Equal Parts

2020 has tested our collective resolve – and our mental health. A global pandemic. Fires and hurricanes. A polarized society. Closed schools and daycares. Anxiety and stress are a fixture of life and work this year…along with looming uncertainty about the months ahead. But we don’t have to be paralyzed by it. Dr. Ali Mattu is a clinical psychologist who’s spent a decade treating anxiety and panic disorders in kids and adults. He’s the host of The Psych Show on YouTube, which offers videos about mental health and psychology that are fun to watch and easy to understand. A father and a mental health professional, Ali offers tips and advice on how working parents can get through these crazy days and why the very best thing we can do for our mental health (and that of our families) is to find compassion and forgiveness for ourselves.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Why being a “good parent” during a pandemic starts by taking care of yourself

-How to anchor your day with a few simple habits to create stability

-The many ways we’re grieving “the before times” of a pre-Covid world, and strategies to process feelings of loss while holding on to what’s most important

-Practical techniques to help calm your racing mind, physically relax, and get a good night’s sleep (pro tip: invest in a back roller!)

-Why the challenge of this moment presents a rare opportunity to teach ourselves and our children resilience and strength

For more information, visit www.alimattu.com.

One of the most important contributors to a baby’s physical and psychological development is sleep. The same goes for their parents! But what exactly is the science behind how babies and toddlers sleep, and how does sleep – or a lack thereof – affect a little one’s waking hours, too? Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans is a sleep scientist and co-founder of Baby Sleep Science, an organization that offers families resources and help with children’s sleep. She spent more than 10 years working in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Flynn-Evans joins us to share how much sleep babies and toddlers should be getting, the most common challenges parents face regarding their baby’s sleep, and advice and tips for the whole family on how to catch some healthy and restorative ZZZs.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Sleep guidelines for infants and toddlers established by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

-The importance of naps – how frequently and how long should babies be napping as they grow?

-How to optimize your baby or toddler’s sleep environment (make sure it’s cool, quiet, dark, and comfortable)

-Signs to look out for signaling that your baby isn’t getting enough sleep

-How to adjust your child’s sleep schedule to accommodate new school schedules and seasonal time shifts

-How AI and mobile apps, like Huckleberry, can help you and your baby get better sleep

-Resources for parents who need help with their child’s sleep

For more information, visit https://www.babysleepscience.com/.

If your child’s school is behind a computer screen, then you know that motivating them to stay focused isn’t always easy. It’s especially hard for little ones who are learning how to read and aren’t used to the virtual classroom. Kristen DiCerbo, Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy, joins us to explain what education research tells us about motivation and learning and how it can help parents and kids get through this unprecedented time. Kristen explains how parents can work with students of all ages to set learning goals, track their progress, keep education relevant, and set up an at-home learning environment that’s built for success. (Oh, and a little reward now and then doesn’t hurt, either.)

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Why being successful at a task and finding value in what you’re asked to do are the keys to staying focused and motivated

-Ideas on how to set age-appropriate goals for online learners, from pre-K to 12th grade

-The benefits of having collaborative conversations with kids about goal setting

-How to work with your child’s teacher to align with their learning goals

-The right way to use rewards as a motivation tactic for at-home learning (pro tip: keep them small, frequent, and unexpected)

-Advice on setting up a comfortable and distraction-free learning space that’s well-lit and fully-stocked

-Resources at Khan Academy to support students of all ages and ensure they aren’t falling behind

For more information, visit https://www.khanacademy.org/.

Whether you live in a “red zone” or a “green zone,” Covid-19 remains a very real threat across the U.S. Assessing what’s safe and what’s not for your family depends on a range of factors that are confusing and leave us asking more questions. To get clarity and context on the risks of Covid-19, we’re with William Haseltine, a renowned scientist and infectious disease expert known for his groundbreaking work on cancer, HIV/AIDS, and the human genome. A former professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, he is now President and Chair of ACCESS Health International. Professor Haseltine shares information from his two new “living” ebooks, “A Family Guide to Covid” and “A Covid Back to School Guide.” He presents the facts and gives an unbiased, realistic explanation about the dangers of this virus – and answers questions honestly about what we should do to keep our kids and families safe.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-How to assess your “hierarchy of risk” when deciding what’s best for your family’s health and safety

-The importance of monitoring Covid-19 infection data in our local communities like we do the weather

-Factors that increase the risk of infection, including age and underlying health conditions like obesity, cancer, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and pregnancy

-The risk of children age 18 and under contracting and spreading Covid-19

-Is going to school safe? What about hybrid learning models?

