Being A Parent Is Hard!

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...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! This episode focuses on helping parents survive the storm of adolescence by focusing on limit-setting around curfews, dating and other tricky topics. We share stories from our lives and our offices and offer hands-on guidance around limit-setting that focuses on your values rather than your anxiety. We discuss questions such as when to allow your teen to go into...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard!  Pediatrician Dr. Maggie Chalson joins us in this episode to discuss disordered eating in children and teenagers.  Problems such as a distorted body image, feelings of self-hate related to one’s appearance, restricting food intake, overeating, and full-blown eating disorders all plague today’s children and adolescents.  Social media and many parents’ preoccupatio...

Welcome to Being A Parent is Hard. Step into our office as we discuss the thorny issue of how best to manage parenting disagreements. We will be talking about why it is inevitable that parents will disagree about child-rearing issues. We will explore how you and your partner can serve the best interest of your children and protect your relationshiip when tackling these disagreements. From disagree...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! Join us as we talk about the signs and symptoms of OCD in both kids and parents. Did you ever wonder why your child has to do things in a particular order, repeatedly asks the same question, or relentlessly insists that you phrase something a certain way? We share clinical stories about the nature and treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and help parents di...

Welcome to Being a Parent is Hard! When kids are struggling with painful symptoms of anxiety, depression or ADHD, parents often ask whether they should be considering medication for their child. In this episode, we offer insight and guidance about when a consultation for medication is indicated. We share clinical stories, concrete information, and hands-on advice about the pros and cons of differe...