Parental As Anything

One in 70 people in Australia is autistic, so chances are you've had an experience with Autism. As a spectrum, it's not a straight line — and no two children with Autism have the same characteristics. Autistic music therapist Allison Davies tells Maggie Dent the world can be challenging for autistic kids, but better understanding their panorama of strengths and aspirations will allow them to flour...

Miscarriage remains a taboo topic, with many women delaying the announcement of their pregnancy. So what impact does this so-called '12-week rule' have on parents and their kids if a pregnancy does end? Maggie Dent wants to get you comfortable with discussing miscarriage with your child. She talks to Amanda Bowles — CEO of pregnancy loss support organisation Bears of Hope — about how to do it in a...

Maggie Dent is the queen of common-sense parenting — and her podcast is essential listening for all parents. She's now turned Parental As Anything into a book, a no-nonsense guide to raising happy, healthy kids — and it's as indispensable as the podcast.

Teenagers love their phones. All day. Every day. Even at night. And while there are lots of really great things about smartphones, there are so many pitfalls — strangers, bullying, porn, sexting. How do you guide your teenager's digital life? Find out when Maggie Dent talks with Dr Ginni Mansberg, GP and co-author of The New Teen Age, a book which looks at what teenagers are up against on their de...

With bad news available 24/7, if it's hard for adults to stay optimistic, how are kids meant to do it? Is there ever a good time to watch the news with your children? And if you've got teenagers, how do you stop them getting down and stressed about the world? Maggie Dent talks to psychologist and stress reduction practitioner (yes, that's a thing!) Sean Panambalana about the dangers of 'doom scrol...

Warning: this episode discusses suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death in Australian young people — and there is no simple solution to this heartbreaking reality. As a problem that thrives in silence, Maggie Dent wants to get you okay with discussing suicide and suicidal tendencies. She talks to Celina, a woman from her community whose son died by suicide, adolescent psychiatrist Mat Colem...

If your child told you they felt more like a boy than a girl, or more like a girl than a boy, would you know what to say or how to support them? When the parents of today were kids, very little was widely understood about gender identity and gender dysphoria. In this episode you’ll learn about gender and what it’s like to be a trans kid. Maggie Dent speaks with teenager Olivia Stewart who began tr...

Getting up in the dead of night to change wet sheets — only for them to be wet again — can be frustrating and worrying. But having a child who regularly wets the bed is way more common than you think. Paediatric specialist Dr Megan Yap talks to Maggie Dent about ways to work through this passing phase.

Sibling rivalry — situation normal, right? But how much is too much, and what can you change in your family dynamic to take the pressure down? Maggie Dent talks to psychologist and mum Michelle Chiang about when to call a truce on these daily battles and when to stay out of them.

Teenage girls — it can be a tricky time when you're not sure if your daughter likes or loathes you. But here's the thing, she needs you now more than ever. Join Maggie Dent as she gives you great tips on how to make the ride smoother. She talks to educator and parenting author Michelle Mitchell about what girls most need from their parents to thrive in the teen years.

One minute your son is laughing about farts and driving you mad because he can't sit still. The next minute he's grumpy and never wants to leave his room. Adolescence can seem to come in an instant, so how do you prepare for it and help your son survive and thrive? Maggie Dent talks to adolescent expert and former ER Doctor Arne Rubinstein about the positive influences that can help shape a boy's...

Have you ever Googled 'how to be a good parent'? You're not alone — it's the most Googled question parents have each year. We all put too much pressure on ourselves to be the best possible parents, but the truth is, all you need to be is good enough. Author and educator Dr Susie O'Brien tells Maggie Dent that it's OK for modern parents to lower their standards and let their kids — not to mention t...

The queen of common-sense parenting, Maggie Dent, is back with more tips and tricks on how you can nail this parenting caper. In this season of Parental As Anything Maggie will cover everything from bed wetting and sibling rivalry to how to cope with raising a surly teenager. The first episode is out March 16. Subscribe so you don't miss out.