-What parents should ask school administrators regarding precautions they’re taking to keep children safe

-What we can learn from countries that have successfully mitigated the spread of the virus

For more information, visit https://accessh.org/covidfamilyguide/.

As parents, nothing breaks our heart more completely than seeing our child stressed, depressed, and anxious. Our impulse is to activate our “fix it” mode. But our way of fixing it often isn’t what our kids need. Instead, they need us to listen, empathize, and ask, “How can I help? That’s according to Katie Hurley, a child and adolescent psychotherapist and the award-winning author of No More Mean Girls and The Happy Kid Handbook. Katie joins us to explain the differences between stress and anxiety, and how each can appear in young kids, tweens, and teenagers. She shares practical advice on how to help kids overcome Zoom-related anxiety and brain drain, stay calm, and breathe.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Why we need to be hyper-aware (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic) of how easily our kids absorb our own fears, worries, and stress

-The difference between a child that’s an “internalizer” versus an “externalizer” of stress and anxiety, and how age and gender play a role in how they respond

-Coping mechanisms (like deep breathing, visualization exercises, and stress balls) and mobile apps (like Stop, Breathe & Think Kids and Calm) that help kids make mindfulness and relaxation a habit

-Why taking walks, shutting off the news, and teletherapy are great ways for parents to stay centered right now

-Technology, gaming, social media, and devices: are they making our kids miserable or adding value to their lives?

-Advice on guiding teens to make smart, responsible media consumption choices and how to help them find accurate information (not “fake news” on YouTube)

For more information, visit https://practicalkatie.com/

Conversations with kids about race and racism with children aren’t easy. They can be uncomfortable and clumsy. Too often, parents don’t fully understand the issues themselves, so they struggle to talk about it with their kids. In this special episode, Care.com CEO Tim Allen is joined by the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Harvey. She’s an award-winning educator, a racial justice activist, and the author of the the New York Times best-selling book, Raising White Kids: Bringing up Children in a Racially Unjust America. Dr. Harvey offers guidance on how to have constructive, age-appropriate discussions with children about race and racism. Whether you’re a parent who wants to advance your family’s anti-racisim activism, or an educator or caregiver looking to foster racial justice in our homes, schools, and communities, you’ll leave this episode with the knowledge and tools you need to educate kids to be informed, empathetic, and active allies in the ongoing fight against systemic racism in America.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Tools to teach kids to embrace and celebrate the “language of difference”

-Is there a “too young” to start talking to kids about race and racism?

-Why it’s critical to teach children about the injustices people of color encounter

-Ways parents can continue to practice race-conscious parenting as children grow older and become more aware of the world around them

-Ideas for getting kids proactively involved in fighting against racism and injustice

-How parents can work with educators to advocate for active anti-racist practices

-Resources for parents to educate themselves, their families, and their communities about race and racial justice

For more information, visit www.jenniferharvey.org.

Stress, anxiety, depression are at an all-time high, and it’s affecting our kids’ health, happiness, and their ability to relate to others. It’s time for an empathy tune-up – for the whole family. Dr. Michele Borba is an educational psychologist, a former school teacher, and an expert in bullying, character development, and child behavior. She’s written 24 best-selling books, including her latest, UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World. Dr. Borba joins us to talk about the critical role parents play in teaching empathy to kids, whether they’re 2 or 20. She shares practical ideas for reducing stress and increasing empathy and altruism in our kids, and explains why it can be their greatest competitive advantage.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Tips for teaching kids how to hone their emotional literacy (the “gateway to empathy”) and enrich their emotional vocabulary

-How to overcome the physical barriers that masks, FaceTime, and social distancing are placing on kids’ ability to connect and communicate with others (make eye contact!)

