Why are some little boys so obsessed with trains or dinosaurs- or World War II, or even blenders? Psychologists call these preschool preoccupations “extremely intense interests,” and studies have proven they much more common among boys than girls.
In this episode we talk about some of the more common “extremely intense interests” out there, like

* Thomas the Tank Engine.Why do so many boys go wild for the Isle of Sodor? Is it the wheels? Is it the characters with clear and never-changing facial expressions?
* Actually, all toys with wheels. Researchers found the same clear preference for wheeled toys among boy monkeys as they did with children.
* Dinosaurs. Is it the long names? The endless opportunities to “systemize”? Or is it mostly the people-eating potential?
* Superheroes: powers, villains, and perhaps a plausible opening to “super-punch” a sibling.
* Nerf guns and play weapons. Dr. Michael Thompson says “boys’ fantasy lives are no place for lessons on subjectivity and humanizing the other.” Whether or not you agree with that statement, you will probably agree that boys, when deprived of play weapons, can just as merrily duel with sippy cups or pillows or whatever might be handy.
 
“Extremely intense interests” tend to disappear once the kids who have them get to grade school, and have both new subject matter to master and peers with whom to assimilate.
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Dinosaurs and Trains and Superheroes and Nerf Guns: Boy Obsessions

When you're a parent, every day brings a "fresh hell" to deal with. In other words, there's always something. Think of us as your funny mom friends who are here to remind you: you're not alone, and it won't always be this hard.
We're Amy and Margaret, both busy moms of three kids, but with completely different parenting styles. Margaret is a laid-back to the max; Amy never met a spreadsheet or an organizational system she didn't like.
In each episode of "What Fresh Hell" we offer lots of laughs, but also practical advice, parenting strategies, and tips to empower you in your role as a mom. We explore self-help techniques, as well as ways to prioritize your own needs, combat stress, and despite the invisible workload we all deal with, find joy amidst the chaos of motherhood.
If you've ever wondered "why is my kid..." then one of us has probably been there, and we're here to tell you what we've learned along the way.
We unpack the behaviors and developmental stages of toddlers, tweens, and teenagers, providing insights into their actions and equipping you with effective parenting strategies.
We offer our best parenting tips and skills we've learned. We debate the techniques and studies that are everywhere for parents these days, and get to the bottom of what works best to raise happy, healthy, fairly well-behaved kids, while fostering a positive parent-child relationship.
If you're the default parent in your household, whether you're a busy mom juggling multiple pickups and dropoffs, or a first-time parent seeking guidance, this podcast is your trusted resource. Join our community of supportive mom friends laughing in the face of motherhood!  
whatfreshhellpodcast.com

Comedy

Kids & Family

Parenting

We all know what extreme "oversharenting" is when we see it. It's the gray areas that get harder. When we post about our kid's adventures in potty training, are we supposed to think twice? 
What will happen when our kids are old enough to want to curate their own internet presence?  
How concerned should we be about the privacy we may have given away without thinking? 
Amy and Margaret discuss:

the digital footprint and the "right to be forgotten"

what to check in your privacy settings

when to start asking kids for permission before you post

the benefits we gain from sharing about our families online


Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Zoya Garg, Elmer Gomez and Luciana Yael Petrzela for the NY Times: "If You Didn't 'Sharent,' Did You Even Parent?"


Sean Coughlan for the BBC: "'Sharenting' puts young at risk of online fraud"


Fortesa Latifi for Cosmopolitan: "What’s the Price of a Childhood Turned Into Content?"


Fortesa Latifi for Cosmopolitan: "'We’re Never Doing This Again': What It Took for These Parenting Influencers to Pull Their Kids Offline"


Paula Cocozza for The Guardian: "‘I was so embarrassed I cried’: do parents share too much online?"


Amy Webb for Slate: "We Post Nothing About Our Daughter Online"


Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Michael H. Keller for the NY Times: "A Marketplace of Girl Influencers Managed by Moms and Stalked by Men"


Megan Francis: When Your “Worst-Mom Moment” Becomes A Viral Meme (And How The “Surfboard Kid” Became A Man)



We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:
https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent,
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Do We Share Too Much About Our Kids Online?

This month, we're doing a deep dive series into the division of household labor—why it's often unbalanced, and what we can do about it. You can find the playlist with all of the episodes in the series here. 
Want to see a mother get mad? Tell her she's "nagging" you after she's been obligated to repeat an entirely reasonable request several times over. And just why is "nagging" a word that's almost exclusively applied to women?
We need the other members of our households to show up and do their share. As the default parents, we own the lists. So do we stop caring whether others like how we ask and remind? Do we enforce a back-to-one where we're not forced to ask repeatedly in the first place?
In this episode Amy and Margaret discuss:

The sexism and etymology of the word "nag"

What Amy says are the three types of "nagging," and why we should separate them out

What to say when our repeated asking is framed as annoying to other people (guess to whom it's also annoying, too?)


Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Jessica Zhang on LinkedIn: "What's In a Nag?"


Episode from If Books Could Kill podcast: "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"


McClelland, T., & Sliwa, P: "Gendered affordance perception and unequal domestic labour."


Our episode with Lynyetta Willis on "Stable Misery"


Our episode with Eve Rodsky on "Changing the Invisible Workload"


Anne Helen Petersen's newsletter Culture Study



We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:
https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent,
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DEEP DIVE: It's Not "Nagging"

Is it even possible to declutter your home for more than one minute at a time when you've got kids? Diane Boden, host of the Minimalist Moms podcast, offers parenting tips for cutting down on possessions in a manageable way.
Diane Boden is the host of the Minimalist Moms Podcast and author of Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity. She lives in Ohio with her husband and three kids.
Diane, Margaret, and Amy discuss:

What minimalism can mean for different people

Simple steps for starting the decluttering process—and some more radical strategies too

How to reconcile different set points for clutter between parenting partners

How to deal with family members who love giving gifts


Here's where you can find Diane: 

minimalistmomspodcast.com

@minimalistmomspodcast on all socials

Buy MINIMALIST MOMS: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781642505092


Listen to the Minimalist Moms podcast


We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:
https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, minimalism, decluttering
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Fresh Take: Diane Boden, "Minimalist Moms"

How do we help our kids succeed in school without becoming the dreaded "snowplow" parents? Here are some parenting tips for advocating for your child at school when necessary, while also empowering our kids to navigate their own learning.
Amy and Margaret discuss:

How school environments have changed in the last few decades

Best practices for helping kids of different ages manage homework

How to start a productive conversation with your child's educators about concerns you may have


Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: 

 Jenny Anderson for TIME Magazine: "Many American Parents Have No Idea How Their Kids Are Doing in School"


Carrie Bauer, et. al, for Slate: Help Me Help My Kid


Libby Stanford for Education Week: "Does Parent Involvement Really Help Students? Here’s What the Research Says"


U.S. Department of Education: "Raise the Bar: Resources for Parents and Families"


Cara Goodwin for KQED's Mind/Shift: "How important is homework, and how much should parents help?"



See our interview with Jennifer Breheny Wallace - author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic — and What We Can Do About It



We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:
https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, academic achievement, school achievement, homework 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Involved Should We Be with Our Kids' Schools?

This month, we're doing a deep dive series into the division of household labor—why it's often unbalanced, and what we can do about it. You can find the playlist with all of the episodes in the series here. 
Matthew Fray is a relationship coach who leans on the lessons of his failed marriage to help others avoid making the same mistakes that he did. He's a 43-year-old single father who is best known for his viral blog post "She Divorced Me Because I Left Dishes by the Sink." Fray is the author of the new book "This is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships." Matthew gives us wonderful, poignant insights into how to validate our partners, find out their true needs, and re-establish trust when we've lost it.
In this episode, Matthew, Margaret, and Amy discuss:

Why we may not realize we're betraying our partner's trust

Matthew's hierarchy of needs in relationships

Why couples always have the same fight


Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Matthew's recent article in The Atlantic

Our episode with Eve Rodsky on changing the invisible workload


Here's where you can find Matthew:

matthewfray.com

Buy Matthew's book: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780063072251


FB: @matthewfrayMBTTTR

IG: @frayrelationships

Twitter: @MBTTTR


We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:
https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, emotional labor, marriage, partnerships, divorce
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Dinosaurs and Trains and Superheroes and Nerf Guns: Boy Obsessions

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