Toddler Purgatory

How do we protect our kids from negative images about bodies, diet culture, and food without locking them in a Rapunzel tower? The truth is, we can't. But we CAN start nonjudgmental conversations about body positivity, food, and and self-esteem with our kids at home.

In this episode, Molly and Blaire discuss:

Links to the resources mentioned in the episode:

Sumner Brooks for Good Housekeeping: "How to Raise a Kid Who Is Satisfied With Their Body, According to a Registered Dietitian"

Carolina Public Health Magazine: "Survey finds disordered eating behaviors among three out of four American women"

Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH at checkout to snag 20% off ALL your new spring staples.

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER.

Little Passports offers globally inspired, award-winning monthly subscription kits designed for curious kids to fuel their inner explorer. For listeners of the show, Little Passports is offering new customers 20% off when you go to littlepassports.com/purgatory

Metabolic Reds is a delicious superfood blend. Go to getreds.com/toddler to get a FREE bottle of Metabolic Greens with your first order. 

Peloton has workouts for every schedule, every goal, and every fitness level. The Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet! Including FREE delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Take your FREE in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler

Ready, Set, Food! helps prevent food allergies in children. Go to readysetfood.com/todpurgs & use code TODPURGS for 30% off your first order. 

With Thrive Market, you can shop everything from healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat and seafood to non-toxic cleaning and beauty products - all delivered right to your door. Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing to get $80 worth of free groceries.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our child has finally realized they are separate from us. Yay! Aaaaaand cue the separation anxiety. The fact that separation anxiety signals growth in kids doesn't make it any easier for mother or child. But there are coping strategies on both sides that can ease some of the pain.

In this episode, Molly and Blaire discuss:

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Wendy Sue Swanson for healthychildren.org: "How to Ease Your Child’s Separation Anxiety"

Scott Edwards and Emily Rizzitano for Boston Children's Hospital: "Helping your child cope with separation anxiety"

Ashurina Ream for Psyched Mommy: "7 Tips to Manage Maternal Separation Anxiety"

"Grownups Come Back" a song about separation anxiety from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood on PBS Kids

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH at checkout to snag 20% off ALL your new spring staples.

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER.

Little Passports offers globally inspired, award-winning monthly subscription kits designed for curious kids to fuel their inner explorer. For listeners of the show, Little Passports is offering new customers 20% off when you go to littlepassports.com/purgatory

Peloton has workouts for every schedule, every goal, and every fitness level. The Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet! Including FREE delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Take your FREE in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler

Ready, Set, Food! helps prevent food allergies in children. Go to readysetfood.com/todpurgs & use code TODPURGS for 30% off your first order. 

With Thrive Market, you can shop everything from healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat and seafood to non-toxic cleaning and beauty products - all delivered right to your door. Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing to get $80 worth of free groceries.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A child begins to have an innate sense of their gender between ages 3 and 5. It may be daunting to help kids understand something as complex as gender identity as such a young age, but being a safe space for kids to ask questions and share observations is a good place to start.

In this episode, Molly and Blaire discuss:

Links to resources mentioned in this episode:

It Feels Good to Be Yourself by Theresa Thorn

Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman

Darling Days by iO Tillett Wright

Find your local PFLAG group: https://pflag.org/

Azeen Ghorayshi for The New York Times: "Report Reveals Sharp Rise in Transgender Young People in the U.S."

plannedparenthood.com: "How do I talk with my preschooler about identity?"

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: "When Do Children Develop Their Gender Identity?"

World Health Organization: Gender and Health

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Faherty is a family-run brand making high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Head to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH at checkout to snag 20% off ALL your new spring staples.

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wine! Join today and you’ll get 6 bottles of wine for $29.95 and free shipping! Just go to tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER.

Little Passports offers globally inspired, award-winning monthly subscription kits designed for curious kids to fuel their inner explorer. For listeners of the show, Little Passports is offering new customers 20% off when you go to littlepassports.com/purgatory

Peloton has workouts for every schedule, every goal, and every fitness level. The Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet! Including FREE delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Take your FREE in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler

Ready, Set, Food! helps prevent food allergies in children. Go to readysetfood.com/todpurgs & use code TODPURGS for 30% off your first order. 

With Thrive Market, you can shop everything from healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat and seafood to non-toxic cleaning and beauty products - all delivered right to your door. Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing to get $80 worth of free groceries.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How young is too young to drive your kid three states away for a lacrosse tournament? Is it 5? (Yes, yes it is.) It's tempting to use sports to teach our kids valuable lessons, tire them out, and groom them for the Olympics. But sports for young kids are intrinsically valuable, even without structure, competition, or score keeping. And why would you want your kids to grow up to make millions of dollars a year playing baseball when they could be actors, anyway?

