Mom Enough: A Parenting Podcast

You probably have heard Marti & Erin talk many times about the “3 Cs” that are so important to children’s learning and development: connection, competence and contribution. This week’s guest, Dr. Jenny Friedman, is devoting her life to helping families like yours find simple but powerful ways to engage children in the 3 Cs, with a special emphasis on “contribution.” You are sure to be inspired by the practical ideas and compelling reasons for getting your family on the path to doing good together!   Note: You also will want to stay tuned through the end of the show for “Relationships that Nurture,” a brief monthly feature brought to you by St. David’s Center. This month’s segment includes tips for making the holidays more enjoyable – and less stressful – for your children and you.   In what ways have you and your family engaged in service together? What were the benefits you observed for you and your children’s contribution? What new ideas did you get from this week’s Mom Enough show?  Or what new ideas did you have in response to Marti & Erin’s discussion with Jenny Friedman? Leave a comment below!   For family giving project ideas, useful books and other resources from Doing Good Together, click here. For sharing “Happy Mail” through Hugs & Hope for Sick Kids, click here. For Meals on Wheels, click here. To find a project for your family, click here. For St. David’s Center’s Helping Your Child Cope over the Holidays tip sheet, click here. For other useful information found on our Resources page, click here.

Maybe your kids are saying, “Please get me a puppy! I promise I’ll take care of it.” Or maybe your dog was your “baby” before you decided to start a family. Either way, there is much to think about as you consider such a big family change as a family pet. But Kate Anders, owner of Pretty Good Dog and an expert in both dog training and parent education, brings a wealth of information and practical family pet tips to this week’s Mom Enough show. Marti only wishes she’d had Kate’s good advice before she brought a puppy into her family when Erin and her brother were young kids!   What has been your experience with a family pet? Have you been surprised by the behavior of dogs or young children with each other? If you were bringing a puppy or dog into your family, what could you do to make this transition as smooth and safe as possible? Leave a comment below!   Stay tuned after this discussion for this month’s brief Relationships that Nurture feature, brought to you by St. David’s Center for Child and Family Development. This month’s feature focuses on signs and symptoms of depression in young children – and yes, even young children can be depressed!   For the Dogs & Storks® and the Dog & Baby Connection programs, click here. For the Be A Tree dog safety and bite prevention program, click here. For other resources suggested by Kate Anders, click here. For St. David’s tip sheet on recognizing childhood depression, click here.

When young girls enter adolescence, they report high levels of stress and self-doubt about school, extracurricular activities, friendships and their appearance. What factors contribute to teen stress and how is it different for girls and boys? Most important, what can we do to ease the stress and help our girls find more joy and confidence during this important time in their lives? Psychologist Dr. Roni Cohen-Sandler has focused her career on women, teen girls and other-daughter relationships, and addresses teen stress directly in her latest book, Stress Sucks: A Teen Girl’s Guide to Managing School, Friends & Life. She joins Marti & Erin this week for a heartfelt exploration of the complicated lives of girls today.   How did this Mom Enough discussion of stress in adolescent girls match the experiences of girls in your family? What steps do you think we could take at home, in school or in communities to ease the pressure girls feel? Leave a comment below!

Does your child stress out in new situations, lose sleep over upcoming tests or become upset when things don’t go as planned? Anxiety affects many children and adults and often runs in families. But there are helpful steps you can take to ease your child’s anxiety and teach skills your child can use to manage his or her own stress. If your child’s anxiety is serious enough to interfere with learning, relationships and life enjoyment, a mental health professional can help find the most effective treatment. HealthPartners psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Reeve brings her knowledge and experience with anxiety in children to this lively discussion with Marti & Erin, who share a few stories of how anxiety shows up on their own family tree!   Does someone in your family struggle with anxiety? How does it show up and what has been helpful at home, at school or work and in professional treatment, if used? Leave a comment below!

As parents, many of us are uneasy about how we will see our children through adolescence – how we’ll handle the times when they push away from us or engage in risky behaviors. But UCLA professor Dr. Dan Siegel sees a great opportunity in the teen years for parents and other caring adults to capitalize on the teenage brain changes and provide the guidance and encouragement that will move teens toward a vibrant, healthy adulthood. In his conversation with Marti & Erin, Dr. Siegel debunks common myths of adolescence, illuminates exciting changes in the teenage brain and offers practical tips for parents and teens.   What are some of the myths that were challenged by Dr. Dan Siegel in this Mom Enough discussion about the teenage brain? What new ideas did you hear about what teens need during this important developmental period? Leave a comment below!

We all hope our children will be happy and successful when they enter school. But what are the most important skills they will need? And what is our role as parents in nurturing those skills? You may be relieved and pleased to learn that some of the most enjoyable things you do with your children are exactly what they need for social and emotional development. Tune into this helpful, encouraging school readiness discussion Marti & Erin had with Katie Hill and Mary Kreps from St. David’s Center for Child & Family Development.   What did you learn in this Mom Enough show about the social and emotional development skills children need in kindergarten? How does creative play help children build those social and emotional development skills? Leave a comment below!   For Help Me Grow, click here. For St. David's Center's Early Childhood Education program, click here. For St. David's Center's team-teaching model for school readiness, click here. For our social and emotional school readiness tip sheet, click here. For our school readiness Resource sheet, click here.

