This Is So Awkward

Rerelease! What happens when puberty’s changes intersect with autism? Neuropsychologist Donna Henderson shares expert insights on helping autistic youth navigate this unpredictable life stage with knowledge and dignity. The conversation focuses on how families can support autistic youth through this transition using clear communication, individualized strategies, and an understanding of neurodiver...

Parents have a lot to say about health and sex education in schools, which is fair. In fact, it’s the reason we named our own health + sex ed curriculum That Health Class (insert wink, wink) because of the baggage those words carry. If adults received this education at all, their memories of health + sex ed induce giggles, queasiness, a cold sweat or all three! So why is health + sex ed so importa...

Menopause is a moment in time. But perimenopause can last a decade or more – just like puberty! Dr. Mary Claire Haver returns to the podcast to talk about what’s happening inside the body and brain during perimenopause, why it’s so important to identify the start of the stage of life, and preventive steps you can take to optimize your bones, your muscles, your sex drive, and your sanity. Show Note...

When kids leave home it’s one of the biggest transitional moments of parenting. Feelings range from grief to excitement to loneliness to adventure, for many a mashup of all of these, and that’s just in the first week! This episode covers how we can prepare ourselves (and our kids) for this new era, by setting boundaries, expressing expectations, finding our people, and tons of communication with e...

As the obsession with expensive, make-me-look-younger skin care products rages on, the public deserves to know why some of these products are concerning. There are real medical reasons for young people to avoid these products. We explain which ingredients should be avoided in the tween and teen years, and which ingredients actually help (yep, there are some good ones out there!). This episode isn’...

In this hilarious and heartfelt episode, we’re joined by the dynamic duo Kim and Penn Holderness who share how they handled their daughter's college departure. We cover it all: from overpacking to the medical preparation needed before sending a kid off to the chaos on move-in day, and ultimately, to the pride of watching a kid grow into their own person. Show Notes: Talk to your teen’s doctor abou...

Seemingly everywhere we turn we encounter the class of drugs known as GLP 1’s and the debate over their impact on health and weight. It’s so difficult to separate fact from fiction on this clickbaity topic. So we turned to one of our trusted endocrinologists, Gillian Goddard, author of The Hormone Loop to: provide the history of these medications, untangle the relationship between weight, diabetes...

Friendship choices are a huge part of growing up and can shape kids in great (and challenging ways.) When parents are concerned about friends it’s hard to know if another kid is a “bad influence” or just part of a normal part of the trial and error of relationships. Figuring out how to handle our concerns can be the trickiest part so this episode focuses on how to constructively address kids’ frie...

In our achievement driven culture, creativity often gets billed as a talent bestowed on the chosen few. But in fact, creativity can be a habit part of anyone’s life, offering big picture benefits like better emotional and cognitive wellbeing. Joining us to explore how to incorporate daily creativity into family life are Blythe Harris and Mallory May, authors of the new book Daily Creative. Show No...

Pooping is one of the most important – and least discussed – part of the human experience which leads to shame, misinformation and silent suffering. Neurogastroenterologist and author of You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong Dr. Trisha Pasricha is changing the conversation by opening the lid on gut-brain health, constipation, period poops and so much more. Plus, she offers very specific guidance for healt...

Growing up requires the building blocks of many, many skills over time. From crossing the street to driving a car to working a first job, each new level demands increased self-sufficiency. The hard part for parents is knowing when a kid is ready for each stage and the best ways to let go. This episode offers guidance for the journey that kids (and parents) will travel along the way.  Show Notes: W...

“Find a trusted adult.” Kids hear this endlessly––you probably do, too, if you’re a frequent listener to this podcast. Why? Because it’s one strategy that’s proven to keep kids safe and healthy. In this episode, we take a deeper dive into trusted adults: who are they? What role can and should they play? How and why should they set boundaries? And how can they support themselves as they support kid...

It’s simultaneously wonderful and worrying to launch a kid. The most common denominator question is a version of this: Are they going to be ok when they leave us? We hope – and wonder – if we’ve taught them enough to be out in the world. Christina Geist spent her oldest child’s senior year of high school compiling those life lessons in Before You Fly Away. Her musings are as heartfelt as they are...

If you ask parents what they want for their kid, 99% say some version of: I just want them to be happy! But happiness––and how we achieve it––is complex and layered. We turned to the happiness guru, Dr. Laurie Santos, founder of the Happiness Lab and professor of Yale’s famous class “Psychology and the Good Life,” for answers and insights. You’ll be so happy you listened! Show Notes: Watch the ful...

Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring...

The world around kids’ access to technology is changing at lightning speed – from bell-to-bell school phone bans to the re-emergence of the landline to governmental social media limits for those under 16. No one has been more at the center of these shifts than social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He joins us along with his The Amazing Generation co-author Catherine Price for a lively conversation a...

Two particularly powerful forces affecting boys – looksmaxxing and the manosphere – have gone mainstream. If you care about boys and young men, you must educate yourself in order to talk to them. Looksmaxxing and the manosphere have a fair amount of overlap, which is why a conversation that begins about one often lands at the other. To talk about these topics, you need to know what they are, the v...

When people think of gynecology, they usually think of care that happens for older teens and adults, from birth control to pregnancy to menopause. But there’s a whole world of gynecologic conditions that affect young girls and adolescents, too. Dr Nichole A Tyson + Dr. Joseph Sanfilippo, giants in the field of Pediatric Adolescent Gynecology, join us for a wide ranging conversation about painful p...

Exams have always been a stressful part of growing up. But layer on growing college admissions pressure, spiraling teen mental health, and recognition of the wide variety of learning styles, and the volume turns way up. This episode was prompted by a listener's question seeking advice about how to get through exam season from every angle: from the role of AI to the necessity of exams in the first...

What makes kids tick? Even when they appear uninterested, defiant, or lazy, there’s usually much more lurking under the surface. To learn how to pull it out of them––and how to connect and communicate, too––we’re joined by Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes (inspiration for the movie Mean Girls), who has spent her career exploring how to get the best out of tweens and teens. Show...

Emotional intelligence is often called EQ. Some might say it’s a soft skill, but in fact research shows it’s central to lifelong resilience and wellbeing. Building EQ takes years and years––adults are still working on it too!––but starting young, kids can develop self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making abilities. This episode digs into all the wa...

Sexuality education is proven to have positive impacts on kids’ lifelong wellbeing in all areas and yet, people assume it only covers S-E-X. In fact, as health educator Shafia Zaloom discusses on the podcast, this corner of education provides young people with a wide variety of life-critical skills like emotional intelligence, boundary setting, conflict resolution, and so much more. Yes, science-b...

Gut instinct is only partially innate – it’s also very much learned and developed over time. And it turns out to be a fundamental safety skill kids need to master. To do this, we need to shed the “stranger danger” approach of the 1980s, replacing it with the concept of “tricky people,” because it turns out that those who harm kids are often not strangers to them at all. This episode is all about h...

Parenting brings up so many difficult emotions like: disgust, disappointment, anger and more. Layer on top the shame parents experience for having those feelings! Two mental health professionals, Hilary Hendel and Julie Fraga, authors of Parents Have Feelings Too, join us to normalize the full emotional landscape of parenting and offer tools for moving forward in loving and constructive ways. Show...

Kids are constantly analyzing and expressing their views on fairness––they do it in school, at home, on the sports field, basically everywhere. There are two different interpretations of fairness: equity and equality. We explore the difference between meeting each person’s individual needs vs slicing the pie the same way for all. While the constant refrain of “It’s not fair!” can be irritating to...