This Is So Awkward

Adults often bring their own baggage into conversations with tweens + teens. Nowhere is this more evident than with body image. It’s a fraught and complex issue to begin with – helping kids achieve positive (or at least neutral) body image becomes nearly impossible when we entangle their feelings about their bodies with our feelings about our own. Psychologist and leading expert in body image research, Dr. Charlotte Markey, offers invaluable advice.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Adultish Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen more and lecture less. It’s the golden nugget piece of advice about being in conversation with tweens and teens. But zipping your mouth can be tough – because you know the right answer or because your worry overruns your self control or because constructive conversation gets hijacked by your frustration. This episode is all about how, why and when we need to shut our mouths. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People often ask for advice about talking about tricky topics when there are big age gaps between kids in the home. The short answer is that there are some conversations everyone can be a part of, and others need to be handled individually. The longer answer, which we get into with journalist Ericka Sóuter, speaks to which conversations might be age-segmented and how to help kids understand what they should — and shouldn’t — share with their siblings. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! How to have a Kid and a Life Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As technology has evolved, family communication has changed right along with it. Enter the family chat – which can take place on messaging apps or social media platforms. This space might be a forum for political arguments, meme sharing, telling kids it’s time for dinner, or all of the above. It’s fun! It can be LOL funny! But how can we use text “conversations” to stay connected without further increasing our tech dependence? Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Changing bodies and fluctuating hormones require kids to develop a new awareness of their own bodies and new skills to care for them. Occupational therapist Dr. Allie Ticktin joins us to explore sensory integration, the importance of the 3 “hidden senses” (vestibular, interoception, proprioception), and what dysregulation looks like in kids this age.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Play 2 Progress Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For today’s tweens and teens, youth sports specialization reigns supreme, a new “normal” that presents enormous physical, emotional and financial challenges for kids and their families. We get into all the pros and cons, from helping kids fulfill their potential and achieve their goals to keeping them safe and healthy.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people feel pressure to look a certain way regardless of gender or age. And at least as long as we can remember, fad diets and supplements have been marketed as shortcuts to achieve these goals. Things have only amplified over the past decade thanks to social media. So what diets are effective? And safe?? If any! And how should tweens and teens make sense of all of the information streaming their way at the very same time their bodies are transforming? We try to make sense of it all.   Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tina Bryson provides a masterclass in the science of why it’s so important to show up for kids and how we can do it, even imperfectly. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! The Power of Showing Up The Center for Connection Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Days before they leave for college, Cara and Vanessa’s 2nd-born sons made their debut appearance on the podcast. Listeners will have to make their way through even more laughter than usual as we ask them hard hitting questions like: What’s it like being the second kid? What do they wish they could change about their mothers? And why are their rooms such a mess? Unvarnished, hilarious, and deeply honest, this episode is one for the ages. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homework can be a massive source of conflict throughout the school years. Brian Platzer is an expert on how to minimize this: he’s a teacher, tutor and writer. His advice isn’t just realistic and actionable, it changes the dynamic for good!   Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Taking the Stress Out of Homework Teachers Who Tutor Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boys face strong cultural messaging about how they should look, act, and express themselves. Social media only amplifies the narrative, delivering it to tweens and teens in every imaginable way. Which is why our conversation with journalist and author Ruth Whippman was so valuable: starting from a place of deep understanding of science and data, she interviewed boys and young men and then wove their stories with her own parenthood in the new book BoyMom. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! BoyMom by Ruth Whippman  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dealing with executive functioning in tweens and teens can be a perfect storm of frustration, anger, and low self-esteem. Clinical psychologist, Tori Cordiano, shares insight into what’s happening in the brain and trade secrets about how kids and adults alike can maximize executive function skills at different ages. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Teaching our kids to take charge of their personal health means covering everything from knowing their SSN to understanding their family’s health history. It’s an important part of the journey toward independence. So how can we educate our kids about all of these details and empower them to take charge of their personal health? Listen in! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you. Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout! Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a timeline for puberty - when it starts and how fast it proceeds - which means that there’s also “early” and “late.” Layered on top is the relativity of puberty: when everyone else is going through it (or not), the person who’s not (or is!) feels out of sync. This episode explores the science behind the timing of puberty and how adults - both parents and doctors - might approach a late bloomer. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Nick Kroll on Being Late to the Puberty Party Roger Bennett on his English Adolescence  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boys continue to be socialized to cover their true emotions, despite moves to shift away from this status quo. One of the strongest forces working to make change is Ashanti Branch, a pioneer in education reform and founder of the Ever Forward Club. Ashanti shares the necessary tools and support necessary to further rewrite this narrative. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Ashanti’s Instagram/Twitter: @branchspeaks Ever Forward Club Instagram/Twitter: @everforwardclub Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There isn’t ONE time to start puberty or end puberty and someone has to go first. In this episode, Cara explains the science behind early puberty and we explore the social and emotional impact of being an early bloomer. Plus you get to learn what an orchidometer is! This is a great episode to listen to with your kids. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Andrew Goldberg on Being a World Famous Early Bloomer Dr. Louise Greenspan’s on Puberty’s Dramatic Shift Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How tall will your kid be? Almost every parent asks their pediatrician… and given our height obsessed culture, kids begin to do the same from surprisingly young ages. This episode covers the science behind when and how kids grow, decoding all the different growth charts and, as always, offering the language to discuss these tricky topics. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Late Bloomer episodes: Nick Kroll On Being Late To The Puberty Party Roger Bennett on his English Adolescence Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The number one puberty question we get asked is: when is my daughter going to get her period?!!! And while no one can say for certain, this episode will cover what are red herrings (pun intended) and what are true signs that her period is coming. Listen in for some practical information as well as Cara and Vanessa’s own first period stories. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Young people get plastic surgery for a host of reasons, sometimes related to health and sometimes cosmetic. Plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Teitelbaum helps people put aside any judgment by explaining the various physical and emotional reasons why kids might get surgeries like breast reduction, breast augmentation, or rhinoplasty (AKA nose jobs)… and why at times they should not go under the knife. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most common questions - and worries - about puberty are zits. Why do we get them? Where? When? And what can be done? Get everything you need to know about acne, backne, chestne, buttne, and more… Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The word “healthy” is everywhere, but its meaning can be utterly unclear. If you think it’s hard to decode what’s healthy and what’s not, now imagine attempting to do so with a tween or teen brain. It turns out, there are four fundamental tenets called the pillars of health: sleep, nutrition, exercise, and hygiene. This episode breaks them down, offering nitty gritty information about each one in order to help people of all ages achieve better health. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is all about breast development: when they grow, why they can be painful or lumpy (or both), and how to manage this shifting landscape. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The million conversations to have with kids ages 8-18 (and beyond!) require patience and strategy. Listen to this episode with child development specialist Dr. Robyn Silverman to make your life a million times easier. Buckle up! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  How to Talk to Kids About Anything Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erections and nocturnal emissions – AKA boners and wet dreams – are big pieces of puberty that often go unmentioned unless they’re punchlines in a joke. Which is a big conversational miss, because these topics can cause unnecessary confusion, shame, worry, or awkwardness. In this episode, we break down the science behind boners and wet dreams (and yes, we also use the language that kids use) and then offer practical ways to help males manage these unexpected and uncontrollable experiences. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fibroids, Endometriosis, PCOS…the list of gynecologic hot topics goes on and on. Gyn Dr. Karen Tang is author of the myth-dispelling It’s Not Hysteria. She takes on pretty much every question about women’s reproductive health – starting in the tween and teen years — combining science with actionable guidance. Show Notes: It’s Not Hysteria Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The third re-release in the series: What do teenagers need to know about sex? A lot. By the teen years, these conversations become both personal and complex. Some teens still need foundational knowledge, while others are ready for far more sophisticated information. For those who need help teasing apart what they need to know, by when, and how to say it, we’ve got you. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Planned parenthood https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/stds-hiv-safer-sex Tea and consent video https://youtu.be/oQbei5JGiT8?si=4rNEBx5YW4oeWPI_ Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Swinging moods are a hallmark of the puberty years. And since kids start puberty earlier than ever before, so too do those emotional ups and downs. Understanding the physiology of rising and falling hormones makes it much easier to develop strategies for managing this roller coaster ride – for adults and kids alike. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second re-release in a series of 3: What do middle school kids need to know about sex and when? The learning curve is steep between 5th - 8th grade. Not only is this a time when kids are progressing through puberty, but it’s also when most begin health and sex education classes in school… and also when most get their own phone. We cover how to stay ahead of all of it. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stress is ubiquitous, with new stressors appearing regularly in tween and teen lives. Clinical psychologist Dr. Jenny Taitz shares practical strategies for people of all ages to manage overwhelming emotions.  Show Notes: Stress Resets by Dr. Jenny Taitz Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first re-release in a series of 3: What do younger kids need to know about sex and when? We cover all the conversations kids need, from kindergarten until they start middle school. How to build the foundation — anatomically correct vocabulary, consent, and privacy — using age-appropriate and inclusive language. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trends in sexual behaviors continuously evolve, with often older generations often judging the choices of younger ones. That’s nothing new. But today, there are some new norms that feel particularly alarming like, for example, the prevalence of choking during sex and other forms of rough sex. Professor Debby Herbenick, sexuality researcher responsible for much of the emerging data, joins us to share her insights. Show Notes: Yes, Your Kid: What Parents Need to Know About Today's Teens and Sex Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new bestselling bookThe Anxious Generation is making big waves in the parenting world. Jonathan Haidt presents incredibly important data, but the messaging around the book is scaring many parents, making some feel terrible about their tech choices. This episode walks through what he gets right (sociological data, tech use trends, and the importance of limit setting) and what he gets wrong (specifics about puberty and brain development). Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether it’s a kid who has moved out of their childhood home or one who’s just away for the summer, there’s a list of conversations to have before they fly the coop. Dr. Jill Grimes, author of the Ultimate College Student Handbook – one of our favorite high school graduation gifts! – shares her best tips on everything from drugs to birth control to when to take yourself to the emergency room. Show Notes: Updated Ultimate College Student Health Handbook Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Human bodies aren’t designed to live with chronic stress, and yet these days, so many do. Including kids. This episode explains the physiology of the stress response, what happens in tween and teen bodies in particular, and steps to manage it. Show Notes:  *Note: This episode tethers to a newsletter article for our membership – if you want to receive deep dive articles, join at Less Awkward Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disordered eating and eating disorders – two separate issues along a single continuum – are widespread among tweens and teens. While these struggles aren’t new, rates are up and people are talking about them more openly. This episode starts by defining terminology like anorexia, bulimia, bingeing, purging, bigorexia, and orthorexia. Then we get into all of the reasons why kids (and adults) might experience one or more. Show Notes: Center for Emotional Wellness Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener asks: Is it ok to snoop through your kid’s phone? And if you do, and then you find something surprising or worrying, what next? We cover the complexities of talking to kids when information was gathered while spying on them.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This sounds negative, but it’s not: helping kids to avoid failure is a major parenting goal. They need to learn to handle setbacks in order to navigate life. Educator and author of 8 Setbacks that Can Make a Child a Success Michelle Icard goes beyond managing kids’ failure to making space for healthy risk taking. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ah, the first pancake: it’s either overcooked, undercooked, or somehow both simultaneously. Every parent (and grandparent, too!) lives a steep learning curve the first time through, racking up a long list of what and how they could have done better. But there’s also a silver lining as we all get better at the job over time. This episode is about letting go of the guilt we feel when we make mistakes, instead leaning into a parenting growth mindset. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trailblazing integrative pediatrician and author of Healthy Kids, Happy Kids Elisa Song has long been a deep believer in the brain-gut connection. Her two decades in functional medicine have made her a leading voice… you’ll understand why when you hear how she explains the gut microbiome to the youngest kids and connects it to issues like teen anxiety for the older ones.  Show Notes: Order Elisa's book: Healthy Kids, Happy Kids NEW! Community Membership and link this https://lessawkward.com/community/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener wrote in asking: if I give my kid a hard “no” answer to something I know they really want to do, am I just setting them up to go behind my back and do it anyway? Limit setting would be so much easier if it were black and white. This episode explores the gray area of boundary-setting so that adults can remain in conversation with the kids they’re desperately trying to keep safe. Show Notes: NEW! Community Membership and link this https://lessawkward.com/community/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and economist Emily Oster covers all the ways to apply data to thoughtful decisions, from wellness to managing illness. There’s science all around us, but sometimes so many numbers that we feel overwhelmed. Emily to the rescue. Show Notes: NEW! Community Membership and link this https://lessawkward.com/community/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Odors make a grand entrance as bodies grow and change. This episode covers everything from how we smell (olfaction) to how we smell (stinky or delicious). There are lots of specific ways to prevent potent odors on increasingly sweaty, oily, hairy bodies — we dig into many of them.  Show Notes: NEW! Community Membership and link this https://lessawkward.com/community/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Menopause maven Dr. Mary Claire Haver, author of The New Menopause, joins us to debunk myths and educate listeners about some of the big topics like: hormone therapy treatment, the data on estrogen, and new ways to approach this complex stage of life that so often intersects with puberty. Show Notes: The New Menopause by Mary Claire Haver North American Menopause Society NEW! Community Membership and link this https://lessawkward.com/community/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent news highlights troubling trends in sex, like sexual strangulation (often called choking). Acknowledgment of sexual aggression among teens and young adults — and they report lots of it — has motivated many adults to engage in conversations about sexual mores with the kids in their lives… not one of the sex talks they ever imagined having. This episode provides some initial ways into those conversations. Show Notes: The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex NEW! Community Membership and link this https://lessawkward.com/community/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Managing technology use is one of the steepest climbs in the modern age. It’s true for ourselves, and goes double for kids we care about. Dr. Michael Rich, author of The Mediatrician’s Guide and founder/director of the Digital Wellness Lab, frames the current issues and then offers calm, thoughtful advice. Show Notes: The Mediatrician’s Guide Digital Wellness Lab Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this live recording, Dr. Aliza Pressman offers actionable and realistic ways to build resilience in kids (and ourselves). Her advice, grounded in the fundamental principles of developmental psychology, adds a joyful and humorous twist! Show Notes: Order Dr. Aliza Pressman's book The 5 Principles of Parenting (And our book This Is So Awkward) Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Substance use and abuse education is critical to keeping kids healthy and safe through adolescence and beyond. We’re joined by bestselling author and teacher Jessica Lahey who combines the best research about teen brains with clear how-to-advice. This episode is so rich with science and data, you’ll revisit this episode down the road.  Show Notes: Jessica Lahey Videos  The Addiction Inoculation by Jessica Lahey Dopamine Nation by Anna Lemke High by David and Nic Sheff Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence – and especially ChatGPT – have been ascendant this year. This episode asks (humans) about all the ways this technology has rapidly integrated into our lives. Suddenly there are a whole host of conversations to have with kids about the use of AI, in school and beyond. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Navigating the intersection of autism and puberty requires a combination of scientific information, shared vocabulary, and sensitivity to everything from learning style to temperament to neurodiversity type. Hear the guidance of neuropsychologist Dr. Donna Henderson, who is passionate about identifying and supporting autistic individuals.  Show Notes: Is This Autism? A guide for clinicians and everyone else  Is This Autism? A companion guide for diagnosing Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Move over sex and drugs, there’s a new hot topic to add to the list of the zillion talks you’ll have with the kids in your life: gambling. It’s time to start conversations about everything from online gambling sites to gaming platforms to fantasy sports leagues. Plus the fact that kid-targeted phone-based apps offer lots of entry points into the world of wagering.  Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let go of your assumptions about adolescents – it’s time for a reframe! Author and researcher Ellen Galinsky has spent decades studying societal questions – particularly about kids and their families – and offering actionable advice. She sees adolescence as a time for opportunity, creativity and positive change. This episode will have you positively giddy from Ellen’s insights, optimism, and positivity. Show Notes: The Breakthrough Years Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Changing bodies plus individuation plus warming temperatures. Springtime is a time kids begin to make new choices about what they wear. Some feel insecure, some feel super confident, and some are looking to reflect the latest trends… adults often have lots of opinions about all of it. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The college admissions process starts almost as early as puberty does! Okay, not quite… but it can feel that way. It’s ever-evolving, as mystifying as it is complex. Joining us to make sense of it all and reframe the insanity is journalist and author of Who Gets In and Why, college admissions expert Jeff Selingo. Show Notes: Who Gets In and Why Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicotine ranks up there with heroin and cocaine on the list of most addictive substances. And yet it has been folded into daily routine life, making it a substance that is both abused and normalized. We dive into the delivery devices for nicotine – explaining the evolution from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco in the form of vapes, chew, and nicotine pouches – and then examine why this substance works differently in developing tween and teen brains.  Show Notes: Episode Resources: Adolessons  Huberman Lab podcast on nicotine Big Vape documentary NY Times article on Zynfluencers Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kids’ chronic headaches can be one of the most frightening, mystifying, and frustrating issues parents face. To help us understand headaches, particularly migraines and why teen girls (and women) are so prone to them, is pediatric neurologist and headache medicine specialist Dr. Daniel Noam Lax.  Show Notes: American Headache Society American Migraine Foundation Daniel N. Lax, MD Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world that fears or reviles teen girls, Chelsey Goodan, seasoned tutor and author of Underestimated, offers powerful insights into what we get wrong about teen girls. Relying on the voices and perspectives of the girls themselves, Chelsey offers a new way forward for supporting and empowering the girls in our lives. Show Notes: Underestimated: Connecting to The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Youth is marked by the feeling that anything is possible, a readiness to take on the world. And then somewhere along the way, many of us lose that feeling. Photographer and New York Times bestselling author Kate Parker has captured the feeling of unstoppability in her new book, Force of Nature. She shares how she found inspiration in young women across the country, and how we might rediscover it in ourselves.  Show Notes: Order Kate's book: Force of Nature Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Girls and young women who specialize in sports and dance are vulnerable to the female athlete triad – an interconnected set of risks which include eating disorders, amenorrhea (loss of menstruation), and osteoporosis. We explore these issues and the reasons why they post long term physical and mental health dangers to young people. Even more, we examine how many of these risks are not particular to females, but affect male athletes as well. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So much about school has changed over a generation, not the least of which includes a dramatically amped-up college process. By understanding today’s educational landscape, we can help kids develop the tools they need in the classroom and the real world beyond. Ana Homayoun, author of Erasing the Finish Line, is perfectly poised to teach us all. Show Notes: ERASING THE FINISH LINE: The New Blueprint For Success Beyond Grades and College Admissions. More on Ana Homayoun Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thought supporting your kid through high school was the end of the stressful parenting days? Think again. These days, summer jobs and internships are the next hurdle in our high pressure world. We dissect how life has changed from back in our day with the ultimate goal of keeping in perspective what really matters. