You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today's episode is such a treat. I get to sit down with my friend, Ash Brandin, educator, researcher, author of the new book, Power On, to talk all things screen time, video games, and what it really means to raise emotionally regulated kids in a digital world. Ash brings so much nuance and compassion to this conversation. We go beyond the usual screen time debates and dig into what screens are doing for our kids, how we can shift power struggles into collaboration, and how regulation-- not restriction is the key. Ash is phenomenal, and I highly recommend following them over on Instagram at the Gamer Educator. They're my go-to for all things screens and their new book Power On is a beautiful roundup of all this information. This episode is for anyone who's ever wondered, is this too much or How do I actually teach balance. Spoiler alert-- it's not about shame or rigid rules. It's about relationship. All right, folks, let's dive in.

Connect with Ash:

Instagram: @thegamereducator

Website: https://thegamereducator.com/

Order the book: Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family

Substack: https://thegamereducator.substack.com/

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

TikTok: @seedandsew

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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You’re listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I get to share a truly special conversation with someone I admire deeply—Lake Bell. You might know her as an actor, director, and creator, but in this episode, we connect as two parents navigating the beautiful, messy work of raising humans—especially kids who don’t always fit the mold.

Lake and I dive into what it looks like to parent neurodivergent kids with curiosity and compassion. We talk about the emotional rollercoaster of receiving a diagnosis, the grief and the gifts, and how we can shift from focusing on what’s “wrong” to seeing what’s wonderfully different. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s one of those conversations that reminds me why we do this work—why connection matters more than perfection, and how embracing the whole child, just as they are, can change everything.

Lake also has a beautiful children’s book out called All About Brains—and y’all, it’s become one of our favorites on the bookshelf. I love how she illustrates what it looks like to empower kids to understand their brains and bodies and to advocate for themselves with confidence and clarity.

All right, village—let’s dive in.

Connect with Lake:

Instagram: @lakebell

Order the book: All About Brains: A Book About People

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

TikTok: @seedandsew

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

Before we dive in: This episode includes detailed discussions of sex, porn and a brief mention of sexual assault. Please take care while listening.

You’re listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we’re tackling a topic that honestly makes me uncomfortable to even think about discussing with my kids. I’m joined by Dr. Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett to talk about how and when to talk to your kids about porn.

Dr. Natterson is a pediatrician and New York Times bestselling author of The Care and Keeping of You series, and Vanessa is a bestselling author and puberty educator. Together, they co-authored This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained and host the This Is So Awkward podcast.

They are trusted experts on puberty, sex, and navigating those awkward conversations. They’ve developed a groundbreaking health and sex ed curriculum for schools and products like Less Awkward, plus a membership for parents to get their questions answered.

What I love about Cara and Vanessa is their mix of science and humor, making tough topics like sex and puberty relatable and approachable. Raising six teens between them, they know this space inside and out, and their honest, practical approach is exactly what we need.

Alright folks, Let’s dive in.

Connect with Cara and Vanessa:

Instagram: @less.awkward

Website: https://lessawkward.com/

Order the book: This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained

Podcast: This is So Awkward

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I get to hang out with Deborah Farmer Kris, who is a child development expert and the author of Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive, the I See You board book series, and the All The Time picture book series. Her bylines include CNN, PBS Kids, NPR's Mind Shift, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe magazine, and Oprah Daily. She's currently an expert advisor for the PBS kids show Carl the Collector and spent 20 plus years as a K to 12 educator. Mostly she loves sharing nuggets of practical wisdom that can make the parenting journey a little easier. I loved hanging out with Deborah and it's such a rich conversation because awe is something that I don't think we talk enough about. The power of awe for us is huge for our mental health, and we can do so many things in the every day to find awe, and to raise tiny humans who are awe seekers. All right, folks. Let's dive in.

Connect with Deborah:

Instagram: @parenthood365

Website: https://www.parenthood365.com/

Order the book: Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive

Podcast: Raising Awe-Seekers

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and this episode was such a blast. We posted in stories on Instagram @seed.and.sew asking for your questions for Rach and I, pulled some questions directly from you to answer, and it was a blast, so we're for sure gonna do that again. Make sure you're following along @seed.and.sew. Also, if you're not following on your podcast app, make sure you hit follow, and if you can, do us a favor and share this podcast with whomever in your life might benefit from it. Share it with a friend. Share it with a teacher. Share it with a fellow parent, share it with a co-parent or a grandparent. Share it over on social media because as you share, we get to support more people. And y'all, I have a big sign next to me here and all it says is impact. That is what I'm here for, to impact and support as many humans as we can, and your shares allow us to do that. Thank you so much for being a part of this village.

Before we dive in, I want to remind you that Big Kids, Bigger Feelings is publishing soon! Rachel and I co-authored that bad boy. Head to seedandsew.org/book to snag your copy. If you get it in pre-order season, you can get a signed copy from me and support a local bookstore at the same time. If you go to seedandsew.org/book, you'll find that link there. All right folks, let's dive in.

