Hand in Hand Parenting: The Podcast

Now that the Hand in Hand podcast is on hiatus, are you wondering where to get parenting support direct to your eats? You're invited to join Abigail during the hiatus for her Mother Flipping Awesome podcast where she does a deep dive with one mama in each show. And you get to listen in. #mindflip #parentingtransformed

This week: Handling Halloween Using the Hand in Hand Tools So, your kids are fighting over the Halloween candy stash, and their sugar highs (and begging for more) send your blood pressure soaring. Maybe you have a child who is scarred by scare season's ghosts and ghouls - or simply refuses to be a part of the festivities. Have no fear! Elle and Abigail show you how to handle common Halloween howls...

Happy 100! This week - for our 100th episode - we turned the microphone over to you all. And we are SO excited to share this episode. You'll hear just what led parents to the Hand in Hand podcast, the breathtaking transformations you have seen happen in your parenting, and the different ways you all use the podcast from week to week. We're thrilled and humbled by the community that has gathered si...

Where were you two years ago in parenting? Sometimes we get so caught up in the present-day challenges we forget to look back and see the progress we've made.  And we should!  A week before the 100th episode of the Hand in Hand Parenting Podcast,   Elle and Abigail do just that, with an affectionate look back over the last two years they've been making the podcast. Abigail talks about how her kids...

  Your heart sinks as you join the long line of people snaking the aisle at the grocery store. Your baby is already making those noises she makes when she wants you to hold her, and there are about 15 minutes until she needs feeding. You are pretty sure this line will take double that. How did this happen? You tried to get out to the store all day, but between your friend dropping in, the late nap...

So, today we're talking about the less sunny side of parenting. And when we say less sunny, we really mean those dark, never-ending winter-like days that are bleak, lonely and cold. They hurt. Some of us live in denial of these days - and it's easy to see why. In a world of social media where every picture seems to radiate warmth and snuggly good feeling, saying your experience is any different ca...

Powerful ways To Solve Your child's sleep issues using the Hand in Hand Tools Your kid is going crazy about taking a bath. Just won't. You wrangle and wrestle. It's nearly bedtime after all. You are sooo close! Then when you finally make it to the bedroom, your child refuses to put on pyjamas. Then requests a drink. And then another. Doesn't want to brush their teeth. Needs a certain toy who, yes,...

So there it is. An invitation. Your child is waving it in your face with a grin brighter than gold.   And you? Does your heart soar? Or sink? Acceptance Similarity Belonging Self-worth Influence Betrayal Here's Why OUR Friendships Matter Friendships can arouse big feelings - in us as well as our kids - and how we approach the joys and the ickiness friendships can bring requires us to separate. We...

Coping with divorce? When today's guest, instructor Kristen Zuzek Volk, found Hand in Hand, she'd almost written off a loving relationship with her daughter. After divorcing, her two kids were screaming, crying and acting out, her daughter sometimes for nine hours a day. Coping? Not really. Kristen was hard on them, and harder on herself . Even therapy didn't work, so a parenting philosophy like H...

You probably never imagined words like these erupting from your child's mouth.  Dark. Venomous.  Hurtful words.  But here they are.  "I hate you!" Or worse. "I hate myself." "I want to die." Words that make us want to curl up and cry. Admit defeat. Give up parenting altogether. Except, of course, we can't.  Even piling on hugs and love often doesn't appear to soothe a child hurling those words (an...

Want to increase your child's co-operation? Have them listen more? Reduce clinginess?  Sometimes special time can feel like the magic balm  in parenting. It can: Boost your child's confidence.  It can build their resilience.  It can ease your own parent guilt about not spending enough "quality time with your kids.  And, one of the biggies, it can INCREASE children's co-operation.  It does all thes...

What gets you super seething mama mad? Is it the constant asks and requests, the "Mom where's my… that's so overwhelming? Maybe it's the piles of toys and dishes and chip packets you asked to be tidied but are still smirking at you from the living room? Maybe it's the stubbornness and defiance your child shows when you ask them to take a bath after giving them a wonderful day out? At least, you th...

