Have a child who lacks motivation, talks back, lies and steals, and fights you over everything? Given the chance, strong-willed kids would suck the calm and patient right out of Mother Theresa, let alone their actual mother. In this week’s episode, Calm Parenting Podcast host Kirk Martin teaches Alanna and Milano the power of reframing. Shifting the way we think and act with our strong-willed kids—and examining what we as parents bring to the dynamic—can turn the job of parenting them from burden to blessing. He shares brilliantly simple and practical reframing techniques that establish boundaries and expectations without damaging the all-important parent-child connection.

In This Episode:

👉 How the brains of strong-willed kids are wired.

👉 Helping strong-willed kids create new neural pathways and behavioral patterns. 

👉 Understanding the role parents can play in struggles with strong-willed kids.

👉 The power of language and tone with strong-willed kids. 

👉 Tips for navigating strong-willed kids without losing your cool or connection.

Links:

Learn more about Kirk here.

Listen to Kirk’s podcast.

Follow Kirk: @calmparentingpodcast

Follow us: @barenakedmoms

Did you know the new average age for girls to begin puberty is 9?! Or that if you don’t talk to your kids about porn by the age of 12, it might be too late? In this week’s episode, Alanna and Milano are joined by puberty expert Vanessa Kroll Bennett, co-host of the chart-topping podcast This is So Awkward and co-author of the newly released book by the same title. Vanessa, who is known for flipping puberty positive, level sets our expectations of what we should be talking about with our kids, the ages we should be having these conversations and how they should sound (spoiler alert: it’s not a five-hour kumbaya sesh). Vanessa also helps us understand how different puberty is for kids today than it was for us—and how important it is, because of that, to not project our experience onto theirs.

In This Episode:

👉 Understanding how modern puberty is different from our puberty.

👉 Knowing the conversations you must have with your kids—and when/how to have them.

👉 Practical tips for removing the “icky” and “tricky” from puberty talks and moments.

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Learn more about Vanessa here.

Listen to Vanessa’s podcast.

Follow Vanessa: @less.awkward

Follow us: @barenakedmoms

When actress Jordana Brewster rocketed to fame in The Fast and the Furious franchise in her 20s, she says she second-guessed every move she made. Over the years, as she continued to land major roles in movies and on TV, she became a mom to two sons, and these days, she finally knows what she values – as a person and a parent. 

On the show, Jordana opens up about her Mom wins and woes: unexpected insecurities that bubbled up from having kids through surrogacy, pushing back on today’s insane expectations for kids to pick a lane early on and the freedom that comes from ditching perfection.

Jordana is currently starring in the psychological thriller Cellar Door as a woman who struggles with infertility. 

In This Episode:

• Navigating modern pressures for kids to find their passion early on. 
• Negotiating insecurities that can emerge after becoming a parent through surrogacy. 
• Processing failure. 

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Jordana: @jordanabrewster

Big Time Adulting’s Caitlin Murray is the Nora Ephron slash Larry David of today’s mom culture. The not-to-be-messed-with mom of three (whose oldest is a cancer survivor) points out the nonsense in everything from Daylight Savings to palate expanders. The only thing missing from her side-splitting insights on the absurdities of modern mom life are flying f*cks. 

In addition to her ninja kitchen dances and daily pearls of witty wisdom on Instagram, Caitlin recently started a weekly newsletter called Soul Snacks. And she’s currently writing her first book. On the show, she opens up about her evolving relationship with alcohol and being sober-curious these days. We get into the slippery slopes of tween girl fashion. She talks about how she’s navigating her newfound fame and how having a child who survived cancer changed everything about her as a mom.

In This Episode:

• Our relationships with alcohol and being sober curious
• Drawing boundaries around tween girl fashion 
• Being a normal mom who suddenly becomes super famous 
• What good days and bad days look like after your child has survived cancer

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Caitlin on Big Time Adulting: @bigtimeadulting 

Check out her Soul Snacks newsletter: https://bigtimeadulting.beehiiv.com/

Lydia Fenet is one of the world’s top auctioneers, having raised over one billion dollars for charity organizations. Her success is fueled by an abundance of confidence. She joins us to talk about how she’s now trying to build confidence in her three kids and how she maintains her confidence as a mom despite all the demands of her career. 

Lydia is the author of two bestselling books, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You and Claim Your Confidence, and hosts a podcast. She and her husband are raising their family in New York City. 

