How Not to Screw Up Your Kids

If you’re a woman in your 40s or 50s who feels like everything has suddenly become harder - the brain fog, the overwhelm, the burnout, the emotional crashes, the sense that you’re “failing” at things you used to manage - this episode may explain more than you realise. I’m joined again by Jessie Hewitson to talk about a phenomenon we’re seeing everywhere: women in peri‑ and post‑menopause receiving...

If your daughter is “fine at school” but falling apart at home - the meltdowns, the morning battles, the homework explosions, the constant need for you to narrate every step - this episode may be the missing piece you’ve been searching for. Because none of this is about attitude, defiance or bad parenting. It may be ADHD, and in girls it looks nothing like the stereotype. In this episode, I walk y...

If you’re parenting a girl who is anxious, overwhelmed, explosive at home, masking at school, or constantly burning out, this episode will give you answers you may have been searching for for years. I’m joined by Dr Olivia Kesel, whose new book Beyond the Label: Empowering Parents of ADHD Girls is one I believe every parent of a daughter should read. Olivia shares her story of years of chaos, sham...

If your child is constantly shouting “It’s not fair!”, measuring every biscuit, bedtime or privilege against their sibling, and turning every moment into a competition, this episode will help you breathe again. None of this is really about fairness; it’s about belonging. When children compare, they’re not asking about portions. They’re asking, do I matter as much as they do? In this episode, I’ll...

If you’ve ever worried about sibling rivalry, felt guilty about how your attention is divided, or wondered whether your children secretly believe you have a favourite, this episode will change how you see your family forever. I’m joined by journalist and author Catherine Carr to talk about her extraordinary book Who’s the Favourite? - a deep dive into the hidden emotional world of siblings. We exp...

When your child looks at you and says, “I’m not good enough,” it hits you in the chest. Every instinct you have wants to fix it, to tell them they’re brilliant, to list every wonderful thing about them, to make the feeling go away. But if you’ve tried that, you already know it doesn’t work. They don’t believe you. They cry harder. They shut down. And you’re left wondering what on earth you’re supp...

If your child is melting down over tiny mistakes, refusing to start homework, or abandoning activities the moment they stop being “naturally good,” this episode is one you cannot afford to skip. I’m seeing perfectionism show up in more children than ever, and most parents don’t realise it’s not about high standards at all. It’s anxiety. And it’s quietly eroding your child’s confidence, resilience,...

If your child can spend 45 minutes sharpening pencils, rearranging their desk, or “revising” without absorbing a single thing, you are not imagining it - something is getting in the way of their concentration, and it’s not laziness or lack of effort. In this bucket emptying episode, I’ll show you why so many children struggle to focus, even when they’re trying, and why the strategies most parents...

If you’ve ever wondered why your child can spend 40 minutes talking about Minecraft but can’t concentrate for four minutes on homework, this episode explains everything. I’m joined again by Professor Sam Wass, and if you heard his previous episodes, you’ll know why parents loved them. In today’s conversation, Sam breaks down what concentration actually is from a neuroscience perspective, why young...

If your child is anxious, you already know how hard evenings can be. You sit beside them wanting desperately to help, but every time you try to reassure them, it backfires. Logic doesn’t land. Distraction doesn’t stick. And sometimes, despite your best intentions, the thing you say makes everything worse. This episode gives you something you can use tonight . I’ll walk you through five specific, e...

If your child is melting down over homework, asking endless “what if” questions, getting mysterious tummy aches, refusing school, withdrawing from activities, or exploding the moment they walk through the door, you need this episode. I work with anxious and dysregulated children every single day, and what I want you to know is this: most of the behaviours parents struggle with aren’t actually beha...

If you’re raising a boy, you already know this: you can believe in him with your whole heart, and still watch him struggle to believe in himself.    You tell him he’s brilliant and he shrugs it off. You encourage him and he brushes it away. You try to have a meaningful conversation and suddenly his phone becomes the most fascinating object on earth. Meanwhile, you can see the gap widenin...