In this episode, Molly and Blaire discuss:

Here are the links to some of the resources mentioned in the show:

Patty Onderko for parenting.com: "Toddler Sports"

Kelly Wallace for CNN: "How to make your kid hate sports without really trying"

Spooky Nook Sports: "How To Get Kids Interested In Sports - Best Sports For Kids"

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Auto Approve makes it easy for vehicle owners to find and compare their best available rates to help lower their monthly payment.To find out how much you could save, get your free quote at autoapprove.com/adalyst. 

Faherty offers high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Go to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH to snag 20% off!

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wines! Get 6 bottles of wine for just $29.95 (and free shipping!) at tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER. 

Hiya is the allergen-free, pediatrician-approved, super-powered chewable vitamin that will get your kids the full-body nourishment they need. Go to hiyahealth.com/TODDLER and receive 50% off your first order. 

Peloton has workouts for seriously everyone– and the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, including free delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler.

Thrive Market offers healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat, plus nontoxic cleaning and beauty products. Join Thrive Market today and get $80 in free groceries! Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes we wish we could just get away from it all. Is that wrong? We love our families! Even with that love in our hearts, it's tempting to yearn for a room of one's own with a solid, soundproof door. We asked our listeners what they would do with one entire week off, and for many of them it involved a lot of TV, snacks, and, in some cases, the cast of Queer Eye.

In this episode. Molly and Blaire discuss:

Here are the links to the articles we discuss in the episode:

TIME Magazine: "Moms: Your Fantasy About Running Away Is Totally Normal"

Caitlin Gibson for The Washington Post: "American mothers need a break. But is the ‘momcation’ a solution to their problems or a symptom?"

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Auto Approve makes it easy for vehicle owners to find and compare their best available rates to help lower their monthly payment.To find out how much you could save, get your free quote at autoapprove.com/adalyst. 

Faherty offers high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Go to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH to snag 20% off!

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wines! Get 6 bottles of wine for just $29.95 (and free shipping!) at tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER. 

Hiya is the allergen-free, pediatrician-approved, super-powered chewable vitamin that will get your kids the full-body nourishment they need. Go to hiyahealth.com/TODDLER and receive 50% off your first order. 

Peloton has workouts for seriously everyone– and the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, including free delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler.

Thrive Market offers healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat, plus nontoxic cleaning and beauty products. Join Thrive Market today and get $80 in free groceries! Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Father's Day! This episode, Molly and Blaire talk to their respective dads, Dick and Chuck, about their experiences as fathers and everything they've learned along the way.

In this episode, Molly, Blaire, Dick, and Chuck discuss:

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Auto Approve makes it easy for vehicle owners to find and compare their best available rates to help lower their monthly payment.To find out how much you could save, get your free quote at autoapprove.com/adalyst. 

Faherty offers high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Go to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH to snag 20% off!

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wines! Get 6 bottles of wine for just $29.95 (and free shipping!) at tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER. 

Hiya is the allergen-free, pediatrician-approved, super-powered chewable vitamin that will get your kids the full-body nourishment they need. Go to hiyahealth.com/TODDLER and receive 50% off your first order. 

Peloton has workouts for seriously everyone– and the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, including free delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When we see parents absolutely losing it at their children– and maybe even laying hands on them–are we obligated to act? Prevent Child Abuse America is clear that if you see something, you say something.

The harder part is knowing what it is we've seen. We don't always know whether we're witnessing a regrettable but isolated incident or something that’s part of a pattern. We want to make sure we're not making that child less safe by publicly calling the parent out. 

And knowing that actually making a phone call to enlist the police or CPS might trigger a series of events that can separate parent and child, we want to be “very confident,” as philosophy professor Kwame Appiah explains, “that such recourse is justified.” 

In this episode we discuss how we've handled these moments in our own lives– and going forward, how we'll discern when need to speak up, with the knowledge of how to defuse the situation rather than further inflame it.

If you feel a child is in real/imminent danger, please call 1-800-4-A-CHILD.

We discuss this article in this episode:

Christopher Mele for The New York Times: Should You Intervene When a Parent Harshly Disciplines a Child in Public?

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Auto Approve makes it easy for vehicle owners to find and compare their best available rates to help lower their monthly payment.To find out how much you could save, get your free quote at autoapprove.com/adalyst. 

Faherty offers high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Go to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH to snag 20% off!

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wines! Get 6 bottles of wine for just $29.95 (and free shipping!) at tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER. 

Hiya is the allergen-free, pediatrician-approved, super-powered chewable vitamin that will get your kids the full-body nourishment they need. Go to hiyahealth.com/TODDLER and receive 50% off your first order. 

Peloton has workouts for seriously everyone– and the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, including free delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler.

