Us and Kids: Parenting and marriage coaching with therapist, Jan Talen

On today’s show, we are celebrating the last day of the year as we bring in the New Year. It’s often hard not to get up in the “year in review” mode when we get to the end of the year. It can be important to look back and see where we have been and how far we’ve come. 

Sometimes, though, we might have some difficult or painful things that happened to us this past year that are hard to relive.

On today’s show, Christmas is right around the corner, so for many of us presents are on our minds. Are you ready? Are the presents wrapped? Or has frazzled and weary got your heart and mind?  Does staying home to sleep sound so much better than playing - even if it is with your favorite people?

Taking care of gifts and having any energy left to enjoy the occasion can be a tough and tiring balance. Have a listen to today’s podcast for some ideas on how to help you and your kiddos with the present giving and receiving skills. I also share some ideas on how to help yourself and your marriage with the being present with love, joy, peace and kindness kind of presence.

On today’s show, we're talking about how raising our kids is like building gingerbread houses. There are so many fun, messy and challenging parts of building a gingerbread house around the holidays. A lot can also be said about the fun, messy and challenging times that we go through when we raise our little ones.

As our kids grow and go through different phases, there are little tidbits we can take away from how to handle situations. Sometimes we might need to be still, quiet and just support, while other times we may need to overlook the messy bits and just appreciate the fun we’ve had along the way.

On today’s show, we’re talking about how relationships can be tricky and just when we think we’ve figured them out they grow and change. So many of us want to feel that our relationships are steady, dependable and predictable. 

We often think of DNA as who we are genetically but what if we thought about who we are as individuals and partners in our relationships.

On today’s show, we’re talking about all the things we lose in our day to day lives. When we lose things, no matter how small or insignificant, how do you react? Do you think you’re losing your mind and get mad? Do we have tendencies to sometimes blame other people for when things get lost?

Many times when we lose things, it isn’t just the thought of them being lost that really bothers us. It can be what that specific item represents to us and it no longer being around that upsets or bothers us. The loss of a family member or loved one in our lives can also be a time where we lose sense of ourselves and we must learn how to reconnect.

On today’s show, we're in the season of celebrating Thanksgiving this week. The holidays can put an emotional and relational impact on your relationship and raising your kids. This holiday season when there is so much to be thankful for, there are still some things you should focus on for yourself.

During this season, I want you to work on putting pride aside and really focus on happiness. Learn when to ask and accept help from others. Remember to take time for yourself if constant crowds and large groups become draining for you. It’s never a bad thing to ensure you are in the right mind space to truly enjoy the season with our loved ones.

On today’s show, we're talking about why writing is so important for good mental health, family health and marriage health. Many of us get caught up in the thought of sitting down and having to write things down. Our school-aged kids also have responsibilities for writing in their day, from book reports, their agendas and other homework.

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, it's a time that we like to quietly reflect on all the things we are thankful for. We often feel scared of the idea of journaling or other consistent writing because we think there is only one right way to do things. What we usually don’t realize is that journaling is just a general term for expressing our feelings on paper—how we go about it is really up to us.

On today’s show, we are discussing something that is important in any relationship - how to apologize. Sometimes things can get messy and we need to learn the right way and time to apologize to one another. When we run into difficult situations in our marriage and while parenting, there are a few things we can do to help get to a resolution.

A lot of the time we need to evaluate what we want to get out of a conversation before we know how to approach it. When kids are brought into the mix, it can be hard to understand how to properly handle a situation while using it as a learning experience.

On today’s show, we’re talking about how one simple and small action we can take each day can make a huge difference. That one little step many of us may love or avoid doing is making our bed. We often don’t realize the impact that making our bed first thing in the morning has on our day.

On today’s show, we are talking about something that can be hard to talk about but something that is necessary to bring awareness to. When someone gets diagnosed with cancer, there is a lot of uncertainty in their lives. They become unsure of who they are as a woman, as a wife and as a mother.💕

There are so many ways we can deal with this diagnosis in our own lives as well as for those around us. We want to ensure we can embrace the new things to come while also keeping the normal things in our lives. This month let’s take the time to bring awareness around breast cancer and how it can affect everyone.