The Greta Eskridge Podcast Greta Eskridge & Christian Parenting

In this episode I talk about how to create a healthy sexual culture in your home. Creating a healthy sexual culture falls under the umbrella of parenting in the digital age and protecting our kids from porn, because there are so many ways the digital world offers our kids an unhealthy to downright dangerous view of sexuality. Of course, pornography is right up there on the list. 
Some key takeaways from this episode here: 
*If our kids are growing up in a world that is trying to offer them an unhealthy and dangerous view of sex, it is our job to show them the opposite of that. 
*Your kids have questions about sex, even if they’re not asking them. Create a culture where they can ask you anything. Be their Google! 
*Let’s raise kids who aren’t afraid of God’s good gift of sex, but also have a healthy respect for God’s plan for it. 
*The message of the world is that “sex is everything” and “sex is nothing”. What a confusing world for our kids to grow up in. 
*Our kids need help to see themselves and all people in the world around them as fully human, to cherish and uphold, not objectify, or dismiss. *Read my article about objectification here. 
*Teach your kids that sex and their sexual body parts are  not shameful.  
*Use real, anatomically correct language for all the body parts. 
*Books to read with your littles on these topics  
God Made All of Me 
God Made Me In His Image  
*Creating a healthy sexual culture is an investment in our children’s future.  
*A healthy sexual outlook can help protect your kids from porn because it shines the light of truth in the darkness.  
*“Like it or not, we either add to the darkness of indifference and out-and-out evil which surrounds us, or we light a candle to see by.” Madeleine L’Engle 
 
Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast. And I’d be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating and a short review of the podcast. 
Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 
Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  
I love you guys! 
Greta 

This is the 4th episode in a month long series on Parenting in the Digital Age and Protecting Our Kids from Porn. In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking with Megan Michelson, of Birds and Bees. Birds and Bees exists to equip and empower parents to have healthy and comfortable conversations with their kids about sex.  
In this episode, Megan and I discuss how things could be so different if parents knew how to talk to their kids about sex in this healthy way. 
Here are some key takeaways from our conversation: 
*We don’t have to be afraid of these conversations--2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 
*Remember, the story of sex is good news! 
*The world wants to shout out a bad story, but we have a good story to tell! 
*We need to talk to our kids pornography just like we speak to them about every other danger in their life: be careful crossing the street, touching the stove etc. 
*Your kids need to know they can ask you anything instead of googling it. 
*This is the number one safe search tip! Be their google! 
*For kids under 10: 
*Kids have a God given curiosity about sexual things and that is not a bad thing. 
*Use anatomically correct words for body parts. These are not bad words and these are not bad parts! 
*Answer tough questions like this: “That is a great question and I am so glad you asked that.” 
*For kids 11+ 
*Be direct and have honest and open conversations. 
*Bring up these topics and stories at the dinner table. Discuss as a family. 
*Be a safe landing spot for them even if you are uncomfortable. 
*The Lord has equipped you for the children you have! 
 
Find more from Birds and Bees here. 
Find the amazing course at Birds and Bees here. 
Get 20% off the Birds and Bees course by using the code GRETA20. 
Find the course here. 
 
Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast, and give it a five-star rating. I’d also be so very grateful if you leave a review of the podcast wherever you listen. Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 
Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  
I love you guys! 
Greta 
 

