
We all believe that the holiday season is the happiest time of the year. But is it really? Today I am chatting with Happiness Guru Gretchen Rubin about finding happiness in the holiday season. You may know Gretchen from one of her New York Times bestselling books, her top ranked podcast, or perhaps most importantly her legendary quote, "The days are long, but the years are short".
In our conversation today Gretchen and I are talking about seeking happiness in the midst of a complex season of expectations, that includes: balancing how we spend our time, gift giving, traveling to visit family/friends, managing "toxic" relationships, and staying connected to the people we love the most.
Show Links from Gretchen:

* The Days are Long But the Years are Short Video
Sign up for Gretchen's newsletters
The Four Tendencies quiz
Gretchen's site
Listen to the podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin
The books: The Four Tendencies—New York Times bestseller
The Happiness Project—#1 New York Times bestseller
Follow her on social media: Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook



SFP 134: Happier for the Holidays [with Gretchen Rubin]

Simple Families offers solutions for living well with children. In this show, we focus on child behavior, positive parenting, family wellness, and decreasing the mental load. As a Mama with a doctorate in Child Development, Denaye’s perspectives are grounded in research, but more importantly real life.

Kids & Family

Parenting

Education for Kids

There are widely held assumptions about the adolescent years--many of which are negative. My guest today, Ellen Galinsky, challenges many of the stereotypes that we've come to believe about teens. In this chat she shares the basic needs of adolescents to help us better understand what they need (and want) from us. Her research supports collaborating with children during these years of growth, rather than trying to hold tight in controlling them. 
Book: The Breakthrough Years: A New Scientific Framework for Raising Thriving Teens 
Website: Ellen Galinsky 
SPONSOR
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The Breakthrough Years ft. Ellen Galinsky

Most of us have a conflicted relationship with social media and online life. For today's episode I'm chatting with author Kara Alaimo. Kara's new book, Over the Influence: Why Social Media is Toxic for Women and Girls - And How We Can Take it Back, debuts this month. In our conversation we are sifting through a variety of topics related to how we are influenced as parents and how we can be thoughtful when leading our children into a more mindful online space. 
Due to some sensitive content, this episode should be first previewed without young children present. 
Sponsor:
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Over the Influence ft. Kara Alaimo

The chances are good that you are familiar with perfectionism. Either you have experienced it yourself, you have a partner or parent with these tendencies, or perhaps you have a child touched by perfectionism. In today's episode, I'm chatting with Clarissa Ong Ph.D. She's a professor and the co-author of the book The Anxious Perfectionist: How to Manage Perfectionism-Driven Anxiety.  
SPONSORS:


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Perfectionism ft. Clarissa Ong Ph.D.

There are many misconceptions about what it means to be 'gifted'. Today's guest, Julie Skolnick, explains to us that giftedness usually comes with considerable challenges. She also shares ideas and insight on how to support and educate children who are gifted, but also have challenges (sometimes called twice-exceptional). 
LINKS



Julie's Book, Gifted and Distractible




Julie's Website, With Understanding Comes Calm




Episode with Ross Greene, founder of CPS and author of The Explosive Child




GHF Empowering Gifted Families




SPONSORS



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Gifted and Distractible ft. Julie Skolnick

Many of the guests on this show are authors—especially of non-fiction books. Although we often rely on non-fiction to teach us, sometimes the greatest lessons actually come through diving deeper into the life experiences of characters in a novel. Today, I’m speaking with authors Christine Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene. Christine and Catherine have co-authored a brand new book that tells the story of an entertaining and thought-provoking interracial friendship between two mothers, De'Andrea and Rebecca. You can find Rebecca, Not Becky anywhere books are sold. 
SPONSORS:
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SFP 134: Happier for the Holidays [with Gretchen Rubin]

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