Simple Families

Procrastination has been on my mind lately, so I invited an expert, Dr. Tim Pychyl, to dissect and explain the many examples I could list in my life where I find myself delaying tasks that feel important. I was fascinated to learn that not all my delays are considered procrastination, how mindfulness relates to procrastinating, and what my 6-year old daughter thinks about this topic. Listen to hear my interview with Tim (and my little girl!).

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Welcome back to Part II of Analog Curious (if you missed Part I, catch it here). In this episode, I continue to explore my analog curiosity and provide some useful ways I have been able to decrease the impact of screen time and social media use. One thing is for sure, I’m a work in progress. I’d love to hear more about your journey!

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If you follow me on social media, you may have noticed that I’ve been on a bit of a digital detox. Or what I’m calling, being “analog curious”. This means I want to know what life feels like relying on technology less. In the past two years, technology has barged its way into all aspects of our lives. And for a while, this hasn’t been sitting well with me. It feels like a double edged sword.

During the pandemic, a time of great isolation, technology brought us together. Technology has brought about amazing possibilities for social connections, community building, and learning. But in many cases, including my own, this has also led to compulsive use. This type of use happens beyond our awareness or control. That’s what I’m exploring today.

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Let’s redefine what “bad behavior” in childhood really means. So often, we view challenging behavior as a sign of our own shortcomings as parents, but our episode today explains that most difficult behaviors are actually a neurological response to stress, fear and/or discomfort.

What if we could figure out how to manage the behavior by learning more about the way the nervous system operates? Today, I am thrilled to be talking to Dr. Mona Delahooke about her new book, Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behaviors and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids. In her book, she delves deep into the idea of personalizing the approach based on each unique child. And spoiler alert, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds.

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If you (or your loved ones) are living with clutter; trying to make space for connection over content; or moving to a smaller home or retirement community, then you’ll love hearing from my friend, Matt Paxton. Matt is an Emmy-nominated hoarding expert and in today’s episode he’s sharing more about his new book, Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff, and his journey to life with less.

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Mothers all over the world have faced similar challenges across generations. Today, I’m chatting with Ana Tajder. Ana is the host of Thank you, Mama a podcast where she interviews woman from around the world about the lessons they learned from their mothers. Today, I’ll be interviewing her about her own mom, who was an awarded Yugoslavian Actress/artist.

Ana Tajder was born in Zagreb, Coatia and had to flee to Austria when the war reached her hometown as a child. There, she continued her education and travels to become an accomplished author and journalist, contributing to German, Austrian and Croatian magazines and newspapers.

Links to Get in Touch with Ana:

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Today we are talking about accommodating, especially accommodating anxious behaviors in our kids. Sometimes accommodating is also known as enabling. This happens when an anxious person asks another person in their life to do something specific that relieves their anxiety.

Like when your kid is fearful about going to bed and you lay with them until they fall asleep; when they are nervous about going to a birthday party so you cancel at the last minute, or when they are afraid of taking the bus so you drive them to school each day. We all do it. We all accommodate anxious behaviors in our kids–and its never so simple and straightforward. 

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Parenthood rarely turns out as we expect. In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Rachel Nielson, the host of the podcast 3 in 30 Takeaways for Moms.  Rachel is a mother, teacher, and writer. In this episode she’s sharing her journey to motherhood.

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In honor of Valentine’s Day and the Re-Launch of my Partners in Parenthood program, I have my partner, David, on the podcast today. We are talking about the highs and lows of parenthood and about how we have grown together in the process.

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In today’s episode, Kanesha Baynard opens up about her experience and expertise with the topic of multigenerational family living. This type of living arrangement has become increasingly more common in recent years with the pandemic and child care challenges. 

Find Kanesha on her website + instagram + twitter. 

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