How can we get our kids cooking with us (or even FOR us) in the kitchen? Mark Bittman, longtime chef, food writer, and author of the new book HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING: KIDS, has some incredibly simple tips for bringing kids into the cooking process. Mark Bittman is the author of more than thirty books, including the How to Cook Everything series. Over his long career at The New York Times, Bittman wrote for both the food and opinion pages. Mark, Amy, and Margaret discuss: Why this cookbook is for ...
Oct 25, 2024•38 min
How has Halloween become a days-long, massively involved and expensive holiday? What happened to the good old days of stumbling around the neighborhood in a Barbie mask you could barely breathe in with a pillowcase full of candy? Here's how Halloween went from just spooky to spooky consumerist. Amy and Margaret discuss: How Halloween has lost its truly spooky nature over the years The origins of the Switch Witch Their favorite Halloween costumes growing up Here are links to some of the resources...
Oct 23, 2024•54 min•Ep. 387
This month's Deep Dive series is all about helping our kids through hardships like making mistakes, getting rejected, and facing competition. Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. There are benefits to our kids' making mistakes, even when it’s hard. Maybe especially when it’s hard. Some kids have tons of flexibility and safety around trying new things, around failing. Others not so much. In this episode we discuss: how the brain lights up when a mistake is made, paying extra attention why bei...
Oct 21, 2024•49 min
Right now our society feels more polarized than ever. We don't agree on much—and sometimes the people we disagree with most are the ones who are closest to us. This week, we talk about how to handle those difficult relationships and conversations with Brit Barron, author of the new book DO YOU STILL TALK TO GRANDMA? Brit Barron is a highly sought after speaker on the topics of sexuality, spirituality, race, storytelling, and personal development. In this interview, Brit, Margaret, and Amy discus...
Oct 18, 2024•45 min
In September 2024 the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, issued an Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents. In it, he declares the mental health and well-being of parents an urgent public health issue. In this episode we discuss the revealing research included in this report, stating that parents consistently report higher levels of stress compared to other adults. But is parenting really more stressful than ever? This advisory certainly highlights many reasons why it just m...
Oct 16, 2024•50 min•Ep. 387
This Deep Dive series is titled "Things We've Learned After Doing This Motherhood Thing for a While." Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. Youth is wasted on the young. We wasted our youth taking the wrong classes in college and layering imaginary agendas onto other people's dopey behavior. Sound familiar? We asked our listeners: If you could time travel, what advice would you give your younger self? Here's the best advice we all learned from doing things the wrong way! We love the sponsors ...
Oct 14, 2024•47 min
What does it really mean to raise resilient kids, and where do we start? Dr. Tovah Klein, Director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development and a psychology professor at Barnard College at Columbia University, is also the author of the new book RAISING RESILIENCE. Tovah's book explains why we might have to look inward first when attempting to raise children who can handle life's challenges. In this interview, Tovah, Amy, and Margaret discuss: The psychological underpinnings of the c...
Oct 11, 2024•44 min
Amy's book Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser is coming in January 2025. Pre-order your copy! How important is it to teach our kids the manners that we ourselves learned as children? Which social niceties should we keep up with and which ones should we discard? In this episode, Amy and Margaret discuss: How manners have sometimes been used as gatekeeping tools in the past What to do when you disagree with other grownups about the manners that matter for your kids Why we think the mann...
Oct 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 385
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We can’t wait to go back on the road! https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour This Deep Dive series is titled "Things We've Learned After Doing This Motherhood Thing for a While." Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. What’s no longer interesting to you? How has your life been improved simply by no longer caring about something the world definitely thi...
Oct 07, 2024•44 min
We're so glad to be talking to Kendra Adachi again this week. Kendra is the host of the Lazy Genius Podcast and the two-time New York Times bestselling author of The Lazy Genius Way and The Lazy Genius Kitchen. In this interview, we discuss what Kendra calls "compassionate time management" and her newest book, The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius. Kendra shares insights on productivity, pivoting in the face of unexpected life events, and the pitfalls of traditional time management. "The...
Oct 04, 2024•48 min
Amy's book Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser is coming in January 2025. Pre-order your copy! Parenting is a series of everyday battles. But which ones are truly worth fighting? In this episode we discuss the Sisyphean nature of the overuse of the word 'like', to a cleaned-up playroom, to the unending struggle of getting tweens to wear pants—and which of these battles might be 1) winnable and 2) worth the work. Some things really do matter for the long-term success of our kids (and pe...
Oct 02, 2024•46 min•Ep. 384
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We can’t wait to go back on the road! https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour This Deep Dive series is titled "Things We've Learned After Doing This Motherhood Thing for a While." Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. What's your "wow, that was so me” story? What is something you did as a kid that exemplifies exactly who you are now? Amy was taking cha...
Sep 30, 2024•44 min
American public policy rests on the premise that childcare is distinct from education. Dr. Dan Wuori, author of the new book THE DAYCARE MYTH, explains how and why we should rethink the education of very young children. Dr. Dan Wuori is an early childhood educator and policy consultant, known across the globe for his social media feeds @danwuori, which pair daily lessons in child development with adorable video examples. In this interview, Amy and Dr. Wuori discuss the importance of early childh...
Sep 27, 2024•39 min
There is no magic formula to making the perfect decision every time, but there are philosophical principles, or "razors," you can use to pare down your options and see your problem more clearly. These razors can cut through the clutter of complexity and help us see the forest for the trees. And while they weren't designed with parents in mind, they can come in pretty handy! Starting with the most famous, Occam’s Razor, we discuss how paring away unlikely hypotheticals leads to the most accurate ...
Sep 25, 2024•50 min•Ep. 383
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We can’t wait to go back on the road! https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour This Deep Dive series is titled "Things We've Learned After Doing This Motherhood Thing for a While." Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. Have you ever figured out a thing and thought everyone must know about this? In this episode we discuss the things that we (and our list...
Sep 23, 2024•48 min
As parents, we've probably heard the term "attachment style.” But what does it really mean? Eli Harwood, author of the new book RAISING SECURELY ATTACHED KIDS, discusses practical parenting strategies for creating secure attachments with our kids. Eli and Margaret discuss: How we define secure attachment and why it's important The four different child attachment patterns Why it's never too late to start repairing relationships with our kids Eli Harwood is a licensed therapist who has been nerdin...
Sep 20, 2024•43 min
How can we empower our kids to cope with negative feelings without our help? Here's why disappointment is an important part of childhood and how to build scaffolding for their emotional regulation. Amy and Margaret discuss: How the purpose of having children has changed over the last century Why disappointment is developmentally important How to be a guide, not a fixer, for our kids Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: Jim Taylor for Psychology Today: Parenting: Disa...
Sep 18, 2024•47 min•Ep. 382
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We can’t wait to go back on the road! https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour This Deep Dive series is titled "Things We've Learned After Doing This Motherhood Thing for a While." Listen to the whole playlist on Spotify. What did adulthood mean to you when you were growing up? Staying up late? Doing algebra every day? Stopping, dropping, and rolling at le...
Sep 16, 2024•50 min
Kids sometimes lose their cool, and it can be easy to lose ours while trying to help them. Carla Naumburg, author of the new book HOW TO STOP FREAKING OUT, discusses why kids freak out, how we can help them, and how we as parents can keep our cool. Carla Naumburg is a clinical social worker, and a mother. She’s the author of four non-fiction books, including her international bestseller, How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids, as well as You Are Not a Sh*tty Parent. Carla and Amy discuss: W...
Sep 13, 2024•38 min
So many of us spend hours chauffeuring our kids back and forth to their myriad activities. Why are kids so overloaded with activities these days, and can we get off of this ride? Here are some parenting strategies for navigating this issue. Amy and Margaret discuss: Why kids are so overscheduled these days How overscheduling really affects kids, beyond the mom guilt-inducing headlines What questions to ask when assessing if our kids are overscheduled Here are links to some of the resources menti...
Sep 11, 2024•45 min•Ep. 381
This month's Deep Dive series is about flouting parenting rules and advice that don't work for us. Listen to a Spotify playlist of all the episodes in the series here. Who makes the parenting rules? And how bendable are they? From picky eaters to sleep routines to playing outside, we all have to navigate the line between what we supposedly should and shouldn't allow as parents. But sometimes it's okay to break the rules if it works for you and your family. Amy and Margaret dive into the details ...
