Fresh from visits with their respective families, Steph and Abby discuss the pros and cons of having family nearby. Both ladies loved having their kids hang with family and watching all the cousins play, but how important is being around family, really? Is the desire to have family around a necessity for happy kids or not having them around a necessity for their sanity? It can go either way! They both love their respective families, BTW. Oh, and at some point Steph's kid poops in the potty all b...
Sep 07, 2016•24 min
This week Steph and Abby are thrilled to have special guest, personal trainer, author, and #DietAbolitionist, Sarah Hays Coomer. Sarah chats with the ladies about how to deal with picky-eating children by introducing everyday, small changes. The ladies throw a "mac and cheese only" diet at Sarah and she comes back swinging, with alternative pastas, sneak-in-healthy-stuff recipes and an all-around better approach to eating. Sarah also offers insights into how parents can incorporate these same ...
Sep 01, 2016•40 min
Do you curse in front of your children? Steph and Abby do (natch), but they worry about the implications. This week they discuss a recent article that argues people who are a little sloppier and foul-mouthed are not all that bad, and, in fact, it indicates higher intelligence! So being messy and saying %#$ means you're smarter? But what does that say about your parenting style or how your children will grow up? Is allowing your kids to swear a part of a trend towards hands off parenting? The lad...
Aug 24, 2016•36 min
Is it that time already? It's the Hands Off Parents Back to School episode! Steph and Abby are joined by a very special guest: elementary school teacher and parent of two, Brooke Smith! Brooke shares with the ladies all of the darkest secrets from the depths of the teachers' lounge: What makes parents really, really annoying? How can we form better relationships with teachers? And seriously, how much are the teachers talking smack when we forget things like book covers and dressing our kids in m...
Aug 17, 2016•37 min
This week Steph expresses a recent surge in her "mom-guilt." Is it because of her new business or because she's happy about her new business? The ladies discuss the contemporary concept of selfless parenting vs. selfish parenting: Does being a modern parent mean when you are doing your own thing, you are being selfish? Parent guilt is wide-spread, though, and after the break the ladies give (Lifehacker's) tips for getting rid of it and using it productively. Here's something that YOU should feel...
Aug 10, 2016•44 min
This week Steph and Abby talk about having fun. What does fun mean to them as parents and how was it different when they were young and carefree and out all night drinking shots of tequila with strangers at bars (because that was really fun!? Can parents even have fun anymore (without involving a babysitter) or do we all need to redefine what the word "fun" means, perhaps? It's possible to have a good time with your kids, right? Right? Research says that we all need to play - parents and childre...
Aug 03, 2016•41 min
This week Steph and Abby talk about the age-old question of whether or not to send your kid to Time Out. When your kid is being an a-hole, what else can you do? Abby's in, Steph's out. But is Time Out really bad for your child's development? Are "Time Ins" better in the long run? After the break, they consult the "experts" who argue in both directions. Some docs say a good old Time Out for age appropriate kids is fine, while others say that Time Outs might be screwing with your kid's brain elast...
Jul 27, 2016•37 min
This week Steph and Abby discuss a recent controversial photo of Victoria Beckham kissing her five-year-old daughter on the lips. Why is this controversial? Because the internet! The ladies love kissing their kids, so it’s hard to objectively weigh both sides of this debate. Are there any real emotional implications - for or against - this practice? Find out on today’s episode. And if you like kissing your kids as much as they do, post a photo on the Hands Off Parents Facebook wall of you kissin...
Jul 20, 2016•35 min
Feeling sad and hopeless about the devastating news of this past week, Steph and Abby talk candidly about race and raising race-conscious children with the lovely Nyala Wright Nolen, a black parent who offers up some encouraging advice on how ALL parents can take a more proactive approach to combating racism. They discuss how fear and anxiety around the topic actually perpetuates the issue and, as parents, we need to go into this battle head-on: in our schools, in our homes and in our daily live...
