Blog
Analog Childhoods, AI, and the Search for a Sane Middle Ground
On this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I talk about a parenting trend gaining traction online that sounds wonderful in theory: the analog childhood. Parents are talking about no-phone summers, screen-free weekends, delaying smartphones, and...
Gray Area Drinking: When Alcohol Stops Serving You
There's a strange thing about alcohol in our culture. It can be so woven into everyday life that we barely notice it. We drink at weddings and football games. We drink on vacation. We drink on boats. We drink with friends. And somewhere along the way, we also started...
Helping Your Teen Build a Healthy Relationship With Food
Food should be one of the simplest things in our lives. We're hungry. We eat. We're full. We stop. Except...that's not really how it works, is it? By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have collected decades' worth of messages about food and our bodies. Eat this....
Intentional Parenting: What Leadership Can Teach Us About Raising Kids
Most of us don’t walk into parenthood with a leadership plan. We may spend years learning how to lead at work. We attend trainings, receive feedback, set goals, identify our values, and learn how to communicate with the people around us. Then we become parents and...
Should My Child Have an E-Bike? What Every Parent Should Consider
Every once in a while, a new trend comes along that feels impossible to ignore. This summer, at least where I live, that trend has been e-bikes. They seem to be everywhere. Kids are riding them through neighborhoods, on trails, and across busy intersections, often...
What Kids Wish Divorced Parents Knew: Advice From a 19-Year-Old
Before we even started recording this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, our guest, 19-year-old Tilghman Grim, told me he agreed to come on the podcast because he believes in the exchange of ideas. That immediately told me we were in for a thoughtful conversation,...
What Thousands of Families Have Taught Me About Parenting
I've been thinking today about what an incredible privilege my career has been. Most of us grow up knowing our own family from the inside. We know a handful of other families through friends or relatives, but we don't often get to see the incredible variety of ways...
Why the Butterfly? The Story Behind the Teen Savvy Coaching Butterfly Logo
If you've spent any time on my website, listened to the podcast, or followed Teen Savvy Coaching on social media, you've probably noticed the butterfly. People occasionally ask why I chose it as the logo for a business that helps parents of teens and tweens. The...
High-Conflict Co-Parenting: How to Reclaim Your Power and Protect Your Kids
Co-parenting can require compromise even when two parents generally respect one another. When the relationship is contentious, however, almost every interaction can become part of a larger power struggle. A late pickup is no longer just a late pickup. A missing...
The Power of Feeling Seen: Helping Kids Know They Matter
One of my favorite questions to ask parents is this: What do you want your child to believe about themselves when they leave your home? This week on Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I had an incredible conversation with Joe Vercellino, founder of The Lionheart...
Why Chores Are Important for Kids (Even When They Complain)
If asking your child to empty the dishwasher feels like launching a major negotiation, you're not alone. Chores are one of the most common sources of conflict in families, especially as children get older. While it can be tempting to give up and do everything...
Connecting with Teen Boys: Building Strong Relationships During the Adolescent Years
If you've ever wondered where your sweet little boy disappeared to once adolescence arrived, you're not imagining the change. Many parents experience grief as their sons become quieter, more independent, and less interested in hugs, conversations, or family time. In...
When Did Youth Sports Stop Being Fun? Helping Kids Thrive Without the Pressure
If you've spent any time at a youth sporting event lately, you've probably noticed something. The kids are playing. The parents are competing. In this week's episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I sat down with communication expert, author, and former...
Representation Matters: Helping Neurodivergent Kids Find Where They Belong
Sometimes the problem isn't the child. Sometimes the environment is wrong. In this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped Melissa and I sat down with Lynn and Jon Greenberg, creators of The Creative Cab Company children's books, to talk about dyslexia, ADHD, advocacy,...
Getting Real About Fatherfood
Let's get real about fatherhood and it has a way of making us think about the people who shaped us. Sometimes it's the big memories that come to mind. The family vacations. The milestones. The moments that ended up in photo albums. But more often, it's the ordinary...
The CALM Approach: Raising Kids Differently Than You Were Raised
Many parents reach a moment where they realize they're responding to their children in ways that feel familiar, even when those responses aren't aligned with the parent they want to be. Maybe you hear your own parents' words coming out of your mouth. Maybe you find...
What ADHD Really Looks Like in Kids and Teens
When most people think about ADHD, they picture a child bouncing off the walls or struggling to sit still in class. But ADHD is so much more complex than that. In this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I sat down with child psychiatrist, Dr. Chad...
What Teens Really Need From Parents: Insights From a 19-Year-Old TEDx Speaker
As parents, we spend so much time trying to help our teens succeed that sometimes we accidentally create pressure instead of connection. In this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I sat down with 19-year-old TEDx speaker and Cloud9 founder Sonia...
What Parents Need to Know About Healthy Sleep Environments
When parents think about helping their teens sleep better, we usually focus on routines first. Bedtimes. Screens. Melatonin. White noise. Sleep schedules. But in this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I explored something many of us rarely think...
Why So Many Teens Struggle With Math Anxiety And What Parents Can Do About It
If your teen melts down during math homework, avoids math altogether, or insists they’re “just bad at math,” you are far from alone. In this week’s Parenting Shrink Wrapped episode, we sat down with Dr. Aditya Nagrath, founder of Elephant Learning Mathematics Academy,...
The Truth About Mom Guilt, Mother’s Day, and the Invisible Mental Load
What is mom guilt, really? Mom guilt is that feeling that no matter what you’re doing… it’s not enough. It’s not always about something you did wrong. Sometimes it’s just the quiet fear that you’re not getting it right. In this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, we...