Sep 09, 2024•47 min
How do we raise our daughters to feel empowered, rather than helpless, in the face of gender bias? Dr. Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, author of the new book SEXISM AND SENSIBILITY, offers parenting tips to prepare our girls for the modern world. Dr. Finkelstein, Amy, and Margaret discuss: The limits of the "girl power" line of thinking How to teach girls what is and isn't in their control when it comes to sexism How to recognize and combat sexism in our own parenting Here's where you can find Dr. Fink...
Sep 06, 2024•34 min
Why do formerly-sunny kids turn overnight into little tornadoes of defiance and aggression? A listener posted this question in our Facebook group: My four-year-old daughter has recently developed a special, defiant, boundary-testing, aggressive version of herself that she saves only for me. I can’t make sense of it at all. WFH, send help! In this episode, we explain why these sudden onsets of periods of dysregulation are completely normal almost every kid will go through this—and a lot of four-y...
Sep 04, 2024•46 min
Sign up for What Fresh Hell Plus on Supporting Cast to get all episodes ad-free, plus monthly bonus episodes. Supporting Cast works right where you already listen! Go to whatfreshhell.supportingcast.fm to subscribe in two taps for just $4.99 a month, or $39.99 a year. Getting-ready playlists? Choosing outfits the night before? Bringing snacks to the pickup line? We asked our audience about their favorite back-to-school tips... and we also allowed some venting about back-to-school craziness. Amy ...
Sep 02, 2024•48 min
Today we’re sharing an episode from another parenting podcast we think our listeners will really appreciate. It’s called “In It: Raising Kids who Learn Differently.” This podcast offers perspective, stories, and useful takeaways for parents of kids with challenges in reading, math, focus, and other learning differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. This is an episode called "After the Diagnosis: How Kids Feel About Their Learning and Thinking Differences." To listen to more episodes, search for “In I...
Sep 01, 2024•30 min
How can we talk about America’s ongoing legacy of racism without sliding into despair? In his new memoir HOW FAR TO THE PROMISED LAND, Esau McCaulley tells his own story—and questions why Black failure is judged collectively, while Black success is perceived as the merit of an individual. Rev. Esau McCaulley, PhD, is an author and associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. His work has been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and Christianity Today. ...
Aug 30, 2024•37 min
We've all been there: our kid asks us what heaven is like, and whether dogs can go there too. Or why some people are homeless. Or why that person over there doesn't look like other people. Sometimes we rush to smooth things over, or chastise them for what is probably honest curiosity. Other times we overexplain, answering with a confusing lecture when what they really wanted was reassurance. In this episode, we talk about how to find the best balance. Here are links to some of the resources ment...
Aug 28, 2024•47 min•Ep. 379
This month's Deep Dive series is about flouting parenting rules and advice that don't work for us. Listen to a Spotify playlist of all the episodes in the series here. We asked our listeners to tell us all the things that others might call crazy but which totally work for them. From packing the laundry to eating the same lunch every day for five years to toothbrushes in the kitchen, these are the ideas that don't sound so crazy, come to think of it. Following us on Instagram? Join the fun! http:...
Aug 26, 2024•51 min
The task of feeding kids "the right foods" can give parents a lot of anxiety. Jill Castle, author of the new book KIDS THRIVE AT EVERY SIZE, explains how we can set our kids up with healthy eating habits they'll maintain for life. Jill Castle is a pediatric dietitian and childhood nutritionist, founder of The Nourished Child®, and the host of the Nourished Child podcast. In this interview, Jill and Margaret discuss: The 8 Pillars of Wellness: Family Culture, Sleep, Movement, Feeding, Eating, Foo...
Aug 23, 2024•45 min
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We can’t wait to go back on the road! https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour We asked our listeners for their randomest, most tenuous claims to fame, and as usual, they delivered. Whether it's first place in a two-person pie-eating contest, or dating someone just four degrees removed from the Real Housewives of New Jersey, here are their stories. Join ou...
Aug 21, 2024•49 min•Ep. 378
