "When my boys says, "that's for boys" or "girls can't do that," is there more I could do than simply replying "you know, girls can do everything boys can do…" The short answer: yes, there is lots more we can do to foster the gender identities of our sons and daughters. Go to weturnedoutokay.com/129 for show notes an...

Maybe you know the symptoms: tummy aches, excessive temper tantrums and stubbornness, crying over everything and over an extended period of time. If your child shows some of these elements, and it's freaking you out, how do you know what is wrong? And if you can figure that out – how do you help your son or daughter make it right? In this rebroadcasting of a great conversation from early in 2016,...

The story I tell today really happened. The year I was nine, we headed up to Montréal from our home in New England to spend the Christmas holidays with our extended family as usual. But this trip was anything except for "usual!" It took us more than 54 hours to complete the trip – which normally takes 8-hours – and included many harrowing moments as my mom tried desperately to get herself and us 3...

Today I'm asking the question: "what matters most… To your kids?" It's something I've been thinking about since speaking with Jonathan Fields, this past Tuesday's guest. Through his Good Life Project podcast, Jonathan has been a HUGE mentor of mine. Tuesday we found out who some of Jonathan's mentors are; one turns out to be Milton Glaser, a man who helped Jonathan realize the value of structuring...