Once Upon an Upset

An Introduction to Once Upon an Upset, a podcast of stories and conversations to help make sense of difficult times, for kids and their parents.
Written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.
New episodes every Wednesday!
For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

I created Once Upon An Upset to share stories and conversations with kids who might be having difficulty coping with life’s challenges, expectations and disappointments.

Maybe they feel disconnected or misunderstood. Stuck or lost or afraid. Maybe they communicate differently or think differently or learn differently.

And I also created this podcast for parents who might have had very difficult childhoods and are learning to reparent themselves while also parenting their children with the kind of love and empathy they wish they’d grown up with.

My intention for Once Upon an Upset is to share some of the tools that have worked for me and also for my own son, to help us both learn to reframe our perspectives and try to understand the stuff we can’t control, rather than making it mean something negative about who we are.

Because no matter what any of us are going through, who we are, is a gift. Our perspective, and our ideas and concerns are not only valid but valuable.

And when we connect with each other just as we are and just as we aren’t, we get to understand each other, and the experience of being understood and connected is the stuff that makes life fulfilling.

I really hope that you and your family will enjoy listening to this podcast. And please, don’t hesitate to be in touch!

A story about how a vibrant, singing and dancing creature who had been held hostage inside a woman’s forehead finally escaped.

“Once there was a boy who had OCD symptoms and tics. He would have to say certain things at certain times and clear his throat if he had the urge. His mom was pretty good at being empathetic but sometimes she got impatient. Especially when other circumstances in her life were adding additional stress. At those moments she’d say,” You have to be stronger! You have to delay that urge and learn to cope!” It sounded like the right thing to say, but underneath were different words, more truthful words: “I’m scared that my son is behaving like this and I’m tired. I wish he’d just stop.”

—from ‘The Boy Who Used Rituals To Cope'

A story about a mom who feels frustrated by her son’s OCD symptoms but then realizes that he’s really only doing the very best he can to cope with stressors out of his control.

(For adults only.)

This episode was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

(Suitable for all ages.)

This episode was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.