-Navy SEAL-based breathing and relaxation techniques the whole family can practice to work through stressful situations and self-regulate negative emotions

-Why hope and optimism are the keys to empathy, with a few inspirational stories of kids doing good deeds during the pandemic

-Why our children need a whole lot more of “we got this”

For more information, visit https://micheleborba.com

This Fall, “back-to-school” will be different than anything we’ve ever experienced. Parents are grappling with in-person or distance learning and many school districts are still deciding on the safest way to start the academic year: full-time in-person, full-time remote, or a hybrid of the two. Our guest, Emily Oster, is an economist at Brown University, the author of two bestselling books about parenting, Expecting Better and Cribsheet, and a contributing author to COVID Explained, a website that takes an unbiased, data-driven look at the virus and its impacts. She explains what data and science are telling us about the risks of kids of all ages contracting and spreading COVID-19, and what needs to be considered in order to safely re-open schools.

Listen to this episode to learn:

- What the current data says about different age groups of children and their associated risks of contracting and spreading COVID-19

- The top factors – based on data – to consider when deciding whether to send your child to school or day care in-person versus have them participate in distance learning

- What the U.S. can learn from other countries, including Israel, Sweden, and Germany, that have re-opened schools for in-person instruction

- The challenges facing college and university campuses this Fall, including surveillance testing and social distancing measures

- Why parents, schools, and communities need to be realistic about planning for the inevitably of COVID-19 cases in schools

- The pros and cons of alternative learning models, like “pandemic learning pods” For more information, visit www.explaincovid.org.

How do we prepare our girls for the future and ensure they have the confidence, skills, and courage to face a difficult world? Dr. Marisa Porges is Head of The Baldwin School, an independent pre-K through 12 all-girls’ school outside of Philadelphia, and she’s the author of a new book, What Girls Need: How to Raise Bold, Courageous, and Resilient Women. Dr. Porges has spent her career practicing what she advocates. She’s served as a senior cybersecurity advisor in the Obama White House, a counterterrorism expert in Afghanistan, and on active duty in the U.S. Navy, flying jets as a Naval Flight Officer. Dr. Porges joins us to talk about the skills girls need to succeed in the 21st century, and how parents and educators can help girls find their inner voice, self-advocate, and be fearless in the face of anything – and anyone – that comes their way.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-How girls’ innate talents – collaborative problem-solving, communicating across boundaries, empathy, and adaptability – are their biggest competitive advantages

-What you can do to help girls practice “the art of the ask” and become skilled negotiators

-Advice for raising sons to be female allies and advocates

-Why a healthy competitive spirit gives girls an edge

-Stories from Dr. Porges’s time serving in the Obama White House and flying jets in the U.S. Navy

Have your kids been clocking some serious screentime these past few months? Pandemic life has loosened screentime rules for families across America, leaving parents – especially those working from home – feeling conflicted. It’s also raised lots of questions. How much screentime should I allow for my kids? What apps are appropriate? If I let my son play three hours of Roblox, will he turn into a techno-zombie? Devorah Heitner, PhD, is here to answer these questions and more. She’s the author of the book, Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World and the founder of Raising Digital Natives. Devorah explains the importance of “mentoring over monitoring” when it comes to kids’ tech use and gives advice on how to encourage a healthy relationship with media and technology – and set kids up for success, not stress, in the digital age.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Why it’s critical that we empathize with kids right now and let them use technology to connect, create, laugh, and learn

-What digital platforms and apps are appropriate (or not) for elementary aged kids, tweens, and teens

-Is there a “right way” for teens to use TikTok?

-Why parents need to be “Editors-in-Chief” and understand the basics of their kids’ digital worlds – what they watch, play, and post

-Why iPhones and video games alone don’t cause depression in kids, but they can “turn up the dial” on mental health issues

-Tips for teaching kids how to self-regulate their screentime

-How to empower kids to use technology and digital media for social good

For more information, visit www.raisingdigitalnatives.com.