The Parenting Lab (Help for the Healing Parent)

How often do you say “I’m sorry” when you haven’t actually done anything wrong? Parents often apologize to soften a decision, avoid conflict, or make their needs easier for someone else to accept. But over time, those automatic apologies can turn a clear choice into a request for permission - and leave you second-guessing yourself. In this episode, we’re exploring four things you never need to apo...

What does healthy compromise look like in parenting - and how do you know when to negotiate, when to hold firm, and when a limit needs to grow with your child? In this episode, we explore the “sweet spot of mutual discomfort”: the place where parents and children both stretch a little to reach an agreement that takes everyone’s needs seriously. We’ll talk about how collaborative parenting can redu...

Have you ever known your child needed empathy, but felt too irritated, distracted, or depleted to care? I’ve been there - and the guilt afterward can be almost as hard as the moment itself. In this episode, we're talking about empathy fatigue : why compassion can feel out of reach even when you love your child deeply. We’ll look at what might be draining your capacity, from the emotional deman...

What can your zodiac sign reveal about your parenting strengths, stress responses, and opportunities for growth? In this fun birthday episode, we explore all 12 zodiac signs - from Aries to Pisces - and how their natural personality traits may shape the way we connect, protect, communicate, set boundaries, and respond under pressure. We’ll look at the gifts and shadow sides of each sign and what a...

Every parent has moments they wish they had handled differently - but what we do after a parenting mistake may matter just as much as the original moment. In this episode, I explore why fear, embarrassment, dysregulation, and old patterns can shape our reactions, and how we can repair without abandoning boundaries or accountability. I’ll also walk you through a practical five-step process for taki...

Every mother has a story - but many of us have learned to minimize, edit, or keep parts of ours hidden. In this episode, I’m joined by Kim Marshall, parent coach and creator and curator of Motherhood Expanded , a multi-author anthology sharing the honest lived experiences of women across different ages and stages of motherhood. Together, we explore why telling the truth about motherhood can feel s...

“ How do I get my child to listen? ” “ How do I stop yelling? ” “ How do I know if I’m doing this right? ” These are three of the most common questions parents ask me - but the answers aren’t usually found in another script, consequence, or parenting strategy. In this episode, we're exploring what parents are really seeking beneath these questions: control, change, and certainty. You'll le...

Back-to-school anxiety isn’t just for kids. Parents carry worries into a new school year, too - about teachers, friendships, grades, learning challenges, IEPs and 504 plans, new schools, and big transitions into junior high, high school, or college. In this episode, we explore the difference between preparing for the school year and bracing for everything that might go wrong. You’ll learn how pare...

As children grow, our authority naturally begins to fade - but that doesn’t mean our guidance has to disappear. In this episode, we explore the difference between control and influence , why control can feel so reassuring, and how parents can build the kind of trust that allows their voice to matter even when the choice no longer belongs to them. We’ll talk about compliance, boundaries, emotional...

What does it mean to feel truly seen - not just noticed, listened to, or known by the roles we play? In this episode, we explore the power of witnessing: seeing the person within the experience and meeting their truth with both honesty and humanity. We’ll look at how witnessing strengthens relationships, changes the way we respond to our children, loosens shame, and helps us reconnect with parts o...

How do we get our partner on board with a change - without convincing, controlling, or reluctantly giving in? In this episode, we revisit the Head, Heart, Hands framework and turn it into a simple exercise for creating genuine buy-in. By exploring what makes sense, what feels meaningful, and what each person is honestly willing to contribute, we can better understand what matters to one another -...

Is screen time really the problem - or is it revealing something deeper? In this episode, we're looking beyond the usual conversations about screen time limits, educational apps, and family rules. Instead, we're exploring what screens do to our nervous systems - and why they can become such a powerful source of immediate relief for both children and parents. We'll talk about dopamine,...

Our words shape more than our children's behavior—they shape the story our children begin to believe about themselves. In this episode, we're exploring how parents can unintentionally communicate shame, even when our goal is to teach responsibility, honesty, and respect. We'll talk about the difference between correcting behavior and defining identity, why shame gets in the way of acco...

