I want to talk about all things related to uncertainty. You might instinctively think about the global pandemic, yet there are so many other types of uncertainty our children, teens, and young adults will need to learn to navigate – changing school, applying to university, moving house, forming new friendships. Some people have a high tolerance to uncertainty, whilst others worry excessively and become paralysed with fear. I will share my top five strategies to help navigate uncertainty more suc...
Jan 12, 2022•33 min•Ep. 32
In this episode I am joined by Clare Ford as we talk about how we can create a positive learning environment for our children to succeed academically. I know this is a topic I get asked about all the time! We talk through the common challenges we face as parents - how do we encourage our children to learn without nagging!! Clare is an award winning education expert with over 20 years’ teaching experience, an international best-selling author and Founder of SwitchedON!, the cutting-edge global ed...
Jan 05, 2022•44 min•Ep. 31
This episode I talk about all things Back to School! We’re talking about preparing our children’s mindsets, cultivating curiosity, dealing with back-to-school anxieties and creating good habits. This episode is for you whether you have a 5-year-old or a 20-something your old going back to University/Work! Here are the highlights: (00:49) Creating the right habits (04:29) Tailor a back to school plan for your child (09:03) Sleeping patterns go out of the window during holidays (14:45) Cultivating...
Dec 29, 2021•27 min•Ep. 30
This episode is all about what can often feel like the ‘icky’ subject of pornography, and why we need to have that conversation with our children NOW!! A recent study by The Children’s Commission in the UK has revealed over half of children will be exposed to online pornography before they leave primary school!! Some as young as 7 years old! Whilst this data is from the UK, the exposure is online, and so is likely to follow similar trends globally. As parents we have to act, and we have to act n...
Dec 22, 2021•29 min•Ep. 29
I want to talk about how we can avoid entitlement at Christmas - you know what I mean - what feels like the constant “I want, I want, I want” Whether this come from a place of comparison - so and so has chocolates for breakfast in their advent calendar, to long list of demands for Christmas presents you can’t afford, or feels excessive and before you know it you’re being sucked into excess when you know that’s not what you want to do. Here are the highlights: (00:34) Don’t be sucked into excess ...
Dec 15, 2021•20 min•Ep. 28
I know we can all relate to this one! This week’s episode is all about how we can stop nagging and instead encourage our children to listen more, do more, and take on more responsibility. I can imagine a lot of you will be thinking this is an impossible task but I can reassure you there is a better way. I will talk you through my 3 simple steps and then gift you my How To sheet. It’s not a quick fix way, but a way which could genuinely be transformational for your family. It just has to start wi...
Dec 08, 2021•32 min•Ep. 27
I want to dedicate this episode to you as parents, first and foremost. We will do a separate episode for how you can integrate these principles for your children. Trust me you are absolutely not going to want to miss this. I want this episode to be an inspiring one, one which I hope you will refer back to time and time again. Whilst the context behind what I am going to talk you through is very much linked to the New Year - the principles are something which you can quite genuinely do any time o...
Dec 01, 2021•22 min•Ep. 26
Children who find their voice have a strong sense of who they are, are able to stand up for themselves, can express their views without fear, are respectful of others, accept differences, and as a result are well-liked by their peers. I believe, as parents, we should all be striving to raise children with a voice as all these character traits are key to living an adult life confidently and compassionately. In this podcast episode I share my top five strategies and a great free resource to help y...
Nov 24, 2021•28 min•Ep. 25
Broadly speaking I would put fear into two categories. The fear which is real and the fear which we perceive. Perceived fear occurs when we encounter a situation which feels overwhelming. We imagine all manner of scenarios which don’t bode well. We are in no real life threatening or immediate danger but our body reacts as though it were. Our fight, flight or freeze mechanism is activated. This type of fear holds us and our children back from reaching our full potential. So, in this episode I get...
Nov 17, 2021•28 min•Ep. 24
Some of you may know that on 28th October 2021 I wrote across all my social media accounts that I had found my continued use of social media platforms untenable with my passion for children's wellbeing. I want this episode to be an honest conversation about social media so we can make more informed decisions about their use for our families. As parents we should know the dangers these platforms pose for our children’s emotional wellbeing and feel confident we can help equip our children make bet...
