Gonzo Parenting Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jay Rooke
Gonzo Parenting [ˈɡänzō ˈperən(t)iNG] noun
Full-contact parenting. Being in the thick of the messy, authentic, barely-controlled chaos. Sharing the humorous moments and humbling lessons learned. Reminding other parents that not one among us has their sh*t together, and that’s okay. Actually, it’s hilarious.
Gonzo Parenting Principles
At Gonzo Parenting our mission is to ease the stress of day-to-day parenting by providing a space where parents can laugh, chat, gain tips & tricks, and share their authentic stories (the good, the bad, and the hilarious). To do this, we make sure all of our content shares a combination of our community values: Comedy, Connection, Consciousness, Community & Catharsis. Welcome to your tribe!
“You’re human. You’re doing the best you can. Even when you’re not, you’re doing great.” -Michelle, Gonzo Parent
“It’s tough, and it’s tough before a pandemic. They don’t advertise alcohol to adults for no reason. But it’s life— Show up for it! You’re not going to know your successes till you look behind and see what you’ve done.” -Timothy, Gonzo Parent
“If you know that there are things you can do that help you, do them— It can feel like you’re taking time away from your family or it’s selfish. But push through it because it’s the most selfless thing you can do. It allows you to be a better parent and your family needs you to do that.” -Emily Moriarty
“There’s no separation. There’s no difference. If you do it for yourself, you’re doing it for them.” -Connor Moriarty
Episode Description:
As we are coming out of the pandemic, it's easy to feel like we're doing everything wrong. We're constantly tired, we're stressed, and sometimes it feels like our only redeeming quality is that we were born with parenting genes and therefore are genetically predisposed to rock parenting (in some way hopefully).
But it's important to not let this get us down. We're doing just fine. In fact, it's possible that we're doing better than most people right now. We’re just not aware of how good a job we’ve been doing because we’re too busy trying not to scream at our kids or throw up on them (or ourselves).
At least, we’re still doing some things right: We're still alive and are now looking forward to surviving the coming years as a parent with sanity still intact. And we haven’t snapped out and killed somebody yet considering how much sleep we have lost ever since becoming parents.
As parents who are navigating the challenges of this transition period, it can be difficult to balance being good parents and taking care of our own mental health. But, the pandemic has also been a time of growth and self-discovery.
In this episode, Jay sits down with Gonzo parents, Michelle and Timothy to talk about how parents can operate from a place of awareness and self-love while dealing with the challenges of the transition, how to navigate mental health issues that resurfaced because of the pandemic, how being deliberate with our actions can help us heal, and why we should give ourselves permission to be vulnerable.
Next, Jay interviews our expert guests, power couple Connor and Emily Moriarty. Connor and Emily discuss how trauma and stress manifest in our bodies, how to identify the aspects of our lives that we became disconnected from, the role of the community in our parenting journey, how to reset, and how exploring our own emotions and caring for ourselves can grow our capacity as parents.
Parents may feel helpless, but gonzo parenting is all about the trial-by-fire learning experience of how to become the parents we wish had. And when we’ve come out on the other side of this roller-coaster ride, maybe we can look back with a little perspective. But until then, let’s hear from our guests…
Click https://gonzoparenting.com/ for shownotes and resources.
Join the Gonzo Parenting Community Finding Comedy in the Chaos
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Episode Highlights:
With Our Gonzo Parents
02:05 Meet Michelle and Timothy
14:11 Challenges During the Transition Period
24:49 The Pandemic and Mental Health Issues
33:00 Building Deeper Connections
39:24 When Asking for Help is a Challenge
46:55 Be as Human as Possible
With Our Expert Guests
54:31 Meet Connor and Emily Moriarty
01:02:15 It’s More Than The Uncertainty
01:10:01 How Trauma and Stress Manifest Themselves
01:15:28 The Role of Community in Healing and Parenting
01:22:28 How to Get a Reset
01:28:04 Becoming Better Parents
01:33:32 What’s Worth Doing
01:38:41 Grow Your Capacity as a Parent
“I'm freaked out and scared and worried and having trouble navigating this, whether it's work or relationship, and [the kids] are too! But I have to tell them it's okay.” -Jake Hajer, Gonzo Parent “You don't know exactly how the kids are dealing with it. They're very resilient on the one hand… But ultimately, there's some process going on that you're not privy to and that they're not privy to.” -Brian Farnham, Gonzo Parent
“There's no playbook [in being a parent]… You have to wait and see.” -Carmen Buffington, Gonzo Parent
“Kids are often okay when their parents are okay.” -Dr. Amanda Zelechoski
Here are some tips to help you avoid pandemic parenting altogether, or at least to recover faster if you find yourself already suffering from its effects.
