This Is So Awkward

Pediatric endocrinologist (and our personal hero) Dr. Louise Greenspan has lots to say about the latest research on early puberty. This episode covers emerging data from one specific study run during the Covid pandemic. Are the trends found recently blips? Or the beginning of a new, new normal? Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Work...

Kids’ changing friendships during the middle and high school years are a profound part of growing up. While developmentally normal, these changes can be confusing and sometimes painful but they can also be exciting and filled with new opportunities. We will walk through what to say (and what not to say) to kids through these shifts.  Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder...

Young people are struggling under the weight of today’s toxic achievement culture. Journalist Jennifer Wallace’s new book, Never Enough, provides rigorous research to help make sense of how we got here, shedding light on the critical underpinnings of how to combat this issue in our own families.  Show Notes: Never Enough by Jennifer Wallace Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus...

Our families and our kids don’t always turn out the way we expect, with surprising difficulties or unexpected setbacks along the way. Dayna Abraham to the rescue! She’s an educator and parent of three neurodivergent kids managing her own ADHD. None of this stops her – in fact, it fuels her – from offering clear, tactical guidance and humorous reassurance for dealing with the most challenging paren...

Nearly everyone enters summer with lofty tech goals (fewer screens! more fresh air!). Whether you achieved them or not, going back to work and school inevitably means more tech is back in the mix. This episode offers scripts for talking to kids about keeping up good habits and shedding the less good ones. Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to...

Back for a second visit to the podcast, author/blogger/mom Uju Asika shares insights about raising Black boys in the UK. This conversation picks up where our episode from last season left off, covering issues about race, sexism, masculinity, and cultural influences on tweens and teens across the globe.  Show Notes: Raising Boys Who Do Better with Uju Asika Check out all our speaking and curriculum...

It’s easy – and quite human – to identify a symptom or two or three and roll them into a diagnosis. This is as true for kids as it is for adults, so we walk through a bunch of scenarios (and role plays!) about how to handle tween and teen self-diagnosis.  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 w...

When scientist David Hu realized there was no age-appropriate book for his son to understand his penis – a part of the body his son found deeply fascinating – David wrote one! The resulting book is filled with eye-popping and entertaining scientific facts (like the speed of farts vs the speed of ejaculation). We can promise this episode will have you laughing hysterically and deeply engrossed at t...

Every summer has its own soundtrack, and then there’s the one that’s on replay year after year: that endless conversation about the importance of hydration. Learning to care for a growing body means understanding how to stay hydrated and also how to recognize when you’re not. Pro tip: every bit of info in this episode applies to people done with puberty, too. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So...

Listeners often ask us to address sibling dynamics during the adolescent years. Frankly, that could be its own multi-episode series. But just because it’s a vast topic doesn’t mean we can’t toe into the conversation. So in this episode, we start by tackling birth order and sibling relationships during these years, getting into only-child dynamics too.  Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward...

We tend to be prepared for waterworks at graduations and send-offs, but sometimes big emotions sneak up at unexpected moments. Summer is a time with lots of such moments, so in this episode we talk through how to handle tears… or just let them flow. 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.myo...

If you’re sending a kid away for part of the summer – or even if you’re just sending them off for the day – here are the key conversations to have before getting too far into summer. 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@l...

When the adults raising boys understand their biological and social development, they can better support and guide them. Jennifer Fink is a writer, podcaster, and mom of four (boys) who makes it her mission to change the way we think about caring for adolescent boys(!!).  Show Notes: Twitter: @jlwf @BuildingBoys  FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/945086638893108 Instagram: @j_l_w_f Substac...

We’ve covered body positivity and eating disorders on this podcast, but one topic we haven’t hit: orthorexia, an obsession with "healthy" eating. The precise definition is still up for debate and it’s not yet recognized as a clinical diagnosis. Nonetheless, it’s increasingly recognized as a type of disordered eating, and adolescence is a common time for it to emerge. Show Notes: National Eating Di...

The hand-off for healthcare responsibility from parents to teens can be complex and bumpy. But it’s a practical – and ultimately legal – necessity! Dr. Sara Levine, Adolescent Medicine specialist, offers sage guidance starting with this central tenet for the ongoing process: start the process early. Show Notes: Sara Buchdahl Levine, MD, MPH, FAAP  On Instagram with Caraway Health Order our book Th...

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...