This is episode 3 in a month-long series on Parenting in the Digital Age and Protecting our Kids from Pornography. In this episode, I share practical tips for talking to our kids of any age about pornography and helping them develop a “porn plan”—that is a way to respond to pornography exposure as quickly and safely as possible. 
Some other key takeaways from this episode are: 
*We are built for connection and few things cause greater disconnection than pornography. 
*Corrie ten Boom said there is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still. I’d add, even the pit of pornography. 
* Pornography is a health crisis. It impacts the very body, the mind and the very soul of the person who is consuming it. 
* Pornography is not just a male issue. It is a human issue. It impacts every one of us—man, woman, boy and girl. 
* Conversation is the number one tool in keeping our kids safe from pornography. Routers, software, and parental controls are important, but if your kids can’t talk to you when those things fail, then all the safeguards you have put into place mean nothing. 
*Your littles need a definition of what porn is, but give them the least amount of information needed to keep them safe. 
*Tell them: “Porn is bad for your body, brain and heart. I want to keep you safe!” 
*We want to talk to our kids before they are exposed to pornography. That is why we begin these conversations when they are around the age of 5, 6 or 7 years old. 
*Your middles need to know that porn is dangerous, and they need a way out if they see it. Give them an escape plan. 
*Help them see porn impacts their brain and heart by explaining what objectification is. Read my article here for help. 
*They don’t need a smart phone. They need a safe phone! 
*Check out Gabb phones and use my code GRETA for a discount. 
*Also look at this article for more safe phone choices. 
*Your teens need you to discuss porn with them even if you never have before. Now is the time! 
*Also discuss topics like sexting, nudes, and sextortion. Do they know what to do if they are in those situations? 
*Delay social media for as long as possible with teens. Not before 16 and I suggest waiting until after high school. 
 
*Your young adults don’t need you to preach to them but rather to invite them into conversations on this topic.  
*My challenge to you: have the first conversation about pornography with your kids this week! 
*And look for tickets to my online seminar on protecting kids from porn happening in May! 
Books I recommend in this episode: 
*Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. 
*Good Pictures Bad Pictures 
*How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography 
*Chasing Love 
*A Students Guide to Culture 
*Website: Fight the New Drug 
  
Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast, and I’d be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating of the podcast and also a quick review.  
Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 
Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  
I love you guys! 
Greta 
 
 

This month I am doing a series on a series on Parenting in the Digital Age and Taking Steps to Protect Our Kids from Porn. This is the second part of my two-part interview with Chris McKenna. Chris is the founder of the amazing organization Protect Young Eyes. 
 
In this episode we are talking about an idea that Chris often shares with parents: delay is the way! 
Here is some more of our conversation: 
*No parent ever says “I’ve failed as a parent because I gave my kid snapchat too late.” 
*Chris shares this quote from Dr. Mitchell Princstein, chief science officer of the American Psychological Association, “there are no findings showing harm to children who stay off of social media, in fact, some emerging evidence suggests that the most socially competent kids are refraining from using these platforms.” 
*Chris suggests waiting until high school for a smart phone. 
*I suggest waiting until after high school for social media. 
*“May we raise kids who don’t have to recover from their childhood.” Pam Leo 
*Chris shares tips for parenting in the digital age with our littles, middles and teens. 
*For littles: Get a router that will help prevent early accidental exposure. The router is your guard! Use it! Everything you need to know about routers from Chis found here. 
*For middles: Build that relational connection Have conversations that assure them no matter what happens they can land softly and safely with you!  
*Use parental control software on all devices (learn more about those here)  
*Give them a plan for what to do if they see pornography or other problematic things in the digital space. More on that in episode 8! 
*For teens: Keep talking! Almost annoy your kids with the frequency of these convos! 
Where to find more help from Chris? 
Website here 
 
Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast and I’d be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating of the podcast and write a quick review.  
Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 
Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  
I love you guys! 
Greta 

This month I am doing a series on Parenting in the Digital Age and Taking Steps to Protect Our Kids from Porn. I kick of the series with a two-part interview with one of my personal heroes, Chris McKenna. Chris is the founder of the amazing organization Protect Young Eyes, whose mission is to show families, schools, and churches how to create safe digital spaces.  
In this episode, Chris and I talk about: 
*the quiet that is missing from the lives of children today.   
*the need to parent with empathy and compassion. 
*that it’s tough to raise kids right now, and it’s hard to be a kid right now. 
*our kids need to know we are on their team in this digital journey.  
*where digital trust is high, digital friction is low. 
*we need to stay calm when we’re talking to our kid about porn  
*we need to stay calm when we’re talking to them after they’ve seen porn. 
*we need to respond like Jesus, with grace and truth. (John 1:7) 
*the truth that porn is bad for them and that we must protect them and the grace for their mistake. 
*a child needs to know 2 things after he’s made a mistake: am I going to be OK and are you still OK with me? 
*parents have to do their own work in preparation for these moments. This is part of parenting in the digital age. 
*read the blog post where I talk to my daughter about the inappropriate half time show here. 
Be sure to come back for part two next week! 
 