In the next week or so parents across Australia will be waving their child off at the school gate, many for the first time. So, we're revisiting one of the most popular episodes of 2020 — how to get your kids to school without the stress and tears. Maggie Dent and child and adolescent psychologist, Dr Kaylene Henderson, give you all the tips you need to help you and your child nail those first day...

Do you hate your thighs? Your skin? Your post-baby body? Around 80 per cent of women within the normal body mass index range are dissatisfied with their bodies and those rates are increasing in men too. So how can we make sure our kids don’t develop the same negative body image we have? Maggie talks to Natasha Devon, a Body Image Campaigner, about how you can help your child love themselves just t...

Is your child kind of obnoxious... always wanting to be the centre of attention? Or are they so sensitive they're missing out on opportunities to shine? These traits are part of a temperament spectrum that Maggie calls the Rooster and Lamb Continuum. She talks to parents about how to identify a rooster or a lamb, how to manage their most extreme traits like anxiousness or arrogance, and how to gen...

Sometimes the hardest part about raising a child is the disagreements you have with your partner, or ex, about how to do it. Whether you're sharing custody, navigating the politics of a blended family or simply co-parenting in a stable relationship with your child's other parent, getting on the same page can be HARD. Maggie chats to author and family therapist Susan Stiffelman about how to keep th...

Around 14 per cent of Australian families have a sole parent. Some parents planned it that way, while others never imagined they'd cope without a co-parent until they had to. Maggie chats with a solo mum with three children and a solo dad with one daughter, about their unexpected journeys to sole parenthood, their tips for survival and what they wish everyone else understood about raising kids alo...

Scary fact: kids learn their money habits at home. So how do you help them avoid the mistakes you made? What's the going rate for pocket money, and how do you bring in ideas about spending and saving? Maggie dusts off a classic episode of The Pineapple Project money season, in which presenter Claire Hooper finds out how to use glass jars to send subliminal money messages to her kids, and learns th...

"How many times do I have to ask you to...?" Sound familiar? There are lots of reasons why parents don't make their kids do chores. Children can be bad at cleaning and the nagging to get them to do it is like torture. So why bother? Author of How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims, and Maggie Dent make the case for why you should persist and give you great tips on how to get them to do it (wi...

Telling a child someone they love has died will be one of the toughest things you'll ever have to do. Grief counsellor Karen Ferry explains why talking to kids honestly about death and helping them navigate their feelings will mean way more to them than putting on a happy face and pretending everything is fine. And you'll meet Maddie Cross, a mum who had to support her children while coping with h...

Online gaming is massive and if your child loves playing them, you'll know the struggle to get them to do anything else is real. Maggie talks to Good Game Spawn Point host Rad Yeo about how gaming isn't all bad. And she taps into the brain of addiction specialist Brad Marshall on how to find the right balance, and what to do if you think your kid has a gaming problem.

We get it dads. You're sick of people who say you're 'babysitting' when you look after your own kids; you feel like a fish out of water when you join parent groups full of mothers; and it's still too hard to find a change table in a men's bathroom. Apart from that, there's never been a better time to be a dad! Maggie Dent talks to TV presenter Osher Gunsberg, comedian Peter Helliar, musician Tim R...

The queen of common sense — aka parenting educator and author Maggie Dent — is back with series three of Parental As Anything. She has more practical tips and answers to your parenting dilemmas — promoting positive body image in the age of selfies, helping kids deal with death and loss, avoiding problematic video gaming habits and why making kids do chores is worth the hassle. Over eight episodes,...

If you don't talk to your children about sex, it won't be long before someone else does. But how honest should you be, when should you start explaining it and how much should you tell them? Maggie Dent talks to GP Dr Cindy Pan and sex educator Cath Hakanson about what to say and how to say it when it comes to sex, relationships, consent, pleasure, bodies and porn.