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Care and Keeping of You turned 25! And its younger sibling, The Care and Keeping of You 2 is 10. You don’t want to miss this special episode where author of the original TCKY, Valorie Schaefer, and Cara describe their anniversary collaboration – a behind the scenes look at what was changed in this iconic book, starting with much more inclusive content. The world has changed… The Care and Keeping  is keeping up. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cara is now on the banned booklist – that’s a new milestone! Cara is the doctor behind The Care and Keeping of You, a 25-year old beloved book about body changes that was recently banned from the children’s section at the Huntington Beach Library. Which means it’s harder for kids to find good body information but, meanwhile, they’re one click away from porn with no safeguards put in place. We talk about all the reasons books like these are critical to help keep kids healthy and safe, and why limiting kids’ access to porn is where energy should be spent instead. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re all for sex education in schools, but it’s as important (maybe more so!) for these conversations to happen at home, too. The trick is making them inclusive and shame-free while acknowledging our communities and contexts. Melissa Carnagey, sex educator and founder of Sex Positive Families, is full of thoughtful and actionable guidance for families. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A heartfelt listener question that stopped us in our tracks is also a version of one we get frequently: My teen daughter treats me so badly that I just want to pull away from her. Our advice starts with the science behind adolescent mood swings and then moves into setting limits in the heat of the moment and beyond. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s more complicated than ever to have conversations with tweens and teens about politics. Cue Beth and Sarah from Pantsuit Politics, who guide us along the bumpy path of raising civic-minded kids, from informing without catastrophizing to instilling values without hitting them over the head. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do teenagers faint? Also known as vasovagal syncope, this form of passing out can happen for a bunch of different reasons. We get into all of them.  Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Cleveland Clinic on vasovagal syncope Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The concepts related to gender feel confusing to many. Aydin Olson-Kennedy, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than fifteen years of experience providing psychotherapy to transgender and non-binary people, joins us to better understand all of this. He offers advice about how to best support all kids allowing caregivers to be loving and inclusive. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, about 70% of kids drop out of youth sports by 13. Here to discuss the factors that have gone into the “professionalization” of youth sports and how to raise truly empowered athletes on all levels is Kirsten Jones, former D1 athlete, performance coach, and author of “Raising Empowered Athletes." Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent uproar blames tween girls for clogging the aisles at big box beauty stores like Sephora, lathering their faces with expensive skincare and makeup products designed for adults. A few of the brands have doubled-down, pitching their lotions and potions to kids living through a deeply vulnerable moment in their development, placing them in the crosshairs of social media influencers and savvy marketers. Girl-world expert turned corporate guru Rachel Simmons helps untangle this complex web of forces and offers some ways forward. Show Notes: Rachel Simmons Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caring for kids is not a straight line (especially during puberty!). Enter developmental psychologist Dr. Aliza Pressman, host of the Raising Good Humans podcast and author of the new book The 5 Principles of Parenting, with research-based advice delivered as only Aliza can – profound and hilarious all at once. Show Notes: The Five Principles of Parenting Raising Good Humans podcast Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting physical and getting hives – two things that aren’t commonly thought about simultaneously. But over the past couple of decades, allergies, especially to food, have become front-and-center. As has hook-up culture. We were reminded by a listener that their intersection deserves attention, too, when we got this question: How do I teach my kid to be safe and respectful when hooking up with someone who has allergies? And if my kid is the one who’s allergic, how do they stay safe while getting intimate?  Show Notes: FARE: FoodAllergy.org  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anxiety abounds: it was surging before COVID, but then leapt to new highs (> 20% of all kids!) during and after the pandemic. We’re joined by LCSW Amy Killy to learn about innovative anxiety management strategies like SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), because having tools to manage anxiety makes us all a little less anxious.  Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Holidays! Today we re-run our Season 1 episode with Henry + Zoe Winkler is a father/daughter. This is a master class on how grandparents play loving, supportive and epicenter-of-fun roles in their grandchildren’s lives. If we’re lucky, children have grandparents who can act as an extra set of trusted adults, helping them navigate the twists and turns of childhood. But every parent knows that when it comes to grandparents, the rules tend to get thrown out the window - cake for breakfast anyone? We laughed and cried during this inspirational conversation with a very special family… we think you will, too.   Show Notes: This Is About Humanity Alien Superstar Book Series Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples MediaTranscript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve had countless requests to dive into the topic of neurodiversity, and we’re thrilled to start here with podcaster, author, and founder/CEO of Tilt Parenting Debbie Reber. It’s a conversation about puberty plus ADHD, autism, and so much more. Show Notes: Tilt Parenting  Differently Wired: A Parent’s Guide to Raising an Atypical Child with Confidence and Hope Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

That’s a wrap! It was such an honor to spend the past two months speaking across the country about our new book This Is So Awkward. Even though we did a lot of talking, we also did a lot of listening and learning, too. Passing along the top lessons learned from speaking to thousands of folks through the fall. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Middle school is hard enough, and then you add puberty. Here to walk us through the trials, tribulations, and yes JOYS of it all is Phyllis Fagell, school counselor, journalist, and author of two books about surviving and thriving in middle school. Plus, she’s simply delightful! Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking a positive approach to health and sex education works better than fear mongering. Still, though, we need to talk about the scarier consequences of sex, starting with STIs and STDs. In this episode, we cover the most common infections, how they are transmitted, and how they can be prevented or treated. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting a tween or teen to say thank you can sometimes feel like pulling teeth, but it’s not always about saying the exact words. The long game is about cultivating a sense of gratitude in kids and learning to decipher the different ways they might choose to show their appreciation. Spoiler alert: it’s not always in the way we might expect. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the best advice we’ve heard for how to talk to boys about everything from health to sex to friendship comes from award-winning educator and writer, Christopher Pepper. He offers invaluable insights into the lives of teen boys. Show Notes: TeenHealthToday.com TalkToYourBoys.com Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Revealing our newest project: a reliable, relatable and fun health and sex ed curriculum arriving in the next few weeks! We’ve had this in the works for a while, but our book tour audiences across the country have provided new inspiration. Now we’re reaching out to our listeners: What would you want to see included? And if you’re an educator, how can we make the teaching as light a lift as possible? Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s no federally mandated standard for sex education – in fact, there aren’t consistently enforced standards across states or even local school districts. Jaclyn Friedman, founder of Educate US, joins us to un-complicate this web of loose and widely-varying recommendations, ultimately explaining where parents and educators alike go from here. Show Notes: Jaclyn Friedman https://educateusaction.org/resources/ https://siecus.org/state-profiles/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discipline is about teaching kids, not about punishing them. It can be challenging to take that approach when managing our kids’ behavior, but ultimately the goal is for kids to do better next time. Our consequences need to keep that goal in mind and Tina Payne Bryson joins us to give us a pathway toward that goal. Show Notes: Tina Payne Bryson Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divorce and changing family structures create complexity for everyone. When kids are going through puberty, this adds a layer on top of already shifting physical, social, and emotional worlds. Family lawyer Sophie Jacobi-Parisi combines professional insights with deep empathy to help families manage this transition within a transition. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn and on Instagram Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate the launch of our new book, THIS IS SO AWKWARD, we are sharing an Ask Us Anything hosted by comedian, co-creator of Big Mouth (and Vanessa’s brother) Nick Kroll. Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Data guru Emily Oster joins us to talk about puberty in a way only an economist can. She’s as warm and funny as she is devoted to good research, which is why she has become a wonderfully loud voice in the world of parenting. Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Parent Data  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here’s a super common question that we get all the time: How do I know if content is appropriate for my kid? The short answer is: It depends. The longer answer in this episode takes into account a variety of factors. The ultimate answer may still be… it depends. Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caring for tweens and teens is complex at baseline, but add to that navigating moving countries, changing schools and learning whole new cultural systems… it can be a very complicated stew! Dr. Anisha Abraham offers clear guidance – including reminders about the upsides of growing-up cross-culturally – for those walking this winding path. Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  High School Back to School Workshop  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adults get a lot wrong when it comes to kids and technology. Here to bridge this divide is expert in media and tech, and the author of Growing Up in Public, Devorah Heitner. She provides insights for balancing kids’ burgeoning independence and guidance for creating constructive approaches to this complex issue. Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Workshop  High School Back to School Workshop  Growing up in Public: Coming Of Age In A Digital World Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One year ago, we finished writing our book, This Is So Awkward. The summer writing frenzy ended with giddy laughter and exhaustion. We pressed record literally five minutes after turning it in to be able to share, one day, what we learned about ourselves, each other and puberty in the process. A year later (and a month before publication) is that day!  Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Workshop (this ends 9/19) High School Back to School Workshop (this ends 9/26) Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pediatric endocrinologist (and our personal hero) Dr. Louise Greenspan has lots to say about the latest research on early puberty. This episode covers emerging data from one specific study run during the Covid pandemic. Are the trends found recently blips? Or the beginning of a new, new normal? Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Workshop  High School Back to School Workshop  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kids’ changing friendships during the middle and high school years are a profound part of growing up. While developmentally normal, these changes can be confusing and sometimes painful but they can also be exciting and filled with new opportunities. We will walk through what to say (and what not to say) to kids through these shifts.  Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Workshop  High School Back to School Workshop  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Young people are struggling under the weight of today’s toxic achievement culture. Journalist Jennifer Wallace’s new book, Never Enough, provides rigorous research to help make sense of how we got here, shedding light on the critical underpinnings of how to combat this issue in our own families.  Show Notes: Never Enough by Jennifer Wallace Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Workshop  High School Back to School Workshop  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our families and our kids don’t always turn out the way we expect, with surprising difficulties or unexpected setbacks along the way. Dayna Abraham to the rescue! She’s an educator and parent of three neurodivergent kids managing her own ADHD. None of this stops her – in fact, it fuels her – from offering clear, tactical guidance and humorous reassurance for dealing with the most challenging parenting situations. Show Notes: Calm the Chaos Lemon Lime Adventures Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Workshop  High School Back to School Workshop  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly everyone enters summer with lofty tech goals (fewer screens! more fresh air!). Whether you achieved them or not, going back to work and school inevitably means more tech is back in the mix. This episode offers scripts for talking to kids about keeping up good habits and shedding the less good ones. Show Notes: Pre-order our book This Is So Awkward Book Preorder Bonus  Middle School Back to School Workshop  High School Back to School Workshop  Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back for a second visit to the podcast, author/blogger/mom Uju Asika shares insights about raising Black boys in the UK. This conversation picks up where our episode from last season left off, covering issues about race, sexism, masculinity, and cultural influences on tweens and teens across the globe.  Show Notes: Raising Boys Who Do Better with Uju Asika Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s easy – and quite human – to identify a symptom or two or three and roll them into a diagnosis. This is as true for kids as it is for adults, so we walk through a bunch of scenarios (and role plays!) about how to handle tween and teen self-diagnosis.  Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When scientist David Hu realized there was no age-appropriate book for his son to understand his penis – a part of the body his son found deeply fascinating – David wrote one! The resulting book is filled with eye-popping and entertaining scientific facts (like the speed of farts vs the speed of ejaculation). We can promise this episode will have you laughing hysterically and deeply engrossed at the same time. Show Notes: The P-Word: A Manual for Mammals Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every summer has its own soundtrack, and then there’s the one that’s on replay year after year: that endless conversation about the importance of hydration. Learning to care for a growing body means understanding how to stay hydrated and also how to recognize when you’re not. Pro tip: every bit of info in this episode applies to people done with puberty, too. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listeners often ask us to address sibling dynamics during the adolescent years. Frankly, that could be its own multi-episode series. But just because it’s a vast topic doesn’t mean we can’t toe into the conversation. So in this episode, we start by tackling birth order and sibling relationships during these years, getting into only-child dynamics too.  Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We tend to be prepared for waterworks at graduations and send-offs, but sometimes big emotions sneak up at unexpected moments. Summer is a time with lots of such moments, so in this episode we talk through how to handle tears… or just let them flow. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re sending a kid away for part of the summer – or even if you’re just sending them off for the day – here are the key conversations to have before getting too far into summer. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the adults raising boys understand their biological and social development, they can better support and guide them. Jennifer Fink is a writer, podcaster, and mom of four (boys) who makes it her mission to change the way we think about caring for adolescent boys(!!).  Show Notes: Twitter: @jlwf @BuildingBoys  FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/945086638893108 Instagram: @j_l_w_f Substack newsletter -- Building Boys Bulletin - https://buildingboys.substack.com/ Website: https://buildingboys.net/ Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve covered body positivity and eating disorders on this podcast, but one topic we haven’t hit: orthorexia, an obsession with "healthy" eating. The precise definition is still up for debate and it’s not yet recognized as a clinical diagnosis. Nonetheless, it’s increasingly recognized as a type of disordered eating, and adolescence is a common time for it to emerge. Show Notes: National Eating Disorders Association Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hand-off for healthcare responsibility from parents to teens can be complex and bumpy. But it’s a practical – and ultimately legal – necessity! Dr. Sara Levine, Adolescent Medicine specialist, offers sage guidance starting with this central tenet for the ongoing process: start the process early. Show Notes: Sara Buchdahl Levine, MD, MPH, FAAP  On Instagram with Caraway Health Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Part 2 of our series with disability rights activist Emily Ladau. In this conversation, Emily up-ends the wide ranging assumptions many people make about disabled people and sexuality. Show Notes: Emily Ladau Demystifying Disability National Council for Independent Living Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disability rights activist Emily Ladau describes her experience through puberty with a physical disability, sharing her own story in the most eye-opening, heartwarming conversation. If you’ve never thought about what it’s like to transform physically and emotionally while managing physical limitations, this episode will open your mind. Show Notes: Emily Ladau Demystifying Disability National Council for Independent Living Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are joined by our fantastic intern, Elizabeth Rudge, to hear what she learned while researching the health and sex ed standards across the country. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a huge range of requirements here, not to mention consequences for *not* teaching the bare minimum. Show Notes:  Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships with Ebele Onyema SIECUS Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener shared her concern about her early-blooming 7th grade daughter hanging out with 8th and 9th graders. She’s asking a version of a very big, very common question: how should adults manage the known risks to a younger kid in a social dynamic without irritating or alienating that same kid enough that they run straight into the arms of the older crowd? Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This super common question comes our way regularly: Is it normal for breast buds to appear and disappear? (Often followed by: because it happened to my kid!). The short answer is a resounding YES. This episode offers the longer answer. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dopamine is the famous – and somewhat infamous – feel good neurochemical in the brain. Neuropsychologist Molly Colvin returns to The Puberty Podcast, this time to explain adolescent moods, decisions and actions given where they are along the path of brain maturation and their heightened sensitivity to dopamine. Show Notes: Molly Colvin on Twitter  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A parent wrote in with a wonderful question about how to manage the increasing demands of his tweens and teens. When one is having an issue, is there a way to find balance with the others who still deserve (and need!) attention? Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sleep and food may dominate the chorus of parenting battles, but sunscreen is a highly predictable seasonal interloper. Wearing it prevents skin cancers (and wrinkles!), yet our less-than-consequential-thinking kids often refuse to (or worse yet, they flat-out lie). This episode is all about sunscreen – different types and ingredients and SPFs – and how the heck to get a kid to actually use it.  Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We received an excellent question from a listener in response to our Season 1 episode about hook-up culture featuring OOMLA interns. Can the current reality of situationships be chalked up to things like the lack of parental voice at the end of a phone line, no intimidating person when you ring the doorbell, and other absences that were unimaginable when we were growing up? Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back by popular demand, clinical psychologist Dr. Tori Cordiano explains study skills: from setting realistic expectations to understanding how they evolve over time. Tori is a Puberty Podcast favorite because she offers clear advice and guidance that will save us adults from completely losing it! Show Notes: Tori Cordiano Insta and  Tori Cordiano newsletter sign-up and website Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Questions swirl around bras: Does a kid need to wear one? When should they start? What type should they wear? The list goes on and on, and we cover all of it. Spoiler alert: the answer often boils down to it all depends… Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listener questions can open up profoundly important conversations. Like this one, that asks whether their menstruating 10-year old daughter should start taking a birth control pill because the family lives in a state where abortion is illegal even in the case of rape. We answer from every angle, wading into medical, parental, social, and emotional considerations. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The author of our own puberty narratives — literally — is coming to theaters everywhere this weekend. Judy Blume’s stigma-shattering story “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” has been adapted into film more than 50 years after its initial publication. There’s so much to say about the impact of this story, then and now. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t been gobsmacked by Peggy Orenstein’s chronicles of adolescence, laid out in her books Girls & Sex and Boys & Sex. During peak COVID, Peggy wrote on a new and wildly unrelated topic: Unraveling dives into the hilarious and harsh realities of raising teens while anticipating an empty nest. We talk to her about all of it! Show Notes: Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caregivers of tweens and teens sit in the middle of the family sandwich, looking out for kids and aging parents, but often stretched so thin we can’t even identify — let alone meet — our own needs. This episode is all about how to ask for the help we need, finding balance so that we can look after ourselves as well as everyone else. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s lots to say on a controversial subject that ranges from hair removal to nose jobs. We explore it all with one reigning principle: leave your judgment at the door. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When 19-year-old Henry was in the 4th grade, he received a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. His tween and teen years were intertwined with chronic illness, but he made the conscious choice not to be defined by it — instead, becoming a multi-sport athlete and fiercely independent adolescent. Then, sophomore year of high school, a second, separate medical challenge came his way. Adults and kids will all be inspired by Henry as he shares his personal journey on this special episode. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We welcome Dr. Kelly Fradin back to the podcast to discuss a highly complex aspect of parenting: managing kids’ medical diagnoses and subsequent challenges. Her new book, Advanced Parenting, is an empathetic guide designed to help adults understand and manage all kinds of health challenges — both physical and mental. Show Notes: Advanced Parenting Follow Dr. Kelly Fradin on Social Media Instagram  Facebook  Twitter Website  Substack Newsletter  Transcript Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The stressful – not to mention (sometimes prohibitively) expensive – college process lands some kids where they want to be. But others are left disappointed. And many describe being somewhat traumatized by the whole experience, regardless of outcome. How can we be supportive to the kids in the midst of a process that itself has gone haywire?  