Nov 10, 2021•29 min•Ep. 23
This might be something you are right in the middle of, something you think might be coming, or you are simply listening because you want to be there for a friend or someone in your family. Either way I am glad you’re here and I hope you find it useful. Let’s start by taking away any guilt or judgement you might be harbouring. No one embarks on the process of separating from a partner lightly. It comes with a great deal of considered thought and guilt too. Quite often the relationship has not be...
Nov 03, 2021•26 min•Ep. 22
A recent survey by the NHS found that 29% of six to 10-year-olds had trouble sleeping on three or more nights in the previous week. Problems getting to sleep, waking in the night or waking early were even more common among older children, affecting 38% of 11- to 16-year-olds and the majority – 57% – of young people aged 17 to 23. To me, it’s no wonder we have rising numbers of mental health challenges with sleep data like this!!! I want this episode to be super practical and informative so you c...
Oct 27, 2021•28 min•Ep. 21
The world has never felt more divisive. Globally we have the hugely divisiveness of political views, whether this relates to vaccination, climate change or in the United Kingdom the whole division which was created around Brexit. Extremism and radical views aren’t born, they are made and when we live in a society in which we either consciously or unconsciously place people into groups or give them labels we are in real danger of dehumanising people. How does this relate to compassion and childre...
Oct 20, 2021•25 min•Ep. 20
This episode is all about the importance of a morning routine and how it helps us to become more effective parents. In fact, I’m going to be even more specific than that’s and talk to all you mothers out there. Now it’s not that this episode won’t be relevant to dads, it absolutely will, I have just found in my experience mum’s gain the most from the shift in emphasis - as will become evident as we go through the process. As parents we often find ourselves in patterns and cycles which have becom...
Oct 13, 2021•29 min•Ep. 19
I am delighted to be joined by the incredible Rania Robinson, MD of Quiet Storm the ad agency responsible for the Haribo ads we all love where the adults talk with children’s voices. As a woman of colour raising two mixed race children she shares her personal insights on how she has navigated discussions around race and discrimination. I believe we all have a responsibility to educate ourselves and our children so we can eradicate discrimination. So many parents have not known how to start discu...
Oct 06, 2021•35 min•Ep. 18
This episode is all about how to manage sibling conflict. Now let me start by being totally honest and upfront - sibling rivalry, disagreements and fall outs are normal. Your children will want to kill each other at times and really dislike each other most of the rest of the time - and that’s normal, you aren’t a bad parent, you haven’t failed and they are certainly not going to turn into a psyho killer!! However, there are things we do as parents which makes things worse, which we need to stop ...
Sep 29, 2021•27 min•Ep. 17
In this episode I am going to take you through a step by step guide to helping your children move out of their comfort zone. By comfort zone I mean that place where they are coasting - doing things they are familiar with and not stretching themselves beyond that. Moving out of their comfort zone is all about trying new things, meeting new people and all the slightly scary things they always so ‘thank you but no thank you to’ not because they don’t want to do them - rather they feel far too scary...
Sep 22, 2021•35 min•Ep. 16
In this episode I am talking about the secrets to school success and it has nothing to do with academics! As parents we must always keep in mind the end goal, which is to raise children who become confident, resilient adults equipped to live life happily and successfully - whatever success looks like for them NOT US!!! I will share with you my top three tips and how you can implement these in your family today. Here are the highlights: {1:16} There's not much time to reflect as parents {3:59} We...
Sep 15, 2021•29 min•Ep. 15
This is a very personal episode where I share my childhood story. Whilst I have very fond memories of growing up, I never quite felt comfortable or confident in who I was. I am convinced this is why I do what I do, and why I do it the way I do it. I hope this episode will help you as a parent see things from the viewpoint of a child, and how they experience the world. It’s also a reminder that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Here are the highlights: {4:00} A typical middle child {5:35} Cop...
Sep 08, 2021•37 min•Ep. 14
If you’re anything like me, you have probably read a dozen books in an attempt to get your children to do more of what you ask. Why don’t they listen and do what we ask them to do first time and why is it so hard?!! Traditional books talk about discipline and punishment, which in my view only creates power struggles, battle-lines and confrontation and no-one wants these. In this episode I will explain why using an approach focused on consequences works each and every time, talk you through my si...
