This Is So Awkward

This is Part 2 of our series with disability rights activist Emily Ladau. In this conversation, Emily up-ends the wide ranging assumptions many people make about disabled people and sexuality. Show Notes: Emily Ladau Demystifying Disability National Council for Independent Living Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy...

Disability rights activist Emily Ladau describes her experience through puberty with a physical disability, sharing her own story in the most eye-opening, heartwarming conversation. If you’ve never thought about what it’s like to transform physically and emotionally while managing physical limitations, this episode will open your mind. Show Notes: Emily Ladau Demystifying Disability National Counc...

We are joined by our fantastic intern, Elizabeth Rudge, to hear what she learned while researching the health and sex ed standards across the country. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a huge range of requirements here, not to mention consequences for *not* teaching the bare minimum. Show Notes:  Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships with Ebele Onyema SIECUS Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out...

A listener shared her concern about her early-blooming 7th grade daughter hanging out with 8th and 9th graders. She’s asking a version of a very big, very common question: how should adults manage the known risks to a younger kid in a social dynamic without irritating or alienating that same kid enough that they run straight into the arms of the older crowd? Show Notes: Order our book This Is So A...

This super common question comes our way regularly: Is it normal for breast buds to appear and disappear? (Often followed by: because it happened to my kid!). The short answer is a resounding YES. This episode offers the longer answer. Show Notes: 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 br...

Dopamine is the famous – and somewhat infamous – feel good neurochemical in the brain. Neuropsychologist Molly Colvin returns to The Puberty Podcast, this time to explain adolescent moods, decisions and actions given where they are along the path of brain maturation and their heightened sensitivity to dopamine. Show Notes: Molly Colvin on Twitter  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all ou...

A parent wrote in with a wonderful question about how to manage the increasing demands of his tweens and teens. When one is having an issue, is there a way to find balance with the others who still deserve (and need!) attention? Show Notes: 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 us...

Sleep and food may dominate the chorus of parenting battles, but sunscreen is a highly predictable seasonal interloper. Wearing it prevents skin cancers (and wrinkles!), yet our less-than-consequential-thinking kids often refuse to (or worse yet, they flat-out lie). This episode is all about sunscreen – different types and ingredients and SPFs – and how the heck to get a kid to actually use it.  S...

We received an excellent question from a listener in response to our Season 1 episode about hook-up culture featuring OOMLA interns. Can the current reality of situationships be chalked up to things like the lack of parental voice at the end of a phone line, no intimidating person when you ring the doorbell, and other absences that were unimaginable when we were growing up? Show Notes: Order our b...

Back by popular demand, clinical psychologist Dr. Tori Cordiano explains study skills: from setting realistic expectations to understanding how they evolve over time. Tori is a Puberty Podcast favorite because she offers clear advice and guidance that will save us adults from completely losing it! Show Notes: Tori Cordiano Insta and  Tori Cordiano newsletter sign-up and website Order our book This...

Questions swirl around bras: Does a kid need to wear one? When should they start? What type should they wear? The list goes on and on, and we cover all of it. Spoiler alert: the answer often boils down to it all depends… Show Notes: 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 us to your...

Listener questions can open up profoundly important conversations. Like this one, that asks whether their menstruating 10-year old daughter should start taking a birth control pill because the family lives in a state where abortion is illegal even in the case of rape. We answer from every angle, wading into medical, parental, social, and emotional considerations. Show Notes: Order our book This Is...

The author of our own puberty narratives — literally — is coming to theaters everywhere this weekend. Judy Blume’s stigma-shattering story “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” has been adapted into film more than 50 years after its initial publication. There’s so much to say about the impact of this story, then and now. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and...

It’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t been gobsmacked by Peggy Orenstein’s chronicles of adolescence, laid out in her books Girls & Sex and Boys & Sex. During peak COVID, Peggy wrote on a new and wildly unrelated topic: Unraveling dives into the hilarious and harsh realities of raising teens while anticipating an empty nest. We talk to her about all of it! Show Notes: Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein O...

Caregivers of tweens and teens sit in the middle of the family sandwich, looking out for kids and aging parents, but often stretched so thin we can’t even identify — let alone meet — our own needs. This episode is all about how to ask for the help we need, finding balance so that we can look after ourselves as well as everyone else. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our s...

There’s lots to say on a controversial subject that ranges from hair removal to nose jobs. We explore it all with one reigning principle: leave your judgment at the door. Show Notes: 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 us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.c...

When 19-year-old Henry was in the 4th grade, he received a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. His tween and teen years were intertwined with chronic illness, but he made the conscious choice not to be defined by it — instead, becoming a multi-sport athlete and fiercely independent adolescent. Then, sophomore year of high school, a second, separate medical challenge came his way. Adults and kids will al...

We welcome Dr. Kelly Fradin back to the podcast to discuss a highly complex aspect of parenting: managing kids’ medical diagnoses and subsequent challenges. Her new book, Advanced Parenting, is an empathetic guide designed to help adults understand and manage all kinds of health challenges — both physical and mental. Show Notes: Advanced Parenting Follow Dr. Kelly Fradin on Social Media Instagram ...

The stressful – not to mention (sometimes prohibitively) expensive – college process lands some kids where they want to be. But others are left disappointed. And many describe being somewhat traumatized by the whole experience, regardless of outcome. How can we be supportive to the kids in the midst of a process that itself has gone haywire?  Show Notes: www.grownandflown.com Order our book This I...

The microbiome is an important component of health throughout the body: in the gut, on the skin, and yes, even in the genital tract. During puberty, as bodies change these ecosystems shift, particularly in the moister, oilier, and hairier parts. We get into why the situation turns itchy, focusing on one major category: yeast infections. Show Notes: The Vajenda by Jen Gunter Order our book This Is...

This is one of the most common questions we get from adults! Can I talk to a kid about their changing body when I don’t have the same parts? Spoiler alert: 100% YES. We spend this episode explaining why and how to cover mechanics and logistics, even when you don’t share the same biological equipment. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.les...

Dealing with executive functioning in tweens and teens can be a perfect storm of frustration, anger, and low self-esteem. Clinical psychologist, Tori Cordiano, shares insight into what’s happening in the brain and trade secrets about how kids and adults alike can maximize executive function skills at different ages. Show Notes: Tori Cordiano Insta and  Tori Cordiano newsletter sign-up and website....

Excellent listener question alert! What’s a parent supposed to do when they follow our advice and attempt to start conversations, only to be repeatedly shut down by their kid? Show Notes: 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 us to your school or community email operations@lessawkw...

We thought our recent social media post about masturbation was benign, offering straightforward advice about safe ways to talk to your kid. But it sparked a massive reaction — good and bad. Which is why we decided to do an episode talking about why masturbation really freaks people out. Show Notes: IG Reel discussed in the episode Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and cu...

Braces, retainers, and all other mouth hardware offer a rite of passage for the awkward years. This hardware affects self-esteem, finances, executive functioning and more. Thanks to a beautiful listener question, we unpack all the ways that orthodonture impacts adolescents… and their parents. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward...