Being A Parent Is Hard!

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This episode features our special guest Randi Zimmerman, LCSW-R, CEDS-S and owner of The Time is Always Now Therapy Group. Ms. Zimmerman joins us to talk about the family, cultural , and psychological forces that contribute to disordered eating in children and teenagers and offers guidance to help parents to identify and manage food-related issues within families...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This week's episode, Raising Boys With Emotion, focuses on the challenge of raising strong, healthy, emotionally intelligent young men. Cultural pressures and our own unconscious biases often leads boys to feel that they shouldn't experience more vulnerable feelings such as fear, anxiety, dependency, and hurt. This sometimes results in a hypermasculinity in which...

Welcome to our latest episode of Being a Parent is Hard. Postpartum Anxiety and Depression: An Untimely Agony focuses on the struggle with postpartum anxiety and depression that affects millions of women. We will dive into the very normal experiences of stress, irritability, and isolation that can easily turn into a much more devastating postpartum syndrome. Join us as we discuss both the of the c...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! Our new episode, What is Mom Guilt and Why Do So Many of Us Have It, talks about why moms are especially prone to feel guilty, what we tend to feel guilty about, and how best to manage this very uncomfortable feeling. We discuss how mom guilt is related to each person's unique childhood and the way we are all socialized as women. Perhaps most importantly, we talk...

Welcome to this week's episode of Being a Parent is Hard! In this episode we focus understanding adolescent depression--what it looks like, how it's different from normal teenage moodiness and irritability, and what parents should do when they are concerned. We discuss when it's time to seek therapy, consider medication, or head to the emergency room. We also talk about the all important question,...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This week's episode focuses on the art of transparent communication with your children and teens. We discuss how to set limits, communicate values, and have honest discussions while still respecting our own need for personal boundaries as parents. We also talk about the need for timing--not trying to communicate in depth when either we or they are upset and not o...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! Is your older teen or young adult child feeling lost and unsure of what field or job to pursue? In this week's episode, founder of Choice Training and Coaching Solutions, Janine Friedman, discusses her "Ready, Aim. Fire" approach to helping older teens and young adults prepare for entering the workplace. Her job coaching focuses on helping her clients better unde...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This week's episode, Living Among the Mean Moms, focuses on why some moms are unkind, even downright cruel, to other moms and/or other people's children. Whether it's gossiping, bullying, or excluding others, managing mean moms and teaching your children to manage this kind of difficult behavior, is an important survival skill in today's crazy world. When parents...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! Our new episode focuses on the extraordinary stress of having to care for our aging and declining parents while still caring for our own children, teens, and young adults. We talk about the very complicated emotional difficulties and time and energy demands that caring for our parents often entails. And we offer personal reflections and professional advice about...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This episode, The Stressors of Being a Stay- at-Home Mom, focuses on the personal and parenting challenges that face stay-at-home moms. From the lack of adult contact and feelings of isolation to managing our kids emotional, educational and social lives, being a stay-at-home mom can be extremely stressful. Whether it's facilitating our kids crazy schedules, disci...

Welcome to this week's episode, "The Stressors and Pressures of Being a Working Mom." Join us as we talk about the crazy expectations we place on ourselves as working mothers and how this really affects our kids and their emotional development. We share personal stories and moments from our work to take a deep dive into the unique stressors faced by working moms. We hope you can join us! Contact u...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! In this week's episode we take a deep dive into the anxiety-producing topic of mental health and emotional stressors facing new college students. Whether it's choosing a college, deciding on a major, finding a roommate,, or acclimating to dormitory living, the start of college can be a stressful time. And there's the transition to living away from home which incl...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This week’s episode focuses on teaching our kids how to make and fulfill meaningful New Year’s Resolutions. In other words, we examine how we can help our kids feel capable of making small changes in their lives that will give them self-confidence and a sense of personal agency. These practices enable our kids to learn determination, perseverance and the value of...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard!  This week's episode, Handling Holiday Stress, focuses on how you and your kids can best manage the busy holiday season.  We explore the emotional, financial and time-related pressures that we all feel during the holidays, including feelings of loss and sadness related to life events such as divorce or death..  Join us as we talk about creating new family rituals...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! In this week's episode, Mom Myths and Stereotypes we talk about the common struggles and concerns that result in today's moms being referred to as "helicopter" or "snowplow" moms. We focus on the pros and cons of these types of parenting styles for our kids and offer practical suggestions. We also touch on the potential pitfalls of being a "stay at home mom" and...

Welcome to the latest episode of Being a Parent is Hard! In “Cultivating Self-Esteem in Our Kids: Recipes to Combat Low Self-Esteem", we focus on why self-esteem is at the core of our emotional universe and some of the difficulties we see when kids struggle with low self-esteem.  We offer strategies and insights as to what truly cultivates self-esteem in children and teens and what simply allays a...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This week's episode explores one of the most difficult aspects of parenting, discussing death and loss with our children and teenagers. We talk about how to tell our kids about a loss in the family or community and what to expect as they struggle to understand, never mind accept, the loss. Please join us for some insight, guidance, and personal memories as we tal...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This week's episode focuses on understanding autism and how we can best help children, adults, and parents who are touched by this very complicated disorder. We will talk about the different levels of impairment across the autism spectrum, ranging from issues with social awareness, rigid adherence to routines, and communication difficulties to intellectual impair...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This week's podcast, "What I Wish I Knew Then" focuses on personal and professional insights about the challenges of parenting that one only realizes in hindsight. Whether it's about the sleepless nights of our child's infancy, the stress of managing temper tantrums and busy schedules, or the pain of our adolescent's age-appropriate rejection of us-we eventually...

Welcome to Being aParent is Hard! This episode tackles the timely topic of back to school anxiety, for our kids and for us as parents. Whether the structure of the school year can't come fast enough or you are mourning the end of summer, the start of the school year always comes with a flurry of anxiety. Children often have anxiety around separation and social issues. Teenagers deal with anxiety c...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! In this episode, our special guest Patrick Viviano discusses the dangers and warning signs of problematic gambling among our adolescents.. Video games, sports betting, online gambling and more, all tempt our kids--sometimes leading them into a dangerous and all-consuming addiction. Please join us for a close-up look at adolescent gambling and a discussion about w...

Welcome to the new episode of Being a Parent is Hard! "The Challenge of Parenting Young Adults" focuses on our struggles as parents to understand and meet the unique developmental needs of our young adult children. This includes their often painful but appropriate need to separate from us and make their own choices about fundamental issues such as choosing a partner, a career, or even the decision...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! In this episode, we have a particularly honest talk about the emotional stressors experienced by new mothers. We focus on the issues underlying unspoken questions such as, "Where did the old me go and how do I get myself back?" Or, "Am I a horrible person for sometimes hating my kid?" We share personal stories, including our own experiences of exhaustion, guilt,...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This episode focuses on teenage drug and alcohol use and how and when it can slip into substance abuse. We talk about how parents can help their teens navigate a social landscape that often includes drugs and alcohol, and manage academic and social pressures that sometimes result in them abusing substances.  Tune in for professional guidance and hands-ons strateg...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! Does your pre-teen or teen struggle socially? Are they sad or anxious because of difficulties they are having fitting in with peers? In this episode, we focus on understanding the different types of social struggles that our kids experience, including the difficulties that pre-teens and teens with ADHD, learning disabilities, and anxiety disorders may have. We of...