This week, we welcome Dr. Mary Ann Little, a clinical psychologist who has been in private practice for over four decades and watched numerous children grow to be adults and parents themselves. Her most recent book, Childhood Narcissism, offers strategies to raise unselfish, unentitled, and empathetic children. Listen to learn why it’s essential for parents to be more invested in their children’s emotional growth rather than their outcome, even if you think they are the next Bill Gates or Thomas Edison.

For more information, visit www.drmaryannlittle.com

We, as parents, have to get comfortable with watching our kids fail. It’s part of the learning curve and letting them become independent. Join us this week to hear insights from Author and Speaker Michelle Icard! This episode will leave you with the question of how our teenage experience informs our parenting style.

Follow Michelle Icard at @michelleicard and visit www.michelleicard.com for more content and information!

This week, we are joined by Dr. Wendy Mogel. Wendy is a clinical psychologist and New York Times best-selling author. In this episode, we learn about the problem of device usage and how it starts with you as a parent. Her most recent book, Voice Lessons for Parents: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Listen, offers guidance for communicating with children across the expanse of childhood and adolescence and explains the most effective ways to talk about your child to teachers, coaches, nannies and caretakers, grandparents, and partners.

This week, we are joined by The Birds & Bees! We dive into getting rid of the awkward talk at the awkward age. Building a vocabulary so that when more complicated conversations come up, it’s not all new information, but you’ve been building information from the beginning. If you can talk about THIS with your kids, you can talk about ANYTHING with them!

Follow Megan Michelson and Mary Flo Ridley @birds__bees and visit www.Birds-Bees.com for more content and information!

We are joined by Dr. Jane Nelsen. Jane is a licensed marriage, family, and child therapist. In this weeks episode learn about the three R's of punishment and the long term results it can have on your children. Jane is the author and/or coauthor of four books including Positive Discipline Parenting Tools with two of her children and her latest book, Positive Discipline for the Montessori Classroom.

Find more about Jane Nelsen at her website, www.janenelsen.com.

As we head into our 5th annual Mending Minds 5k, we reflect on our “why” behind service! Andy, Early, and Matthew discuss their “why” behind Parenting for the Present and how they implement the service mentality into their lives and homes. You might even get a quick history lesson into what pluralism is! We are feeling grateful, humbled, and excited for the future of Parenting for the Present!

In this episode, we are joined by Phyllis Fagell. Phyllis is a licensed mental health therapist and a nationally board certified school counselor. She's currently a counselor at Landon School and a therapist in private practice at Chrysalis Group in Bethesda, Maryland. Phyllis is the author of the bestselling books MIDDLE SCHOOL MATTERS, The 10 Key Skills Kids Need to Thrive in Middle School and Beyond – and How Parents Can Help and the recently released MIDDLE SCHOOL SUPERPOWERS: Raising Resilient Tweens in Turbulent Times. Through her work, she brings us the 12 superpowers you want your kids to have and the vulnerability and work it takes to get there. This conversation is honest, humble, and hugely helpful for those of us parenting or about to parent this precious phase of life.

In this episode, we explore the fascinating world of social intelligence and emotional regulation with renowned expert Michelle Garcia Winner, creator of Social Thinking. Michelle shares her personal journey of how a difficult relationship and volunteer work at the Indiana Resource Center for Autism ignited her passion for understanding and helping individuals with social communication challenges. Through her decades of work and research, she has concluded that building social competences is a lifelong journey that requires curiosity, compassion, and patience. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or just curious about human interaction, this episode will deepen your understanding of the dynamic interplay between social communication and emotional intelligence.

As we try to live into new routines with our kids over the summer, it’s all too easy to fall into unhealthy patterns. We’re juggling things the best we can, but often find ourselves in survival mode instead of proactively parenting our children. Our hosts thought it was a good time to take a step back to examine where we might find these pitfalls and discuss ways to avoid them.

Fairness—from about age 3 onward, we as a species seem enamored with it. We know instinctively when something doesn’t feel fair, and we don’t like it one bit. We see battles rage and opinions fly on the playground, in the lunchroom, in the boardroom, and on the political stage. But how do we navigate the concept of fairness with our kids? Is fairness…justice? Is it…equality? Equity? Is it fair to want everything to be fair all the time? It’s complicated. So today, our three hosts dive into a discussion about all of this and more; their conversation takes interesting and inspiring turns that you won’t want to miss.