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

Before we dive in: this episode includes discussion of severe car accident injuries. Please take care while listening.

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I got to chat about Car Seat Confidence with Michelle Pratt from Safe in the Seat. I have followed Michelle for so long and she has been so helpful for me in my journey as a parent. Safe in the Seat is every overwhelmed and anxious parents' go-to resource for Car Seat Safety.  As a mom and nationally certified child passenger safety technician, Michelle's judgment-free approach is helping her turn car seat confusion into straight up confidence, and I am here for it. They have a free car seat finder tool, which is incredible, online courses, helpful videos, personalized consults, and daily doses of safety tips and tricks over on the 'gram. I'm so stoked for y'all to have access to this convo and to hopefully get some of those questions answered, like, when do we turn them around? When do we switch to what seat, what matters, and what doesn't. All right, folks. Let's dive in.

Connect with Michelle:

Instagram: @safeintheseat

Website: www.safeintheseat.com

Find Your Best Car Seat Tool

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Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we get to chat about decreasing stress and increasing gratitude with this one accessible thing. I got to hang out with mother/daughter duo, Kelly Corrigan and her daughter Claire. Kelly is a New York Times bestselling author of four books about family life, the host of her own PBS show and a top 1% podcast called Kelly Corrigan Wonders. Like Claire, she can't stop making— books, paintings, TV shows, podcasts, meals, mistakes. And Claire just graduated from the University at Virginia where she is probably the school's only double major in computer science and drama.  Making is her life: Computer programs, standup routines, screenplays, code songs, algorithms, pizzas. During her last semester, she was interning at a machine learning company as well as a Hollywood production studio, and this mother-daughter duo teamed up to write Marianne The Maker. This is a children's book all about the power of making and really makes a case for how we can tap into creativity to decrease stress and increase gratitude. I love how they expand beyond the arts and how making can show up in so many different ways. Super stoked for y'all to dive into this one and add this book to your shelf. 

Connect with Kelly and Claire:

Instagram: @kellycorrigan

Website: www.kellycorrigan.com, www.mariannethemaker.com

Order the book: Marianne The Maker

Podcast: Kelly Corrigan Wonders

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

You're listening to Voices of Your Village and today we get to hang out with Dr. Richard Orbé- Austin. He's a licensed psychologist, executive coach, and consultant. He works with executives and mid-career professionals to overcome imposter syndrome, identify their best fit career options, and strengthen their leadership skills. He also regularly consults with academic institutions, corporations, and nonprofit organizations on issues related to leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and burnout prevention. He has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Thrive Global, a Diversity Executive, the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, in the Handbook of Racial Cultural Counseling and Psychology. His new book is out now called Your Child’s Greatness: A Parent's Guide to Raising Children without Impostor Syndrome. He is a dad to two daughters living in New York City, and we get to talk about the real, real– what does this look like as a parent, as well as a professional. All right folks, let's dive in.

Connect with Richard:

Instagram: @smartparentingstrategies

Website: www.dynamictransitionsllp.com

Order the book: Your Child’s Greatness: A Parent's Guide to Raising Children without Impostor Syndrome

Speaker:  TedxTalk: The Impostor Syndrome Paradox

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and in this episode, I got to hang out with my friend Lindsey Simcik.—creative force, co-founder of the Almost 30 Podcast , and co-author of the incredible book Almost 30.

We dove into what happens when friendships shift, especially after becoming a parent. This convo was incredible—our podcast editor even messaged me mid-edit to say, “Wow, this is so powerful.”

Lindsey shared something she’s never shared before, and so did I. It felt like sitting in a cozy, safe space together, talking honestly about identity, motherhood, and change.

If you've ever gone through a life shift—or know one is coming—Almost 30 is for you. It’s raw, beautiful, and real. 10/10 recommend snagging Almost 30..

All right folks, let’s dive in.

Connect with Lindsey:

Instagram: @almost30podcast

Website: https://almost30.com/

Order the book: Almost 30: A Definitive Guide to a Life You Love for the Next Decade and Beyond

Podcast: Almost 30 The Podcast

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Pre-order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now!

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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

You're listening to Voices of Your Village and today I got to hang out with Shang Saavedra and we got to chat about the emotional roots of money stress. Let's get real– money comes with so much emotion and I love how she breaks down the root causes of money issues and how to navigate them.  We all come to the table with different stories about money and I love how Shang talks about what it looks like not just to address finances, but to look at the emotional lens of finances in order to long-term address this and create a comprehensive plan for ourselves. I also loved getting to chat with Rach in the breakdown about this and what it looks like in our partnerships and our marriages, and also what it looks like to teach our kids. I'm so stoked for you to dive into this episode and learn more about navigating the emotional roots of money stress.  All right folks, let's dive in.

Connect with Shang:

Instagram:@savemycents

Website: https://savemycents.com/ 

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@savemycents 

Order the book: Wealth is a Mindset

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

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