If your child is melting down, shutting down, refusing school, avoiding sleep, snapping back, or clinging to you because something feels “wrong” but they can’t explain what, you’re in the right place. I’m Dr Maryhan, a psychologist who works with anxious and dysregulated children every single day. And here’s what I want you to know: most of the behaviours that keep you up at night aren’t really ab...

If you’re raising a boy right now, you already know this: the world he’s growing up in is tougher, louder, and more confusing than ever, and the cracks in his confidence can appear long before you realise what’s happening. Maybe you’ve watched your son compare himself to other boys and quietly decide he’s not good enough. Maybe he shrinks back, masks who he really is, or performs confidence he doe...

If your children have been at each other all week, this episode will change everything. I’m diving into one of the biggest sources of family stress - sibling conflict - and why it’s almost never about the toy, the sofa, or the “look” one child gave the other, and nearly always about your children’s emotional buckets overflowing. In this bucket-emptying episode, I walk you through three powerful to...

You don’t need more time with your child. You just need five intentional minutes . And in this episode, I’ll show you exactly why those tiny moments matter more than you think. If you’ve ever worried that you’re not present enough, not connected enough, or that the days are slipping by while you’re juggling work, life and everything in between, you’re not alone. I hear this from parents constantly...

Back‑chat isn’t your child being “difficult” - it’s a message. And in this episode, I’m going to show you how to finally hear it. If you’re dealing with eye‑rolls, snappy comebacks, or that sudden surge of attitude that leaves you wondering what on earth is happening, you’re not alone. So I’m going to unpack what back‑chat really means, why it shows up at any age, and the psychological needs sitti...

In this episode, you’ll discover a completely different way to think about feeding your family - one that saves you time, money, stress, and emotional bandwidth, and joining me is Helen Hopkins, better known as The Meal Time Maverick, whose viral batch‑cooking method has transformed kitchens across the UK. Instead of filling your freezer with meals you forget to defrost, Helen shows you how to bat...

We all have an inner critic. Even us parents. In today’s episode, I explore one of the most overlooked but powerful ways to lighten your emotional load and quieten your inner critic. Modern parenting gives that critical voice endless opportunities to speak up - especially when we compare our behind‑the‑scenes chaos to everyone else’s curated highlight reel. I unpack why we’re so much kinder to our...

Hands up if you like homework… Me neither. But homework isn’t just a task to be completed. It’s a powerful opportunity to build persistence, resilience and independence in your children. Homework can so easily become a battleground filled with tears, avoidance and frustration, yet when we shift our focus from performance to process, everything changes. In today’s episode, I explore why the “how” o...

In today’s bucket‑emptying episode, I explore what it really means to live with parental guilt - that ever‑present tug that arrives the moment we become parents and never fully disappears. I talk about why guilt isn’t a sign that you’re failing, but a natural by‑product of caring deeply across multiple roles: parent, professional, partner, friend, adult child. Instead of treating guilt as a perfor...

Do you have more than one child? Are they constantly fighting for your time and energy? So how do you parent siblings? In today’s episode, I explore how birth order shapes your children’s development, behaviour, and long‑term identity. You’ll learn why research consistently shows firstborn advantages in earnings, IQ, and academic outcomes, and what sits beneath those patterns - from early illness...

In this episode, I will explain the viral “Where’s Jessica?” distraction trend and discover whether it truly helps your child manage big emotions. I am going to show you why distraction can work in the moment - the novelty, the shift in attention, and the calm, curious tone that naturally regulates your child’s nervous system, and you’ll see why relying on distraction long‑term can backfire, teach...

In today’s episode, we will explore how to help your child navigate life’s inevitable uncertainties, from exam results and friendship turbulence to school transitions and family change. You’ll learn why shielding your child from uncertainty actually weakens resilience, and how simple shifts in the way you listen, respond, and structure daily life can dramatically improve their ability to cope. I w...

In today’s bucket-emptying episode, you’ll learn the three essential foundations your child needs before confidence can grow. If you’ve got a child who avoids challenges, gets overwhelmed easily, or insists they’re “rubbish” at everything, this is where you start. In this episode you’ll discover how to explain the mind–body connection in a way your child can actually understand, why their brain of...