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We never want to see our children suffer. It hurts us to the core because we want our child's life to be pain-free, perfect, happy.

But when they face medical challenges, it is heartbreaking and devastating. When Em was 3.5 years, she was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma and was given a short time to live. Fast forward, she is now 14 years old. Yay!

Her mom, Tara Geraghty, joins me in the studio this week to share how she made the journey fun for both of them. It's not easy to make such a diagnosis fun, but Tara and Em made it enjoyable for everyone around them. It was their coping mechanism, but also tremendously healing in the face of fear.

Tara will inspire and remind you to enjoy the small things in life, and laugh along the way. 

Tara has spent over 23+ years in leadership development leading a team of women across the nation. She holds a degree in theater, has a background in improvisation and is both Counseling Practitioner and REBT certified.  Tara is a sought after Top 5 TEDx speaker, the Author of Making Cancer Fun: A Parents Guide (Amazon #1 New Release), and has been featured on MSNBC, GMA, 5280 & Reader’s Digest to name a few. She is a contributing author on Every Entrepreneur’s Guide to Running your Own Business, a contributor to Conquer Magazine: The Patient’s Voice, and can be heard on podcasts worldwide.  She volunteers her time as a member of the JLMC and the NJ State & Public Affairs Committee. Tara lives in NJ with her miracle kid daughter Emily Grace.  You can find Tara at www.taragonline.com

Time Stamps:

1:05 - Intro
3:40 - Cancer Diagnosis
8:00 - Em wants a bikini
9:03 - Tumor Stomping party
11:30 - Radiologist's encouraging words
14:57 - TEDX and how happiness helps scientifically
18:25 - Tara's not the expert :)
24:10 - PTSD
28:13 - Em's positivity about COVID
32:52 - Tara's meltdown
35:10 - Self-care v. Selfish
38:23 - Focus on me
40:08 - Parting words of wisdom

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Have you ever wondered how parents of children with special needs manage everything? The day to day tasks can be overwhelming, challenging, and exhausting.

Effie Parks from Once Upon a Gene joins us in the studio this week to share her positive, hopeful, and energetic outlook on life with her son, Ford. Her message is that it is your choice how you approach adversity. Hers is head-on with a smile. But that doesn't mean she neglects herself. Effie has some simple, doable ways for us to take care of ourselves, even if it means we make a Target run. (Disclaimer, she may not always go to Target!)

Frankly, I needed to hear her message and I know you will, too. She is amazing!

Effie Parks was born in the magical land of Montana, where she was raised with her 12 loving siblings.  After moving to Washington and marrying her husband, they were blessed with the birth of their son, Ford Canon Parks.  When she learned that Ford had been born with an extremely rare genetic condition – CTNNB1 syndrome – she dove into the world of advocacy.  Now, she is the host of her own podcast, Once Upon a Gene, where she speaks to others about their journey through life with rare disease.

Contact Effie if you are wanting advice, resources, or even just an ear at www.effieparks.com.

Time Stamps:
0:52 - Effie Parks intro
2:25 - Once Upon a Gene
4:17 - Ford and his condition
8:46 - Effie Time
11:05 - Toothbrush Test
15:35 - You matter the most
18:23 - Target and margaritas
23:15 - Socializing with Ford
28:05 - Judging someone on their character
29:31 - Connect with Effie
31:01 - Effie's sage advice

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Sounds like a crazy busy life to juggle with so many responsibilities. We all are super busy doing so many tasks, it begs the question, "How do we have time for anything for ourselves?".

This week Tiffany Hwang joins us in the studio to discuss how she, the mother of14:14 two young children, holds a full-time job, and a podcast host (TITT Talks), manages to create time in her incredibly busy schedule for herself. 

Her one piece of advice? Do something that works with everyone's schedule! Listen to learn more. 

Time Stamps: 

• 0:00 - Intro
• 8:21 - Parent Guilt; how Tiffany prioritizes her time
• 12:11 - Anger management meditation (is that a thing??)
•  14:54 - How Asian American women are conditioned
• 16:28 - Tiffany's daughter in a dual immersion program at school
• 19:56 - White board for scheduling purposes
• 21:30 - Is getting groceries self-care?
• 23:02 - Staying home and mental sanity
• 25:17 - Sometimes you need more help than you can provide yourself
• 27:14 - By taking care of ourselves, we are more patient with our children
• 28:23 - Tiffany and I discuss who is more patient, our husbands or us
• 30:38 - Tiffany Hwang contact info 

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Anyone else out there great at giving advice but not taking it? No? So, it's just me. OK. 

For so many years, I was told to take care of myself when my children were young. Take time to do some just for me. To step back and take a breath so I could enjoy the time with my children. But did I listen?? Nope.  I thought I knew better. 

Much later, when the children were teenagers, I finally started doing a few things for myself. I would make sure I did at least one thing just for myself every day. 

Looking back, I should have listened sooner, so Do as I Say, Not as I Did. Take time for yourself. In this episode, I break down 4 areas where we need to be healthy to provide the best we can for our children. 

Mental, physical, emotional, and social are the areas I feel are important for us to understand. 

Each day this month, I will post a self-care tip for you to consider, and look forward to you sharing yours with me. 

Follow me for the latest updates:

https://www.instagram.com/theedume/
https://www.facebook.com/theedume

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We have extremely busy schedules and it's hard to fit everything in. How many times do you think 'We need to do that', but it never happens?

Reading is an important part of our children's education, but we also need to devote time to it. Children's reading doesn't just 'happen' overnight. We have to teach them, help them, and it requires lots of patience.

