This Is So Awkward

Nicotine… alcohol… prescription drugs… illicit drugs. All of these fall under the overwhelmingly gigantic umbrella of “substances.” Teen experimentation ranges from none to a little to A LOT. And while some of these substances are similar to what was around when we were growing up, others are radically different or brand new. This episode catches everyone up on the current landscape, covering the...

Kids between 6-12 are generally called pre-tweens and tweens. But some say they’re living in the “forgotten years,” almost as if there’s a lull in development during this time span. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Especially as we understand more about brain development and as puberty starts earlier and earlier. Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, clinical psychologist and author of The Crucial Years, ex...

If we had a dollar for every time a kid says “but everyone else is…” Whether about a sleepover, screentime, spring break trip, or a newly-hatched plan to try hang gliding, that phrase puts parents and caregivers in a tough spot. We want our kids to feel included, but at the same time there may be concerns about what they’re hoping to do, have, see, or experience. The decision tree becomes further...

Teaching kids about their changing bodies is as much about the delivery as it is about the content. Kids thrive when information is delivered with joy in authentic and interactive ways, honoring their natural curiosity and quest for knowledge. Enter Melissa Pintor Carnagey founder of Sex Positive Families and author of the new book for kids Growing Into You.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSE...

Educating kids about healthy relationships is a modern phenomenon we can get behind. It makes us cringe to look back on the harmful relationship, sex, and gender tropes we were taught back in the day. This episode takes that hindsight and flips it, offering tools to help kids build their own healthy relationships. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipp...

There is no secret sauce to raising successful children, but it sure is fascinating to understand some of the elements that result in a family filled with high-achieving siblings. And it raises lots of important questions, too, like: What even is success? When are the sacrifices to reach goals too great? And what do parents ultimately want for their children? New York Times writer and author of Th...

We’ve lost track of how many times we get asked when to move on from pediatric care. Some people ask because of personality – usually a clash between parents and doctors – but mostly they ask because they know there’s a time for kids to move on to adult practitioners, they just don’t understand when. In this episode we share details around how pediatric care is different from adult care, why peopl...

Fentanyl is a truly terrifying drug because even a tiny amount can be deadly. When fentanyl is added to illicit drugs (like cocaine) and counterfeit prescription “medications” (xanax purchased online, for instance), unknowing users can ingest tiny – but fatal – doses. Listen to the expert advice of Marcia Lee Taylor, strategy advisor to Song for Charlie and the former President and CEO of the Part...

April, May, and June are packed with big (and small) celebratory events. While these rites of passage often build wonderful memories, they’re not without complications. This episode offers lots of ways to get ahead of any worries about safety, how to navigate complex family dynamics, and ways to manage our own big emotions. All of this helps us have the important conversations our kids need.  Show...

Thanks to hormones and rapid brain development, tweens and teens can be explosive, make impulsive decisions, or struggle to get organized. Layer on top of that a brain with ADHD and the picture looks even more complex. To illuminate the interplay of the neurobiological factors of ADHD and puberty is clinical neuropsychologist Karen Wilson, PhD. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Qu...

A set of challenges called ACEs – short for Adverse Childhood Experiences – tether directly to all sorts of physical and emotional consequences. These stressors range from violence to food insecurity to natural disasters, outcomes backed by 30 years of research. We’ll explain how, even though the ACEs create their own downstream issues, these aren’t inevitable. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ES...

At long last! An episode dedicated to how ADHD can impact tweens + teens relationships, romantic lives, and sexual behaviors. Dr. Ari Tuckman 25 years’ working with kids and adults who have ADHD provides a deep understanding of the ways their social interactions can be affected by their differently wired brains. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shippin...

When it comes to educating kids about sex, reproduction, and all the rest, there’s lots of information out there. What there doesn’t seem to be is a wealth of information about – at least for younger kids on the front end of this learning curve – is a ton of accessible information about the different ways babies can be made. A mom reached out after we spoke at her school, explaining that she used...

Answers to so many questions about fertility incoming! How do female and male fertility cycles work? What’s the long-term impact of contraception on fertility? How about STIs? Or autoimmune disease? And what are the arguments for and against freezing eggs at increasingly young ages? We cover it all (and so much more) with reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Jaime Knopman. Show Notes: Join our LESS AW...

There is so much buzz (and fear) springing from Netflix’s Adolescence. Many are trying to make sense of the heady topics it covers… others have opted to avoid watching altogether. Our advice: It’s must see TV. While its premise is extreme, its themes – social media + tech use, toxic masculinity, bullying, loneliness and more – are universal to today’s youth. There’s no turning a blind eye. Show No...

Resilience is a buzzy word in the world of “good parenting,” but what does resilience even mean and how do adults help kids get there? Psychologist, researcher, and professor Tovah Klein unpacks what resilience truly is and the critical role parents and trusted adults play in building this skill. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day re...

The list of things we want or need or hope our kids will do is long and ever-growing. It might start with brushing their teeth twice a day and making their beds, but it inevitably expands to include things like getting themselves out of toxic friendships and calling us when they’re in trouble. Much to our frustration (and even though we know better), we cannot force them to do any of these things....

Nutrition is the first line of disease prevention. And yet, words like “diet” and even “nutrition” itself are laden, suggesting concerns about body image or eating issues. How to thread the needle? We can teach kids – and re-teach ourselves – the short and long term impacts of what we eat and drink. Maya Feller, registered dietician and nutritionist, shares her strategies, including why teaching t...

There are 3 main reasons why someone might travel to get healthcare: (1) there’s no one local who can help, (2) after some sleuthing and you think you’ve found the very best person but they’re located somewhere else, or (3) you’re not even home when you get sick or injured. Whatever the reason, navigating long distance healthcare comes with very predictable pros and cons that most people haven’t t...

The list of things adults are *supposed* to do in order to support kids can feel overwhelmingly massive. It turns out, a small handful of them help address kids’ worries while quieting our own. And because these steps turn out to be fairly simple, they feel achievable. Ashley Graber and Maria Evans, psychotherapists and authors of Raising Calm Kids in a World of Worry, share this actionable, scien...

Getting a driver’s license was a rite of passage for generations. Now, though, fewer kids are opting in. This episode looks at the reasons why so many teens are skipping over this life skill. And for the ones who do still get behind the wheel, we get into all of the hilarious missteps and critical learnings for their parents. There’s beauty in all the unvarnished failures, useful guidance, and hea...

Choices about sex education, information, and communication can be deeply affected by trauma, especially sexual trauma. And vice versa. This episode explores why the two are connected, and how to break the cycle. We’re in conversation with Melissa Kilbride, an LCSW and certified sex therapist who works with adults and couples to address their own trauma and advocates for sexual health education fo...

Everything you ever needed to know about testicular emergencies in one episode! Beyond the basics about how they grow and change, it’s important to know when a lump, bump, or complaint warrants a visit to the doctor. We cover it all, from the benign to the worrisome, like cancer. Learn about scrotal rashes, hernias, epididymitis, torsion, and more.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go...

It’s easy to connect a headache with a hard day or stomach pain after a fight with a friend. But it is more complicated to grasp the relationship between chronic pain and our reservoir of repressed emotions and traumas. Licensed Clinical Social Worker and author of Mind the Body, Nicole Sachs, joins us to make sense of the connections between physical and emotional pain.  Show Notes: Join our LESS...

Judging ourselves, judging other parents, judging our partners and judging our kids… none of these feels good, and all clog lines of communication. But this is a really tough habit to kick. The first step is owning our judgment, so in this episode we share a bunch of our own parenting fails and then (try to) forgive ourselves. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward ...