Is there such a thing as overly-responsive parenting? I believe so. Early in parenthood I found myself being a mindreader. It is important to be in tune with our kids’ needs, but we also need to give them the opportunity to step up and advocate for themselves.

The post SFP 170: Overly-Responsive Parenting? appeared first on Simple Families.

Do your kids have too many toys? When it comes to toys, there is no perfect number. But in today’s episode we are talking about why children don’t need a lot of toys. Having an abundance of toys is not only unnecessary but could be harmful. We are talking about all that and more.

The post SFP 169: Too Many Toys? appeared first on Simple Families.

Life gets busy. Sometimes it gets hard to make time for the simple things–like taking your kids for a walk in nature. But the value of the free and simple things should never be underestimated. Today, I’m sharing my favorite strategies for hiking with kids and the immense (yet not-so-obvious) benefits for the whole family.

The post SFP 168: Hiking with Kids [How + WHY] appeared first on Simple Families.

In today’s episode, we are discussing the 5 Love Languages as they pertain to children. I am joined by Diane Debrover, the Deputy Editor of Parents Magazine where we talk through each of the Love Languages and explore how they show up in children. Spoiler alert: I’ve got my reservations about the Love Language of gifts.

The post SFP 167: The Love Languages + Children [with Diane Debrovner of Parents Magazine] appeared first on Simple Families.

Summer is supposed to be relaxing, yet I have found that this summer we’ve had a lot of transition, a lot of change, and my brain has been very busy. Therefore, today’s episode is dedicated to just that: We’re talking about the “Tip of the Iceberg” and brain busyness.

The post SFP 166: The Tip of The Iceberg (Brain Busyness) appeared first on Simple Families.

Today I’m chatting with Jane Monnier about her journey towards reducing mental and physical clutter. Jane is a longtime member of the Simple Families Community. She’s also is a rocket-scientist-turned-military-wife-and-mother who has lived around the world with her family. I think you will enjoy Jane’s wisdom in this episode!

(Full episode transcription below).

The post SFP 165: Journey to Simplicity | Jane’s Story appeared first on Simple Families.

In today’s episode, I am chatting with Rich Karlgaard, Publisher of Forbes Magazine, about his new book Late Bloomers. Rich is a self-proclaimed late bloomer. He’s sharing more of his story along with some research that will give fellow parents of late bloomers some piece of mind.

The post SFP 164: Late Bloomers [with Rich Karlgaard of Forbes Magazine] appeared first on Simple Families.

It happens. All kids will use less-than-desirable language as they are growing up. Whether its potty words or outright profanity, we all deal with this as parents. Today I’m reflecting on how we’ve been managing it in our house–including what is working and what is not working.

Hi, there it's episode 163. And today we're talking about kids using bad words and not just necessarily profanity, but just undesirable words.

The post SFP 163: Reflections on Bad Language + Potty Talk appeared first on Simple Families.

I recently went through and did a huge book overhaul. I got rid of all the “twaddle” in favor of prioritizing high quality, well-written children’s books. To quote today’s guest Emily Cook, “well-read children will grow into well-read adults”. In this episode, Emily and I talk about reading aloud and choosing great books for our children.



The post SFP 162: Reading Aloud + Our Book Overhaul [with Emily Cook of Build Your Library] appeared first on Simple Families.

It’s officially book launch week! In today’s episode I am sharing more about the publishing process behind Simple Happy Parenting, along with my goals and hopes for the book and what exactly I am afraid of.

The post SFP 161: Behind-The-Scenes appeared first on Simple Families.