Catherine Praiswater, host of the podcast Your Positive Imprint, is philosophical but also sentimental. She was raised in a close-knit family with several siblings. Life was spent in the outdoors camping, hiking, backpacking, traveling, fishing and singing songs around the campfire. Often times she and her family were the only ones in the wilderness, except for the wildlife. Her parents told stories and taught the children about life from these stories. As a result, Catherine enjoys telling stories and writing about her experiences in a reflective manner. host of the podcast Your Positive Imprint, joins us this week to discuss how parents can create strong readers, even with busy lives. Her strategies can be implemented in fun ways, if we plan and schedule. By doing so, we can build confidence in our readers, and enjoy quality time with them, as well. 

We can create strong readers with a few adjustments in our schedules. Listen to Catherine tell us how. 

Some of the sources she cites in this episode: 

https://yourpositiveimprint.com/
http://www.louisamoats.com/
Doug Fisher, Ph.D.
https://www.trelease-on-reading.com/

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Testing season seems to never end. The SAT/ACT are given more times a year than ever and it can be overwhelming to guide your children. As parents, we are trying to optimize our child's 'performance' on the test so they can apply to colleges. It is an exhausting time for everyone in the family.

Creating a schedule, ensuring that your child is efficient with their time is critical for maintaining sanity, and doing well on the test.

There is help!

Amy Seeley from Seeley Test Pros and Mike Bergin from Chariot Learning join us in the studio this week to discuss:

• When is the best time to take the ACT/SAT
• When is the best time to prepare for these tests
• What can we do to help our child attain their highest scores
• What are resources we can ALL use to help our children

https://seeleytestpros.com/
https://chariotlearning.com/
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/testing
https://www.youtube.com/user/KaplanSATACT

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We all have busy schedules. Our days are filled with lots of multi-tasking at work and home. And throw in a pandemic, and we have now have elevated our level of the number of tasks and stress. There are ways to help decrease our anxiety levels and stay sane in the process. 

Keeping on this topic for the month, my friend Jerry Won joins us in the studio this week to share how he manages his business and spending quality time with his young children. He creates and implements many projects that are dear to his heart, that he is passionate about, and brings them to fruition. His approach to his work/life balance is admirable and one we should all learn from. 

Jerry is a storyteller, brand builder, and entrepreneur. He is the Founder & CEO of Just Like Media, an Asian American storytelling company whose shows include Dear Asian Americans, Beyond the Resumes, MBAsians, and The Janchi Show. He is the CEO of The Podcast Firm, a podcasting production, consulting, and education company. Prior to podcasting, he was a strategy consultant at Accenture and sales leader at start-ups and F500 companies. Jerry has a BS from USC Marshall and an MBA from Michigan Ross. Along with his wife Kyung and his two children, Jerry lives in Southern California. Connect with him on Linkedin at jerrywon.com

Jerry is a visionary and voice for the Asian community around the world. Having immigrated to America when he was 8, he has worked to find his voice in the world and elevate others. 

In order to do so, he has to be effective with his schedule. This episode includes his views on:

• Time management strategies
• The Korean journey
• Privileges
• Making choices about your time
• @Dear Asian Americans
• @The Janchi Show, and
• @Asian Podcast network

And, no recording of mine would be complete without some technical glitches that was left in for your listening pleasure.

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This is a very heavy episode for me. I'm still in shock and dismay at the events of this past week. Watching the events at the Capitol were unbelievably scary and unnerving. 

However, the whole time I was watching, I kept asking myself, 'What do we say to our children? How do we explain this to them?'

In this bonus episode, I share 3 points that I have shared with my own children about the events. These 3 points are also what I told my children as we watched the events together. 

This is not a political episode. It is a reflection of my thoughts and desire to move forward to a better, more stable country. 

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Happy New Year!

We all have survived 2020. It presented with unknowns, constant juggling of our schedules, and trying to find our sanity in the process. 

Thankfully, 2021 has arrived and it's time to look ahead to a less stressful, chaotic year (hopefully!). Along with a new year, we tend to also want to become a better version of ourselves.

So, this month we are discussing time management. How can we make our lives more efficient and productive? AND sustainable? In this episode, I break down 5 ways to become a better time manager. 

• Plan, Plan, Plan
• Be reasonable in your expectations
• Find your calm time
• Re-evaluate your priorities often
• Create a plan that is flexible and workable

Join in as I share some concrete examples from my parenting that will help you! 

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This is the last episode for 2020 and we wanted to end it on a high note. There are some good things that happened this year. I share, in this episode, the best thing that's happened for my family.

If you know anyone with hearing loss, you understand how challenging it can be for them and everyone they are around. The simple, daily task of having a conversation, watching TV, or talking on the phone can be frustrating and affect self-esteem. 

In this episode, my Mom and Dad join me to share my Mom's 50-year journey of hearing loss, how it affected her teaching 2nd graders, and the never ending quest to find a solution. 

While this may not be for everyone, this path did help my mother regain her hearing with the help of a device called a bone-anchored hearing aid. With the help of this device, she can now hear about 80% better than she is able to without it.

There are so many lessons in this episode, but here are my top 3: 

1. Never give up. There may be a solution that you aren't aware of. 
2. Do not associate a physical deficiency to intellectual, social, or emotion deficiency. 
3. Be sure to teach your children the first two!

Be sure to subscribe and listen to this and all our other episodes! 

Links are below for anyone interested in more information. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-anchored_hearing_aid
https://www.healthyhearing.com/help/hearing-aids/bone-anchored
https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/procedures-and-treatments/bone-anchored-hearing-aids-baha

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