Show Notes: www.grownandflown.com Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The microbiome is an important component of health throughout the body: in the gut, on the skin, and yes, even in the genital tract. During puberty, as bodies change these ecosystems shift, particularly in the moister, oilier, and hairier parts. We get into why the situation turns itchy, focusing on one major category: yeast infections. Show Notes: The Vajenda by Jen Gunter Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is one of the most common questions we get from adults! Can I talk to a kid about their changing body when I don’t have the same parts? Spoiler alert: 100% YES. We spend this episode explaining why and how to cover mechanics and logistics, even when you don’t share the same biological equipment. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dealing with executive functioning in tweens and teens can be a perfect storm of frustration, anger, and low self-esteem. Clinical psychologist, Tori Cordiano, shares insight into what’s happening in the brain and trade secrets about how kids and adults alike can maximize executive function skills at different ages. Show Notes: Tori Cordiano Insta and  Tori Cordiano newsletter sign-up and website. Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Excellent listener question alert! What’s a parent supposed to do when they follow our advice and attempt to start conversations, only to be repeatedly shut down by their kid? Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We thought our recent social media post about masturbation was benign, offering straightforward advice about safe ways to talk to your kid. But it sparked a massive reaction — good and bad. Which is why we decided to do an episode talking about why masturbation really freaks people out. Show Notes: IG Reel discussed in the episode Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Braces, retainers, and all other mouth hardware offer a rite of passage for the awkward years. This hardware affects self-esteem, finances, executive functioning and more. Thanks to a beautiful listener question, we unpack all the ways that orthodonture impacts adolescents… and their parents. Show Notes: Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lying is normal – literally everyone does it – but it peaks during adolescence. Sometimes their little white lies, sometimes they’re big, scary lies. To help us understand how to handle all of them – and the difference between consequences, discipline, and punishment – child development specialist and parenting guru Betsy Brown Braun guides us through. Show Notes: www.betsybrownbraun.com Facebook.com/BetsyBBraun Twitter @BetsyBBraun Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hickeys are back… but they never really went away. This episode focuses on these classic teenage suction-splotches and the age-old questions like: do we say something when we see them or zip our lips?! And what causes them anyhow? Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Science journalist and author Donna Jackson Nakazawa explores the two-sided science of estrogen: as a source of female superpower and the root of certain mental health disadvantages. In light of recent data about teenage well-being, this is a must listen for anyone who wants to understand teen girls. Show Notes: Girls on the Brink donnajacksonnakazawa.com  Instagram: @DonnaJacksonNakazawa Twitter: @DonnaJackNak Facebook: @donnajacksonnakazawaauthor  Order our book This Is So Awkward Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com To submit listener questions email thepubertypodcast@gmail.com Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Different families, different rules… a fact most apparent during sleepovers. Turns out, even Cara and Vanessa have surprisingly divergent opinions about sleepovers and how to handle the sticky situations that can arise. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We tackle the hormonal science behind voice changes and their social and emotional impacts, including the perennial question: why are these ups and downs so embarrassing? Show Notes: Join the Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This bonus episode with Dr. Lisa Damour dives into specific topics like substance abuse, gender socialization, gender identity, and race. Lisa parses the research to shed light on modern day life as an American teen. Show Notes: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers Ask Lisa Podcast Subscribe to The Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adults walk a fine line in an effort to both support the teens in their lives and help them learn to manage the expected distress of adolescence. The incredibly wise and wonderful Dr. Lisa Damour shares invaluable advice from her newest book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, packed with data and decades of experience.  Show Notes: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers Ask Lisa Podcast & Subscribe to The Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week saw a massive – and massively important – data dump about the physical, emotional and sexual behaviors of teens. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey from the CDC provides critical though imperfect insights into the lives of post-pandemic high schoolers. Show Notes: 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey  2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey  Associated Press Article on YRBS Subscribe to The Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines about the treatment of obesity in children and adolescents last month, a firestorm ensued, starting with the medicalization of the term obesity. Therapist and body positive activist Zoe Bisbing shares her perspective of this evolving, complex conversation. Show Notes: @mybodypositivehome on IG My Body Positive Home Link to AAP guidelines Emily Oster newsletter NY Times Daily episode Subscribe to The Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does it matter if a kid is sloppy, leaving shoes strewn across the room or wet towels piled on the floor or school papers shoved half-in/half-out of a 3-ringed binder? These habits leave many adults frustrated because they imply that kids don’t care about their surroundings or the feelings of others. But is this accurate? Show Notes: Subscribe to The Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pediatrician, co-author of You-ology, and Girlology co-founder Trish Hutchison joins us to cover the questions we get all the time: When is the right time to talk about… fill in the blank. We have no doubt this informational and fun episode addressing everything from anatomy to sex to pornography will be helpful as you attempt these conversations with the kid(s) in your life. Show Notes: Girlology You-ology Trish on Instagram Girlology on Instagram Subscribe to The Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every kid will knowingly disobey a rule – sometimes many rules – but occasionally the reason is completely understandable. Like the time (last week) when Vanessa’s kid downloaded Snapchat against her explicit wishes…  Show Notes: Subscribe to The Awkward Roller Coaster Newsletter Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are a million things we tell kids to keep them safe and as they grow up, the conversations evolve. But there are 5 specific topics – narrower conversations, if you will – that adults need to cover with teens before they head out the door for the night. Show Notes: OOMSHORTS  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Period underwear brand Thinx recently settled a class-action suit alleging their underwear contained PFAS, a family of thousands of chemicals found in everything from fabrics to take-out containers. PFAS add functionality, but they’re not particularly healthy (for humans or the earth). The suit against Thinx aimed at the claim that their products are sustainable, organic and non-toxic. We answered tons of questions about what to do with period underwear. Show Notes: The Vajenda from Dr. Jen Gunter The Awkward Rollercoaster Our PUBERTY PORTAL Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evolving relationships – and budding romantic ones – are a big part of puberty and adolescence. This incredible conversation with Ebele Onyema from the OneLove Foundation, dives deep into how to identify unhealthy versus healthy ones, and steps to take when there’s reason for concern. We encourage adults and teens to listen.  Show Notes: https://www.joinonelove.org/ Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Technology and social media have become increasingly intertwined. Researchers and authors Carrie James and Emily Weinstein, go deep into what they know about how tech affects adolescent social interactions and vice versa, and what teens wish adults understood about their digital existence. Show Notes: Behind Their Screens Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While it’s tempting – and often-time fair – to demonize the role of technology in the lives of teens, there are lots of positives, too. In fact, at times the pros outweigh the cons. Hear all the data and insights from Carrie James and Emily Weinstein, authors of Behind Their Screens. Show Notes: Behind Their Screens Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Common Sense Media released data from a study of 1300 teens (ages 13-17) collected in September 2022. Finally updated information about teens and their pornography consumption! Common Sense did an outstanding job collecting and presenting it. We hit the highlights and offer advice about how this data changes the way we talk to kids about porn. Show Notes: Common Sense Media Report on Teens and Pornography New York Times Article on Common Sense Media Report LA Puberty Workshop on January 28th www.myoomla.com Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes kids share concerns about their friends. The question becomes: what to do with that information? The path through figuring out when something needs to be shared beyond you – with another parent, for instance – can be tricky, especially when the kid who shared in the first place interprets this as a violation of their trust and confidentiality.  Show Notes: Los Angeles Puberty Workshop Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We loved this listener question! How to handle large age spans – sometimes they’re as big as 18 months – between the youngest and oldest kid in a grade, especially when the wide range of physical and emotional development adds to already complex social challenges.  Show Notes: Los Angeles Puberty Workshop Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s not uncommon to hear the same questions about race that we hear about sex: How do we bring it up? What if we bungle the conversation? When is the right time? Is it ever too early to begin? Journalist and author of Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World Uju Asika answers all of this and more is a deeply moving conversation about race and kids. Show Notes: Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World Babes about Town blog Los Angeles Puberty Workshop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We hear this all the time: How do I get my quiet kid to talk? In short, it’s an art not a science. There are, though, tried and true tips and tricks for drawing out the silent kid in your house. Show Notes: Los Angeles Puberty Workshop Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re not big believers in New Year’s resolutions, but we ARE big believers in resolving to make change. This episode is about learning lessons from the past year and harnessing that wisdom as we head into the new year! Show Notes: Los Angeles Puberty Workshop Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kids’ friendships are a huge source of stress for both the kids themselves and their adults. The number one worry we hear from the latter is this: do they have enough friends? Spoiler alert! They only need one. This episode offers advice for helping kids build new friendships, one or many. Show Notes: Los Angeles Puberty Workshop on January 28th Dionne Warwick - That’s What Friends Are For Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between what they eat and how much, not to mention who’s doing the prep and cleanup, food can be a battle between kids and adults. Stacie Billis to the rescue! The co-host of the podcast Didn’t I just Feed You draws on her culinary chops and her child development background to dish out realistic and practical ways to get our tweens + teens fed. Show Notes: Didn’t I Just Feed You Instagram Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It would be nice if kids intuitively understood the value of money, where to keep it, how to budget and save, and how to check their bank balances. But these are all skills that need to be taught step by step, creating building blocks for more sophisticated conversations about financial literacy. In response to questions about how to start, we share some basic first steps. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

