76 ideas for raising amazing children + Legal planning for busy parents [26:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Guest 1: Tom Sturges, author of Parking Lot Rules.
Topic: 76 Ideas for raising amazing children.
Issues: Everyday lessons; manners matter; discipline and punishment, play sports, pain happens, and many more.

Guest 2: Alexis Martin Neely, author of Wear Clean Underwear!
Topic: Legal planning for busy parents.
Issues: Everything you need to know about estate planning; what can be learned from celebrities who had poorly written wills; handling second marriages or step-children; other common mistakes parents make and how to keep from making them.

 

 Helping teens who cut and self-injure + The surprising truth about violent video games [26:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Guest 1: Michael Hollander, author of Helping Teens Who Cut.
Topic: Understanding and ending self-injury.
Issues: Dispelling the myths about teenage “cutting”; what motivates cutting; what parents can do to make the cutting stop; effective treatments that can help troubled teens cope with extreme emotions in a healthier way.

Guest 2: Lawrence Kutner, coauthor of Grand Theft Childhood.
Topic: The surprising truth about violent video games and what parents can do.
Issues: Do video games really make children more violent? How violent video games may actually prevent fights by helping kids work through their anger; why girls like Grand Theft Auto almost as much as boys do; the myth that kids lose social skills by playing video games

 

 Happy Father's Day! Early fatherhood for the modern hunter-gatherer + A father's memoir of infertility and adoption [26:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Guest 1: David Port, coauthor of Caveman’s Guide to Baby’s First Year.
Topic: Early fatherhood for the modern hunter-gatherer.
Issues: Food, diet, nutrition, shelter, safety, clothing, health and wellness, communication, socialization, stimulation, and maintaining the couple’s relationship

Guest 2: Brooks Hansen, author of the The Brotherhood of Joseph.
Topic: A father’s memoir of infertility and adoption in the 21st century.
Issues: Understanding the struggle with infertility from a man’s perspective; the cycle of hope and heartbreak that happens when reproductive technology doesn’t work; how do you give up when there’s always another doctor or procedure holding out the possibility of conception?

 

 Creating a cleaner, greener, safer home + How IM, MySpace, and email are destroying children's ability to write well [26:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Guest 1: Christopher Gavigan, author of Healthy Child Healthy World.
Topic: Creating a cleaner, greener, safer home.

Issues: Getting beyond the fear and the hype and taking simple steps that can have a big impact on your life; what to buy organic—and what not to buy; dangers of PVCs and other plastics; the amazing amount of dirt and dust children eat. For more info, visit healthychild.org

Guest 2: Jacquite Ream, author of Kiss: Keep It Short and Simple.
Topic: Easy steps for better writing.

Issues: Are MySpace and instant messaging causing poor writing or is it the parents or teachers? Turning jumbled thoughts into coherent compositions; reducing anxiety and learning to organize, write, and present papers effectively.

 

 How women can leave work, raise children, and restart their career + Caring for aging parents [26:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Guest 1: Monica Samuels, coauthor of Comeback Moms.
Topic: How to leave work, raise children, and restart your career even if you haven’t had a job in years.

Issues: What to do when you’re ready to leave work to be a full-time mom; how to maintain contacts while away from the job, how to execute a successful reentry into the workforce; getting through this life-changing process and coming out ahead. For more info, visit momsnextmove.com

Guest 2: Hugh Delehanty, coauthor of Caring for Your Parents.
Topic: Practical advice you can trust.

Issues: Starting a meaningful conversation about potentially awkward subjects; locating healthcare; potential sources of conflict between siblings; the importance of caring for the caregiver. For more info: pbs.org/wgbh/caringforyourparents, and aarp.org/family/caregiving

 

 Guiding an only child to a happy, successful life + Rescuing our children from the culture of hyper-parenting [26:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Guest 1: Carl Pickhardt, author of The Future of Your Only Child.

Topic: How to guide your child to a happy, successful life.

Issues: The pros and cons of being an only child; different types of only children; how parents can combat oversensitivity in their only child and familiarize them with normal conflicts that arise in daily life; ways parents can stop themselves from transferring their won worries to their only child.

Guest 2: Carl Honore, author of Under Pressure

Topic: Rescuing our children from the culture of hyper-parenting.

Issues: What happens when the impulse to give our children the best of everything runs rampant; why managing every detail of our children’s lives is backfiring; what the research shows about how overmanaged children are not learning basic life skills and are staying overdependent on their parents.

 

 May 18, 2008 [26:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

05/18/08

Guest 1: Mark Stevens, author of Luisa’s Nature.

Topic: Looking at nature and the world through a child’s eyes.

Issues: Why nature is so important to children and why they don’t get enough of it.

Guest 2: Pamela Paul, author of Parenting, Inc..

Topic: An inside investigation of the multi-billion-dollar baby business that pushes high-priced products at unsuspecting parents.

Issues: How marketers make parents feel more anxious by promising to make their children taller, smarter, and more beautiful; which expensive products and services aren’t worthwhile, and which are.

 

 May 11, 2008 [26:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

05/11/08

Guest 1: Sharon O’Donnell, author of House of Testosterone.

Topic: Raising One mom’s survival in a household of males.

Issues: Is it tougher to raise boys than girls? The unique issues mothers face when raising boys; the frustrations moms of boys face; finding time for self in a household of males.

Guest 2: Frances Richey, author of The Warrior.

Topic: A mother’s story of a son at war.

Issues: How her political opinion of the war (the author was against it) shaped her relationship with her son; the experiences of waiting at home while an only child goes off to war; painful farewells; the difficulty communicating with a soldier who comes home hardened by combat.

 

 May 4, 2008 [26:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

05/04/08

Guest 1: Johana Marie McShane, author of Why She Feels Fat.
Topic: Understanding your loved one’s eating disorder and how you can help.

Issues: Understanding why what seems to family and friends as bizarre, irrational behavior actually makes sense to the person with the disorder; evaluating therapy vs hospitalization; the gender breakdown of eating and body-image disorders.

Guest 2: David Rye, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Financial Aid for College.
Topic: Getting the money you need for the school you want.

Issues: Overcoming college tuition sticker shock; the difference between loans, grants, scholarships, and work-study programs; how to find little-known scholarships; federal and state grants.

 

 Change your child's attitude, behavior, and character in 5 days + Understanding and overcoming infertility [26:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

04/27/08

Guest 1: Kevin Leman, author of Have a New Kid by Friday.

Topic: How to change your child’s attitude, behavior and character in five days.

Issues: Combating defiant attitudes and power struggles; Understanding why your kids do what they do–and what you can do about it; simple strategies any parent can carry out.

Guest 2: Sherman Silber, author of How to Get Pregnant

Topic: Understanding infertility and overcoming it.

Issues: The changing definition of “biological clock”; why humans don’t know when to have sex and why human sexuality is reproductively inefficient; various fertility techniques; incredible new technologies that will change the way couples have children.