In today's episode, Caroline forgot to change the mic settings so only she can be clearly heard. 

And, once again, Caroline takes the conversation sideways as she debriefs about her earlier conversation with one of her kids' teachers. Nonetheless, the conversation ends up getting to key takeaways we can think about as we support our children and teens on the academic journey.

At the end of the day, no matter what kind of teacher our child has, it is important we take the steps to build the parent-teacher relationship as much as we can, whether our children are in grade 1 or grade 11. Coming in with fists swinging will never get anyone anywhere. Showing respect while maintaining an open, collaborative stance is critical.

We can also help our children build key skills themselves. They all need to learn to advocate for themselves and ask for help - this skill is essential to promote their academic success. They also need to build their tolerance for uncomfortable feelings that come with advocating for themselves and having difficult conversations.   And, of course, our children need to learn to problem-solve tricky situations themselves before we come swooping in.

Caroline ends with a very important point that she hopes all parents hear.

If you'd like more ideas about building the relationship with teachers, see Caroline's blog post on this topic. (Although the focus of the article is debriefing a child's diagnosis of ADHD to the school, there are relationship-building points that are applicable to all). 

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This week's episode is different in that instead of discussing a single topic, Andrew gets Caroline's initial reactions to 13 suggested "best parenting" tips from an Inc.com article. 

There is a lot of "advice" out in the world, and it's important that parents don't get into the habit of taking it at face value. By going through each topic, we break down what is good and bad about each example and provide our take. 

Parents need to practice questioning what they're reading if they're ever going to develop the same ability in their kids. 

Enjoy!

 

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As a lot of our discussions go, today's question wasn't the one that Caroline planned on asking, but the question she did ask took us down an important path of discussing how to turn those moments that might be uncomfortable for us as parents into an opportunity to teach our children to be a critical thinker.

Critical thinking is important for understanding the world, including themselves and others. Critical thinking promotes creativity, curiosity, confidence, open-mindedness, and independence, And, critical thinking helps our children build numerous skills, including problem-solving, establishing healthy relationships, considering both sides of an argument, handling peer pressure, reaching goals,   and managing whatever challenges life brings.

Kids are naturally curious about the world around them. While we will answer their innocent questions like why is the sky blue and why do cats meow, adults have a harder time answering more embarrassing and even shocking kinds of questions. Too often, many kids don't receive the same supportive ways of understanding certain topics that adults find too uncomfortable (or worrisome). 

Whether we create opportunities or capitalize on the opportunities that come up naturally, listen in to today's episode to help develop critically-thinking kids. 

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In this episode, Caroline and Andrew discuss things they've learned over the years and what they would do differently if they could. 

While it's easy to look back with regret, this week's episode is more about what learnings you can take from earlier in your life as a parent and apply at any stage. 

Rather than focusing on what-ifs and whys, this discussion provided an opportunity to look at how to apply those lessons at any point and how we can still do a little better, today, no matter where we are in our parenting journey. 

It also served as a good reminder to take what time you can with your kids and make the most of it. 

Enjoy!

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Today Caroline asks Andrew about who the most amazing parents are and why. A question neither of them could answer. Because parenting is hard and no one is perfect at it. Nor should anyone be. Even parenting experts make mistakes and have their areas of challenge. 

And, what lesson are we teaching our kids if we are perfect at anything – we all need to continue learning for our own sake, as well as our kids’!

 But, we all have strengths we need to acknowledge too because it’s easy to get sucked into a vortex of guilt with all the things we don’t do well. 

Today Caroline and Andrew discuss aspects of parenting behaviours others do that they admire and address their own growing edges. 

At the end of the day, being a great parent isn’t solely defined by the behaviours we do day in and day out, our intentions in trying to do our best for our child and promote their well-being is important.  

And modelling how we are trying to do a little bit better today than we did yesterday. 

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Today’s episode took a bit of a sideways turn and went into the realm of religion. Although Caroline was nervous about posting this episode, it is an important topic to consider. Although Andrew and Caroline are not religious themselves, they do see the benefits of spiritual values including the importance of community, our own humanity, and striving towards being our best

Religious commitment and/or spirituality can also have other benefits for children, such as helping set their behavioural GPS, building gratitude and forgiveness, and strengthening social supports. 

Researchers have demonstrated that spirituality is helpful in boosting their physical and mental health, emotion regulation, and overall well-being and life satisfaction – largely because of the time spent meditating. Spending time in nature also has similar benefits.  

Whether religious or spiritual or not, it is helpful to talk about what you stand for as a family. Listen to our episode on values if you haven't already and consider creating your own Family Coat of Arms. Draw a coat of arms and divide it into different sections that represent each of your values. Have your kids help design each section to represent what is most important to your family. Display your coat of arms as a reminder of what you all value. 

Tune in to today’s episode to hear more and consider what you value most for your family. 


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We are a few weeks into January now, and many people debate whether to make New Year's resolutions. In today’s episode, Andrew raises the question of whether we should do resolutions with our children. 

January is typically a great time to celebrate a new beginning for everyone of all ages – as long as we set ourselves up for success. And this is especially true for children.  

Although neither Caroline nor Andrew are big fans of resolutions per se, they do see the value in building skills of goal setting, which teaches kids numerous skills like initiative, persistence, focus, planning, and prioritizing.

And, this year, they did decide to look at changing habits. After all, now is a great time to help our kids establish and maintain healthy habits that can become ingrained for lifelong success. 

Listen in on what Caroline and Andrew have to say about resolutions with your kids. 

Looking for resources to get started? Here is a resource to help you and your kids set SMART goals: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/goalsettingfamily/

And, want more information? Check out this post  Caroline created on this very topic:   https://korupsychology.ca/resolutions-for-kids/

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In this week's episode, Caroline and Andy continue to recast to reset for a positive 2023. Today the focus is on addressing the kind of relationship you have with your kids and how that lines up with the types of relationships you actually want to have with them.

Understanding that gap is critical so you can start working towards filling that gap, bit by bit, a little each day.

Every parent views the relationship between them and their child differently: some subscribe to a teacher/student model, others more of a BFF model. Over time our relationships change whether we want them to or not and this discussion is about how different our relationships are from our ideal, and what we might be able to do to realign them.

As part of a parenting challenge Caroline runs, she created a workbook to address important things including your values as a parent and your relationship with your children. Work through some of those things yourself here:  https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/parentingvaluesfoundation/

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Happy New Year!

Andrew and Caroline decided to recast their very first episode of Parents of the Year to help parents re-examine their philosophy and values as a parent. 

There is no one way to parent. Although so many of us fly by the seats of our pants when it comes to parenting, it can be really helpful to develop your own parenting philosophy, or set of guiding principles, that you follow as a parent. Your philosophy influences everything from what you say, what you do, and how you interact with your children. The goal is to align your beliefs, values, words, and actions to be the parent you want to be. 

Now is the perfect time to check in and see where things are at. 

Listen in on what Caroline & Andrew have to say and think about, What kind of parent do you want to be?
 
 Check out this PARENTING VALUES resource to get you started!
 

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In this week's episode, Andrew and Caroline continue their talk about making the most of the holidays while staying happy and healthy during far too cold weather.

If you missed it last week, be sure to check out this guide to help you make the most of your holidays: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/holidayguide/

Caroline also mentions her other podcast, Overpowering Emotions, in which she talks about optimizing mindfulness for the holidays (presence over presents): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/63-special-guest-mindfulness-with-claudio-barrientos/id1618828819?i=1000590714312

And, she also mentioned a Random Acts of Kindness Bingo card you can use for inspiration:  https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/kindnessbingo/

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And, be sure to follow us on Facebook for extra resources and information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/674563503855526

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