Don’t forget to like and subscribe to this podcast, and I’d be so very grateful if you leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.  
Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 
Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  
I love you guys! 
Greta 

In this episode of the Greta Eskridge podcast, I get to talk to the queen of books herself, Sarah Mackenzie. Sarah is a wife and a homeschooling mom to six kids. Three are in college and 3 are still at home. In her spare time (ha!) she is also the creator of the fabulous Read Aloud Revival podcast, the author of two beloved books, Teaching From Rest and The Read Aloud Family, the founder of the boutique publishing house Waxwing Books and author of three children’s books. This is why I say she had a reading empire! Sarah is an amazing lady and just so much fun to talk to. True to form, I get teary eyed in this episode. But talking books and connection will do that to me. Also, in this episode you can hear Sarah and I not able to do math. We talk about books, not math problems, so what do you expect? This episode is chock full of so many great book titles with you. We like to say we sling around book titles like ninjas. Get ready! 
Here's some more of what we talked about: 
Sarah tells us she loves roller coasters. She recently rode one 6 times in a row and read her kindle while in line. 
This quote by Andrew Pudewa launched Sarah deep into the world of reading aloud with her kids: the best way to help kids become better communicators is to read aloud a ton and memorize poetry. 
Sarah noticed that reading aloud didn’t just make a positive impact on her kids academically, but there was a relational impact happening too. 
She noticed as her kids were growing up and sometimes she and they were at odds with each other, reading aloud put her and her kids on the same side of the fence. 
Sarah says: reading aloud is a powerful way to connect with our kids in a really noisy world. 
Its simple, free, quick: that’s a lot of dividends from a small investment. 
We learn that audio books count every bit as much as reading a book with pages. 
And we learn that data says whether they read early or late, by 8th grade most kids are at about the same reading level if kids are being exposed to good books all along. 
No need to fear if you have a late reader! 
I’ve had 3 myself. 
 
And here is the list of all the books we discussed together. 
Each one is linked so you can see the cover and even put it in your cart if you want to! 
For the younger kids: 
Buffalo Fluffalo 
Jonas Hanway’s Scurrilous, Scandalous, Shockingly, Sensational Umbrella 
Sheep in a Jeep 
Morris the Moose Goes to School 
For the middle grades: 
Umbrella Mouse 
Note: there is some mild language in this book and the ones below. Sarah and I both feel that mild curse words said in a British accent don’t feel troubling to us, but handle it as you wish. All Creatures Great and Small (children’s version and beloved by my kids) 
All Creatures Great and Small (book for middle grades and up) 
All Creatures Great and Small (show) 
 
Adventures with Waffles 
Astrid the Unstoppable 
Pipi Longstocking 
Chronicles of Narnia (a must have for every library) 
Tuesdays at the Castle 
Vanderbeekers 
Penderwicks 
For the teens: 
Glitch 
Screwtape Letters 
Surprised by Joy 
Find out more about book clubs for kids and grownups in Greta’s book: Adventuring Together 
Sarah tells us she is chasing joy by playing a new board game with her family called : Seven Wonders 
You can find all of Sarah’s endeavors in the links at the top of these show notes. You’ll want to follow her and glean all the book goodness she has to share! 
 
Don’t forget to like and subscribe to this podcast, and I’d be so very grateful if you leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.  
Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 
Thank you for listening and being part of my team. 
I love you guys! 
Greta