High school romances today share lots of similarities with decades past, with emotional and physical connection still at the heart of these first relationships. But when things like technology, social media, and hook-up culture are layered on top, high school romance has a distinctly “modern” vibe. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A great question from a listener! And one that *lots* of people have… but feel awkward about asking. Bedwetting can extend well into the tween and even teen years. So we dive into the medical and psychological reasons, plus the fixes. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Becky Kennedy is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Good Inside and a social media parenting whisperer. Listen as she shares simple but deeply resonant advice about how to frame – and deal with – challenging behaviors in tweens and teens. Show Notes: www.goodinside.com  Instagram Twitter Facebook Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People ask us ALL THE TIME about shoplifting: the adults are generally shocked, despite this being an incredibly common phenomena among adolescents. A listener recently asked about how to handle shoplifting and its downstream moral quandaries.  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For today’s tweens and teens, youth sports specialization reigns supreme, a new “normal” that presents enormous physical, emotional and financial challenges for kids and their families. We get into all the pros and cons, from helping kids fulfill their potential and achieve their goals to keeping them safe and healthy.  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes buying gifts for tweens + teens can feel like a no-win situation. So we’re doing a verbal gift guide with lots of suggestions about the whole gift-giving process with kids. And maybe a gift idea or two ;) Show Notes: OOMSHORTS Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Note to adults: this episode addresses specific sexual acts. So often we hear from adults, “But how do I say it?!” Amy Lang, sex educator and author of Sex Talks with Tweens: What to Say and How to Say It has wonderful and realistic strategies for tricky conversations with adolescents. Show Notes: Sex Talks with Tweens: What to Say and How to Say It Website:www.birdsandbeesandkids.com Social Media: Instagram Facebook Podcast:Just Say This! Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting together with family and friends for the holidays can feel like a minefield with growing kids – unsolicited comments and awkward conversations abound. We walk through ways to prepare for and mitigate unwanted collateral damage this holiday season. Show Notes: Discount Code: 15% OFF at myoomla.com Code: PUBERTYPODCAST Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We posted a TikTok about wet dreams and within two days, it went viral. Thousands of people commented that we shouldn’t talk to kids about this topic, ever. Hear our reactions to random strangers’ reactions to our TikTok (we beg to differ!), our theories about what makes our content go viral (hint: it’s always the videos about male body parts) and how that translates to real life conversations (spoiler: better to talk about it!) Show Notes: The Puberty Podcast Episode on Erections & Nocturnal Emissions Link to SpillingthePubertea TikTok on Wet Dreams Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener asked how to handle crushes and dating among middle schoolers. But the question went both broad and deep – covering everything from screen limit setting to time management. In response, so did we! Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Aliza Pressman, host of Raising Good Humans Podcast, joins us on stage for a live podcast recording, packed with strategies and frameworks for managing unpredictable, complex adolescent mood swings. Show Notes: Raising Good Humans Podcast Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s not uncommon for things to be great between a parent and a kid, when suddenly the other shoe drops. We got a letter from a parent whose thriving kid was caught cheating. How to handle that one? Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just the thought of puberty makes most people cringe, a sad (and amazing!) fact given that absolutely everyone goes through it. Complicating matters, the meaning of the word “puberty” has changed dramatically over the last few decades. So what is modern puberty? Why does it start earlier and last longer now? And how do we talk about it without cringing?! Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What to do when you discover nudes on your kids phone? Or sexting? Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As kids get older, the parenting community shifts dramatically. Gone are the days of baby groups and adult-supervised play dates. To fill the hole, Lisa Heffernan co-founded Grown & Flown, which has become the largest online community for parents of teens and young adults. Listen to her hard-earned wisdom. Show Notes: Grown and Flown College Admissions - 7 day free trial Grown and Flown Free Newsletter Grown and Flown Parents Facebook Group Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener sent in a question – via voice memo! – asking for advice: she’s a self-described introvert/nerd raising a highly social tween. So how can adults raise kids when those kids have unfamiliar temperaments?  Show Notes: LIVE Puberty Podcast Recording at the JCC Manhattan Shop OOMSHORTS Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you ever feel like you can’t understand what kids are talking about? Us too! “Talking” doesn’t even mean talking anymore. This episode is all about the new terminology and how to ask a kid to help you translate. Show Notes: LIVE Puberty Podcast Recording  OOMSHORTS Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tons of listeners ask us to weigh in on when they should give their kids access to social media. We have opinions, but (spoiler alert), there’s no ONE way to approach this issue. There are lots of things to consider, though… Show Notes: Get your tickets to our Live Event: Mon, Oct 24th, 2022! Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Social media offers lots of positive avenues for providing science-based, inclusive health education, and young people flock to it. Danielle Bezalel, creator of SexEdwithDB, offers insightful guidance, educating the next generation. Show Notes: Sex Ed with DB  www.sexedwithdb.com  Follow Sex Ed with DB on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. OkaySo  Planned Parenthood Advocates for Youth Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener wrote in with a question about when to talk about masturbation. This is a third rail topic for so many adults! Here’s our advice about when and how to begin the conversation.  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 of our series on anatomical body parts dives into the XY body, explaining and exploring all of the parts of male reproduction. Even the ones that don’t get a lot of play – epididymis anyone? Show Notes: OOMSHORTS  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes we over apologize and sometimes we owe an apology but can’t seem to offer it up. This goes for every corner of our lives, including interaction with our kids. Vanessa kicks this episode off by owning a parenting fail for which she needed to apologize, BIG TIME. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Knowing the names and functions of body parts keeps people healthy and safe. Words like vulva and vagina are not bad words – they are body parts just like elbow and knee. In addition to the external parts of an XX body, we discuss internal parts like the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. Show Notes: https://myoomla.com/collections/oomshorts Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener asked for advice about getting her 6th grader to try an activity, any activity. Some parts of this conversation are non-negotiable – kids have to do something besides sit on their phones – other parts involve a two-way conversation, especially when that kid is trying to figure out what they might be interested in. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acts of service stretch far beyond a resume or a college application – giving back has been proven to enhance peoples’ social-emotional health. Natalie Silverstein, MPH, author of The Busy Teens Guide to Giving Back shares data, real life stories, and practical ways to help kids engage with their communities. Show Notes: Simple Acts Podcast Simple Acts Guide  Simple Acts Instagram  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener wrote in asking for help balancing how to have open conversations with teaching privacy, especially when a subject is complicated or charged. How can we talk to kids about certain topics and ask them not to broadcast the conversation to everyone they know without conferring shame? Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Porn is everywhere, which is why kids are exposed – either accidentally or on purpose. It’s on all of us to have clear, calm conversations with them, which is why this episode offers several different ways in with kids of all ages. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are adding a second episode each week inspired by listener questions called: WHAT NOW?! where we answer questions and offer next steps to the wild array of challenges that crop up during the decade of puberty. This week’s question: Is my 5-year old in puberty? Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There isn’t one path to raising a thriving kids, but there is a special sauce to help tweens and teens get there. Educational psychologist and author of Thrivers, Michele Borba, unpacks the strategies that best support and encourage kids. Show Notes Michele Borba, Ed. D. Thrivers  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homework can be a massive source of conflict throughout the school years. Brian Platzer is an expert on how to minimize this: he’s a teacher, tutor and writer. His advice isn’t just realistic and actionable, it changes the dynamic for good!  Show Notes: Twitter: @bplatzer IG: @brian.platzer Taking the Stress Out of Homework Teachers Who Tutor Brian Platzer’s article in The Atlantic Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, we dropped our kids off at college. This week, we share the excitement, grief, pride, terror, and all of the other emotions that went along with it. It was a journey, from crying on airplanes to remembering there are siblings still left at home.  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our two oldest children, now in college, get raw (and funny!) as they reflect back on conversations about puberty, telling us where we got it right and all the ways we didn’t. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As kids head back to school, we chat with Dr. Jill Grimes, author of The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook who offers pearls for kids of all ages and the adults who love them. Show Notes The College Student Health Handbook by Dr. Jill Grimes The Campus Cure by Marsha Morris 525 Foundation Social handle: @JillGrimesMD  Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An honest conversation with our interns about hook-up culture, situationships and friends with benefits. Yes, today’s sexual culture is just as confusing as it sounds. Show Notes: https://myoomla.com/pages/the-puberty-portal Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode will blow your mind. Dr. Yug Varma, microbiologist and entrepreneur, takes us on a journey through the wondrous microbiome of the skin, unmasking the causes of acne and offering up a completely new approach to treatment. Show Notes: Phyla Collection Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Consent conversations can – and should – start early. So early that they begin around topics that have absolutely nothing to do with sex. Learn how to apply the lessons of consent to a bunch of different topics in kids’ lives and start getting comfortable with a conversation that will happen many different times in many different ways. Shownotes: Tea and Consent Video Cycling Through Consent Video Teens and the Law with Jonathan Cristall, Esq. Advice from Famous Sex Educator Shafia Zaloom Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Struggles with body image affects people of all genders and all ages. Psychologist and author Charlotte Markey talks us through all of it, debunking myths and offering guidance for building positive body image. Production by Peoples Media  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Judging ourselves, judging other parents, judging our partners and judging our kids… none of these feels good, and all clog lines of communication. But this is a really tough habit to kick. The first step is owning our judgment, so in this episode we share a bunch of our own parenting fails and then (try to) forgive ourselves.   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guiding kids through the adolescent years requires finding true north, a trusted point in the distance during the chaos. So we interviewed education consultants and co-authors of The Parent Compass to get guidance on how to support kids and get out of their way.   