This Thing Called Parenting: Recent Episodes
Ashley Kathleen Lee Karen
Parents, who are also professional educators and youth workers, as the non-expert, experts, empowering us all in This Thing Called Parenting.
Team Coffee Vs Team Tea leads us down the pathway to think about how rituals and self regulation affect us and our families in the long term. We notice how the stories attached to our rituals affect the energy we bring forward, and how changing the story, or hearing a new story can also change our energy. And we get some hot tips on supporting our parenting of our kids through mistakes, natural consequences, and problems that have eroded the reciprocal trust between parent and child. Ashley and Karen cover it all in their second episode of Coffee Talk.
Karen finally releases her long overdue episode that is a storyline that many solo parents and/or special needs families can relate to. Journey alongside, finding our deepest parenting courage, and hope and life on the other side of it.
These last 2 years have been a LOT. A lot for individuals, a lot for society, a lot for the world...so how do we make sense of all this as parents in creating the world we want for our kids?
Ashley and Karen start the first "Coffee Talk" episode discussing elements of transitioning into the next phase of life after two years of unprecedented crisis. A pandemic, racism, civil rights, truth and reconciliation, climate change, war in Ukraine... It's been a lot!
They talk about emerging from isolation, while reflecting on their experience with "fake white security" and ignorance, and discuss the opportunity in the role these unpredictable times have played in our lives. They end off discussing resilience, grit, actively re-thinking the future that we have a responsibility to help our kids build, and moving from division to connection through our common humanity.
Kathleen Ashley and Karen get into 3 naughty things we do to ourselves that sabotage our holiday sanity. But all is not lost! We can circle the love back around us with 3 nice ways to restore the joy. We even surprised ourselves with the power of meaningful contribution.
Ashley Kathleen and Karen confess their secret strategies to combat burnout that they wouldn't normally confess, but they are THAT burned out. Anyone else feeling this way?
Ashley and Karen discuss their field of expertise, drugs & youth and families. In this episode we'll tell you the things we've always wanted you to hear, but couldn't communicate to parents before the privacy and convenience of podcasts. To your relief, you will discover that there's been significant developments in how we understand drugs and alcohol since the 80's. A must-listen for parents of kids ages 7+... and anyone who wants to understand more about what's really going on with drug and alcohol addiction.
Who are the people behind This Thing Called Parenting?! In this bonus episode we get to understand where Lee is coming from, as the only dad at TTCP. Lee shares a glimpse of his Indigenous perspectives, and has us ROTFL at his utterly honest experiences as a dad.
What happens when Ashley, Kathleen, and Karen get together to get some work done, but get side-tracked by our pre-meeting check-in? We get a spontaneous episode on self-care and we wonder why we're so tired all the time when we're already doing all the 'right' things. We all desperately need self-care, but what is self care really about? What's underneath it, and why is it irritating when we're told to practice self care?
Who are the people behind This Thing Called Parenting?! In this Bonus Episode, we laugh, cry and learn together, getting to know Kathleen.
Who are the people behind This Thing Called Parenting? Get to know where Ashley's coming from, and why it's important for her to share the parenting journey with us.
The team and guest, Chad Oatway, attempt a "lightening round" of tips to improve our understanding of motivation in our families... only our love for talking turns the "lightening round" into a slow sunrise at summer solstice, and creates its own episode. Come hang out with us as our discussion improves our mutual understanding of what motivates our kids and ourselves.
How do we motivate our kids in these confusing times? Say what?! How do we even motivate ourselves?! The team discusses whether motivation can be developed as a skill or not, and what's required to cultivate motivation. (spoiler: its not trying harder.)
The team talks the realities of trying to make it through the pandemic, keeping our families safe and positive, while also keeping ourselves sane.