Today we lean into the spiritual side of our mind, body and spirit approach, asking the question—how do we help foster and nourish our children’s spiritual lives? Our guests today had the same question in their families; their solution was to write a children’s book. Victoria Robb Powers and Cameron Mason Vickrey are the authors of the soon-to-be-published My Love, God Is Everywhere. In this conversation, they tell the story of how the book came about and the message they hope it conveys to children (and their parents) asking questions about God.

Today, our cohosts welcome another set of cohosts—specifically, Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers of the Pantsuit Politics podcast. The show has been featured in the New York Times, the Atlantic, and was named by Apple Podcasts as one of the Best Shows of 2021. Sarah and Beth are also the authors of I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversation and, more recently, Now What?: How to Move Forward When We’re Divided (About Basically Everything).

They also happen to both be mothers, and have lived what it means to examine the realities of division and strife in our world today and dialogue with children in a way that lends grace and hope. Sarah and Beth share stories and wisdom from their personal and professional lives in a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Connection is the lifeblood of the human experience. True connection is built on trust and offers an authentic sense of belonging. If we all deeply seek these things, why are they so elusive? Listen in as our three hosts have an honest and challenging conversation about these basic needs and how we satisfy them for ourselves and foster them for our children in a world that increasingly pushes back.

Anxiety and OCD can be dehabilitating for anyone to live with—so how do we care for children facing these struggles so early in life? Natasha Daniels, founder of AT Parenting Survival, has been both guiding parents on this journey as an Anxiety and OCD Child Therapist, and walking the road herself as a mother of three children with anxiety and OCD. Her unique blend of training and experience has showed her what is helpful, how to be an advocate, and how to see your child as more than just their struggles.

Welcome to Season 4 of Parenting For the Present! We are thrilled to be back with you, engaging in conversations aimed at helping you understand your children-and yourself-more fully. To start this new chapter, we welcome Dr. Denise Walker to the podcast. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and current Adjunct Instructor at Southern Methodist University, where she mentors students through teaching and training. By way of her wisdom and experience, Dr. Walker brings us fresh ideas on what it means to be humble, uncomfortable, and accepting as a parent, and as a person.

After a fantastic first year of our podcast, we thought it was time to take a look back with appreciation, and a look ahead with anticipation. Up to this point, all of our conversations about the direction of the show have been away from the microphone - but no more. Today, come sit at our table as we hash out what Season 2 of Parenting for the Present might hold.

When it comes to standardized tests for our kids, preparations matters - just maybe not in the way you think. Ned Johnson, an expert on such preparation, doesn't just focus on the material; he addresses stress reduction, anxiety management, and intrinsic motivation. He reveals how grade hunting doesn't prepare our kids for adulthood near as well as developing their own passionate pursuits, and has the science to back it up. Ned's clear, thoughtful approach to parenting is sure to be a gift to you and your family.

We’ve likely all heard the idiom “happy campers” thrown around - maybe even from our own mouths as we wish a better attitude on our kids! But for Audrey Monke, those two words have taken on a whole new meaning. She has taken her 36 years of experience as a summer camp owner/director and turned it into a parenting website, a podcast, and now a book - titled “Happy Campers”. In the book, and on this episode, she shares with us camp secrets for raising kids who become thriving adults. She has seen what works at camp, and is inviting each of us to bring a little of that camp spirit into our homes and families.

We all want to keep our children safe. But we also want them to become self-sufficient, fully formed adults; so how do we balance both? This question is always challenging to answer, but particularly so when it comes to exposure to drugs and alcohol. New York Times bestselling author Jessica Lahey joins us today to discuss her new book, The Addiction Inoculation, in which she details, through story and research, how to ‘raise healthy kids in a culture of dependence.’

When it comes to parenting teenagers, the methods that may have worked when we were growing up seem less and less relevant, and less and less effective.

Dr. Christine Carter has picked up on these trends. Through both research and her personal experience as a mom of four, she has dug deep into what she is calling this 'new adolescence' to figure out how best to guide our teens into adulthood. She is here today to share her findings and wisdom with us in a deeply knowledgeable but approachable way, which is sure to leave you inspired to connect even more deeply with your children.