This Is So Awkward

Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world around kids’ access to technology is changing at lightning speed – from bell-to-bell school phone bans to the re-emergence of the landline to governmental social media limits for those under 16. No one has been more at the center of these shifts than social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He joins us along with his The Amazing Generation co-author Catherine Price for a lively conversation about different approaches to navigating tech. Spoiler alert: we don’t always agree! Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two particularly powerful forces affecting boys – looksmaxxing and the manosphere – have gone mainstream. If you care about boys and young men, you must educate yourself in order to talk to them. Looksmaxxing and the manosphere have a fair amount of overlap, which is why a conversation that begins about one often lands at the other. To talk about these topics, you need to know what they are, the vocabulary they have spawned, how they overlap, and the ways in which they have nothing to do with one another. We’ve got you covered! Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When people think of gynecology, they usually think of care that happens for older teens and adults, from birth control to pregnancy to menopause. But there’s a whole world of gynecologic conditions that affect young girls and adolescents, too. Dr Nichole A Tyson + Dr. Joseph Sanfilippo, giants in the field of Pediatric Adolescent Gynecology, join us for a wide ranging conversation about painful periods, blood disorders, PCOS, endometriosis, MRKH, and STDs. Show Notes: ⁠NASPAG⁠ Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Exams have always been a stressful part of growing up. But layer on growing college admissions pressure, spiraling teen mental health, and recognition of the wide variety of learning styles, and the volume turns way up. This episode was prompted by a listener's question seeking advice about how to get through exam season from every angle: from the role of AI to the necessity of exams in the first place. We get into it… along with some of our own applicable parenting fails. Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What makes kids tick? Even when they appear uninterested, defiant, or lazy, there’s usually much more lurking under the surface. To learn how to pull it out of them––and how to connect and communicate, too––we’re joined by Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes (inspiration for the movie Mean Girls), who has spent her career exploring how to get the best out of tweens and teens. Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emotional intelligence is often called EQ. Some might say it’s a soft skill, but in fact research shows it’s central to lifelong resilience and wellbeing. Building EQ takes years and years––adults are still working on it too!––but starting young, kids can develop self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making abilities. This episode digs into all the ways to support kids' development of emotional intelligence and why it matters so much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sexuality education is proven to have positive impacts on kids’ lifelong wellbeing in all areas and yet, people assume it only covers S-E-X. In fact, as health educator Shafia Zaloom discusses on the podcast, this corner of education provides young people with a wide variety of life-critical skills like emotional intelligence, boundary setting, conflict resolution, and so much more. Yes, science-based sexual health is an important part of any good education but so too are the cornerstones of humanity like dignity, love, and respect. Show Notes: Getting Real About Sex Ed: What Today’s Students Need Watch the full episode on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠! ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠⁠⁠⁠ Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the ⁠⁠⁠⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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 ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ To submit listener questions email ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gut instinct is only partially innate – it’s also very much learned and developed over time. And it turns out to be a fundamental safety skill kids need to master. To do this, we need to shed the “stranger danger” approach of the 1980s, replacing it with the concept of “tricky people,” because it turns out that those who harm kids are often not strangers to them at all. This episode is all about helping kids recognize when someone makes them uncomfortable, how to set boundaries, and express difficult feelings in relationships. Show Notes: Watch the full episode on ⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠! ⁠⁠⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠⁠⁠ Go to ⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the ⁠⁠⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠⁠⁠ 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 ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠ To submit listener questions email ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠ Produced by ⁠⁠⁠Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parenting brings up so many difficult emotions like: disgust, disappointment, anger and more. Layer on top the shame parents experience for having those feelings! Two mental health professionals, Hilary Hendel and Julie Fraga, authors of Parents Have Feelings Too, join us to normalize the full emotional landscape of parenting and offer tools for moving forward in loving and constructive ways. Show Notes: Watch the full episode on ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠! ⁠⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠⁠ Go to ⁠⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the ⁠⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠⁠ 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 ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ To submit listener questions email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ Produced by ⁠⁠Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kids are constantly analyzing and expressing their views on fairness––they do it in school, at home, on the sports field, basically everywhere. There are two different interpretations of fairness: equity and equality. We explore the difference between meeting each person’s individual needs vs slicing the pie the same way for all. While the constant refrain of “It’s not fair!” can be irritating to adults, the skill of understanding fairness is critical to kids’ social and moral development. Show Notes: Watch the full episode on ⁠Youtube⁠! ⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠ Go to ⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the ⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠ 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 ⁠[email protected]⁠ To submit listener questions email ⁠[email protected]⁠ Produced by ⁠Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s easy to feel untethered in a modern world filled with stressors and tech-laden realities, but research tells us that the secret sauce is mattering: a combination of feeling valued and offering value back. Mattering fuels wellbeing. Journalist Jennifer Wallace, author of Mattering, joins us to explain this beautiful concept, sharing data-driven ways to achieve it for ourselves, our families, and in our communities.  Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is affecting every aspect of our lives, including education. When it comes to the impact of AI on kids’ learning and overall wellbeing, we don’t have the luxury of waiting on long-term studies. There is, however, a new “pre-mortem” study out from Brookings, looking at whether AI does more good or more harm in education. Here with the answers is Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, Director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution. She helps make sense of this new landscape and the best way forward for schools, policymakers, and parents.  Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The pressure to look a certain way and perform at peak athletic levels keeps moving younger and younger. It begs the question: what’s actually healthy and safe for growing bodies? This episode starts with the science of growth spurts and then answers some of the most common questions we get: is it safe for tweens + teens to weight train? If so, at what age? How important is cross-training really?  Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Teaching kids about consent begins in their earliest years as they learn what it looks like to give and receive permission for any number of things. Hand in hand is their developing sense of privacy and safety in relationship to others. All of these skills become critical as kids grow and mature. Pediatrician and author of Eyes, Knees, Boundaries Please!, Dr. Krupa Playforth, joins us for a joyful unpacking of the language, choices, and routines families can use to integrate a culture of consent into their own homes. Show Notes: Eyes, Knees, Boundaries Please! Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re not big believers in New Year’s resolutions, but we ARE big believers in resolving to make change and do better. This episode is about learning lessons from the past, recognizing where we want to (and need to) take a do-over, and harnessing that wisdom as we head into the new year! Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is another F word – no, not that one. It’s FAWN, the under-appreciated fourth companion of the well-known coping responses: fight, flight, and freeze. Fawning means people-pleasing, and it can be used for survival – truly! Listen to this fascinating conversation with psychotherapist Meg Josephson on how to recognize fawning, break the cycle, and replace it with other coping strategies. She helps all of us pause before asking the question: Are you mad at me? Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Headlines blare with the dangers of tech, frightening parents and shaming kids. Making sense of the data requires research-based guidance rooted in an understanding of adolescent development. Enter Erin Walsh author of It’s Their World: Teens, Screens, and the Science of Adolescence for ways forward that both set limits and foster connection with young people.  There is a Snapchat sponsored segment within this episode which includes an interview with Snapchat's Global Head of Platform Safety, Jacqueline Beauchere, about their new online safety program, The Keys: A Guide to Digital Safety, and their in-app parent tool, called Family Center. Show Notes: The Keys: A Guide to Digital Safety from Snapchat Snapchat Family Center It’s their world: Teens, Screens, and the Science of Adolescence Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Secure attachment is a term that gets thrown around, but it’s often not clear what it means or why it matters! In fact, it’s a decades old psychological concept that points to the protective impact on a child’s lifelong wellbeing of having just one caring adult. Therapist and author of Raising Securely Attached Kids, Eli Harwood AKA the Attachment Nerd, joins the podcast to dissect the critical role of secure attachment on people’s development and explain ways to achieve it in our families. Show Notes: Raising Securely Attached Kids Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A life with more independence, generally has more risk. As kids get older, they might start walking to school alone, playing on travel sports teams, sleeping at friends’ houses, driving on their own, or exploring outdoors… all increasingly without adult supervision. Expanding autonomy demands new tools for safety, including the rationale behind the rules. This episode is chock full of common scenarios––from sleepovers to seatbelts, from driving to parties––and tips for adults about setting limits now to strengthen kids’ safety muscles for the future.. Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Longevity isn’t just about living longer, but living well. Yes getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet, and regular exercise are important for longevity, but so is recognizing and releasing feelings. Dr. Elisha Goldstein joins us to explore overwhelm, and then helps outline small, actionable steps we can take to improve our well-being to model emotional longevity for our kids.  Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world often pits tweens + teens against their trusted adults. But research shows that young people actually thrive when they feel a connection with those very adults. So how can everyone get on the same side? What’s the path to stop fighting unimportant battles, and instead work together to manage fears and worries? Here to make sense of these complex topics is Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart, pediatric psychologist and author of  Love the Teen You Have. Show Notes: Love the Teen You Have Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many of today’s adolescent relationships look radically different than they used to: from the labels used to describe them to the order of flirting, fooling around, and going on an actual date. We hear that teens are having less sex… but are they? And then there’s the role of AI chatbot companions, nudes, sexting and more. Join us in the muddy waters dating today––we promise to clear things up. Show Notes: Watch the full episode on Youtube! Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Higher education is changing at a wildly dramatic pace. Shifting politics, rising tuition costs, and draws like sports and weather all contribute to changes in the application landscape. In this episode, higher ed journalist and author of Dream School, Jeff Selingo, answers some of today’s biggest questions including: Does attending a top-tier school matter? What’s the value of community college or technical school? How do people rationalize the rising cost of higher education? Show Notes: Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gambling, nicotine and e-bikes… Some degree of increased risk taking during the tween + teen years is completely expected, even among the non-risk takers. This is thanks to where they are in their brain development, a physiological fact that doesn’t make life particularly easy for them or their adults! Cara + Vanessa cover the topic in a LIVE recording, exploring kids’ penchant for risk taking through 3 very timely topics and how to point them towards making good (or at least better) decisions. Show Notes: Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Being a girl in today’s world can be highly empowering, but at the same time it often means walking through a cultural minefield of social media messaging, toxic perfectionism, and unachievable bodily ideals, all before you turn 13. Journalist Kate Rope‘s new book, Strong As A Girl, looks at the factors that can offset these forces, starting with self-compassion. Our discussion covers the emotional challenges faced by both parents and daughters, how fear impacts parenting decisions, and why it’s so important for girls to express their interests and emotions. Show Notes: Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The drinks have changed, yet the alcohol education of young people has remained relatively simplistic. This podcast offers listeners the class that we think should be taught in every high school—the information kids need in order to make informed choices. We start with the science of alcohol, and how it impacts bodies and brains differently. Then we get into consent, drink spiking, mixing alcohol and caffeine, blood alcohol concentration, blacking out, and more! And as always, we suggest different ways into the hundreds of conversations you’ll want to have on the topic. Show Notes: Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The endocrine system – in charge of making and sending all the hormones throughout the body – is basically the musical conductor for puberty. During puberty, a network of specific glands and hormones work together like an orchestra, eventually leading to a sexually mature reproductive system along with certain smelly and awkward side effects. Listen to how endocrinologist Dr. Gillian Goddard tells the fascinating story of how hormones work throughout puberty, making a complex system so much more understandable. Show Notes: Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caffeine might be the most socially acceptable addictive substance on earth. For starters, it’s sold in coffee shops on nearly every city corner. It’s also available in gummies and sprays. Kids have become a huge target market for highly caffeinated products. What are the repercussions? How does caffeine work in the body and brain? Does it impact growing bodies? Is it safe for your kid? We cover it all. Show Notes: Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parenting gets easier right? HA. As our kids get older our expectations grow right along with them, sometimes outpacing their abilities. We need reminding that they are works in progress, with developing brains and burgeoning emotional intelligence. This combination makes for exciting – albeit sometimes challenging – moments when, despite wanting to do our best, we can’t necessarily get there. Enter Alyssa Campbell, MS Ed and her new book Big Kids, Bigger Feelings. Alyssa swoops in with thoughtful, evidence-based guidance for managing these bigger feelings found in bigger kids. Oh, and she tackles our enormous emotional reservoirs, too! Show Notes: Big Kids, Bigger Feelings Seed & Sew Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world (wrongly) assumes that teenage boys want to be left behind their closed bedroom doors until emerging years later. In fact, tween and teen boys want connection, meaning, and care; they might just show it in different ways. We welcome the authors of Talk to Your Boys, Christopher Pepper and Joanna Schroeder onto the podcast to share research and strategies for connecting to boys during these formative years. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Individuation is an important theme threaded through the tween and teen years: the formation of independent identity ultimately allows a kid to stand on their own in adulthood. But getting there can sometimes look – and feel – pretty disrespectful. How can we make sense of the challenges, confusion, and sometimes painful moments? (or months?!). Child development specialist and bestselling author Betsy Brown Braun explains this developmental stage and teaches us how to draw lines, set expectations, and not personalize what’s happening! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The benefits to kids of playing sports are super clear. But the picture has gotten more complicated with the pay-to-play takeover of youth sports and the increasingly intense pressure on kids (and their families) to perform at higher and higher levels. Amanda Stanec, youth sports expert and author of Protecting the Joy, is here to make sense of the research and offer balanced guidance for families navigating the youth sports industrial complex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Moving from summer mode into school gear is a tricky transition for everyone – kids and adults. Predictable battles arise over tech use, clothing choices, and summer reading (for starters… we could go on and on!). This episode offers some simple strategies to avoid a bumpy start to the academic year. Alleviate the solvable stressors to make BTS a little more fun! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tech, social media, and the law intersect in ever-evolving and highly confusing ways. Rules vary from state-to-state, without any consistent age gate. This leaves minors – and the adults who care about them – unclear about what is and isn’t legal. On topics like child pornography, sexting, sextortion, and revenge porn, Kaitlin Andrews, family lawyer and educator from the Schools Consent Project, offers guidance on where the law is clear, where we’re still looking for clarity, and what to do while the ground shifts under our feet. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS FBI resources on teen sextortion, Contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report it online at tips.fbi.gov. Schools Consent Project Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most of us would prefer to avoid conversations about big, hard topics with the kids in our lives. But we also know how critical it is for us to talk to them about uncomfortable things like sexual assault, miscarriage, and mental health struggles. Which is why we’re so happy to know Jessica Zucker, author of Normalize It, a psychologist, and a parent. She gracefully navigates the tricky balance of educating kids about the difficult issues without dumping our own baggage on them. TW: this episode contains conversation about miscarriage and sexual assault. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The skin erupts with surprises across the tween and teen years… and it’s not all acne! Stretchmarks happen when bodies grow out or up quickly. Keloids are 3-D scars. Ingrown hairs aren’t permanent like the other two, but they still present their own challenges and stressors. We dig into what causes each of these skin challenges and what (if anything) can be done about them. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s simultaneously wonderful and worrying to launch a kid. The most common denominator question is a version of this: Are they going to be ok when they leave us? We hope – and wonder – if we’ve taught them enough to be out in the world. Christina Geist spent her oldest child’s senior year of high school compiling those life lessons in Before You Fly Away. Her musings are as heartfelt as they are practical, whether you have a child who is about to fly the nest, one who flew away long ago, or one so young you can hardly imagine that stage of life. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Before You Fly Away: Life Lessons From Home Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are rereleasing one of our most popular episodes addressing one of the biggest challenges for caregivers: How do we discipline kids with the goal of teaching them how to do better next time? Tina Payne Bryson, psychotherapist and our personal guru, gives us a clear and empathic pathway to instituting consequences in our families. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It can be really hard to gauge what tweens + teens actually know about the biggest ticket topics. That’s because, in this age of information, they are pummeled with “facts” about sex, drugs, alcohol, nutrition, wellness, and so much more. It can seem like they have encyclopedic knowledge sometimes… until you get past the confident tone and actually listen to what they are saying. This episode will make you feel less alone (you are not the only one who has been dumbfounded by an adolescent!) and help you help them sort fact from fiction. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Season 1 re-release: Our own puberty stories are seared into our brains and the temptation is to share those experiences, the good and the bad, with the kids in our lives. Except, kids need to have their own puberty journeys without carrying our puberty baggage on their shoulders. Adults need to find their own trusted adults with whom to share these memories and Cara and Vanessa do just that in this episode. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parents know better, right? Maybe. While we may have brains mature enough to anticipate what’s coming down the road 5, 10, 20 years from now (and the lived experiences to back it up), we can’t force our kids to care about the things we deem important. This power struggle occurs throughout the tween + teen years, on everything from minor issues like wearing deodorant to major tensions like grades or substance use. How can we adults learn to manage our own feelings while simultaneously finding ways to inspire our kids? This hilarious and personal episode is packed with that advice. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re rereleasing one of the very first episodes we ever recorded because it’s also one of the best. Developmental psychologist, Dr. Aliza Pressman, joins us to discuss the ways to respond to the emotional ups and downs of parenting adolescents. 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? Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Setting boundaries takes practice: kids need to learn this skill and most adults need to evolve it. Practically speaking, boundary-setting starts with drawing lines on our kids’ behalf. In doing so, we show (more than tell) what is (and isn’t!) okay for strangers, family, and friends to do and say — from comments about body changes or clothing choices to judgments about life paths. The trick is to set boundaries while still encouraging connection, because we want kids to learn about limits without walling themselves off.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Hina Talib, adolescent medicine specialist, 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 periods! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Human connection is critical to wellbeing for people of all ages. But it's also a skill that can be taught and honed. We’re big believers in not glossing over conversations with kids about how to be a friend. How can you approach this conversation that feels all at once very basic and also can be very charged? Start by appreciating the cultural myths about friendship, then move into some of the more obvious tenets of being a friend (that aren’t always obvious to kids!), and finally, get well-versed in the friendship-challenges kids face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re rereleasing this episode because a heartfelt listener question offered up a common parenting challenge: 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: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Successfully imparting information to kids is more art than science. Often it’s as much about tone and approach as it is about the content itself. Plus, there are so many variables that can impact how things go like temperament, personality, mood, stress and so on. We offer some of our favorite tenets that can help steer conversations to a place kids can hear what we’re saying, maybe even engage with us, and leave the door open to further discussions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re rereleasing this episode because it’s gotten even more important since we first recorded it. 