Welcome to Lab Notes ! In addition to our weekly deep-dive episodes, I'll be dropping in from time to time with these shorter conversations - quick reflections, observations, and fresh perspectives inspired by MY everyday parenting. Think of them as little pauses in your week. A chance to slow down, notice something you may not have considered before, and carry one small shift with you into th...

What if your attachment style isn't your identity? Attachment theory has given millions of people language to understand their relationship patterns, but what if the way we talk about attachment is limiting the way we think about it? In this episode of The Parenting Lab , we're exploring a simple but powerful shift in perspective: moving from thinking about attachment as a fixed style to v...

☑️ Download the FREE Self Assessment Workbook What if you stopped measuring your parenting by your child's behavior - and started measuring the health of your relationship instead? In this episode of The Parenting Lab , we're slowing down to take an honest, compassionate look at where things really stand. Together, we'll walk through a simple parenting self-assessment designed to help...

Leave a comment with your favorite "Dad Phrase!" "Because I said so." "Turn off the lights." "When I was your age..." In honor of Father's Day, we're taking a lighthearted look at some of the classic phrases dads seem to share across generations. From lectures about electricity to stories that somehow get more dramatic every year, these familiar one-liners have become part of the soundtrack of fam...

Join the FREE 5-Day Abundant Parenting Challenge How do we create a peaceful family culture when life is noisy, messy, emotional, and unpredictable? This week, we're building on last week's conversation about abundance vs. scarcity and exploring why peace isn't found in the absence of conflict, chaos, or big emotions - it's found in the presence of connection, safety, meaning, and...

Sign up for the FREE 5-Day Abundant Parenting Challenge What if abundance isn’t about having more? In this episode, we explore a different way of thinking about abundance and scarcity - not as personality traits or mindsets you either have or don’t have, but as states you move in and out of. When life feels overwhelming, our nervous systems narrow our perspective, making everything feel urgent, hi...

We often talk about work life and home life as though they exist in separate worlds. But stress, fulfillment, connection, burnout, and emotional wellbeing don't stay neatly contained in one environment. We carry them with us wherever we go. In this episode, we explore the connection between our relationships, nervous systems, workplace performance, and overall wellbeing. Together, we'll ch...

Family vacations are supposed to be magical… so why do they so often leave us feeling disappointed, overwhelmed, or even a little resentful? In this episode, we’re talking about the gap between expectations vs. reality in family vacations and summer with kids - and why even the most thoughtfully planned trips don’t always feel the way we hoped they would. If you’ve ever found yourself thinking: “I...

Why do you react so strongly in certain moments - snapping, shutting down, avoiding, or people-pleasing - even when you don’t want to ? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we’re breaking down the 4 default stress responses - fight , flight , freeze , and fawn - and how your nervous system shapes the way you show up in parenting, relationships, and everyday life. If you’ve ever wondered: Why do I...

🌱 The companion ebook, Re-Mothering Yourself: A Journey Back to Safety, Wholeness & Inner Guidance , is available now at theparentinglab.org. Mother’s Day can bring up more than flowers, cards, and appreciation. For many women, it also brings exhaustion, grief, resentment, unmet needs, parenting triggers, and the quiet weight of carrying wounds that never fully healed. In this episode, I'm in...

🧘🏼‍♀️ Download Lab 5: Regulated - The Science of Safety & The Nervous System What do you do when you have nothing left to give… but people still need you? If you’ve ever felt emotionally depleted, overwhelmed, or like you’re running on empty in parenting, your relationship, or your life - this episode is for you. This week on The Parenting Lab , I’m sharing a more personal, unfiltered conver...

🍃 Click HERE to download your FREE Cycle Responsive Parenting Guide + Mood Tracker This week, I’m joined by women’s health and hormone expert Shara Jackson Harper to explore a topic so many moms experience - but rarely understand: why parenting can feel easier some weeks and so much harder during others. If you’ve ever wondered why you feel patient, playful, and connected one week… then overstimu...