Read on to learn more about the unique challenges of parenting during the pandemic, as well as some ways to cope when it feels like there’s no end in sight to this trying period in human history.
In today’s day and age, it’s easier than ever to feel like you are the only one who feels stressed out or is having trouble coping with your responsibilities as a parent. It’s difficult to get outside of your own headspace and see that parenting during times of crisis isn’t easy for anyone – but there are ways to cope with this pain and anxiety without neglecting your children.
Episode Description:
A new pandemic has infected Earth, and it seems as if every parent has caught it. It’s called the pain of pandemic parenting, and the symptoms are almost entirely mental. Who would have thought something like this could happen? Life is full of surprises, and this is one of those shocking surprises. In reality, pandemic parenting can be one of the most unique experiences in history, and you are a part of it!
This week, Gonzo Parenting launches its kick off episode and what’s a better way to start than to talk about how this pandemic has been constantly straining family dynamics. The first part of our show starts with our Gonzo parents, Jake Hajer, Carmen Buffington, and Brian Farnham talking about their own pandemic experiences and tales of kids acting out in the weirdest ways. They also relate how they took the opportunity to grow closer as a family, how they were challenged by social deprivation, dealing with parental guilt, things they wish they knew before becoming parents, and their advice to fellow parents who are trying hard to show up as their best self during this tough time.
The second part of our show with Dr. Amanda Zelechoski, co-founder of Pandemic Parenting, expounds on the clinical side of parenting, mental health issues, decision fatigue, stress management for kids, and the science of providing individualized support to each child. Amanda discusses how we can model how to process emotions to our children, how to leverage our kids’ ability to remember things in totality to give them an entirely different experience, how involving them in the decision-making process empowers them, and the importance of self-care in our role as parents.
Parents may feel helpless, but gonzo parenting is all about the trial by fire learning experience of how to become the parents we wish had. And when we’ve come out on the other side of this roller-coaster ride, maybe we can look back with a little perspective. But until then, let’s hear from our guests….
Click: https://gonzoparenting.com/ for shownotes and resources.
Join the Gonzo Parenting Community Finding Comedy in the Chaos
Website
Episode Highlights:
With Our Gonzo Parents
07:34 Meet Jake, Brian, and Carmen and Their Pandemic Stories
16:06 Spending Family Time
26:04 Social Needs Deprivation
37:15 Gonzo Parenting Craziness!
43:32 Things You Wish You Knew Before Being a Parent
With Our Expert Guest
50:31 Pandemic Parenting and Decision Fatigue
01:01:14 Modeling How to Process Emotions
01:11:23 Older Kids vs Younger Kids and How to Support Them
01:19:22 How to Bounce Forward
01:25:45 Give Yourself Grace as a Parents
What’s up, Gonzo Parents? Welcome to the Gonzo Parenting Podcast! I’m your host, Jay Rooke, and I’m the founder of GonzoParenting.com and a father to six year old boy/girl twins.
In the Gonzo Parenting podcast, we invite real parents to share their authentic, hilarious stories that capture the shitshow of modern parenting, by reporting from the frontlines and telling it like it really is.
Our real-life parents will talk truth about parenting in a round table environment where they’ll discuss the hidden challenges of being a parent, talk about the things that perfect parents would never talk about, share their best parenting tips & tricks, and of course their most epic Gonzo Parenting moments.
We’ll also interview parenting and personal development experts to help us with the personal growth we need to do to become the parents we want to be.
We created the Gonzo Parenting podcast to make you laugh, but we also want to cultivate conscious parenting, and through cathartic story-telling ease the heaviness of being a parent. GonzoParenting.com is all about comedy, catharsis, community, consciousness and connection, so you’ll see each of those values within each episode.
My intention is for this podcast to be a parenting resource, but most importantly a source of humor and sanctuary for stressed out parents. Think of it as a community where you can come and unwind, let your guard down and be real, and learn some valuable parenting hacks along the way.
We’re all craving more community, so you also get to connect with like-minded parents who think that perfect parenting is for fakers, who believe that parent shaming sucks, and parents who know for certain that becoming a parent is the craziest damn thing they ever did..
Our end goal is also to raise our collective consciousness -- because happy, healthy parents have a better chance at raising happy, healthy kids, which means at this moment, you truly hold the power to shape our world for the better.
Yes, So please head over to GonzoParenting.com where you can join our free community, and be sure to hit the subscribe button to be alerted when new podcast episodes come out!
I’m your host Jay Rooke, and “welcome to Gonzo Parenting!”