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 add the fact that kid-targeted phone-based apps offer lots of entry points into the world of wagering.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s knowing your body parts and then there’s body literacy. It turns out, both are key to health and safety. If knowing your body parts is like having a map, being body literate is like being able to read a compass. We’re joined by Konika Ray Wong, a health educator and author of body books for kids down to age 4. She covers concepts like interoception and attunement  (yes, big words!), central concepts for people who want to understand their body’s cues.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rereleasing this gem as part of our summer series.  If you’re sending a kid away for part of the summer – or even if you’re just sending them off for the day – there are certain key conversations to have before getting too far into summer. We cover everything from body changes and clothing choices to tech use and trusted adults. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fine line between informing and oversharing is tricky to navigate, especially when it comes to topics like puberty, sex, and drugs. On the one hand, kids need information; on the other, we must take into account things like personality, communication style, and desire for privacy, not to mention set boundaries according to their developmental stage. So when does sharing information cross over into too much information? This episode has the answer and so much more. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re rereleasing this episode ahead of the summer months when body hair becomes a hairy issue ;) We cover everything you ever wanted to know: 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. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Being a steady, calm parent to tweens and teens seems like an impossibility. But there’s decades of research and data supporting this style – not only is it achievable, it has lifelong positive impacts. Enter “lighthouse parenting” from Ken Ginsburg, a framing based on his deep experience as an adolescent medicine doctor and rooted in his optimism that raising teens is an opportunity not a burden. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order parentandteen.com fosteringresilience.com Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the weather warms up, acne becomes more front and center – literally. This episode covers: what causes acne, how warm weather affects kids’ skin (for better and for worse), and how to approach acne on the body at a time of year that calls for fewer and fewer clothes. A combo of science and guidance for addressing this tricky topic! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Get your Alloy prescription today. Visit https://myalloy.com/SOAWKWARD today for $20 off your first order! Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Psychotherapist Lynn Lyons tells it like it is. She’s treated anxiety in kids and adults for 30 years and counting. This episode is packed with pearls about how to manage kids’ anxiety, what to do with your own, and the 3 biggest mistakes people make: avoidance, accommodation, and lack of autonomy. After listening, you will feel far less anxious – we promise! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The recently published Make America Health Again (MAHA) Report has made a big splash, putting the wellness of American children center stage. The report focuses on four issue areas – ultraprocessed foods, environmental chemicals, physical activity/mental health/tech use, and (over)medicalization of kids. We explain what it says, what’s reliable, and  how the positions taken affect tweens and teens. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order The MAHA Report Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many of us are in the sandwich generation, caring for kids while also caring for aging parents. Caregiving is hard work: it’s physically exhausting when kids are little, and increasingly emotionally exhausting as they get older…meanwhile, elder care can be an intense combination of the two. What if we could reframe caring for others from burdensome slog to hero’s journey? In When We Care, Elissa Strauss leans into research to advocate for a new view of care – one defined by the opportunity to gain wisdom, meaning, and connection. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order https://www.elissastrauss.com/ Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a house with kids of different ages, it can be challenging to sort through what’s appropriate to discuss with whom. Keeping information siloed can create a culture of secrecy within the family unit, but introducing topics before a given kid is developmentally ready can cause its own harms. Then there’s the very predictable (and yes, awkward) scenario of younger kids educating their close friends or fellow passengers on the school bus by sharing overly sophisticated content. Gotta love that phone call from another parent! We dive into all the permutations of what information should be discussed with all kids under one roof and what information is best saved for family “breakout rooms.” Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We can always count on science journalist Melinda Wenner Moyer to delve into the latest research and distill it down to nuggets of wisdom. Chock full of data and analysis, Melinda’s writing ultimately helps us help our kids. Her newest book, Hello, Cruel World!, chronicles how to build coping skills, find connection with others, and cultivate meaningful lives – all of which allows our kids (and ourselves) to stand strong in a turbulent world. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Hello Cruel World! Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicotine… alcohol… prescription drugs… illicit drugs. All of these fall under the overwhelmingly gigantic umbrella of “substances.” Teen experimentation ranges from none to a little to A LOT. And while some of these substances are similar to what was around when we were growing up, others are radically different or brand new. This episode catches everyone up on the current landscape, covering the different classes of drugs, the science of how each affects the body, and how culture impacts use. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 10% off your purchase. Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.  Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/AWKWARD Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kids between 6-12 are generally called pre-tweens and tweens. But some say they’re living in the “forgotten years,” almost as if there’s a lull in development during this time span. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Especially as we understand more about brain development and as puberty starts earlier and earlier. Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, clinical psychologist and author of The Crucial Years, explains why the school-aged years mark an age of opportunity for the in-betweener kids and their parents. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com slash AWKWARD.  New customers can enjoy this special offer of only $1.99 a meal at Everyplate. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started. Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If we had a dollar for every time a kid says “but everyone else is…” Whether about a sleepover, screentime, spring break trip, or a newly-hatched plan to try hang gliding, that phrase puts parents and caregivers in a tough spot. We want our kids to feel included, but at the same time there may be concerns about what they’re hoping to do, have, see, or experience. The decision tree becomes further complicated when a kid lacks reliable information about what the heck is actually going on! This episode offers lots of paths through tackling a request that “everyone” else is doing, including how to make decisions and the conversations that go hand-in-hand.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com slash AWKWARD.  New customers can enjoy this special offer of only $1.99 a meal at Everyplate. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started. Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Teaching kids about their changing bodies is as much about the delivery as it is about the content. Kids thrive when information is delivered with joy in authentic and interactive ways, honoring their natural curiosity and quest for knowledge. Enter Melissa Pintor Carnagey founder of Sex Positive Families and author of the new book for kids Growing Into You.