Aug 25, 2021•25 min•Ep. 13
This episode Dr Maryhan’s children talk about their childhood. We hear about sibling rivalry, meltdowns in the car because of spellings, competitiveness and Catherine’s childhood trauma thanks to Maryhan’s passion for gardening!! The children also talk candidly about how they have managed tech, social media, comparisons and becoming confident adults. Here are the highlights: {3:45} Most valuable lessons from parents {7:53} The garden center trauma {11:07} Dealing with social media {18:53} How pa...
Aug 18, 2021•47 min•Ep. 12
This episode is all about the secrets to a Happy Family. Now I am going to be upfront here - there is no such thing as a perfectly happy family - that’s just not reality. What I am going to talk about are the key components we need to master to make family life as harmonious as we can possibly make it. And the biggest secret is about managing our own expectations. The three core components I will cover are: Siblings relationships Roles within the family Communication Here are the highlights: {1:...
Aug 11, 2021•32 min•Ep. 11
This episode is all about practical strategies. How can you as a parent, educator, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or nanny help a child in those moments of angst? I’ll explain why it is so important to help our children recognise where their anxieties show up in their body, and how the techniques help alleviate the overwhelm. I’ll talk you through four strategies to help build your child’s unique toolkit, and how they can use them to go from angst to courage Here are the highlights: {1:24} The wellbe...
Aug 04, 2021•34 min•Ep. 10
In this episode I get to share the podcast microphone with Lucinda Miller; the best selling author of two family cookbooks, and an incredible Naturopath. There is mounting evidence of the link between good gut health and mental health and wellbeing. Lucinda explains how this link works in practice without blasting us with science, and then gives us some super practical ways, as parents, we can encourage our children to eat more of the good stuff! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, aunty, unc...
Jul 28, 2021•46 min•Ep. 9
This is such a huge topic so I am going to try to cover as much as I can so I can give all of you, whether you have a 2 year old all the way up to a 22 year old, some useful, practical advice to start using today. To keep things nice and simple this episode is for you if….. You haven’t yet parted with an electronic device and you want to know how to best set the right ground rules. Your child already has a tablet, mobile phone, gaming console and you are pulling your hair out trying to manage th...
Jul 21, 2021•22 min•Ep. 8
In this episode I am joined by Kim Burrows who shares their personal mental health story with us. We know there is a rising mental health crisis and by talking so candidly about their journey Kim helps us as parents see things from the perspective of a child. An opportunity not to be missed! Kim’s mental health journey started at just 6 years old!!! Now at 30 years old, Kim has a real drive to advocate and talk opening about their mental health journey in the hope it helps others find their voic...
Jul 14, 2021•44 min•Ep. 7
Parenting is harder now than it has ever been. We are busier than ever, juggling more, and we don’t always share the same views as our partner about how to best parent. It’s then a whole different minefield to navigate if you and your partner have split and are now co-parenting; not always amicably. This podcast episode is for you if….. You want to be more consistent with your parenting You are prepared to take a really honest look at how you parent - warts and all You want practical ways to co-...
Jul 07, 2021•25 min•Ep. 6
Sleep is so important for children and yet we often have so many issues getting our children to bed! This podcast will look at ways we can establish good bedtime routines, how we help children who need us there in order to fall asleep as well as those children who struggle to switch off that busy brain. I will also be talking about extra considerations we need for our teenagers, particularly around devices. Here are the highlights: {1:30} Sleep is the librarian of the brain {3:36} A bedroom is a...
Jun 30, 2021•30 min•Ep. 5
The two most common ways we screw our kids up don’t come from a place of neglectful parenting. Quite the contrary, they come from a place of feeling we need to be A*** otherwise we’re not a good parent. This often means losing who we are in the process – as everything becomes about our children – at the expense of everything else!! What I will share in this episode comes from a place of love not criticism, and if we can master these two common mistakes, parenting gets a whole load easier, and we...
Jun 23, 2021•15 min•Ep. 4
For some context - the latest data suggests 1 in 6 children has a probable mental health challenge - so in a typical state school class of 30 children that’s 5 children in each and every class in every school from aged reception all the way up to year 11 struggling with their mental health. Now, not all will have anxiety - but understanding the basic principles around mental health are key if we are going to turn the tide on this scary epidemic - and it starts young!!! In this episode we will ta...
Jun 18, 2021•21 min•Ep. 3