The average age of the onset of puberty has dropped significantly in recent years, but research on probable early puberty causes yields some surprises that defy popular beliefs. Dr. Louise Greenspan and Dr. Julianna Deardorff, authors of The New Puberty: How to Navigate Early Development in Today’s Girls, join Marti & Erin in this week’s Mom Enough show for an informative discussion of some of the reasons behind early puberty and the consequences of this phenomenon. They also discuss practical steps parents can take to reduce the risk of early puberty and protect children from other possible harm from environmental toxins. Whatever the ages of your children, don't miss this very important discussion.   What surprised you in this discussion of early puberty and some of the likely causes? What has been your experience with helping a child in your life understand and manage the physical and psychological changes associated with puberty? Leave a comment below!   For the lavender and tea tree oils study from the New England Journal of Medicine, click here. For the Skin Deep Mobile App, click here.

Brian and Betsy Lucas were a happy, successful couple with two very young daughters when a stunning medical diagnosis transformed life, as they knew it. Brian chronicled their 2-year saga of heartache and hope in his award-winning book, Here Comes the Sun: A Young Family’s Journey through Cancer. Now both Brian and Betsy join Marti & Erin for a moving and inspiring discussion of their experience, including explaining cancer to a child and the extraordinary connection between Betsy and the young stranger whose selfless gift saved her life. Whether or not you ever face cancer yourself, you will cherish the life lessons in this week’s very special Mom Enough show.   What did you learn from this Mom Enough discussion about ways to support a family facing a medical challenge like the Lucas family faced? What about explaining cancer to a child and helping a young child cope with such a huge challenge? Did Brian & Betsy’s story inspire you in any way to do something to help other individuals or families in similar circumstances? Leave a comment below!   For information on purchasing Brian's book, click here. For information about Be The Match, click here. For information about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, click here. For information about the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota, click here.

As parents we get lots of different messages about the place of video and TV in our children’s lives. While ads claim some videos will make kids smarter, many experts say no media is good media for babies and toddlers. Yet the reality is that most parents resort at least occasionally to plopping their child in front of the TV, if only to buy some time to get dinner in the oven. This week’s guest, author Lisa Guernsey, joins Marti & Erin for a realistic discussion of the effects of media on children, guidelines for deciding what you will permit and practical tips for turning occasional media viewing into a positive learning experience for your young child.   What are the policies and practices about media use for the children in your family? Based on what you’ve learned about the effects of media on children and their development, to what extent do you think you are making good decisions (and helping your children learn to make good choices) about media? What would you like to do differently? Leave a comment below!

The explosion of new technologies over the last 20 years has opened a whole new world to children and teens, posing both opportunities and challenges for kids and parents alike. The adolescent years probably always have presented issues that make parents uncomfortable. But technology has raised the stakes in parenting teens with threats like online bullying, sexting and texting while driving – just to name a few. Drawing on her experience as a longtime social worker and student advisor, Joani Geltman offers guidance on all this and more in her new book, A Survival Guide to Parenting Teens: Talking to Your Kids about Sexting, Drinking, Drugs and Other Things that Freak You Out. Hear all about parenting teens in this week’s Mom Enough show!   What parenting issues make you uncomfortable or hesitant to discuss them with your child? How do you oversee your child’s access to technology and how well do you think your approach is preparing your child to use technology carefully and wisely? Leave a comment below!   For Joani's blog, click here. For our interview with Dr. Laurence Laurence Steinberg, click here.

The path to reading success starts long before a child walks through the school door. From the earliest conversations we have with our toddler to singing songs or playing rhyming games in the car, we are preparing our child for the reading and writing that will be so important to later school success. But what are the most important literacy skills for us to emphasize? What are signs that our child might not be developmentally on track? And when and how should we correct our child’s writing and spelling errors? Reading expert Dr. Lori Helman from the U of M’s Minnesota Center for Reading Research has answers to these literacy skills questions and more in this week’s show! This Mom Enough show is made possible thanks to the support of Help Me Grow.   What are some of the creative, fun ways you have found to build your child’s literacy skills? If your child is in preschool or elementary school, what do you know about the way reading and writing are taught and how your child is progressing? Think of one or two new things you could do to encourage your child’s love of reading and writing. Leave a comment below!   For Minnesota Center for Reading Research tips on how to help your child read more at home and develop a love of reading, click here. For Minnesota Center for Reading Research’s 10 tips for supporting your child in reading and writing, click here. For our show on children’s hearing with audiologist Linda Murrans, click here. For Minnesota Parents Know, click here. For Help Me Grow, click here.

Putting Math for Kids in a Positive Light: Promoting Your Child’s Math Skills and Confidence

Finding the Right “Sensory Diet” for You and Your Child: Practical Strategies for Regulating Emotion and Sustaining Optimal Energy

Keeping Our Children Safe on the Road: An Update on Child Passenger Safety from the MN Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety

Challenges & Opportunities: Dr. Laurence Steinberg Explains What Brain Science Tells Us About Helping Adolescents Thrive