Jul 13, 2016•57 min
This week Steph and Abby discuss a new study that argues that American parents are the most miserable in the world. The ladies kinda get why this might be, and they discuss how workplace constraints take a toll. But is this a new phenomenon or are U.S. 'rents just particularly miserable people? In the second half of the show, Steph is joined by her amazing mother who is filling in for a sick Abby to continue discussing how parenting has changed over the years (mostly because of the INTERNET!). T...
Jul 06, 2016•38 min
This week Steph and Abby discuss how to be more empathetic as both parents and human beings. How does one raise an empathetic child when the world is filled with horrible people? Can we just stop criticizing each other all the time? Paradoxically, why do we hate on each other but desire approval, too? They also discuss the implications of cyber-bullying, and how to combat this sort of bad behavior in their children. A listener suggests that internet-trolling is mostly fear-based (we love hearing...
Jun 29, 2016•40 min
This week, a very tired and loopy Steph and Abby try to tackle body image (somewhat unsuccessfully.) Should parents care about their own body image? How do we talk about body image to our children? Is it okay to just love our bodies as they are? We really want to be healthy, but we are also very lazy. We also talk about where all of this body image stuff comes from - and naturally we wind up back at the internet. The internet! Steph and Abby decide the root of all evil is the body shaming on soc...
Jun 21, 2016•34 min
Father’s Day is upon us! In honor of dads, we talk this week to Jon Harvey about his life as a SAHD (Stay At Home Dad). Jon explains why his family made this decision and how it all works for them. Then, the conversation takes an unexpected turn into a candid discussion about raising a child with autism and how to navigate the world through that lens. Steph adds some stuff about her daughter's hearing loss, and she and Jon compare notes on raising a kid with additional needs. It's a good one!
Jun 14, 2016•52 min
On this week’s episode, Steph chats with a special guest star (her husband) about the family vacation they are currently on. What are the highs and lows of traveling with kids? Is any of this worth it? Will we ever do it again? Do we still love each other and our child? Find out all of this along with great places to eat near the Grand Canyon on this week's special, on-location episode of Hands Off Parents.
Jun 07, 2016•21 min
Today’s episode kicks off summer break with a Skype convo between Abby and Steph. Abby is currently away from her children for TWO WEEKS! More importantly, she’s away from Steph for two weeks, which is the real tragedy here. Abby describes the highs and lows, ups and downs of life without kids. She misses them terribly but also enjoys being able to park a car and run into a corner store for gum. It’s the little things. But, mostly, there’s guilt - lots of guilt. Steph spends much of the call dis...
May 31, 2016•20 min
On today’s episode, special guest Nancy Wozny schools Steph and Abby on how to someday launch our kids into adulthood. She describes how your relationship changes and your family evolves as your kids grow up and gives expert advice about why parents shouldn’t be friends with their kids and how we all need to back off during “threshold times.” She also extols the virtues of finding your mom tribe and debunks the myth of “doing it all.” At the end of the day, if everyone has a pulse, there’s food ...
May 24, 2016•46 min
This week Steph and Abby continue to learn about the ins and outs of public education from guest Tamarie Cooper. Can your parenting style ever match the school you send your kids to? And what the hell is up with all the testing going on these days? Are we all just forced to deal or perhaps you can be a rebel and fight the system? After the break, Abby chats with professor and anti-STAAR test advocate Sam Brower, whose daughter opted out of taking standardized tests this year. He talks about why ...
May 17, 2016•50 min
In this episode, we talk potty-training: pooping, peeing, potty products, readiness, accidents, methods, nap time, night time, fears, triumphs, fails, frustrations, boys vs. girls, etc. IT’S ALL HERE, GUYS. Then, the potty talk leads to real talk. Steph seriously injured herself in the potty-training process, steroids are the magic beans of the prescription world, and all of this has made her realize it’s time to make self-care a priority like Abby does. Basically, everyone in the world should b...
