The Art of Parenting Jeanne-Marie Paynel, M. Ed.

Is your child's screen time stealing precious moments? Listen in as my guest, Katherine Martinko, shares how to unplug and reclaim childhood.

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What We Talked About: Katherine’s desire to write her book “Childhood Unplugged.”’
The effects of excessive screen time have on our children's development and mental health
Navigating digital media use and fostering offline activities
Setting boundaries around screen time and social media use.
Modeling appropriate use of our digital devices to shape healthy screen habits for our children.
Alternative communication methods and developing human communication skills
Things to Remember “Parenting is about conveying the principles that you believe to be the most important in life to your children and setting them off in the world on the right foot and watching them succeed.”
“The benefits of having a smartphone simply do not outweigh the cons.”
“Handling a smartphone is on par with handling a car. Kids need that level of responsibility and emotional maturity to do it.”
“When you give kids responsibilities around the house, they have less time to hang out in their bedrooms, scroll on their phones, or play video games.”
“We're too caught up with the idea that just because this technology is new and exciting, it is, therefore, good, but we're losing a lot in the process.”
“It is up to us as parents to protect our children from the negative effects of this highly addictive substance the same way that we would limit our children's access to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.”
“We promote better independence in children if you're not surveilling them.”
-Katherine Martinko
“Technology is taking us to a place where children are forgetting to play. We need to rescue childhood.” - Mariana Carazo
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How far would you go to save your child's vision? Listen in as Stephen Johnston shares his mission to fight blindness for his son and thousands of others.

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It’s hard to imagine losing one sight, and even more heartbreaking to discover that your child is. My guest today is a father on a mission to find a cure not only for his child but all persons affected by the onset of blindness. 
What We Talked About: The Precursor of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome
How Steve's parenting approach changed after his son's diagnosis
Steve's journey in creating a nonprofit organization, "A Race Against Blindness"
The importance of mental toughness and perseverance
How Steve and his family found strength and resilience in the face of adversity
Things to Remember “Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Anything can happen at any given time.”

“Everybody can make a difference. It doesn't matter how many or how few resources anyone has. Everybody can make a difference.”
“Start doing things that might prepare your children for challenges.”
“Make sure you have a support network for you and the kids, and you’ll be able to get through whatever it is.”
“Challenges are coming for all of us at some point or another, and the more we prepare ourselves to face those head-on as they happen, the better off we are.”
-Stephen Johnston
 
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Do you have difficulty overcoming past trauma to start living the life you desire? Tune in to listen to Karena’s transformative insights.
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The negative stories we tell ourselves can be quite damaging to our well-being. My guest today shares how to move beyond so we can rise above the story to live a fulfilling life. 
What We Talked About: Why Karena felt compelled to share her story in her book
Her 3-step process to healing from trauma
Why, as parents, it’s crucial to have self-awareness
How to break free from negative self-talk
The unwanted ripple effects of trauma
How to find joy even in difficult times
Things to Remember “Parenting is taking responsibility to cultivate a self-awareness around our past trauma.”
“What our brain does in the face of trauma is that it tries to keep us safe by writing these stories that keep us in a little box.”
“We have the power to heal. We’re just afraid to do it.”
“There is more for us than just the pain we carry around.”
“We are all here to experience joy and happiness.”
“The powerful notion of honoring your emotions and feeling them in real time goes a long way toward mental and emotional well-being.”
– Karena Kilcoyne
 “Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” – Brené Brown.
 
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Do you struggle with digital consumption, whether you or your children in your home? Listen in and learn what we now know about how technology impacts our children.

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 I’m concerned about technology's effects on our children’s developing brains. Today, I spoke with Forest Bronzan, a father leading global initiatives, so we can better understand how technology impacts our lives and our children.
What We Talked About: How technology is changing and impacting the way we raise our children.
The challenges we face in navigating social media
How parents can have open conversations with their children about technology use.
Teaching children critical thinking skills to help them evaluate the information they encounter online.
Setting healthy boundaries around technology use at home.
What is your DORA Score?
Things to Remember “Parenting is being nimble to navigate an ever-changing world, and in many cases, that's technology.”
“Start early, have conversations at an early age with your children on what your family values are but also with your community.”
“The biggest challenge is that high schoolers aren't aware of the negative influences on the internet.”
“Parents need to pay closer attention to how their children learn about the world.”
“We need to look at ourselves... We need to model the behavior ourselves.”
“There's a lot of challenges and a lot that we don't know yet about the effectiveness of learning apps.”
“There hasn't been a single study showing a positive benefit of social media before high school.”
“Try to put the phone down as much as possible during those first few years and spend time with your child.”
“Time goes by so fast. You don't want to miss those magical years checking a notification.”
- Forest Bronzan
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What if the teenage years weren't something to fear but a breakthrough opportunity for growth? Listen in as my guest, Ellen Galinsky, unveils a fresh approach.

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Adolescence is a transformative and extremely important time in human development. In her latest book, The Breakthrough Years, Ellen Galinsky shares what the research and adolescents need us to understand.
What We Talked About: What adolescents want us to know about them What exactly are executive function skills, and why are they so crucial to children's development What can parents do to help their children develop executive function skills? Why turning conflicts into opportunities for learning is critical for all Agreeing and setting clear expectations with your children and leaving room for  mistakes Things to Remember “Parents grow and change in parenthood just like children grow and change.”
"Executive function skills are the building blocks for setting goals, perspective-taking, communicating, collaborating, and problem-solving. They are fundamental to life."
“Don't fix it for the child; instead, help them learn the skills to fix it for themselves.”
“We need to make mistakes. Making mistakes isn't a mistake. It's the way we learn.”
“We learn by trial and error, particularly in teenage years.”
“The most important thing we can do as parents is to help our children find their passion.” 
“Adolescents are learning to be brave.”
“We need to help them be creators. Not Consumers.”
“Young people who do best in the world have something they care about beyond themselves.”
- Ellen Galinsky
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Do you ever wonder how negative early life experiences shape our children’s minds? Listen in as my guest, Marc Hauser explains the effect of early childhood trauma and what we can do about it.

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I know how impressionable young brains are and have always been fascinated with the concept of the absorbent mind. Yet, in this episode, we go a little deeper into understanding how early childhood traumas affect brain development. It was not an easy conversation, but an important one nonetheless.
What We Talked About: What compelled Marc to write about early childhood traumas in ‘Vulnerable Minds’
The impact of trauma on children's overall development
The different types of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and how they can affect children differently.
The Adverse Ts framework.
Creating safe environments for children to heal
Traumatic signatures and how they shape children's responses to adversity.
Ways to help children develop resilience and cope with adversity.
Things to Remember “We need to understand both the nature of experiences and the nature of the responses.”
“The earlier adversity occurs, the more likely the damage will occur because the brain is in a fragile state of development.”
“The essence of the magic comes from building trusting relationships.”
“How you help a child who's been abused is different from how you help a child who's been neglected.”
“Different kinds of traumatic experiences can greatly delay the natural development of certain kinds of cognitive, social, and emotional skills.” 
“Stress will derail three key parts of learning: Attention, Short-Term Memory, and Self-Regulation.”
“It’s important to recognize that many parents have their own history of traumatic experiences.” 
- Marc Hauser
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