PG-ish

Holidays can be a mixed bag of emotions, and it’s important to be real about that. You may have had a great time, but you also may have faced grief, loneliness, broken expectations, and exhaustion. While the new year often brings resolutions and hope for change, we also need to support each other in the deeper struggles.

Today’s clip features writer and podcaster Nora McInerny. She shares gut-wrenching, hard-earned wisdom about life and death, urging you to shift your approach to grief. And while her main focus is on death, her insights resonate with anything you may be grieving or grappling with.

Show links:

• Watch the full clip
• Learn more at noraborealis.com
• Read It's Okay to Laugh: (Crying Is Cool Too) and No Happy Endings: A Memoir
  

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Dr. Caroline Leaf is a best-selling author, renowned neuroscientist, and host of the award-winning podcast Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. She joins me today to discuss scientifically proven steps to help kids (and adults, of course) recognize their feelings and respond in a healthy way. She explains how to replace toxic thoughts with brain-building practices that will increase resilience and lead to a healthier life.

Show links:

• Check out my Holiday Gift Guide
• Learn more at drleaf.com
• Read How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess: A Guide to Building Resilience and Managing Mental Health
  

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Kailan Carr is the author of Screens Away, Time To Play, and the founder of Quiet Book Queen and Crafts In Between. She is on a mission to prioritize play for kids and to reclaim their childhood with less screens and more opportunities for creativity and imagination. In our conversation today, we discuss the idea that as parents of the next generation, we have to prioritize play—not just for our kiddos, but for ourselves as well. Kailan explains why it’s critical that we give context to our kids for how to learn to connect, communicate, and problem solve through real conversations and human connections.

Show links:

• Check out my Holiday Gift Guide
• Connect with Kailan at kailancarr.com

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG@pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Humans have the innate desire to connect with others. However, relationships will always be complex, and it’s easy to take the people in our lives for granted. In today’s clip, iconic couples’ therapist Esther Perel has two poignant things to say about relationships. You won’t want to miss this wisdom on how your life story is impacted by the way you choose to interact with those around you.

Show links:

• Check out my Holiday Gift Guide
• Watch the full clip
• Learn more at estherperel.com
• Play Where Should We Begin Game of Stories - Conversation Cards for Couples, Friends, & Co-Workers
  

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG@pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Whether you’re looking to evolve yourself, manage a team at work, or influence your children, it can be hard to know where to start making changes. In today’s clip, John Maxwell recounts how everything begins with a thought—in other words, what you think determines what you do and who you are. If you want to leave a positive legacy as a parent, it starts with a new way of thinking.

Show links:

• Watch the full clip.
• Learn more at maxwellleadership.com.
• Read Thinking for a Change.
• Check out my Weary To Revived course.

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Becoming a parent makes you face a lot of your own emotions and evaluate your own upbringing. And while many of us want things to be different (and better) for our own kids, it’s much easier said than done.

Dr. Becky Kennedy, the founder of Good Inside, shares what she believes is the single most important parenting strategy—and spoiler alert, it has nothing to do with parenting perfectly in the first place.

Show links:

• Connect with Dr. Becky at goodinside.com.
• Read Good Inside.
  

Sponsors and discounts:

• Vuori
• Pique Teas
• Join my Weary To Revived course

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

We all know there’s no such thing as a perfect parent—but then why do we so often fall into the trap of thinking we need to be that perfect parent raising the perfect child?

Brittney Serpell is an author and expert in helping parents create strong relationships with their children. She joins me today to share what she believes is the true goal of parenting. Our discussion focuses on all the highs and lows of parenting, and Brittney’s authenticity about her own experiences gives insight into what works, what doesn’t, and how to create systems and boundaries that create the family culture you long for.

Show links:

• Learn more at imperfectparenting.co.
• Read Imperfect Parenting: Connection Over Perfection.
• Join my Weary To Revived course!

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG@pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Does it seem like our society has the perception that busy people are somehow better? That they’ve got life and all its multitasking figured out? Claudia Hammond, an award-winning broadcaster and author, digs into these questions as she researches the value of rest. She explains how sleep and rest are not the same thing, yet both should be taken seriously to be a better, smarter human.

Show links:

• Watch the full clip
• Learn more at claudiahammond.com
• Read The Art of Rest: How to Find Respite in the Modern Age
• Pique Teas
  

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG@pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Recently I’ve been forced to start some hard conversations, even though I really dislike conflict. I overthink, I procrastinate, and I fear how people will respond. But in the midst of this, I got the valuable advice to simply be direct and clear. It sounds easy, but we tend to complicate things with fear and avoidance.

In today’s clip, Brene Brown shares why vulnerability and honesty is actually the secret to effective leadership, and that ultimately, being clear is the kindest choice to make.

Show links:

• Watch the full clip.
• Learn more at brenebrown.com.
• Read Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
• Join my Weary To Revived course!

Sponsors and discounts:

• BetterHelp — use code PGISH for 10% off your first month
• Pique Teas — use code PGISH for 5% off and free shipping
• Thrive Market
  

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

As I watch my girls grow and navigate the school system, it strikes me that today’s education is lacking in actually helping our kids grow into healthy adulthood. But this isn’t a new topic.

Today’s clip of Ken Robinson, pulled from a talk nearly 20 years old, shows that he seems to feel the same way. He points out the unpredictability of the future, even though we educate our kids as though we know exactly what the world will hold for them. Instead, we need to create space for them to use their unique gifts and authentically be themselves.

Show links:

• Watch the full clip.
• Learn more at sirkenrobinson.com.
• Read You, Your Child, and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education and Imagine If…: Creating a Future for Us All.
  

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on IG @pgishparenting, or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.