Show Notes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This week marks the 1-year anniversary of the first podcast episode! To celebrate and show my appreciation for all your support, I compiled the 15 best takeaways from aaalllll the episodes I published during the past 12 months.

Thanks so much for the way you care about teens and want to show up for them. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish in the weeks and months ahead!

The 15 Best Takeaways from the First Year:

(Scroll to the bottom of the page to find links to the referenced episodes) 

15. No one knows your teen the way you do – and it’s your job to “stay in the know” with them, because as teens, they shift and change frequently. (Episode 5)

14. Be intentional about building a support community. Not only for yourself, but for your teens too. (Episodes 28 & 33)

13. Sometimes, when your teen can’t receive something from you, they can hear it from other adults in their lives – cultivate that community and ask them to speak into your teen’s life. (Episode 33)

12. Don’t jump in to solve their problems – although this may seem counterintuitive, especially when your teen is anxious. Solving things for them won’t help them in the long run. (Episode 34)

11. Do support them and be a coach as they work through challenges. The goal is to help your teen develop resiliency and the ability to advocate for themselves. (Episode 34)

10. Keep your eyes on the bigger picture – while living in the moment. (Episodes 14 & 41)

9. This is not who your teen is – it’s how they are becoming an adult. (Episodes 35 & 36)

8. Pick your battles. Remember it takes 2 to argue – avoid getting sucked into arguments that aren’t your battle. (Episode 8)

7. Being a united team as you co-parent, whether with a spouse or an ex or otherwise, is HUGE for your teens. It gives them a stability and security that they will value later on. (Episode 40)

6. Stop “thrashing” yourself with that critical inner voice. Be deliberate about positive thinking and have grace with yourself. (Episode 9)

5. Reframe your thoughts by using “THINKS” (Is it: true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, kind, something you’d say to a friend?) (Episode 10)

4. You have your own umbrella (so does everyone else) and underneath it are your own thoughts, feelings, values, etc. (Episode 16)

3. My responsibility as a parent is to train, model, and reinforce with the hope that my teens will adopt my values and beliefs – they have the freedom to adopt or reject them. (Episode 16)

2. Be quick to apologize – everyone will mess up, and it’s all in how you come back together and reconcile. (Episodes 14 & 41)

1. When I know it’s developmentally appropriate for teens to go through certain stages as they’re changing from kids into adults, I can now respond to their misbehavior rather than react to it. Seeing our teen’s behavior as developmentally appropriate can help us reframe it and respond, rather than react, to it. Defining a behavior as developmentally appropriate doesn’t excuse inappropriate or unhealthy behavior. Understanding what is developmentally appropriate frees parents and teens from condemnation and shame. (Episodes 35 & 36)