Shownotes: The Parent Compass Teenager Pro Tips on Instagram & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get lots of questions about young love – and lust. It’s an enormous topic incorporating everything from first relationships to hook ups; from crushes to being crushed. This episode explores how to open conversations with kids on all of these fronts while managing our own feelings and behavior on the sidelines.   Shownotes:   The Power of Melancholy on Raising Good Humans Podcast    Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spoiler alert: the only life hack for sleep deprivation is… more sleep! Lisa Lewis is the journalist who helped pass California’s new later school-start time law, all in an effort to prioritize teen sleep. This episode makes you look at sleep needs – for our kids and us, too – in a whole new light.     Shownotes:   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All about breast development: when they grow, why they can be painful or lumpy (or both), and how to manage this shifting landscape.   Shownotes:   The Puberty Podcast Episode with Dr. Louise Greenspan on Earlier Puberty   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!     Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a lot about the law that is assumed but never clearly discussed with kids. We cover a ton of it – from cell phone rights to the rules around how to act when you’re pulled over by the cops to legal details around sexual consent – in conversation with City of Los Angeles prosecutor Jonathan Cristall.    Shownotes: What They Don't Teach Teens book by Jonathan Cristall, Esq. What They Don’t Teach Teens RAINN – nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization   & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Dolly Klock, a family medicine physician and the founder of Adolessons, has become a go-to resource on the evolving party scene. In this episode, she walks us through what’s accessible to kids today, how drugs and alcohol have changed, and what everyone needs to know about new risks.      Shownotes:  IG: @adolessonsLA FB: @adolessons Tw: @DollyKlockMD Linked In: @DollyKlockMD Adolessons CDC Youth Risk Behavior Report    & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!     Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting kids ready for summer outings, camps, and other adventures means more than just nametags and bug spray. This episode spans the various ways we prepare tweens and teens for all of the physical, emotional and logistical needs of the season.   Shownotes:   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tina Bryson provides a masterclass in the science of why it’s so important to show up for kids and how we can do it, even imperfectly.   Shownotes: Tina Bryson Website @tinapaynebryson The Power of Showing Up The New Adolescence The Sleep Deprived Teen   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything from the clothes kids wear to their desire for makeup, piercings, tattoos, certain hairstyles and hair colors can generate stress, conflict, and drama at home. We explore why different generations see self-expression differently and how to communicate our way through it.   A transcript of today's episode is available below: Transcription of today's episode   Shownotes:   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shafia Zaloom, author of Sex, Teens and Everything in Between, joins us for an eye-opening and reassuring conversation about teen sexuality, communication and vulnerability.    Shownotes:   Shafia Zaloom's Website Instagram Shafia Zaloom Making Caring Common "The Talk"   Dynamo Girl Puberty Workshop Registration   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is an endless list of points of contention between adults and tweens + teens: curfew, allowance, screen time, piercings…and on and on. This episode explores how to come up with rules and limits on these issues while making them palatable to our kids, in other words, making our rules seem like their idea.   Shownotes:   Dynamo Girl Puberty Workshop Registration   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The brilliant and hilarious Monica Corcoran Harel, writer and founder of Pretty Ripe, paints the picture of what her household looks like as her daughter experiences puberty and she enters perimenopause, or what she calls “puberty in reverse.”   Shownotes: Pretty Ripe Newsletter Pretty Ripe on IG Jen Gunter "Menopause Manifesto"   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything you ever wanted to know about when and where hair grows as kids’ bodies change, the social and emotional implications of sprouting on different parts of the body, and how to handle conversations about keeping vs. getting rid of all this new hair.   Shownotes:   Andrew Goldberg On The Puberty Podcast   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This special episode with Washington Post columnist Meghan Leahy and her daughter, Sophia Rasevic, walks through a family’s atypical puberty journey. Though Meghan is a parenting expert, in this episode she wears her “mom hat'' as she and Sophia share the experience of Sophia’s diagnosis with a condition that dramatically impacted her journey through puberty.   Show notes Meghan Leahy Instagram: @mlparentcoach Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeghanLeahyParentCoach Twitter: @mlparentcoach   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 3 of a 3-part series: What do kids need to know about sex and when? In this episode, we focus on conversations about sex with teens in high school and beyond. The continuation of this ongoing conversation about what they - and you - need to know about talking through these very personal topics.   Show Notes: Tea & Consent video Outspoken Education Planned Parenthood Sex Education Resources Amaze & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do kids need to know about sex and when? This is the second in a 3-part series answering that question. In this episode, we focus on conversations with kids from 5th grade through the end of middle school, a time when most kids enter and progress through puberty and when they’re getting health/sex education classes in school.   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do kids need to know about sex and when? This is the first in a 3-part series answering that question. In this episode, we focus on conversations with kids from Kindergarten through the start of middle school. We’ll help you build a foundation of anatomically correct vocabulary, consent, and privacy, offering age-appropriate and inclusive language.   Show Notes: Your Whole Body Book & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anxiety is a humongous topic of conversation these days, especially increasing rates among kids. Dr. Terri Bacow, author of Goodbye Anxiety, helps sort through what falls into this category, points to the best resources for help, and offers anxiety-management tools for kids and the adults who love them. A transcript of today's episode is available below: Transcription of today's episode   Show Notes: Goodbye Anxiety Website: https://www.drterribacow.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drterribacow/ & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes, the very best advice comes from a person who’s just out the other end of an experience. Listen in as our interns give the inside scoop on what adolescents need to know and how that information is best delivered.    Show Notes:  The Puberty Portal & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of International Women’s Day, we are joined by Melissa Berton, co-founder of The Pad Project and Oscar winning producer of Period. End of Sentence. Barriers to safe menstruation exist across the US and around the world, caused by financial, cultural and hygienic constraints. This eye-opening episode provides a window into the challenge faced by so many.   Show Notes: The Pad Project Period. End of Sentence. Documentary & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jessica Yellin, award winning journalist and creator of #NewsNotNoise, talks about where to get the best news and how to use history to contextualize what we’re seeing in Ukraine at this moment. Her social media-based platform offers teens (and adults!) a view of the news that values fact over fear mongering.    Show Notes: Social:  IG: @jessicayellin Twitter: @jessicayellin TikTok: @newsnotnoise  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NewsNotNoise/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewsNotNoise Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/news-not-noise/id1585743634 Newsletter: https://newsnotnoise.bulletin.com/    Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do schools cover - and what don’t they - in the famous Sex Ed curriculum? Turns out, there are lots of guidelines, but little consistency from school to school. We’re taking a deep dive into what kids are *supposed* to be learning, why they might not get that education, and the holes that parents/trusted adults need to fill at home.    Show Notes: Overview of National Sexuality Education Standards Downloadable guide to National Sexuality Standards Amazing Me Education & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Simmons, New York Times bestselling author of The Curse of the Good Girl, Odd Girl Out, and Enough As She Is, applies her years of research and work with adolescents to offer guideposts for empathetically raising kids. This conversation explores practical ways to support our tweens and teens with authenticity.   Show Notes: Odd Girl Out The Curse of the Good Girl  Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy and Fulfilling Lives   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As bodies grow, new smells emerge from head to toe, hair sprouts in dark, moist places, and both sweat and fluid begin to flow. To solve for odors, rashes and infections, there is a free remedy: AIR. This episode is all about how we can help our kids use air to keep their bodies healthy.   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meditation and self-reflection are practices everyone - including kids - can use to manage life’s stresses. In this unique episode, in addition to describing how breathing exercises and meditation impact the brain, Mallika leads us through a few very short ones. Listen… relax… and carry these tools into your daily life.   Show Notes: Just Be Series by Mallika Chopra   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A humongous part of raising tweens and teens is messing up. We all make rules but then change our minds; give incorrect information; or simply lose our cool for no good reason. Here’s a dirty little secret: we can always take a do-over. This episode is about the anatomy of a do-over using painfully ridiculous examples from our own lives.   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most parents say they just want their kids to be happy. What if happiness comes when we find our “Unicorn Space” – a place at the intersection of purpose and meaning? In our conversation with Eve Rodsky, author of Unicorn Space and New York Times bestseller Fair Play, we explore how our expectations of our adolescents, our communication styles and willingness to share our own vulnerabilities can help our tweens + teens find their Unicorn Space.    Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Show Notes: https://www.everodsky.com   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything you ever wanted to know about period products and were afraid to ask, from the old standby pads and tampons to brand new disruptors like menstrual cups and period underwear. This entertaining and informative tutorial walks through the many ways menstruators can catch their flow.   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our episode with Henry + Zoe Winkler is a father/daughter master class on how grandparents play loving, supportive and epicenter-of-fun roles in their grandchildren’s lives. If we’re lucky, children have grandparents who can act as an extra set of trusted adults, helping them navigate the twists and turns of childhood. But every parent knows that when it comes to grandparents, the rules tend to get thrown out the window - cake for breakfast anyone? We laughed and cried during this inspirational conversation with a very special family… we think you will, too.   Show Notes: Alien Superstar Book Series This Is About Humanity & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we tackle the complex challenges in trying to achieve body positivity in puberty with Zoe Bisbing, psychotherapist and co-founder of The Full Bloom Project, a body positive parenting resource. Zoe offers a thoughtful approach to all of the fraught topics around weight and body image during adolescence, as well as guidelines - and tremendous wisdom - for creating a body positive home.   Show Notes: Full Bloom Project Zoe BisbingBody Positive NYC& Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For any parent wondering how to talk to younger kids about their bodies, Kelly Fradin (AKA) @adviceigivemyfriends is an amazing resource. Conversations about changing bodies really should start before bodies morph - Kelly walks through what to say when and how. Plus, in this episode you’ll get a peek into the talks pediatricians have with tweens and teens when they kick parents out of the exam room.   Show Notes: http://instagram.com/adviceigivemyfriends/ http://facebook.com/adviceigivemyfriends/ http://adviceigivemyfriends.substack.com/ http://adviceigivemyfriends.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Pandemic-family-through-COVID-19-ebook/dp/B08DDLJ96J/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=parenting+in+a+pandemic&qid=1615247207&sr=8-3 & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We sit down with the original author of The Cara and Keeping of You, Valorie Schaefer, who describes in technicolor how the first volume of The Care and Keeping of You came to be and her personal journey writing a cult classic book about puberty.   Show Notes: The Care and Keeping of You  The Care and Keeping of You 2 Dynamo Puberty Workshops & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most common questions - and worries - about puberty: zits. Why do we get them? Where? When? And what can be done? Get everything you need to know about acne, backne, buttne, and more…   Show Notes: Dynamo Puberty Workshops & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does eating oily food give you acne? Is breakfast the most important meal? Do we really need to drink eight glasses of water a day? Dr. Nina Shapiro, pediatric otolaryngologist, joins us to bust some adolescent myths and discuss her new book Ultimate Kids' Guide to Being Super Healthy, a terrific guide for helping kids understand the science behind why adults make the rules they do.   Show Notes: Ultimate Kids Guide to Being Super Healthy Dynamo Puberty Workshops & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you talk to your kids about complicated things when you didn’t grow up in a home that did? Our guest this week is Mary Pat Draddy, LMSW and Dynamo Director of Workshops, with her journey as someone who didn’t grow up talking about puberty and now makes her profession as someone who does. Mary Pat shares how she filled her information gap as an adult and how she’s chosen to raise her own kids.    Show Notes: Dynamo Puberty Workshops The Care and Keeping of You Series  It’s Not the Stork Girls & Sex The New Puberty Beyond Birds and Bees & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We want to raise our kids to be good people, but easier said than done, right? Science journalist Melinda Wenner Moyer and author of “How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes” joins us on this episode to tackle big topics like lying, sexism and consent.    Show Notes: Dynamo Girl Puberty Workshops & Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a timeline for puberty - when it starts and how fast it proceeds - which means that there’s also “early” and “late.” Layered on top is the relativity of puberty: when everyone else is going through it (or not), the person who’s not (or is!) feels out of sync. This episode explores the science behind the timing of puberty and how adults - both parents and doctors - might approach a late bloomer.   Show Notes:  Decoding Boys by Cara Natterson Dynamo Workshop on Female Puberty Dynamo Workshop on Male Puberty Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past two decades, puberty has crept up earlier and earlier, redefining what it means to be “early” or “late.” But why? Is it the food we’re eating? The water we’re drinking? The cosmetics we use? The medications we take? Is it caused by stress? Or screens? If we just had a culprit, we could fix this. Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Louise Greenspan, author of the lauded book The New Puberty, has the answers.            NOTE: This is one of our longer episodes, but it’s so packed with information and insights, we didn’t want to cut it down. So listen in one sitting or break it up into smaller bits – you won’t regret listening all the way through!   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Show Notes: http://thenewpuberty.com/    Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For so many adults, addressing kids’ hygiene -- keeping their bodies clean, smells at bay, zits minimal, and all the rest -- feels really tricky. We never want to shame kids, but we all want them to learn how to take care of themselves. So what topics need covering? And what’s the best way to say what we think they need to hear? This week’s episode is all about hygiene…or lack thereof.   Show Notes: Link to image of hydrophobic and hydrophobic images of soap: http://www.planet-science.com/categories/under-11s/chemistry-chaos/2011/06/soap---how-does-it-get-things-clean.asp   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How we talk to our kids about complex topics like puberty and sex depends both on our kids’ personalities are ours, too. There is no one-size-fits-all on how to have these tricky conversations. In this episode, Vanessa and Cara break down the cast of characters in both the kid roles and the adult roles, offering up guidance for having these talks in our families while making room for the different temperaments involved.   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wendy Mogel, clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author, discusses raising kids through adolescence, a time of the “greatest anguish and the greatest ecstasy.” With humor and honesty, Wendy advises us to be “emotional archaeologists” with the kids we love and learning to “keep quiet, keep captivated and keep respectful” when navigating this tricky time as caregivers. Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Goldberg, co-creator of Big Mouth, the hit Netflix animated series about puberty, and world famous early bloomer, joins us in conversation about what it felt like to be the first of his friends to hit puberty. Andrew shares his experiences from those fraught years, what was talked about and what wasn’t, and he discusses how he and his wife are choosing to raise their own children based on what their adolescent experiences were. This is a heartfelt episode that we think teens in the same boat would appreciate, but there is some language that may not be welcome in all homes so please listen first before sharing with your teen.   Show Notes: Shafia Zaloom website Big Mouth on Netflix Barry Michaels on gratitude   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There isn’t ONE time to start puberty or end puberty and someone has to go first. In this episode, Cara explains the science behind early puberty and we explore the social and emotional impact of being an early bloomer. Plus you get to learn what an orchidometer is! This is a great episode to listen to with your kids.   Shownotes: Dynamo Girl  Guy Stuff by Dr. Cara Natterson Care and Keeping of You Series by Dr. Cara Natterson  OOMLA  Ruling Our Experiences Girls’ Index    Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Hina Talib, adolescent medicine specialist and host of the popular @teenhealthdoc on Instagram, joins us for a deep dive on periods. We discuss menstruation as a vital sign, what’s considered normal for teen menstruation and what’s not, when to worry and when to seek advice from medical providers. We’ll cover everything from mittelschmerz (WHAT?!!!) to endometriosis, so tune in for accessible expert advice on all things teens and periods!    Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erections and nocturnal emissions – AKA boners and wet dreams – are big pieces of puberty that often go unmentioned unless they’re punchlines in a joke. Which is a big conversational miss, because these topics can cause unnecessary confusion, shame, worry, or awkwardness. In this episode, we break down the science behind boners and wet dreams (and yes, we use the language that kids use) and then bring in a special guest to offer practical ways to help males manage these unexpected and uncontrollable experiences in puberty.   Note: Listen first on your own to make sure you’re comfy with our language, but we think this is a great episode to listen to with your kids!   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Lisa Damour, New York Times bestselling author, columnist and co-host of the Ask Lisa Podcast, joins us for a back-to-school episode on lessons learned from the previous two school years under Covid. This episode explores the adaptability, emotional honesty and family rituals we developed and how we can use them in constructive ways to create new models for parenting as we move forward.   Show Notes: Lisa Damour’s New York Times column Ask Lisa Podcast Untangled by Lisa Damour Under Pressure by Lisa Damour   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Molly Colvin helps us understand the upsides and the downsides of the adolescent brain, in and out of pandemic. Her adage that tween and teen brains are “consistently inconsistent” provides critical insights for adults navigating the ways to communicate with and support the adolescents for whom we are caring. Dr. Colvin’s offers guidance for when we should push their “growth edge” and when we should accept that this is how things are going to be for a while...    Show Notes: That ‘Brain Fog’ You’re Feeling Is Perfectly Normal https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/04/22/cognitive-change-stress-coronavirus-molly-colvin   Why You Can't Shake Pandemic Anxiety https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2021/03/09/covid-19-pandemic-psychological-recovery-molly-colvin   Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras!   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The word “puberty” means the process of sexual maturation - by the end of puberty, a person has the ability to reproduce. But the path through puberty is not a stepwise ladder where one part of the body changes, then another, then another. Rather, it’s a winding path, a checklist of physiological shifts that happen in no particular order. This episode walks through the details of what happens to the body during puberty, with an emphasis on the fact that while the list of changes is fairly universal, their sequence is not at all. The body’s going to do what the body’s going to do when it feels like doing it. Visit OOMLA to shop thoughtfully designed (OOM)Bras! Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roger Bennett, author of #1 the New York Times bestseller (Re)Born in the USA and co-host of the popular Men in Blazers podcast, shares the hilarious and painful experiences of his English adolescence of the 1970’s & 1980’s. He discusses what passed as sex-ed at that time, what it felt like to be a (very) late bloomer and when was the moment everything changed. This episode is intended for people above the age of 14.   Show Notes: Men in Blazers  Reborn in the USA   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the hardest things about raising kids through puberty is leaving our own baggage at the door. Our past experiences are seared into our brains and we’re so tempted to talk about them, but so often, our kids don’t want to hear about them. We need to let their puberty be their puberty. This episode is about why it is critical that we leave our puberty baggage at the door and how we can do that (most of the time…)   Show Notes: Dynamo Workshops for Families Raising Good Humans Podcast   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Aliza Pressman, host of the Raising Good Humans Podcast, joins us to discuss the ways we can respond to the emotional ups and downs of parenting kids in puberty. Aliza’s practical and actionable advice boils down to this: what’s going on for our kids and how can we meet them in a kind and constructive way? This episode looks at a few common scenarios we face when raising adolescents and walks us through different options for handling those tricky moments.   Show Notes: Raising Good Humans Podcast Eve Rodsky’s book Fair Play Uncertain Parenting: The Unspoken Language of Teens   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The number one puberty question we get asked is: when is my daughter going to get her period?!!! And while no one can say for certain, this episode will cover what are red herrings and what are true signs that her period is coming. Listen in for some practical information as well as Cara and Vanessa’s own first period stories.   Show Notes: Dynamo Workshops for Families   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Kroll, comedian, actor and Big Mouth creator, sits down with Vanessa Kroll Bennett (his sister) and Dr. Cara Natterson for an honest conversation about what life was like as someone late to the puberty party. The episode is not quite as hilarious (or dirty) as Big Mouth but just as authentic. Nick offers a window into how being a late bloomer affected him in good and hard ways throughout the course of his life.   Show Notes: Nick Kroll Bio Uncertain Parenting interview with Dr. Molly Colvin Big Mouth on Netflix More information on late bloomers: Decoding Boys by Cara Natterson, Chapter 4   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the very first episode of The Puberty Podcast, Dr. Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett make the case for why talking to kids about puberty matters. It boils down to this: if we want to keep kids healthy and safe, we need to talk to them about puberty (but you should still listen to the episode!)   Show Notes: Cara Natterson’s Bio  Care and Keeping of You Series  Dynamo Girl Website Decoding Boys by Cara Natterson   Produced by Dear Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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