Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Doug Moe, a longtime teacher and performer at the legendary Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, is this week's featured guest. In our conversation, we talk about his new book Man vs. Child: One Dad's Guide to the Weirdness of Parenting. We also talk about fellow parents he's performed improv with such as Amy Poehler, Rob Corddry, Bobby Moynihan and Rob Huebel, about the similarities between improv acting and parenting, about writing parenting humor and about the general weirdness of parenting.

James Breakwell, who Buzzfeed says might be the funniest dad on Twitter, is this week's featured guest. He was actually an early guest on this podcast in episode 12 when we talked about how his parenting humor helped him build a following of nearly 200,000 followers on Twitter. Well, now he has nearly 1 million followers on Twitter alone and a brand new book called Only Dead on the Inside: A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.

In our conversation, we talk about many of the interesting things that have happened to him since our last interview, including the book deal and adding a pet pig to his family that already included four daughters. I also ask him about his writing process and what piece of advice he has that could apply to kids and zombies both.

How can you improve your child's behavior and attention span without drugs, labels or coercion? Dr. Thomas Armstrong, author of The Myth of the ADHD Child: 101 Ways to Improve Your Child's Behavior and Attention Span without Drugs, Labels, or Coercion, attempts to answer this question on this week's episode of the podcast.

Now, I want to point out that Dr. Armstrong has opinions on ADHD that many doctors don't share, but I think it's important to ask questions and he does a good job of asking questions about a disorder that confuses many parents.

In our conversation, we talk about the rise in ADHD diagnoses, what schools are doing right and wrong to help kids who have short attention spans, and about tips to improve your child's behavior and attention without drugs.

Family coach, Dr. Catherine Pearlman, is this week's featured guest. She is the author of the new book Ignore It! How Selectively Looking the Other Way Can Decrease Behavioral Problems and Increase Parenting Satisfaction.

In our conversation, we talk about common concerns parents have when they seek help and about how ignoring some problems is actually a smart thing to do. We also talk about the proper way to manage a time-out, whether it's too late to help a spoiled child and much more.

Husband and wife writing team Mike and Heather Spohr are the featured guests this week. Mike, who is the parents editor for Buzzfeed, has actually been on the show once before in episode 36. So if you want to hear about his work at Buzzfeed and the secrets of going viral, you should definitely check out that episode.

But this week we're welcoming him back with his wife Heather because they have a brand new book coming out together called The Toddler Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Whiny Unfed. In our conversation, we talk about how they came up with the idea for their book, how they landed a book deal, what the process was like to get it published and what it's like being a husband and wife team writing a book.

Diaper Dude Chris Pegula is this week's featured guest. Chris created the company Diaper Dude after noticing most diaper bags and accessories were designed for moms. So instead of carrying his baby-stuff around in a gym bag or backpack, Chris created The Diaper Dude for dads.

In our conversation, we talk about how he created a company that makes diaper bags that even celebrity dads like Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller, David Arquette and Matthew Broderick are using. We also talk about Chris' new book, Diaper Dude: The Ultimate Dad's Guide to Surviving the First Two Years. He even shares a great parenting hack that involves turning clothes around backward.

Heather Haupt, author of Knights in Training: Ten Principles for Raising Honorable, Courageous, and Compassionate Boys, is this week's featured guest. In our conversation, we talk about the differences between raising boys and girls and how about to raise boys who grow into motivated, courageous and kind adults. We also talk about homeschooling and how to know whether you are qualified to be a homeschool teacher.

Nicola Yoon, the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of two books Everything Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, is this week's featured guest.

Everything Everything has been adapted into a movie, which is in theaters right now, and I had a chance to talk to Nicola about the book and the movie at the Mom 2.0 Summit.

One of the things I thought was so interesting about Everything Everything is that even though it is a Young Adult book, it was inspired by a very common feeling parents have after having a baby. Nicola shares what that feeling was in our conversation. We also talk about the movie reflecting the book and about her new book The Sun is Also a Star, which was influenced by her Jamaican roots.

7th Heaven star Barry Watson is this week's featured guest. Barry has a brand new show premiering June 2 on UP TV called Date My Dad, a dramedy about a great dad who is a few years removed from having his wife pass away and is re-entering the dating scene at the encouragement of his daughters.

In our conversation, which took place at the Mom 2.0 Summit in Orlando just a couple of weeks ago, we talk about Date My Dad as well as 7th Heaven. We also talk about how to play an authentic and funny dad on TV without making him goofy - like so often happens to dads on TV. And we also talk about how he researched his new role and how his father-in-law Robert Wagner helped him prepare.

Jay Papasan, author of multiple bestselling books including The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, is the featured guest this week. In our conversation, we talk about how he and co-author Gary Keller came up with the One Thing concept and how it can help parents. We also talk about why creating lists might be a bad idea and about the right time for parents to try and launch a new business.