In This Episode:

• Lydia vs. Mom Guilt 
• How letting kids fail allows them to become confident

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Lydia Fenet: @lydiafenet

What the hell happened to Youth Sports? What happened to the days of a couple practices a week and one game on the weekends? These days, it feels like sports have become careers for our kids—and full time jobs for us parents to manage those careers. When and how did it get: so serious, so nonstop, so expensive? 

We get into the nitty gritty with Predators Lacrosse founder, Mike McCall. McCall breaks down the bigger game here—who the players are, and how to know if you’re a winner or a loser in it. 

In This Episode:

• How to assess the value of travel sports at every age 
• What the end game is in this bankrupting rat race
• How to think about allocating a family’s resources when it comes to sports

Links:

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Predators Lacrosse: @predatorslacrosse and https://predatorslacrosse.com/

What the hell happened to Youth Sports? What happened to the days of a couple practices a week and one game on the weekends? These days, it feels like sports have become careers for our kids—and full time jobs for us parents to manage those careers. When and how did it get: so serious, so nonstop, so expensive? 

We get into the nitty gritty with Predators Lacrosse founder, Mike McCall. McCall breaks down the bigger game here—who the players are, and how to know if you’re a winner or a loser in it. 

In This Episode:

• How to assess the value of travel sports at every age 
• What the end game is in this bankrupting rat race
• How to think about allocating a family’s resources when it comes to sports

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Predators Lacrosse: @predatorslacrosse and https://predatorslacrosse.com/

If you’ve been listening, you may have heard Milano talk a little about her complicated childhood. But in this episode, she takes the mic to tell much more of her story. Born to a mentally ill woman who was living in her car, Milano was raised throughout Manhattan by a motley crew of amazing parent figures and family units—including her biological mom, a family from Ghana from the neighborhood, her third grade teacher, her aunt and uncle, and her former school principal. Somehow she patched together enough love, support and guidance to land at an elite boarding school and university.

Cut to: Milano’s now 45 years old and living in a leafy suburb with her husband and three kids. But just when you think the credits of this would-be Hollywood tale might start rolling is when the real nail-biter begins: a whole new survival story of navigating marriage and motherhood without any maps and loads of childhood trauma. 

In This Episode:

• The unique charms of Milano’s bipolar mother that inspired everyday people to step in and save Milano.  
• How marriage and parenthood activated Milano’s childhood trauma responses. 
• How Milano’s search for answers in the parenting world led her back to her childhood, her mom, and to Bare Naked Moms. 

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Milano wrote about her story on Oprah Daily 

Milano also told her story on the Big Time Adulting podcast

Kids on professional paths….How did they get those paths? How much is the parent and how much is the child? How do you know if they’ve got the goods? And, if they do, where do you go from there? 

In this episode, we talk to Broadway star Melissa Errico and gentle parenting coach Susan Nason about raising “prodigies.” Melissa and her husband, former tennis champ Patrick McEnroe, have three teenage daughters who are serious talents—one in tennis, two in dance. Together, we explore our burning questions about kids who have already picked a lane: Nature vs. nurture? Who’s driving the train? As a parent, when to push and when to retreat? (Sidenote: Patrick makes a cameo!) 

In This Episode:

• How to help competitive children navigate high-stake wins and losses.
• Identifying a child’s talent as just one part of her whole self. 
• The differences between pushing and teaching perseverance. 
• The importance of modeling imperfection and being comfortable with the mess of life. 

Follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Melissa on Instagram: @melissa_errico_fairymom 

Check Melissa out on her website: https://melissaerrico.com    

Follow Susan Nason on her website: www.theparentwhispererny.com 

Check Susan out in this article: Town & Country Magazine 

Are you a parent with ADHD? Or are you married to one? Do you struggle with the executive function that raising kids and running a household requires? We hear so much these days about kids with ADHD, but in our conversation with social media stars and bestselling authors, Penn and Kim Holderness, we get a real sense of what it means to be a parent with ADHD. Penn was diagnosed back in high school, and he and Kim bring their signature honesty, humor and insight to their new book, ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD, which landed on The New York Times Best Sellers list and has gone on to become one of the most popular books ever published on the subject. We talked to them about: 

• Why managing a family and household is so much more difficult for a parent with ADHD. 
• The challenges of marriage and parenting when your partner has ADHD. 
• How some ADHD traits can really work in your favor as a parent.

Joining the conversation is Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, a clinical psychologist, parenting coach, and author of The Tantrum Survival Guide. Dr. Hershberg has shared her wisdom on CNN, The Today Show, and The New York Times. 

Follow us on Instagram: @barenakedmoms

Follow Penn and Kim Holderness: @theholdernessfamily

Follow Dr. Rebecca Hershberg: @rebeccahershbergphd