Art Creativity & Wellbeing

Normally, in a We Turned Out Okay guest episode, it's me doing the interviewing… but today that format gets turned on its head! Recently the gentleman behind the Blessing Not Stressing podcast, Rob Broadhead, invited me onto his show. He's such a great interviewer and the idea behind the show is such a lovely one that of course I said "yes please" – and as we spoke I knew I wanted you to be able t...

These last several Just You and Me episodes have been about important stuff: being happier at home, having well-behaved children in public, helping kids resolve their own conflicts. They've each hinged on one particular idea: that the toys kids play with and what's in their environment, can really change their behavior. (Head back to episodes 154 , 157 , and 160 for the rest of the "Loose Parts" s...

Do you tell your kids how beautiful they are, or how smart they are? This past Tuesday's conversation with Nicole Gardner reminded me once more how dangerous praise – at least the wrong kind of praise – is. Read the show notes for today's episode, about how to make sure you're giving the right kind of praise (and not the harmful kind of praise) by clicking the link below… You'll also find an insta...

Recently I attended a presentation about all the key stuff happening in our kids' brains, in which today's guest, Nicole Gardner of the Bezos Family Foundation, shared research, stories, and ideas that resonated so deeply with me, I knew I needed to get her on the show. I learned that: – babies' brains create millions – millions! – of new neurons every second – young kids are all set to learn what...

Does your child ever get into arguments, verbal or otherwise? What's your instinct when this happens – do you want to jump in and smooth everything over? That's not an unusual reaction, because we parents really hate it when our kids fight! In this Just You and Me episode, we dig into why "smoothing everything over" is detrimental to our children's development, and what to do instead. Click weturn...

Each week I send out a "what's on the podcast this week" email to people who signed up for a free guide or a free online class – and this week, I screwed up royally about an episode of We Turned Out Okay! I wrote the email update for this past week well before I recorded the episode that went up this past Thursday, and as a result what I said would be this week's Your Child Explained episode wasn'...

It's been a busy few weeks in the Ninja Parenting Community – I counted twenty different issues that parents in there are collectively dealing with – and I knew that, if they're having these issues, most likely so are you! Lots of them are bigger issues – but some of them can be resolved so easily. In today's episode, I talk about one of the latter, and how simply by changing one phrase to a relat...

Today's guest, a medical ethicist (in other words, a person who helps determine what is ethical in people's health), took my breath away with his eloquent words on stuff that impacts young children every day. Dr. Arthur Caplan, professor of bioethics in the Department of Population Health at NYU's Langone Medical Center, and I talk about everything from cloning mammoths to stopping malaria and the...

Any graduations, weddings, vacations, or visits with family coming up in your life? If you're nervous about how your child will behave, hopefully we can help you feel better by the end of this episode! As I see it, there are three steps to getting our little kids to behave out in the world (at least – most of the time…) Click weturnedoutokay.com/157 for the show notes, including an outline of the...

Today, we're bringing you another great parent-coaching call with one of our Ninja Parenting Community members! Like many children, Sabrina's youngest daughter struggles with the family's morning routine. She likes to be independent, she doesn't like "to be told," and oftentimes she is not hungry for breakfast before school. Sabrina brings up a whole host of issues having to do with routine, follo...

Today, Ashley Milne-Tyte of The Broad Experience podcast returns to We Turned Out Okay, and our conversation goes in a direction I hadn't anticipated: how women can take on too much, become overwhelmed, and end up unhappy and possibly even ill. Because Ashley's podcast focuses on "women in the workplace," our conversation starts out with the focus on women and moms. But somewhere in here, we stop...

What if there was one question you could ask – and the result would be a more harmonious home? (I know, I don't love the word harmonious either, but it really fits here, so I'm sticking with it.) A harmonious home is one in which the people who live there enjoy each other's company, at least more often than not. Differences are worked out peacefully, everybody's needs are met, and it just feels li...

Today, a listener question about kids and bad language: "My four-year-old has picked up some bad language from other kids in her class. How should I deal with being called "dog face"!! This can seem like a puzzle to which we parents just don't have the answer. If you're feeling like that, listen in! In today's episode I share how to prepare for when your child throws something like this that you –...

Rarely am I speechless – in life or podcasting – but today's guests took my breath away with their observations of real young adults who grew up without open-ended play in their lives. Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky, authors and professors, know a lot about how easy it is for a child growing up today to have zero practical knowledge. It's because their lives were spent preparing for, and taking,...

Recently I spoke with a mom to 2- and 4-year-old girls. Her youngest is just starting to push back (as all 2-year-olds do) – and she's pushing back some times really disrespectfully! Shouting "no!" Sometimes lashing out. Refusing, disrespectfully, to do what her mom needs her to do. Sound familiar? That's why we're including this subject in the Common Parenting Challenges series! Find out how to h...

We're going big-picture today, talking about Einstein's idea that "the most important question facing humanity is, "is the universe a friendly place?" Our answer to this question shapes how our children will answer this question; if we feel surrounded by enemies, so will our sons and daughters. Is that what we really want for them? Or, do we want our children to feel themselves surrounded by frien...

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...