episodes

Are our kids growing up more slowly than we did? Is that necessarily a bad thing? Can we encourage our late bloomers to pick up the pace?

Does your kid ask for your help with homework, then snarl at you? Does your kid procrastinate and then panic, blaming you while he spirals? Is there a middle ground between letting a kid like this fail, or continuing the …

Think there’s an expiration date on dream-chasing? Think you’re too old to make bold choices? Wendi Aarons, author of I’M WEARING TUNICS NOW, tells us about second acts, self-acceptance, and celebrating what happens when we get older and wiser.

What did you grow up believing would be a consistent presence in your adult life? Quicksand? Dinner parties? The Bermuda Triangle? Movies, TV, and certain bubble bath ads definitely led us astray when it came to the realities of adult …

Does your child have a mouth you wouldn't want him to kiss you with? If your child is on a swearing streak at home, here are some tips for handling it.

Society has held that maternal instinct kicks in as soon as a baby is born, and that women are wired to be superior caretakers. Chelsea Conaboy, author of MOTHER BRAIN, tells us that the parental brain is real- but far …

When it’s time to pivot, it’s easy to focus on what doors are closed. That’s when it’s important to remember that with one foot planted firmly in place, we still have 360 degrees of choice on where to head next. …

Does your kid like to punish himself whenever he performs poorly at something and insist that he's the worst at it? A listener struggles with her son's constant negativity when it comes to his own abilities.

Have you ever lost it with your kids and then felt really guilty about it? So has Hunter Clarke-Fields, so she started a mindfulness practice, and then the “Mindful Mama” podcast, too. Now she’s sharing what she’s learned with moms …

If patience is a virtue, it’s not one often practiced by preschoolers. There are reasons why very small children have a hard time waiting. Sometimes very big kids as well. As in grownups. Here’s why being patient matters, and how …

Is your kid great at finding loopholes in the rules you set? Like, "Law and Order" good? A listener wrote in to ask about her child's wise guy streak.

Feel like you work all day and still get nothing done? Time management expert Laura Vanderkam, author of "Tranquility By Tuesday," shares nine simple rules for creating the time we want for the truly important things in our busy lives.

When were you the mom-ster in your household? Leaving out cups? Forbidding video games on a school night? Here are our most harrowing tales of mom misbehavior, as reported by the people we live with.

Does your child receive unwanted attention from another child that they just can't shake? Here's how to help your child establish healthy boundaries with other kids.

Think you're the only garbage parent on the face of the Earth? So does every other parent on the face of the Earth. Dr. Carla Naumburg, author of You Are Not a Sh*tty Parent, shares ways to practice self-compassion, even …

We love our kids' teachers! We asked our listeners about the teachers in their kids' lives who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, and the answers came flooding in.

Have you ever thought about doing an RV trip with your family? If not you might be saner than Margaret - who did one with her three kids, but if so - here are all of Margaret's know-before-you-go tips.

How can we teach our kids self-regulation? And how is it different from self-control? Dr. Stuart Shanker, author of “Reframed: Self-Reg for a Just Society,” takes us through his five-step process for helping kids regulate themselves.

What have we learned in the six years since we started the What Fresh Hell podcast? Here are the most important things we've learned from our experts, from each other, and from our listeners.

Is bedtime a nightly chore, even with your older kids? Does it drag on for far too long? Here are some ways to move things along.

What can we learn from mothers across racial and cultural divides, and how can we make authentic connections with them? Award-winning journalist Helena Andrews-Dyer asks these questions and more in her new book “The Mamas."

Is it easier to run the house when our spouses are out of town? A good number of our listeners said yes. Can we embrace that feeling, instead of feeling guilty?

A listener struggles with her three-year-old's endless spitting. Margaret explains how to counter the instinct to react like a jack-in-the-box.

Penelope Leach has been guiding and reassuring parents for more than 40 years. Her classic childcare guide YOUR BABY AND CHILD is out now in a fully revised and updated edition. Penelope tells us what’s changed in child-rearing– and what …