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com slash AWKWARD.  New customers can enjoy this special offer of only $1.99 a meal at Everyplate. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started. Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Educating kids about healthy relationships is a modern phenomenon we can get behind. It makes us cringe to look back on the harmful relationship, sex, and gender tropes we were taught back in the day. This episode takes that hindsight and flips it, offering tools to help kids build their own healthy relationships. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com slash AWKWARD.  New customers can enjoy this special offer of only $1.99 a meal at Everyplate. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started. Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is no secret sauce to raising successful children, but it sure is fascinating to understand some of the elements that result in a family filled with high-achieving siblings. And it raises lots of important questions, too, like: What even is success? When are the sacrifices to reach goals too great? And what do parents ultimately want for their children? New York Times writer and author of The Family Dynamic, Susan Dominus, helps us dive into all these complicated questions. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com slash AWKWARD.  New customers can enjoy this special offer of only $1.99 a meal at Everyplate. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code AWKWARD199 to get started. Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’ve lost track of how many times we get asked when to move on from pediatric care. Some people ask because of personality – usually a clash between parents and doctors – but mostly they ask because they know there’s a time for kids to move on to adult practitioners, they just don’t understand when. In this episode we share details around how pediatric care is different from adult care, why people might stay with their pediatrician a little longer than anticipated, the list of clear reasons why you really should move on, and much more. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fentanyl is a truly terrifying drug because even a tiny amount can be deadly. When fentanyl is added to illicit drugs (like cocaine) and counterfeit prescription “medications” (xanax purchased online, for instance), unknowing users can ingest tiny – but fatal – doses. Listen to the expert advice of Marcia Lee Taylor, strategy advisor to Song for Charlie and the former President and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. She explains not just how fentanyl gets into the drug supply and how it affects the body, but also how to talk about it in ways your kids can hear. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Song for Charlie  Signs of an Overdose Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

April, May, and June are packed with big (and small) celebratory events. While these rites of passage often build wonderful memories, they’re not without complications. This episode offers lots of ways to get ahead of any worries about safety, how to navigate complex family dynamics, and ways to manage our own big emotions. All of this helps us have the important conversations our kids need.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thanks to hormones and rapid brain development, tweens and teens can be explosive, make impulsive decisions, or struggle to get organized. Layer on top of that a brain with ADHD and the picture looks even more complex. To illuminate the interplay of the neurobiological factors of ADHD and puberty is clinical neuropsychologist Karen Wilson, PhD. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Understood.org Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A set of challenges called ACEs – short for Adverse Childhood Experiences – tether directly to all sorts of physical and emotional consequences. These stressors range from violence to food insecurity to natural disasters, outcomes backed by 30 years of research. We’ll explain how, even though the ACEs create their own downstream issues, these aren’t inevitable. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip CDC on ACES Cleveland Clinic on ACES Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At long last! An episode dedicated to how ADHD can impact tweens + teens relationships, romantic lives, and sexual behaviors. Dr. Ari Tuckman 25 years’ working with kids and adults who have ADHD provides a deep understanding of the ways their social interactions can be affected by their differently wired brains. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip understood.org Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to educating kids about sex, reproduction, and all the rest, there’s lots of information out there. What there doesn’t seem to be is a wealth of information about – at least for younger kids on the front end of this learning curve – is a ton of accessible information about the different ways babies can be made. A mom reached out after we spoke at her school, explaining that she used an egg donor and hasn’t talked to her kid about it yet. She’s searched for resources, but can’t find any age-appropriate ones. So, voila! We did a podcast about it. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Answers to so many questions about fertility incoming! How do female and male fertility cycles work? What’s the long-term impact of contraception on fertility? How about STIs? Or autoimmune disease? And what are the arguments for and against freezing eggs at increasingly young ages? We cover it all (and so much more) with reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Jaime Knopman. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Jaime Knopman on Instagram Chick mission Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is so much buzz (and fear) springing from Netflix’s Adolescence. Many are trying to make sense of the heady topics it covers… others have opted to avoid watching altogether. Our advice: It’s must see TV. While its premise is extreme, its themes – social media + tech use, toxic masculinity, bullying, loneliness and more – are universal to today’s youth. There’s no turning a blind eye. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk Order our book This Is So Awkward Understanding Boys with Ruth Whippman Raising a Healthy Gamer with Alok Kanojia 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Resilience is a buzzy word in the world of “good parenting,” but what does resilience even mean and how do adults help kids get there? Psychologist, researcher, and professor Tovah Klein unpacks what resilience truly is and the critical role parents and trusted adults play in building this skill. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Raising Resilience Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The list of things we want or need or hope our kids will do is long and ever-growing. It might start with brushing their teeth twice a day and making their beds, but it inevitably expands to include things like getting themselves out of toxic friendships and calling us when they’re in trouble. Much to our frustration (and even though we know better), we cannot force them to do any of these things. We can nudge, bribe, ask, beg, even yell… this episode covers these and other ways we try to point them in the right direction and eventually empower them to make good choices on their own. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nutrition is the first line of disease prevention. And yet, words like “diet” and even “nutrition” itself are laden, suggesting concerns about body image or eating issues. How to thread the needle? We can teach kids – and re-teach ourselves – the short and long term impacts of what we eat and drink. Maya Feller, registered dietician and nutritionist, shares her strategies, including why teaching this to kids matters for longevity… theirs and ours! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Maya Feller Nutrition  Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are 3 main reasons why someone might travel to get healthcare: (1) there’s no one local who can help, (2) after some sleuthing and you think you’ve found the very best person but they’re located somewhere else, or (3) you’re not even home when you get sick or injured. Whatever the reason, navigating long distance healthcare comes with very predictable pros and cons that most people haven’t thought through.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Mama Bear Legal Forms Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The list of things adults are *supposed* to do in order to support kids can feel overwhelmingly massive. It turns out, a small handful of them help address kids’ worries while quieting our own. And because these steps turn out to be fairly simple, they feel achievable. Ashley Graber and Maria Evans, psychotherapists and authors of Raising Calm Kids in a World of Worry, share this actionable, science-based guidance.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Raising Calm Kids in a World of Worry: Tools to Ease Anxiety and Overwhelm Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Getting a driver’s license was a rite of passage for generations. Now, though, fewer kids are opting in. This episode looks at the reasons why so many teens are skipping over this life skill. And for the ones who do still get behind the wheel, we get into all of the hilarious missteps and critical learnings for their parents.There’s beauty in all the unvarnished failures, useful guidance, and heartfelt realizations we experience during this symbolic – and very real – step towards adulthood. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Choices about sex education, information, and communication can be deeply affected by trauma, especially sexual trauma. And vice versa. This episode explores why the two are connected, and how to break the cycle. We’re in conversation with Melissa Kilbride, an LCSW and certified sex therapist who works with adults and couples to address their own trauma and advocates for sexual health education for kids. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Melissa L. Kilbride & Associates @askable_mama on Instagram Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everything you ever needed to know about testicular emergencies in one episode! Beyond the basics about how they grow and change, it’s important to know when a lump, bump, or complaint warrants a visit to the doctor. We cover it all, from the benign to the worrisome, like cancer. Learn about scrotal rashes, hernias, epididymitis, torsion, and more.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first order Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s easy to connect a headache with a hard day or stomach pain after a fight with a friend. But it is more complicated to grasp the relationship between chronic pain and our reservoir of repressed emotions and traumas. Licensed Clinical Social Worker and author of Mind the Body, Nicole Sachs, joins us to make sense of the connections between physical and emotional pain.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALS Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Middle school and middle schoolers get a really bad rap and their educators are looked upon with sympathy. But what if we flip that narrative on its head and view this stage with excitement? Here to shift the perspective on this transformational age into one of opportunity and wonder is school founder, middle school principal, and author Chris Balme. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The study of microplastics is a rapidly expanding field because they are literally ubiquitous – in our bodies, our oceans, our food. Found everywhere from brains to testicles, from tap water to sea salt, this episode unpacks what we know and what we don’t yet know about the impact of microplastics on the human body.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Your Brain is Full of Microplastics: Are They Harming You? 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When kids misbehave or act out, it’s natural for adults to react with anger, disappointment, punishment, or even disconnection. But struggling kids actually need the opposite – their behavior improves when they feel connection and belonging. Psychologist and lifelong educator Doug Bolton translates decades of experience into actionable, empathic ways forward. His book, Untethered, offers a beautiful path to change the way we all think about dysregulation, community, and raising kids. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip Untethered by Doug Bolton 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adults are baffled, bemused, and slightly horrified by what they hear about teen dating. Our 16-year-old guest, Elle Kristine, helps set the record straight on today’s teen relationships. She uses decidedly modern methods to offer teens relationship advice, like her @AskElle account on TikTok and her AI-based teen dating app. Ultimately, Elle believes that today’s teens are looking for the same things they have always sought in relationships: connection and love.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The language of teen relationships is literally foreign: the glossary-requiring terms they use to describe their romantic lives vary from kid to kid, with little agreement. What do words like “situationship,” “talking” (which isn’t actually talking), and “hook-up” mean? Now layer on the virtual world in general – and social media in particular – and you can feel like you need to get a PhD in the language of young love. Journalist Lisa Phillips, author of First Love, defines it all, ultimately creating a playbook of the realities of youth romance.   Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip First Love by Lisa Phillips  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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It can be increasingly hard to find valid, science-based health guidance in this age of rampant misinformation and now missing information. This episode zooms in on the prevention of pregnancy and STI/STD transmission, one corner of health and sex education that is in the midst of erasure from many government websites. We cover everything from abstinence to barrier methods, hormonal contraception, and IUDs. And if for some reason the content of this podcast gets censored, it’s all in our book: This Is So Awkward! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Head to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchase Get 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARD Visit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from Equip 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Teens can be so brutally honest at some moments and utterly clueless at others. Chip Leighton, the self-described middle aged dad influencer Leighton Show and author of What Time Is Noon, memorializes it all with a hefty dose of barb-filled humor. Chip lays bare a hilarious, unvarnished view into the experience of parenting teenagers. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@the_leighton_show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_leighton_show/ 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parenthood is complicated by a million complex issues, only ramping up in the tween + teen years. Then layer on the common truth that any two people can disagree. Adults bring their own knowledge and history to parenting – their upbringing, temperament, and even values can differ radically, often landing them on different sides of the same question. So what are co-parents to do when they don’t see eye-to-eye on issues like substance use, screen time, clothing choices, or just general independence-seeking? Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Managing Divorce with Adolescents 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Life is messy. Tyler Moore AKA Instagram’s The Tidy Dad helps families declutter not just their physical messes but also their emotional baggage too. Everything from middle school mayhem to toilet bowl hygiene, this episode is chock full of practical advice. But there’s no judgment for those who have a ways to go before they qualify as tidy! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is not a political episode but sex education is a political issue. At the start of a new presidential administration we are already seeing shifts in what can and cannot be taught in schools. Our guest, Jaclyn Friedman, helps clarify the facts and project what the future of sex ed may look like. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why do we double down on a decision even when all evidence points to it being the wrong choice? It’s often thanks to the phenomenon known as cognitive dissonance and its companions: self-justification and memory rewriting. Social psychologist Carol Tavris explains what these words mean, how they play into decision-making, and why adults can’t help but fall into this trap even as their kids get older. This fascinating episode will blow your mind! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Mistakes Were Made (but not by ME) Estrogen Matters 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Year’s resolutions are fine, but goal setting is better. This reframe makes physical and emotional wellness more achievable, for kids as it is for adults. But sometimes, in an effort to get “healthy,” people of all ages develop behaviors that are anything but. This episode opens with our what’s in and what’s out list for 2025 – far more fun than standard resolutions – and offers tips for identifying when health goals turn unhealthy. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Episode on Orthorexia 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One week ago, Los Angeles erupted in flames. Firestorms engulfed entire communities on both the east and west sides of town. Thousands have been displaced, losing not just their homes but their schools, parks, and community gathering spots. In this episode, we cover how to prepare for emergencies – not just the physical items you need to have at the ready, but also the conversations to be had with tweens and teens. It will surprise no one that this is not one talk but many.  Newsletter with LA Resources  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the evolving narrative around motherhood and work, our guest, Neha Ruch, founder of Mother Untitled and author of The Power Pause, is on the frontlines. She emphasizes the diverse choices women make regarding career pauses for family life, highlighting the tradeoff of foregoing one’s professional identity for a period with more time spent with our children. We cover everything from the primacy of adult friendships to “teen-ternity” (pausing when our kids are older), and the significance of planning for career transitions.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Mother Untitled The Power Pause 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kids have different learning styles, sometimes to the pride (or frustration) of their parents. They also have different learning modes, that can shift and change even throughout the day. Journalist Jenny Anderson and education researcher Rebecca Winthrop have created a framework to understand why kids become disengaged learners or unhappy achievers, and how the adults in their lives can help to re-engage, support, and encourage them. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Handling complicated sibling dynamics while managing the adolescent years can be a heavy lift. Having kids at different stages of puberty, not to mention the impact of mood swings on the family, can require very careful navigating. Luckily Dr. Corinna Tucker who specializes in the science of sibling relationships, guests on the podcast to help with all these tricky questions. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Psychology Today blog: the Science of Siblings. 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nick Kroll – the comedian, actor and Big Mouth creator – sits down for an honest, authentic conversation about what life was like as someone late to the puberty party. Nick offers a window into how developing and growing later than his peers affected him in both good and hard ways throughout his life. This is a great episode to listen to with a late bloomer in your life! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Order our book This Is So Awkward 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 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parents juggle so many decisions about their kids’ health – from preventive ones (Should they get that vaccine?) to urgent ones (Do we need to go to the Emergency Room?!) There’s not a singular approach, but pediatrician Dr. Jessica Hochman has a lot to say about how to make the best decisions for your family. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Ask Dr Jessica  The Meg Foundation for Pain 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Telling kids to “suck it up” doesn’t translate into resilient, emotionally healthy kids. But in one of our recent viral videos on our @less.awkward Instagram account, many commenters still espouse that very approach – kids are soft these days; they have toughen up; you’re raising snowflakes; you’re kid isn’t going to be able to cope in the real world… This episode explores the research showing why suck it up parenting doesn’t work nearly as well as empathic parenting.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. IG Reel referenced in 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s a tremendous list of stressors bearing down on teen girls – body image struggles, mental health issues, and academic pressures just to name a few. The key to supporting them is finding ways into connection and conversation. Licensed Clinical Social Worker Cathy Cassani Adams leverages decades of clinical, academic, and personal experience to advise adults on how to reach teen girls. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Restoring Our 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ask a bunch of 6th graders to define “popularity,” and you’ll get as many answers as kids. It’s hard to define – for tweens, teens, and even adults – but popularity can have powerful impacts on friendships and well-being. This episode explores the types of popularity: being well-liked vs powerful. We cover the connection between popularity and social control, intimidation, even bullying. While the topic might transport us back to our middle school days, popularity in both its good and bad forms persists well into adulthood. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She grew up in the rural south, not knowing that her period pain – so intense it sidelined her each month – wasn’t typical. It was only when Dr. Loretta Duggan was in her training in Family and Adolescent Medicine that she put a name on it and got treatment. Now she runs a practice in her home state of Georgia, providing care to adolescents and young adults with joyful delivery of health information and open lines of communication. Our wide ranging conversation covers everything from menstrual health as a vital sign to hormonal therapy to STI prevention, it all boils down to this: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD HER Health Dr. Loretta Duggan 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Australia has just banned social media for kids under the age of 16. This prompts so MANY many questions including: What counts as social media? How will the ban work? Who’s responsible for implementation? Should we have a similar ban in the US? And perhaps most importantly, we explore what is the data (if any) sitting at the root of the ban, including what would be the ideal basis on which to write and enact laws.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Windows of developmental sensitivity to social media Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA") | Federal Trade Commission US state age assurance laws for social media – AVPA What Jonathan Haidt Gets Right… and Wrong 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the last few decades, cultural conversations around sexism have gotten more – not less – complicated. From social media and pervasive beauty culture to slut shaming and toxic masculinity, there’s a lot to manage for kids and adults supporting them. Jo-Ann Finkelstein, clinical psychologist and author of Sex & Sensibility, offers framework and guidance for all of these complex topics. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns To celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout. Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Consent conversations can – and should – start early. So early that they begin around topics that have absolutely nothing to do with sex. We offer ways to apply the lessons of consent to a bunch of different topics in kids’ lives and start a conversation that will happen many different times in many different ways throughout a kid’s life. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: visit PhylaBiotics.com and get 60% off their serum, and the entire 3-step system for only $48. Use the code PUBERTY60. Tea and Consent Video Cycling Through Consent Video Teens and the Law with Jonathan Cristall, Esq. Advice from Famous Sex Educator Shafia Zaloom 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our two mothers have, between them, more than 100 years of parenting experience. They share it all – including lots of lessons learned while raising the two of us and what they love most about being grandparents. And if you’re wondering, the answer is yes, we absolutely ask them about how they talked to us about puberty, sex, teenagers, and all the rest of it. Enjoy this love-filled episode!  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: visit PhylaBiotics.com and get 60% off their serum, and the entire 3-step system for only $48. Use the code PUBERTY60. 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kid’s organizational skills (or lack thereof) can be a huge source of tension and frustration for adults. But executive functioning are skills that can be learned over time – we just have to be patient with brains in progress and dominant limbic systems. And certain challenges, like procrastination, are actually much more complex than they initially seem. Psychologist and executive functioning expert, Dr. Tori Cordiano, joins us back on the podcast. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: visit PhylaBiotics.com and get 60% off their serum, and the entire 3-step system for only $48. Use the code PUBERTY60. Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Dr. Tori Cordiano  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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to college, getting in is only the beginning. The much longer journey includes twists and turns about handling independence, making new friends, managing academic rigor, experiencing loneliness, facing rejection, and finding community. We’re joined by college-life guru and social media megastar Harlan Cohen, who shares his heartfelt guidance for supporting kids through these bumpy times. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Year 13 For Parents on Facebook Best First Year 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fearmongering works for clickbait, but don’t rely on it to pave the way to a great relationship with your kids. There are so many reasons to choose joy over fear, starting with the impacts of non-stop stress causing the body to release cortisol round the clock. This is especially true when toeing into tricky topics. This episode starts with a rant – because any more negativity coming from the world of news will undo us! – and then moves to why + how we opt to make these conversations fun.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD What Teens Need to Know About Sex  Talking to Tweens About Sex What School Aged Kids Need to Know About Sex 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boys need – and deserve – all of the same conversations that girls get (and deserve!): they want to learn about their changing bodies, express their ideas, and make sense of their realities. Clinical psychologist Dr. Chris Miller offers a path forward based on 25 years of working with boys and their families. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD Boys Institute for Growth (BIG) 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should I let my kid play tackle football? That listener question raises a tangle of others, so we set out to address the big ones including: what is a concussion? How they should be treated? When do the prevention strategies or treatments cause their own issues? And why has concussion advice changed so much over time? Getting into conversation with kids about concussions does not have a one-size fits all answer, but this episode offers all the tools you need to help. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s so much research swirling around! From substance use to gaming to porn, the overwhelming number of studies can make raising kids feel overwhelming. Dr. Yalda Uhls founded The Center for Scholars and Storytellers to help make sense of all of this data by bridging the gap between families and tech companies, content creators, and studios. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD  Center for Scholars and Storytellers Media Moms and Digital Dads: A Fact Not Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age  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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lying is normal – literally everyone does it – but it peaks during adolescence. Sometimes they’re 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: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our favorite otolaryngologist, Dr. Nina Shapiro, dropped in to cover all that can go wrong with tween + teen ears, noses, and throats. We talk about everything from piercings to pimples, bloody noses to snoring, and HPV to Herpes. Fun times! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! HYPE: A Doctor’s Guide To Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims and Bad Advice: How to Tell What’s Real and What’s Not The Ultimate Kids’ Guide To Being Super Healthy 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When we speak to kids in schools, we practice what we preach: we are in conversation with them. We learn from them as much as they learn from us. This episode is packed their advice for the adults in their lives. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For anyone who has ever wondered if that much blood is too much blood, this is the episode for you. Pediatric Hematologist, Dr. Kristina Haley, covers a range of bleeding issues from heavy periods and endless nose bloods to clotting disorders and anemia. She explains when it’s time to call in reinforcements. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Click bait headlines change the health decisions we make on a daily basis. This started 20 years ago with press coverage demonizing hormone replacement therapy for women in menopause. Today there’s tons of buzz about the importance of HRT – much of this is thanks to the indefatigable work of Dr. Avrum Bluming. You don’t want to miss this episode! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It can feel like touching the third-rail to even consider talking about masturbation. We get it. Truly. But it’s a healthy — and very important! — part of development for kids to learn what feels good, the autonomy they have over these feelings, and the value of privacy. So take a deep breath. We’re here to help you figure out when and how to begin these conversations.  Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Healthy Gamer” sounds like an oxymoron. But not necessarily according to our guest, psychiatrist Dr. Alok Kanojia, who untangles the upsides from the downsides of video games. Why are kids drawn to gaming? Why is gaming more addictive today than ever before? How does it build community and shape identity? Does it feed into toxic masculinity? And how in the world can parents be in partnership with their kids to develop healthy gaming habits?! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! How to Raise a Healthy Gamer Healthy Gamer 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parents and other trusted adults screw up. We’re human. Not to mention, tween and teen’s time of incredible transformation is a breeding ground for errors – ours and theirs. But it’s also a perfect time to take do-overs, a form of repair that creates connection, builds empathy, and offers grace. Cara and Vanessa share their own shame-inducing mess-ups, including the beautiful positives that emerge out the other side. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can we foster kids' independence while setting limits? This sits at the heart of helping develop their autonomy as they move from childhood to adulthood. We’re joined by an incredible guide for this journey: Dr. Emily Edlynn, licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric health psychology. We promise she makes it fun! Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  Get 10 FREE meals at HelloFresh.com/FREEAWKWARD 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tween and teen brains are like bumpy dirt roads under construction and will be for quite some time! Neuropsychologist Dr. Molly Colvin helps us understand the upsides and downsides of the adolescent brain and offers practical pathways to communicate with and support the kids in our lives. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  For FREE breakfast for life, go to HelloFresh.com/FREETISA. That’s one free breakfast item per box while subscription is active! 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Substance use and abuse is a massive, ongoing conversation with tweens and teens. These layered conversations happen over years. But here’s what they all share in common: at some point – often at many points – most kids find themselves faced with a choice to use or not. So how do we inform and empower them? And when should we be concerned? Dr. Joseph Lee, psychiatrist and CEO of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, shares all. Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  For FREE breakfast for life, go to HelloFresh.com/FREETISA. That’s one free breakfast item per box while subscription is active! 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! Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Monitoring the Future 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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.   Show Notes: Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP  For FREE breakfast for life, go to HelloFresh.com/FREETISA. That’s one free breakfast item per box while subscription is active! 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! 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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/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 [email protected] To submit listener questions email [email protected] Watch the full episode on Youtube! Produced by Peoples Media Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices