Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast

Let's Do The Sex Talk Again

Would you rather have your child learn about sex from Fergus, the unsupervised kid down the street . . . or from internet pornography . . . or from YOU? We hope you can see that the answer to that question is obvious. In this episode, Dr. Sara encourages you to become an "askable parent" and to get comfortable shouting out the words "vagina" and "penis," instead of avoiding the topic. She also shares the clever line: If you've got a protective cover on your phone, you should have a condom on your penis. Although it's important for parents to get comfortable talking about sex, comfort doesn't happen automatically; at the very least, it takes courage, self-reflection, and practice. In the end, we share resources that might be of interest to parents who are more traditional or more progressive . . . and we wish you luck with this big parenting challenge.

This podcast is brought to you by the Charles Engelhard Foundation, and the National Parenting Education Network.

Resources featured in this Episode:

• What's Happening to Me: A Guide to Puberty

By: Peter Mayle

• How to Talk to Your Child About Sex: It's Best to Start Early, but It's Never Too Late

By: Linda & Richard Eyre

• It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends

By: Robie H. Harris

The American expectation is that pregnant women and new moms will be happy and fulfilled. But the reality is that approximately 20% of pregnant women are diagnosed with depression during pregnancy. So what happens when pregnancy and childbirth bring along the storm clouds of depression? In this Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast episode you'll learn more about post-partum depression and hear writer and founder of Postpartum Support International, Jane Honikman share a universal message to families. You'll also understand why now is always a good time to support pregnant women and mothers. This podcast is brought to you by The Charles Engelhard Foundation, and The National Parenting Education Network.

Resources mentioned in this podcast can be found at:

John Sommers-Flanagan's Blog

Postpartum Support International

Getting a divorce isn't part of the fairy tale family story. No one who gets romantically connected and has children plans on getting divorced. In this PPPP episode, Dr. John and Dr. Sara discuss the divorced children's bill of rights. In the process, they provide information to help parents make positive family adjustments to a divorce and shared parenting situation. If you want to hear John's "Stupid-Ass Parenting Class" story, Sara's rules on post-divorce dating, and the polarized parenting syndrome, you should listen to this episode. This podcast is brought to you by the National Parenting Education Network, and the Charles Engelhard Foundation.

In this Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast, Dr. Sara starts off by spoiling the romantic hopes and dreams of everyone—including Dr. John. Instead of embracing fairy tale relationship patterns that include love, sex, babies, and happiness, Sara offers a rather depressing list of reasons why having children tends to decrease relationship satisfaction. Fortunately, later in the show she also provides a list of excellent ideas and solutions that should give us all hope for the happily ever after ending. John's role in this episode mostly involves him scratching his head and asking Sara what the heck she means by "cyber-flirting," "soft start-ups," and "magic ratios," while, at the same time, expressing relief, because on a podcast, no one can see him blush. This podcast is brought to you by the Charles Engelhard Foundation, and the National Parenting Education Network.

Step-parenting is like walking a tightrope. You don't want to be in the biological parent's shadow, but, at the same time, you know if you try taking over as mother or father, you're rocking a family boat that's already unstable. Also, you want to be loved and respected, but you know love and respect don't happen instantly. In this podcast, Dr. Sara and Dr. John talk about four big step-parenting challenges and offer tips and resources to help make it so step-parents don't fall off their parenting tightrope.

This podcast is brought to you by the National Parenting Education Network, and the Charles Engelhard Foundation.

High quality sleep drives nearly everything; it improves your memory, enhances emotional stability, and contributes to good health. This means that nap-time and sleeping through the night is equally good for children and parents. In episode 5, Sleep Well in 2017 and Beyond, Dr. Sara Polanchek shares her personal story of being an exhausted parent and how she turned to sleep to turn her life around. Our special guest, Chelsea Bodnar, M.D., a Chicago-based pediatrician and co-author of Don't Divorce Us: Kids' Advice to Divorcing Parents, will tell you how she gets her children to sleep and why sleep depriving your children is just as bad as feeding them doughnuts all day long. This podcast is brought to you by the National Parenting Education Network, and the Charles Engelhard Foundation.

All children misbehave—at least sometimes. You know that. You also know your particular child or children will misbehave; it might even happen every day. And you know how to use positive discipline—partly because it was covered in the two previous episodes of the Practically Perfect Parenting Podcast. Why then, when your child misbehaves, is it so easy to get mad and so difficult to be a thoughtful and positive disciplinarian? In this episode, Dr. Sara Polanchek and Dr. John Sommers-Flanagan discuss why children misbehave and how to solve obstacles to healthy discipline by . . . getting curious, not furious. To make things better still, our special expert guest, Meg Akabas, author of "52 Weeks of Parenting Wisdom," shares her thoughts on parenting knowledge, when and how parents should give their children choices, and when parents should just tell their kids what to do. This podcast is brought to you by the National Parenting Education Network, and The Charles Engelhard Foundation.

Practically Perfect Positive Discipline Part 2. When a child misbehaves, parents often just react. Sometimes these reactions come in ways that we regret later. How do we stop reacting to bad behavior and doing the things that just don't work? This podcast picks up with strategies for parents to use when dealing with children and behaviors that are less than ideal. This allows us to keep our calm when children act out. This episode is brought to you by the National Parenting Education Network, Families First, and The Charles Engelhard Foundation.

Keywords: Parenting, Children, Families, Family, Discipline, Self-Help, Research, NPEN, Positive, Reinforcement.

Discipline is something that so many parents can struggle with. How do we as parents teach our children to make smart choices? Does it have to be my way or the highway? This are just some of the many topics discussed in this three part series as we explore the ideas and myths surrounding discipline and children. As always this podcast is brought to you by the National Parenting Education Network, Families First and the Charles Engelhard Foundation.

Nobody is perfect and kids don't come with an instruction manual! Some of the most challenging and rewarding life experiences come with children. Sure we want our kids to like us, and we also know that ice cream for breakfast is not always a sound choice. In our debut podcast we explore the difficulties parents can face when we confuse the roles of parent and best friend. This podcast is brought to you by The National Parenting Education Network, Families First and the Charles Engelhard Foundation.