May 10, 2016•48 min
In this week’s episode, Abby and Steph are schooled by Houston celebrity Tamarie Cooper who recently survived the complicated process of getting her kid into Kindergarten. Tamarie answers all of our burning school-related questions. Like, how do you get your kid into a “good" school? What makes a school “good”? Will our zoned school suffice? What’s a magnet school? What’s a vanguard school? What’s a lottery? Do we need to get a tutor from Dubai for our two-year-olds? Does any of this really matt...
May 03, 2016•49 min
In this week's episode, Steph and Abby talk about the horrors of what happens when the lights go out - your kids not sleeping. How do parents deal with sleep challenges? Should we let our kids cry it out? Attend to their every whimper? Get a yoga mat and sleep on the floor next to their cribs? Should you just take an Ambien, go meet the Ambien Walrus and sleep through the cries? Steph and Abby discuss all of this and how you make mimosas from Orange Fanta. Zzzzzz
Apr 26, 2016•52 min
In this week's episode, Steph and Abby get (sorta) serious about guns - in the grocery store, in the classroom and on college campuses. Is there really more danger now than there was when we roamed free as kids or does online hysteria perpetuate anxiety? How far we should go to protect our kids from things like razor blades in delicious Halloween candy? What are the true facts behind mass shootings and gun violence? We actually search for real statistics. We find very little. We will likely neve...
Apr 19, 2016•38 min
Today, on the show, we discuss the ever so popular dinner party topic: RELIGION. Steph’s family is dipping their toes in Judaism, while Abby wonders if her family is blowing it by raising her kids atheist. A ton of questions come up this week. Can you set your own family rituals or do you need the umbrella of religion? Can you join a religion with your family in adulthood if you weren't raised that way? What's the point of religion in child rearing anyway? Tradition? Community? Morality? Can TV ...
Apr 12, 2016•41 min
In this week's episode Steph and Abby's husband's join the podcast to explore some of marriage and parenting's deepest, darkest questions: How do you rediscover your marriage post kids? Can you blame your children for making you just want to watch TV at night instead of having deep, philosophical conversations? Are married couples still happy and should they love their spouses more than their children? Or is it just a different type of love? What do dads worry about? Do dads have feelings even? ...
Apr 05, 2016•48 min
In this week’s episode, we talk to YA author, Jennifer Mathieu, about her family's conscious decision to only have one child. Stephanie is on the fence, so Jennifer debunks many popular one-child myths and we pro/con the one-child choice. We also talk candidly about the dark days of early motherhood and the transition back to yourself. Jennifer explains how motherhood actually made her more productive and gives us tips on how to be a super human who is able to write four novels, hold down a full...
Mar 29, 2016•49 min
In today’s episode, we candidly discuss all things infertility related (shame, sadness, self-loathing, desperation, price tag, twins, causes, etc.), suddenly becoming “geriatric” and “high risk" at age 35, and the fear of having another baby after having a difficult time the first go round.
Mar 22, 2016•34 min
On this week’s episode, Steph and Abby are blessed to have pro-parent Ty Mahany on the show to discuss gender norms, giving kids choices (and beer), nature vs. nurture, and the inevitability of becoming our parents. Warning: our kids are particularly loud and annoying this week. If you take a shot every time you hear a toddler scream “NO” in the background, you will be druuuunk. Also, guys, go to iTunes and review us if you like the show. If you don’t, um, don’t.
Mar 15, 2016•33 min
In this episode, we discuss SO MANY THINGS including the pros and cons of sending your kid to school sick (1:00), daycare correspondence (5:45), the endless sick loop (7:30), wanting to quit life (13:00) how to parent through grief/sadness/depression/etc. (15:00) and freezing your kids poop (25:00).
Mar 06, 2016•28 min
In this week's episode, Steph and Abby discuss sharing (:40), tantrums (7:48), pediatricians (16:30), and the ethics of talking s**t about our kids in public (17:45). New theme song courtesy of Kevin Schneider (twitter.com/kmschneid), who composed it at a stoplight. Talent!
Feb 29, 2016•33 min
In our inaugural episode, we talk about parenting styles (1:50), television consumption (9:00), the drama of dinner (13:00), and crafts (27:50).
Feb 23, 2016•34 min