If you catch yourself late at night, surrounded by toys, folding clothes and wondering why you don't have time or energy to take a shower, ask yourself: Why am I doing all the chores? Where are my kids when I need them? And why aren't those helpful little mice from Cinderella a real thing? And then breathe. Because chances are if you don't, you'll explode the mother lode with a tyranny of "Why do...

What's the one thing you want for your child when they are sick? To have them feel better. What's the one thing that most often gets in the way of that? When you walk away with a specialist appointment or wonkily-written script from Doc you have two things: A ticket better health for your child, hopefully, and also a potential prescription for tears and battles. How do you keep calm and carry on?...

You probably got very excited when you discovered that Hand in Hand Parenting had five tools that could rescue you when parenting got sticky (or downright dirty). Very excited. It was the exact result you wanted Google to deliver.  It may even have been  how you found our podcast. You needed answers. Here they were. Even better. These five tools were kind parenting tools. They meant you could stop...

You just dropped one child at his playdate. Now you have 15 minutes to scoot across to the pool for your younger kid's swim lesson. Easy, right? Actually no. Your child is refusing to scoot. He doesn't want to put on his swim clothes. He won't go to the pool. "I HATE swim class," he yells defiantly. Why Reasoning Won't Work Oh, and when you tried reasoning? He kicked his scooter across the car par...

Your child grabs the one extra cookie you said he wasn't allowed… What do you do? Or your daughter whines the minute she sees you pull out peanut butter for her toast... Or, when your son hears that his sister is having a sleepover he yells that you're a mean mom...and that you have wrinkles! Yes he did. To Play or Not to Play...That is the Question Would you, could you playfully parent in these s...

Since we have all personally gone through potty training and we will all have to go through it with our kids, you'd think we'd have nailed down one, surefire potty training method. But the 11,000 google results you get when you type in 'How to potty train my child,' clearly shows that a one-size-fits-all approach is about as likely as you getting a 5-minute shower with no disruptions.  Yerright.  ...

"Mom, I can't go to camp today. I have a stomachache." This is the third time this week your child has complained of a sore stomach, and yet she shows no other symptoms of being unwell. You wonder…is something else going on under the radar? Does your child complain of stomachaches? Does she get tearful or angry regularly, refuse to go places or try new things? Does your child worry a lot, gets obs...

Have you ever asked your child to do something simple, like pack their toys away before dinner? For a second they stare back and you wide-eyed, all chubby-cheeked cherubic sweetness. And then they scrunch those eyes and tell you to  $#@ off? oh no, she didn't… Kids who cuss are more common than you might think. If you put those terms into any search engine results throw up videos full of kids swea...

You sink down on the rug in tears and wonder how you can ever keep going. Then you see your daughter's abandoned stuffie under the sofa, next to an overdue library book, so you scoop them out, tuck them on the shelf, shove your hair in a bun, and get started with the laundry. What happened to your tears? You  discarded  them like your daughter did her stuffie. Welcome to mom overwhelm. Mom overwhe...

Read on to learn why it pays to keep positive with your kids "Last cookie," you say, lightly. "No." Your son says. Then he stuffs the cookie into his mouth, grabs three more and runs from the room.  You're just about to charge from the kitchen in a chase when your eyes fall on another set of eyes. Your younger son. Wide-eyed and wondering.  Who's in charge here? his eyes seem to say. How far can w...

The baby woke at 4am. His brother just 45 minutes later. Since then you've been puked on, drawn on, and changed three diapers. You burnt a bagel and your kid tipped his cereal over in a rage. Now the baby is screaming because he's hungry and your son is pulling at your pants leg because he wants to play. Oh yeah. And it's only 7.53am. Who you gonna call? Ghostbuster's won't help. But there is some...

The last time you asked them to tidy their crayons, they smashed the whole box on the floor and ripped up the color sheet. You have to psyche yourself up when you need them to turn off the TV, because…BOOM! Epic meltdown. Forget about asking for a hug. Your child wriggles away from your hand on his shoulder. Does every request you make send your child into a raging meltdown? You spend life walking...

Do you know how bad your child feels when they mess up? They may look angry. They may look amused. They may show bravado. But in every kid that messes up is a pit of shame, sadness, confusion and doubt about their own self-worth. How do we know? Because aren't those the exact same feelings we adults feel when we mess up - when we really look inside? And we parents often heap on that shame. You get...