Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast

Nobody is perfect and kids don't come with an instruction manual! Some of the most challenging and rewarding life experiences come with children. Sure we want our kids to like us, and we also know that ice cream for breakfast is not always a sound choice. In our debut podcast we explore the difficulties parents can face when we confuse the roles of parent and best friend. This podcast is brought to you by The National Parenting Education Network, Families First and the Charles Engelhard Foundation.

This OPENING episode of Season 2 of the Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast is positively packed with information and tantalizing tips. TECHNOLOGY and SCREEN TIME is a huge issue for many parents. In this captivating episode, Dr. Sara and Dr. John are talking back to technology; they’re saying, “Hey technology, we’re taking you down! Well, not really. But the episode does include a range of AMAZING insights and tips to help parents understand and deal with the dangers and opportunities of technology and screen time. When you tune in, be sure to listen for:

• Dr. Sara’s obsession with using contracts to manage her children’s screen-time.
• A clip from Dr. Dimitri Christakis’s TEDx Ranier talk where he provides a fun critique, partially narrated by Dr. Sara, on Baby Einstein (to watch Dr. Christakis’s full talk, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoT7qH_uVNo
• How much a baby’s brain grows from birth to age 2 (can you guess?)
• Dr. John’s four tips for raising children with healthy brains
• Dr. Christakis’s three stage theory about how constantly changing screens contribute to children having attention problems.
• Dr. Sara’s and Dr. John’s thoughts on the appropriate use of technology and screens for families.

Don’t wait. Use your favorite personal device to listen to your favorite podcasters launch themselves into SEASON 2!

Why Youth Sports Makes Parents Crazy

In this—the final episode of Season One—Dr. Sara and Dr. John talk about how youth sports can be the royal road to emotional problems for parents. Highlights include: (a) a discussion of how easy and natural it is for parents to get overemotional about their child’s athletic performance; (b) ideas for emotional preparation; (c) the sorts of bad advice parents can yell from the sideline (but shouldn’t!); and (d) insights from Coach Collin Fehr, who, with his newly minted doctorate, shares the “best thing” for parents to remember. Other highlights (in this episode the highlights just keep on coming): Dr. Sara asks: “Are we a couple of liberal pansies?” and John shares his all-time favorite sports dream. Being the good sport that she is, the show ends with Dr. Sara claiming victory and referring to herself as the “winner” and to John as “the loser.” To learn more about John’s response to this trash talk, you’ll have to tune back in for Season Two, which starts in September, 2017.

This podcast is brought to you by the Charles Engelhard Foundation, and the National Parenting Education Network.

Resources in this Episode:

EducatedSportsParent.com

Matheny Manifesto

By: Mike Matheny

When John mentions the title of this episode of the Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast, Sara emits the sophisticated professional response of “Eewww gross.” Don’t worry. Things get better from there, because you get to hear a wide range of strategies for teaching children about healthy relationships, including Sara’s super-secret and bizarrely named strategy called “the spinach in the muffins technique.” You also get to hear several inappropriate self-disclosures, unfair accusations (as in when Sara says John just wants to reminisce about his Teen Love experiences), the Romeo and Juliet effect, and how much Sara’s teenage boys look forward to her talking with them about sexuality and intimacy. In the end, we agree that healthy relationships are the number one predictor of happiness and offer fantastic resources like the Dibble Institute https://www.dibbleinstitute.org/ and the CDC’s Teen Dating Violence webpage: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen-dating-violence.html.

The Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast (PPPP) is brought to you in part by the Charles Engelhard Foundation and the National Parenting Education Network . . . but you should also be aware that the views expressed on this and every episode of the PPPP do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors, our listeners, or anyone other than Sara Polanchek and John Sommers-Flanagan. . . and, of course, sometimes we’re not even certain that we agree with what we just said.

The PPPP provides general educational information designed to promote positive parenting practices, but this podcast should not be considered a source of professional advice. If you have questions about specific parenting or caretaking scenarios, we recommend that you seek professional services with someone who can help you address the unique situations that you’re facing in your life.