Between Parents

Imagine a teacher, coach, or neighbor describing your parenting profile, what terms would they use? Are they positive or negative descriptions? In this episode Billy and Joy review ten parenting profiles – five negative and five positive. Are you… The Complaining or The Uplifting Parent? The Panic or The Measured Parent? The Competitive or The Celebratory Parent? The Gossip or The Quiet Parent? The Chaos or the Calm Parent? Lots of things to talk about here! Take a listen.

What does a parent do? This is a simple question, but can you boil the answer down to something clear and compelling? In today’s episode Billy and Joy kick around one classic word picture that’s timeless and encouraging for families even today.

Why is it so hard to get home from the office? What keeps us from racing home? In today’s episode Billy and Joy talk about some of the factors standing in our way and offer some reminders of things we can do differently.

Your kids are growing up fast. How does that make you feel? Are you excited? Do you dread the loss of the little years? In this episode Billy and Joy kick around some mental frameworks to help parents cope with loss and celebrate every childhood season.

Extra-marital affairs can be ruinous to marriage, family, and self-esteem and yet they are familiar parts many storylines. Is it possible to stop them from happening in the first place? In today’s episode Billy and Joy talk about factors that erode our relationship and what we should focus on to keep our marriage strong.

“Believe it or not, you will survive toddler hood.” People may tell you this, but some days it’s hard to believe. In this episode, Billy & Joy go through 20 practical tips for making the most of these very fast (and exhausting) years.

Don’t think about elephants! But what do you think about the moment you read the sentence? Yup… elephants! The mind can’t process negatives so saying, “don’t” doesn’t help. Yet as parents telling our kids “don’t” do something is standard practice. Is it possible to give a more positive vision? Billy and Joy offer some practical ideas in today’s podcast.

Have you ever looked at your spouse cross-eyed and wondered, “Why are you like that?” only to meet their family and then understand? In this episode Billy and Joy talk about how our family of origin impacts our marriage and why we need to get this connections out in the open. They discuss triggers and how to build empathy through understanding our background.

Are you engaged or recently married? Do you know someone who is? Or have you been married for a while and forget all of the helpful newlywed tips? Take a listen as Joy & Billy review 21 quick bits of advice for how to get marriage off to a great start!

Do you know the most important part your kid’s education process? In this week’s podcast Billy & Joy discuss Seth Godin's opinion that the best education focuses on just two things. Listen in and decide if you agree!

What if you had to summarize your life story in a few brief statements – what would you say? Consider the headlines of your life; milestones that rise to the level of being noted. What if you were to reverse engineer your life, how you raise your kids and the way you treat your marriage based on the milestones you want to hit? In today’s episode, Billy and Joy talk through four things to consider for your family's story.

No one likes to be picked at…but criticism is especially deadly in marriage. In this episode Billy & Joy challenge you to try and see your critical habits in the mirror and to consider the impact they have on your marriage.

The world is a crazy place! Like every generation before, today’s parents have to process difficult news with their kids. But where do we start? What do we say? How can we explain events we don’t fully understand? In today’s podcast, Billy and Joy talk about principles parents should consider as they process current events with their kids. How do we lead our family well - and wisely - when we are emotionally charged ourselves?

#46 - Let's Talk About Sex: Parent Edition

Whether we acknowledge it or not, sex is more than just a physical act. In today’s episode, Billy and Joy discuss nine intimacy principles that impact every relationship and then they tee up a list of questions that should open the flow of communication. Take a listen and, more importantly, have a chat!