Thrive Market offers healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat, plus nontoxic cleaning and beauty products. Join Thrive Market today and get $80 in free groceries! Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The term “spirited child” was coined by parent educator Mary Sheedy Kurcinka when she was looking for information regarding her own strong-willed son and only found words like “difficult”and “high-strung.” She believed that framing her son’s personality positively would help her focus on his strengths. And there’s no question spirited children bring us tons of joy– while also being emotionally intense, demanding, and extra sensitive. 

In this episode we discuss

Here are links to some writing on the topic that we discuss in this episode:

Cheryl Maguire for parent.com: 4 Traits I Learned From My Spirited Child

California Childcare Health Program, "Caring for the Spirited Child"

Mary Sheedy Kurcinka: Raising Your Spirited Child, Third Edition: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Auto Approve makes it easy for vehicle owners to find and compare their best available rates to help lower their monthly payment.To find out how much you could save, get your free quote at autoapprove.com/adalyst. 

Faherty offers high-quality, timeless clothing with modern design and functionality. Go to fahertybrand.com/LAUGHING and use code FRESH to snag 20% off!

Firstleaf is a no-brainer if you love finding and tasting new wines! Get 6 bottles of wine for just $29.95 (and free shipping!) at tryfirstleaf.com/TODDLER. 

Hiya is the allergen-free, pediatrician-approved, super-powered chewable vitamin that will get your kids the full-body nourishment they need. Go to hiyahealth.com/TODDLER and receive 50% off your first order. 

Peloton has workouts for seriously everyone– and the Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, including free delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler.

Thrive Market offers healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat, plus nontoxic cleaning and beauty products. Join Thrive Market today and get $80 in free groceries! Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britt Hawthorne is a mother, teacher, author, and anti-bias/antiracist facilitator. Britt partners with caregivers, educators, and families to raise the next generation of antiracist children. Her forthcoming book, Raising Antiracist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide, which comes out June 7th, is for families ready to take action that'll bring change at home.

In this episode, Molly, Blaire, and Britt discuss:

Here's where you can find Britt:

www.britthawthorne.com

@britthawthorne on IG 

@britthawthorne_ on Twitter 

@tashaxandra (Britt's coauthor) on IG 

Buy Britt's book, Raising Antiracist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Hiya Health gummies are non-GMO, vegan, dairy-free, allergy-free, gelatin-free, nut-free and basically free of all the stuff you don’t want. For 50% off your first order, go to HiyaHealth.com/TODDLER

With Auto Approve, vehicle owners can lower their monthly payment, get a better rate, or both. To find out how much you could save, get your free quote at autoapprove.com/adalyst

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Take your FREE in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler

With Thrive Market, you can shop everything from healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat and seafood to nontoxic cleaning and beauty products - all delivered right to your door. Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing to get 40% off your first order AND a FREE gift worth over fifty dollars.

Peloton has workouts for every schedule, every goal, and every fitness level. The Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet! That includes FREE delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Little Passports offers globally inspired, award-winning monthly subscription kits designed for curious kids to fuel their inner explorer. For listeners of the show, Little Passports is offering new customers 20% off when you go to littlepassports.com/purgatory

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Beach days. Pool days. Soccer camp. River days. Creek days. (Pick your preferred body of water, is what we're saying.) Are you exhausted yet? When the lazy days of summer start, we may feel pressure to entertain our toddlers every day. But that's not possible, since we're mere mortals. Molly and Blaire share their ideas for staying active with your kids during the summer months without getting overwhelmed.

In this episode, Molly and Blaire discuss:

Here are links to the resources mentioned in the episode:

Robin Westen for Parents.com: "24 Cheap Summer Activities for Kids"

Crafty Kids at Home

busytoddler.com

Special thanks to this month's sponsors:

Hiya Health gummies are non-GMO, vegan, dairy-free, allergy-free, gelatin-free, nut-free and basically free of all the stuff you don’t want. For 50% off your first order, go to HiyaHealth.com/TODDLER

With Auto Approve, vehicle owners can lower their monthly payment, get a better rate, or both. To find out how much you could save, get your free quote at autoapprove.com/adalyst

Prose is the healthy hair regimen with your name all over it. Take your FREE in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off your first order today! Go to prose.com/toddler

With Thrive Market, you can shop everything from healthy pantry essentials and sustainable meat and seafood to nontoxic cleaning and beauty products - all delivered right to your door. Go to thrivemarket.com/laughing to get 40% off your first order AND a FREE gift worth over fifty dollars.

Peloton has workouts for every schedule, every goal, and every fitness level. The Peloton Bike+ is now $500 less, its best price yet! That includes FREE delivery and setup. Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

Little Passports offers globally inspired, award-winning monthly subscription kits designed for curious kids to fuel their inner explorer. For listeners of the show, Little Passports is offering new customers 20% off when you go to littlepassports.com/purgatory

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices