The Balanced Parent Podcast

For this episode, I am happy to be joined by Kiran Trace. She is a human development expert and spiritual teacher with 15 years of clinical experience in childhood development and early childhood education. She has built education, leadership, and developmental skill programs for children in high-risk populations and respite programs for adults and children with mild to severe developmental disabi...

I have a secret: I have been really struggling with STUFF lately. I am not sure if it's because of pandemic stress, or simply a need to feel safe and secure, but for the past year and a half I have been holding on to a LOT (both physical stuff AND emotional stuff). And I don't think I'm alone in this? Have you been holding on to stuff too? Are you feeling overwhelmed and a bit lost on how to let g...

The topic for this episode is a problem we all likely face, and with the mixed research coming out on the effect of social media on teens, it's particularly important. With the ever-changing beauty standards and the influx of social media, our perception and definition of beauty are heavily focused outward as opposed to inward. And no matter how well you meet society's standards of beauty, this ca...

I'm guessing you are all busy with the upcoming holidays. And as parents, sometimes the preparations and pressures of this time of year can pull up in a million different directions and away from what truly matters to us. And so for this week, I have a podcast episode to help us do a quick "check in" ourselves to make sure that we are aligned with our goals and intentions. This is super important...

Our different responsibilities and even the demands of our jobs can take a toll on our marriage. To help us understand how we can deepen our connection and have a more fulfilling relationship as busy parents living through a pandemic, I have invited Kimberly Beam Holmes to dive deep into what it takes to have a long-lasting, fulfilling relationship. She is the CEO of the Marriage Helper and is cur...

Asking for help can be so hard, for grown-ups and kids alike! Knowing when and how to ask for help and where to find support is an important skill that is developed with time and practice, that most of us are still learning. How wonderful would it be if our kids could learn this while they are young and the stakes are low? So, for this episode, I wanted to give you a resource on how to help childr...

I am so excited for this episode because I have been talking about this topic in my community. Actually, this is the center of what I have been teaching which is conscious and respectful parenting. And so, I have brought a new friend and colleague to help us dive deep into what exactly conscious parenting is.   To help me in this conversation, I would love to introduce Sidu Arroyo-Boulte...

When we think of "creativity", we immediately think of art, paintings, and drawings. But it actually goes way beyond that and creativity is a crucial skill we need as parents for ourselves & our own experience, and for our kids as they grow. Embracing creativity means encouraging our children's (and our own!) curiosity and using everyday situations to stimulate new ideas, find new ways to see...

I've been getting a lot of questions from my community about how to handle kids' challenging behaviors and where to get support. And a lot of the stories I hear about this kids send my “ADHD” alarm bell ringing. Kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can look like they are simply misbehaving or being defiant when in reality they have something getting in the way of them being ab...

I truly believe, from the bottom of my heart, that one of the most effective ways we as parents can change the world is through our children and our parenting. That conscious, respectful parenting is in itself a radical act of activism in a world that is unjust. And that anti-racist activism is an integral part of this work that we are all doing as we raise our kids differently than how we were pa...

Parenthood can be really tough. There's so much to think about like house chores, taking care of our kids, keeping our cool, and even managing our careers. It's a LOT. And when we are bombarded with so much stress and fatigue juggling all of these responsibilities (especially after the last 18 months!), we may start to really feel like we are failing, not doing any one thing well, and have this li...

I hope you learn a lot from the Challenging Behavior Series for the past two weeks. If you have any questions about this topic, please let me know! I would love to hear your thoughts, concerns, and your experiences. Okay so, since last week's episode I have been getting quite a lot of questions from parents asking how they can approach sibling conflicts. SO many of you are wondering how to navigat...

I really hoped you enjoyed last week's episode, which was the first installment of a two-part series on "challenging behaviors". We really dug into the "why" behind these behaviors and how to help kiddos through these hard times. Now, I know that sometimes my episodes are a bit conceptual, or theoretical, and that can make it hard to really know what this all looks like in practice. This is why I...

Sometimes kids can be so tricky, right? We don't know exactly what will set them off, and then what do to when they are in the midst of their big feelings and the challenging behaviors that can go with them. Things like defiance, aggression, and destructiveness. It can be a lot and it's no wonder we can get super triggered by it all. It's so hard to keep our heads on straight and remind ourselves...

Okay, so my first-born daughter is almost nine years old. And I know that just a few short years from now, I will be dealing with a teenager. This is something that I have been thinking about a LOT lately! I don't want to be caught off guard or unprepared for the teen years, and I know that what I'm doing now as a parent is laying the groundwork for a smooth transition for both of us as individual...

As parents, most of us share the same goal: to provide them the unconditional love & support that we missed (sometimes) growing up. As I transitioned into motherhood I wanted so badly for my daughter to know how deeply she was loved, that I was there for her, that I was sensitively attuned to her needs and would be there to meet them. But in the process, I, like so many of you, found that I wa...

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by your responsibilities as a parent that you feel like you are carrying a huge burden, all on your own? Like no one sees all you do, and that no one else in the family is doing as much as you? Well, you aren't alone.  Most of the parents I coach who are parenting with a partner struggle with communicating with their partners on navigating parenting and respons...

For this week's episode on The Balanced Parent Podcast, we  are going to GEEEK OUT on the amazing stuff going on in your kids BRAIN. If you have been following me, you would probably know I love this topic. I love to talk about brains and understanding what's going on inside our kids' brains and I truly believe it can help us understand their behavior, tap into compassion, and meet them where...

I know that for most couples, as they are navigating a divorce and separation, one of their biggest worries is the effect it will have on their children. Most modern research on divorce is showing that the negative effects on children can usually be attributed to the negative conflict in the years leading up to the divorce, rather than the divorce itself, and can actually be minimal when the coupl...

One of the things that we focus on a lot here at The Balanced Parent is conscious communication. Often that comes up in the context of couples, but the skills I teach are just as important for families that are in the midst of separation or divorce or are looking for support in navigating co-parenting with a former partner. This stage is difficult. It brings in fear, depression, and anxiety toward...

How do we raise responsible adults? I know that for many of you, with your eye on the "long game" that this is one of you goals. You want to raise kind, good humans who know how to take care of themselves and those they love. Who know how to work hard, solve problems with creativity, & have successful lives. And "responsibility" often is a big part of that! And so, in this episode, we are join...

I don't know about you, but before I became a mom I had no idea how heavy the load would be. Not just the day-to-day tasks of feeding and caring for a family, but all the unseen, unspoken, invisible labor that is a part of modern motherhood. The planning, the home organization, the lists, the mental maps, the appointments... EVERYTHING seems to fall on us at times. If you ever felt this way, I wan...

I am so excited for this week on The Balanced Parent Podcast because we will be having a unique "combo" episode! The first part is a replay of a Facebook Live I did where I discussed some "subconscious" reasons we choose our partners. And then a community member reached out with some awesome follow-up questions that really took things to the next level, so I asked if we could record our conversati...

For this week, I have invited Rosalia Rivera of Consent Parenting to talk more about bodies, particularly: consent, body safety, and boundaries. She is a consent educator, abuse prevention specialist, and sexual literacy and child's rights advocate. She is a speaker and host of the fabulous AboutCONSENT™ podcast for survivors. As a founder of CONSENTparenting™, Rosalia is on a mission to help all...