uh-PARENT-ly

You’ve seen it in your kids’ schools, their sports and their talent shows. Parenting today means “everyone gets a trophy,” and that’s creating a generation of young people who don’t know how to cope with life’s hard knocks.

uh-PARENT-ly cohosts Tracy Weiner and Anne Johnsos ask Jessica Lahey, author of The Gift of Failure, how to step back and embrace their children’s mistakes.

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More than 14 million Americans attend camp each year. That’s a lot of canoeing, archery and “bug juice.” It’s also a major hurdle for moms and dads who tend to “helicopter.”

Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D., is a consultant, author, and psychologist specializing in children and families. His book, Homesick and Happy: How Time Away From Parents Can Help a Child Grow, focuses on the benefits of sleep-away camp. He joins uh-PARENT-ly hosts Tracy Heuvelman Weiner and Anne Johnsos with tips for letting go.

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Guess who else has an opinion about incivility on the baseball diamond? WGN’s own John Williams remembers the days of rooting for his sons. And he says some things haven’t changed.

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Judy Pielach doesn’t mess around. She remembers using money to motivate her son. Often it worked. But one time he was “robbed.”

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American youth sports are facing a shortage of referees and umpires. One reason why: abuse by parents and coaches. The increasingly competitive and costly culture has raised the stakes even at the level of Little League.

uh-PARENT-ly cohosts Tracy Heuvelman Weiner and Anne Johnsos talk to Dr. Bruce Svare, founder and director of the National Institute for Sports Reform and author of Reforming Sports Before the Clock Runs Out.

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In honor of Father’s Day, uh-PARENT-ly asked dads to weigh in with their personal stories. Some share memories of moments with their fathers, others talk about advice their dads gave them, and others share advice they give their own children.

Also: Hosts Tracy Heuvelman Weiner and Anne Johnsos trade stories about two of the best dads in the history of the world (not that they’re biased or prone to exaggeration).

http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3516712/3516712_2018-06-17-094712.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D6690.mp3

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Ever wonder why your toddler gets in trouble for disrupting circle time? Maybe you have a kid who’s being called a bully. Or a piano player who wants to quit lessons. Odds are they have something in common: anxiety.

Jacqui Robbins is a teacher, writer, mother and author of picture books, The New Girl…And Me and Two of a Kind. She has a master’s degree in child development and early childhood education and has been working with children for 25 years.

She joins Tracy Heuvelman Weiner and Anne Johnsos with tips for getting to the bottom of children’ behavior.

http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3514185/3514185_2018-06-10-141025.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D6690.mp3

Like Anne and Tracy on the uh-PARENT-ly Facebook page here!

Remember the “good old days” when kids just smoked? Of course, it was terrible for them, but at least the adults around them could smell it and react. Today’s kids get their nicotine (and other chemicals) from vaping, which is like smoking an electronic cigarette with no odor or telltale signs.

Join Tracy Heuvelman Weiner and Anne Johnsos as they talk to Matthew Quinn, licensed clinical professional counselor and certified alcohol and drug counselor with Rosecrance Health Network. He says the key to keeping our kids safe is education and communication.

Do you know about Fortnite? It’s a free game that centers on a last-person-standing fight for survival, and it’s being called a tech epidemic. Parents today are asking themselves what they had as kids that compares to this obsession. The answer? Nothing.

Laura Tierney is founder and president of The Social Institute, a Durham-based company that teaches families positive ways to handle social media. She joins co-hosts Tracy Heuvelman Weiner and Anne Johnsos to explain what makes the game so appealing and how parents can equip their kids to be safe whenever they interact with others online.

To access the parent-kid contract Tierney talks about in the interview, click here.

Have you ever heard of “ghosts in the nursery?” Apparently, the parenting styles of our moms and dads haunt us as we raise our kids. And sometimes we introduce our own ghosts to our unsuspecting children.

Shanna Donhauser is a clinically trained social worker and psychotherapist who founded Happy Nest Therapy in Seattle.

She joins Tracy Heuvelman Weiner and Anne Johnsos, two old-school WGN producers, as they tackle the topics of life’s most difficult and rewarding job: parenting.

P.S. You’ll get a special slice of advice from WGN’s morning-drive host, Steve Cochran.