Analog Childhoods, AI, and the Search for a Sane Middle Ground
On this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I talk about a parenting trend gaining traction online that sounds wonderful in theory: the analog childhood. Parents are talking about no-phone summers, screen-free weekends, delaying smartphones, and...
Gray Area Drinking: When Alcohol Stops Serving You
There's a strange thing about alcohol in our culture. It can be so woven into everyday life that we barely notice it. We drink at weddings and football games. We drink on vacation. We drink on boats. We drink with friends. And somewhere along the way, we also started...
Helping Your Teen Build a Healthy Relationship With Food
Food should be one of the simplest things in our lives. We're hungry. We eat. We're full. We stop. Except...that's not really how it works, is it? By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have collected decades' worth of messages about food and our bodies. Eat this....
Intentional Parenting: What Leadership Can Teach Us About Raising Kids
Most of us don’t walk into parenthood with a leadership plan. We may spend years learning how to lead at work. We attend trainings, receive feedback, set goals, identify our values, and learn how to communicate with the people around us. Then we become parents and...
Should My Child Have an E-Bike? What Every Parent Should Consider
Every once in a while, a new trend comes along that feels impossible to ignore. This summer, at least where I live, that trend has been e-bikes. They seem to be everywhere. Kids are riding them through neighborhoods, on trails, and across busy intersections, often...
What Kids Wish Divorced Parents Knew: Advice From a 19-Year-Old
Before we even started recording this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, our guest, 19-year-old Tilghman Grim, told me he agreed to come on the podcast because he believes in the exchange of ideas. That immediately told me we were in for a thoughtful conversation,...
What Thousands of Families Have Taught Me About Parenting
I've been thinking today about what an incredible privilege my career has been. Most of us grow up knowing our own family from the inside. We know a handful of other families through friends or relatives, but we don't often get to see the incredible variety of ways...
Why the Butterfly? The Story Behind the Teen Savvy Coaching Butterfly Logo
If you've spent any time on my website, listened to the podcast, or followed Teen Savvy Coaching on social media, you've probably noticed the butterfly. People occasionally ask why I chose it as the logo for a business that helps parents of teens and tweens. The...
High-Conflict Co-Parenting: How to Reclaim Your Power and Protect Your Kids
Co-parenting can require compromise even when two parents generally respect one another. When the relationship is contentious, however, almost every interaction can become part of a larger power struggle. A late pickup is no longer just a late pickup. A missing...
The Power of Feeling Seen: Helping Kids Know They Matter
One of my favorite questions to ask parents is this: What do you want your child to believe about themselves when they leave your home? This week on Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I had an incredible conversation with Joe Vercellino, founder of The Lionheart...
Why Chores Are Important for Kids (Even When They Complain)
If asking your child to empty the dishwasher feels like launching a major negotiation, you're not alone. Chores are one of the most common sources of conflict in families, especially as children get older. While it can be tempting to give up and do everything...
Connecting with Teen Boys: Building Strong Relationships During the Adolescent Years
If you've ever wondered where your sweet little boy disappeared to once adolescence arrived, you're not imagining the change. Many parents experience grief as their sons become quieter, more independent, and less interested in hugs, conversations, or family time. In...
When Did Youth Sports Stop Being Fun? Helping Kids Thrive Without the Pressure
If you've spent any time at a youth sporting event lately, you've probably noticed something. The kids are playing. The parents are competing. In this week's episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I sat down with communication expert, author, and former...
Representation Matters: Helping Neurodivergent Kids Find Where They Belong
Sometimes the problem isn't the child. Sometimes the environment is wrong. In this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped Melissa and I sat down with Lynn and Jon Greenberg, creators of The Creative Cab Company children's books, to talk about dyslexia, ADHD, advocacy,...
Getting Real About Fatherfood
Let's get real about fatherhood and it has a way of making us think about the people who shaped us. Sometimes it's the big memories that come to mind. The family vacations. The milestones. The moments that ended up in photo albums. But more often, it's the ordinary...
The CALM Approach: Raising Kids Differently Than You Were Raised
Many parents reach a moment where they realize they're responding to their children in ways that feel familiar, even when those responses aren't aligned with the parent they want to be. Maybe you hear your own parents' words coming out of your mouth. Maybe you find...
What ADHD Really Looks Like in Kids and Teens
When most people think about ADHD, they picture a child bouncing off the walls or struggling to sit still in class. But ADHD is so much more complex than that. In this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I sat down with child psychiatrist, Dr. Chad...
What Teens Really Need From Parents: Insights From a 19-Year-Old TEDx Speaker
As parents, we spend so much time trying to help our teens succeed that sometimes we accidentally create pressure instead of connection. In this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I sat down with 19-year-old TEDx speaker and Cloud9 founder Sonia...
What Parents Need to Know About Healthy Sleep Environments
When parents think about helping their teens sleep better, we usually focus on routines first. Bedtimes. Screens. Melatonin. White noise. Sleep schedules. But in this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Melissa and I explored something many of us rarely think...
Why So Many Teens Struggle With Math Anxiety And What Parents Can Do About It
If your teen melts down during math homework, avoids math altogether, or insists they’re “just bad at math,” you are far from alone. In this week’s Parenting Shrink Wrapped episode, we sat down with Dr. Aditya Nagrath, founder of Elephant Learning Mathematics Academy,...
The Truth About Mom Guilt, Mother’s Day, and the Invisible Mental Load
What is mom guilt, really? Mom guilt is that feeling that no matter what you’re doing… it’s not enough. It’s not always about something you did wrong. Sometimes it’s just the quiet fear that you’re not getting it right. In this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, we...