Kids Under Construction: Recent Episodes
ABC4
We are entering into post-pandemic parenting. And with that comes a new way to look at how we can better shift and reset to be more effective parents. Moms and dads across the U.S. are hitting the reset button and looking to improve family life.
This week parenting journalist and educator Donna Tetreault interviews Julia Dennison on her podcast, Kids Under Construction. Dennison is the Digital Content Director for Parents.com. She shares how parents are rethinking what family means and how family life is shifting post-Covid.
Downtime is more desired now and over-scheduling kids' extracurricular activities is getting a second look. The question now is, what is best for our family?
“If you are sharing laughs at the dinner table that isn’t wasted time,” advises Tetreault. “Even if you are watching a TV show together, that is quality downtime that allows for bonding to happen.” Keeping it simple can be valuable, especially as we move forward and into our lives again.
In this episode of Kids Under Construction, Donna Tetreault interviews NYTimes bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims. The topic is adulting. What does that mean exactly and how do we get on that path, how do we help our kids find that path? Lythcott-Haims' new book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult gives us the information we need. She blends research and her experiences as a former lawyer, dean at Stanford, educator and most importantly a mom of two young adults.
In this episode of Kids Under Construction, Donna Tetreault interviews Dr. Nicole Tetreault. She is Donna's sister and a neuroscientist, author, and speaker. She has a new book out called Insight Into a Bright Mind. Dr. Nicole Tetreault translates recent groundbreaking research examining the minds of the most highly intelligent, creative, and intense brains, and explores new directions for the neurodiverse experiences of humans. This podcast is for all people, we are all neurodiverse.
The Parent Compass was written to help parents understand their appropriate role in navigating the tween and teen years amidst a competitive academic environment that has resulted in overparenting and, indeed, even fraud and bribery as we've seen play out in the media over the past year. It provides the tools for parents to adopt better parenting behavior and learn to appropriately approach the type of parenting that leads to their children’s academic success and emotional well-being. It addresses how to help kids develop resilience, grit, and intention, and it discusses failure, technology/screen time, the importance of family dinner, study skills, and much more. We strive to help parents keep their relationships with their children intact while they help their kids develop self-reliance and find purpose in their life’s journey to high school, college, and beyond. We called on the expertise of education thought leaders, school counselors, heads of school, teachers, adolescent psychologists, authors, and our own wisdom as mothers and seasoned educational consultants to bring together the most current, up-to-date resource guide for parents. Cindy Clumeck Muchnick, MA and Jenn Curtis MSW, Co-Authors of The Parent Compass: Navigating Your Teen's Wellness and Academic Journey in Today's Competitive World [Familius/Workman Publishing, 9/2020 release]
In this episode of Kids Under Construction, Donna Tetreault interviews Jessica Lahey. She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Gift of Failure and has a new book out, The Addiction Inoculation. Lahey gives parents the foundation to better understand the roots of addiction and helps offer steps toward prevention. This work starts early in life.
David Epstein, bestselling author of The Sports Gene and Range says this about Lahey's new book. “Hard and tremendously important conversations are at the core of The Addiction Inoculation. But thanks to Jessica Lahey’s wit, compassion, and beautiful writing, reading it feels like having those conversations with your most entertaining friend who also happens to be an expert in substance abuse research, education, and child development.”
Listen in to this honest and important conversation.
Team sports strongly impact children’s development by teaching leadership, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Gaining these skills at a young age can help pave a successful path for kids’ futures. Yet despite these well-documented benefits, youth team sports are on the decline and some are trying to turn the tide on this trend. In this podcast, Donna is joined by the Chief Executive Officer of The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Nichol Whiteman who heads the team’s charitable division. Under her leadership the foundation helped launch RBI, (Reviving Baseball in Inner cities), serving over 11,000 kids. Last year RBI built the 51st dream field for kids to play ball on regardless of their socioeconomic background. She is also on the board of the Positive Coaching, a national non-profit organization that creates a character-building youth sports environment. Nicole has two boys who are avid athletes in everything from baseball to golf. She’s witnessed how team sports shaped her boys into fine young men but these days the average child spends less than three years playing a sport before quitting, most often because the sport “just isn’t fun anymore.” Donna and Nichol discuss how to instill a “growth mindset “ in child athletes. Those who have a growth mindset believe their ability is due to practice, effort, and improving performance, unlike athletes who think their ability is fixed. In this episode, parents will gain insight on encouraging their kids to play sports for enjoyment, self-esteem, character building, and leadership skills.
To kick off the month of March, Donna Tetreault joins ABC4 to give insight on the surprising reasons why some kids struggle and others shine. Donna says thrivers tend to focus more on the 'inside' than the 'outside' and are capable of building more confidence whereas others tend to push themselves more toward social media and social hierarchy groups.
As we all settle in to another week of the continuing spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19, we come to the realization that we might be homebound even longer than we had anticipated. Now more than ever, we need tools and coping strategies as parents and families to endure the unchartered waters we are in today. If you’re the parent of a middle schooler, you know more than anyone that a kid this age is fraught with uncertainty, indecision and anxiety. How do they navigate friendships? What do they want to be? What do they stand for? This phase of development can get tricky! With executive function not fully developed until they're in their 20’s, they’re far from being able to analyze situations and make the right decisions, yet there is so much happening in their brains! More and more middle school kids are expressing feelings of depression, anxiety and even suicide. We’ve got to help them. But how do we help a kid who can seem annoyed just by our very presence? What do you do when arguing and rebellion is their knee-jerk reaction? I’m so happy and honored to have Dr. Judy Ho here to impart her wisdom and share her experience on how we can effectively communicate with our kids about navigating peer pressure and help them make the right decisions. Dr. Judy has solutions on how we can help our kids exit a difficult situation and avoid the dangers of things like vaping and sexting. Dr. Judy shares her two go-to techniques of effective communication and re-framing of perspective to avoid negative thinking and finding a way to make bad thoughts “workable” for both parent and child. Dr. Judy and I really connected on utilizing mindfulness and meditation as a family to clear our minds and create a feeling of serenity and of being grounded. I actually do this at home with my boys. Dr. Judy leads us on one of her favorite mindful meditations she calls, “clouds in the sky” Did you know kids who practice mindfulness and meditation report significantly lower levels of depression and anxiety? It even helps them score higher on tests! My hope is to offer you valuable information and tools you can use to calmly, wisely and lovingly guide your middle school kids through this especially difficult time.
On today's episode of Kids Under Construction, Donna welcomes the very talented Bryce Dallas Howard. She's an acclaimed actress, mother and daughter to Hollywood film director Ron Howard and now she's following in her famous Father's footsteps with her first directorial feature documentary, "Dads" which celebrates the joys and challenges of parenting. In a time that's riddled with so much division, Bryce is honest and candid about the "Black Lives Matter" movement and stresses how it's essential as a white family to constantly talk about race and raise kids who are well-informed and all-inclusive. In her documentary, celebrities and "real life" Dads discuss the different stages of parenthood and reveal the one age they find most difficult. From Conan Obrien to Neil Patrick Harris to Jimmy Fallon, Bryce got these Dads to open up and share their different parenting styles including Will Smith who considers himself a master gardener. Bryce reveals her Dad was hesitant to be a part of the documentary, but explains why he ultimately decided to participate. The mother of two also reveals her emotional journey of isolation and loneliness after her pregnancy and how she was scared to reach out for help. Now, Bryce is returning to film her latest movie "Jurassic World: Dominion" and shares how she feels about being away during a pandemic.
Donna and her friend Lisa Kirton discuss the deep emotion and outrage over the complex issue of racism and Black Lives Matter. How everyone can listen, learn and support our friends and families of color and talk to our kids about racial equality.
Now that we’ve settled into our stay in place orders due to COVID-19 or Coronavirus, how can we turn the boredom, social disconnection and anxiety our kids are experiencing into something from which they can emerge stronger and more resilient? Did you know self-compassion is one of the many ways to achieve a greater sense of resilience? It’s time for parents, kids and families to take the current situation we’re in and upend it! Let’s build resilience in our kids, in ourselves as parents and within the whole family! I’m so happy to be joined today by two amazing guests at the top of their field, who are also moms; First, my friend and colleague, Lisa Sugarman, an author, radio talkshow host and columnist of the nationally syndicated opinion column, “It Is What It Is” and the the author of, "How To Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids And Be Okay With It: Real Tips And Strategies For Parents Of Today’s Gen Z Kids". Lisa defines resilience as being able to get up after falling down regardless of what’s going on around you and says whether it’s helicopter parenting, bulldozer parenting or lawnmower parenting, they all create a deterrent to building resilience in our kids. But there is so much parents can do to build a resilient being. Life is not a straight line and we are not perfect and that should be the overarching message parents should be sending to their children. Whether they didn't ace the test, didn’t make the team or are having a bad week in school, it’s the attitude they adopt as they navigate through these difficult situations that is important. And when they master that, the sky’s the limit! Then, Leilani Sinclair, an associate marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles, and in her practice she sees teens, couples and families to help navigate divorce, family conflict and custody disputes. Leilani says that in order for a child to develop the skills they need to grow into adulthood, they need to have a stable adult in their lives to establish trust through consistency. When there’s a lack of trust, a child isn’t wiring their brain for connection, they’re wiring it for protection. We can’t build resilience in our kids if they don’t connect with us, trust us and have a stable environment at the core of their development.
It's been a difficult news week and kids are probably asking a lot of questions. There's no one way to explain frightening news, but on this episode of Kids Under Construction, Donna talks to XYZA News for Kids' founders Joann Suen and Sapna Satagopan to help in the conversations that might come up during family gatherings, with friends and others.
Kids need help understanding how to source news and put it into context. XYZA founders offer up much needed information and help for parents and kids alike.