If you’ve ever asked yourself “Why am I so triggered by my child’s emotions?” “Why does this feel harder for me than it does for everyone else?” Or “How do I raise emotionally healthy kids… when no one taught me how?” This episode is for you. Kristin and Deena go beneath the surface of parenting and into the work most of us were never taught to do: regulating, repairing, and reparenting yourself while raising your child.

You’ll learn:

• The real reason parenting feels so hard (it’s not you - it’s your nervous system)
• The science behind regulation and how to actually build it in real time
• What generational healing looks and feels like - in messy, everyday moments
• Why grief is a part of parenting when you’re doing it differently than you were parented
• The 4 tools to start breaking cycles, even when you’re overwhelmed

This is the episode that helps you understand yourself. And when you understand yourself, you stop blaming yourself. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be the parent you needed.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

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Produced by Dear Media

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We need to say something that might make you uncomfortable: we are over-parenting our kids. We are over-helping. Over-entertaining. Over-scheduling. Over-involving ourselves in every single moment of their lives. And it’s not making things better. It’s making our kids less independent, less resilient, and less capable of handling real life.

In this episode, we’re bringing back the parts that 90’s parenting got right (not the fear-based, emotion-dismissing, boooooorderline trauma parts), but the parts that actually built confident, capable kids. Because back then? Kids figured things out. They got bored. They solved problems. They had space to become themselves. And today? We’re doing so much for them… they don’t get the chance. This episode will challenge you — in the best way.

We’re talking about:

• Why your kid NEEDS boredom (and why it’s so hard for us to allow it)
• How constant involvement is quietly undermining confidence
• The science behind independent play and why it matters more than any activity
• Why fewer toys, fewer plans, and fewer interventions actually lead to better outcomes
• How to step back without feeling like you’re failing your kid

Your job is not to make your child’s life smooth. Your job is to raise a kid who becomes an adult who can handle a life that isn’t. This episode will help you pull back, without guilt, and start raising a kid who can stand on their own two feet. Repeat after me : PERMISSION TO DO LESS. Sound too good to be true? Tune in to find out just how easy this simple shift in parenting can be.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

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Produced by Dear Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the goal of parenting isn’t raising kids who always listen…but raising kids who feel safe being fully themselves? In this episode, Kristin shares a realization that stopped her in her tracks: so much of her life has been shaped by the quiet pressure to be liked. To be the nice one. The agreeable one. The one everyone walks away from thinking, “Wow, she’s so kind.” From friendships to everyday interactions with strangers, that instinct to make sure everyone feels good about her has been deeply ingrained, and incredibly exhausting.

And that realization led to a bigger parenting question: how often do kids learn to people-please because they feel their acceptance depends on it? Many of us grew up believing the highest compliment a child could receive was being called a “good kid.” The obedient one. The easy one. The one who doesn’t push back, question, or cause problems. But what if that expectation quietly teaches kids something we never intended, that their job is to make adults happy?

In this episode, we unpack the hidden pressure behind being the “good kid” and why prioritizing obedience above all else can sometimes make it harder for kids to develop confidence, boundaries, and trust in their own voice.

Kristin talks about:

• Why the idea of the “obedient child” can be misleading
• How kids internalize the need for approval from the adults around them
• The subtle ways people-pleasing starts in childhood
• The difference between respect and compliance
• Why it’s actually healthy for kids to disagree, push back, and express who they really are
• How we can create homes where kids feel safe showing up authentically...even when that’s messy

Because here’s the truth: our kids are going to grow up in a world where not everyone will like them. And while that’s uncomfortable, it’s also part of being human. The goal isn’t raising kids who never disappoint anyone. The goal is raising kids who trust themselves enough to be who they are, even when it means not everyone approves. And when kids know they’re loved exactly as they are, they don’t have to spend their lives shrinking themselves to earn it.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

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Produced by Dear Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.