The Blissful Parenting Podcast

Are board games too old to play? Board games are not just for post-thanksgiving, reunions or just for occasions, it is a game for families to play. Why is it important to take back board games to our family time? How can families benefit from playing board games together? Steven Lentz, the author of the book The Guide to (Board) Gaming: Getting Past Candy Land, talks about the benefits of playing board games as a family. Do you have no idea about what board games work for your family? Michelle & Steven will give us some board games ideas and recommendations that you can play during your family time. It is the time to think about having a game night in your home - it’s a great opportunity for your family to enjoy and learn at the same time. “The goal is to make board games a safe place for your kids, and not just safe but fun and enjoyable. Taking the game framework and molding it to your kids will change how they interact with, and bring them back to the table again for more.” - Steven Lentz

We often see our kids with these devices in front of their faces all the time. We are worried that they might lose interest in a lot of other important things because of this. Parents, it is now more vital than ever to get our kids back into the natural world to expand their minds, and let them learn how to connect and communicate with others. This is one of the many reasons why camps are so important to be there for our kids. With powerful principles, Kathy Farley has taught many young adult leaders about the true essence of leadership. Kathy’s 650 trained leaders have served more than 350,000 young adults. In this episode, she talks about her book Krushing It!, and how camps help grow and nurture the next generation of leaders. Don’t miss her inspiring story on how she ended up being the owner of the huge summer camp in Southern California as a single mom. “It (camps) promotes self esteem, they learn a sense of community, they learn a sense of commitment and connection which is so lacking these days. Their connectivity with one another, as well as their confidence just booms. The things that they were afraid of when they stepped off the bus on Monday are no longer a fear by Friday.” - Kathy Farley

Bullying is very rampant in our society. Unfortunately, it has been part of schools for many years. Getting our kids bullied is something that we are really worried about. We all know its danger - it can tear our kids apart. How about the bullies? Have you been called in school because your kid was engaged in bullying? Is there something we can do to make them stop? Suzanne Jean is on the mission of stopping bullying by creating healthy, confident kids that have no need to control other people to meet their needs. In this episode, she will shed us some light on why bullying exists, and how we can stop it by not just taking care of the bullied, but by taking care of the bullies as well. Suzanne also talks about her unique anti-bullying program called PowerEd, where she teaches self-defense to a bully. Sounds odd to you? Listen and understand why Suzanne created this unique and amazing program. “I can't stress this enough that to deal with bullying, you have to acknowledge it as being there. It's amazing how conflict-averse people are, they don't want to deal with it. You've got to acknowledge it, and it takes having everybody involved to be part of the solution.” - Suzanne Jean

There’s a lot of things going on with the lives of our teenagers - physically, emotionally, socially and psychologically. This is a crucial time to have a conversation with them, and know what’s going on with their lives. How can we best support our teens right now? How can we start a conversation that would make them feel heard, understood and valued? The best way to be able to do that is to have courageous conversations with them. What does it mean? "Teen Genie", Elizabeth Bennett, will walk us through some ways on how we can connect and understand our teens as much as we can, so we can help them build self-confidence and create resiliency. NOW is the best time to start courageous conversations with your kids, and be their safe haven in this difficult time. “That's the space that kids really appreciate, if they feel like they're being valued, if they feel like they're being listened to, and they're worth something. In the trauma that they're facing right now, it's mind blowing… So that's where the conversations are going to be important - to find out what's going on with them, and asking not necessarily always questions, but engaging in extensions of conversation.” - Elizabeth Bennett

Parents who have children with special needs, oftentimes don't know where to go when they need support. Where can parents of children with special needs find support for their child and for themselves? Why is it important to act as soon as you recognize that there is something different about your child? In this episode, Dr. Rolanda Fabien talks about the ways that parents can advocate for their children, and how advocating helps parents to take care of themselves and do a better job as parents. Parents, you’re the expert in guiding your child. It doesn't take training to know your child, your child is your training. Learn how you can be a strong voice for your child to get the services they deserve and need. “I want to make sure that my children have access to every opportunity as they're going through life, so that when they become adults, they become contributing members of this larger society…That's the number one goal of a parent to raise a child who is successful, who is independent, who's able to take care of themselves. That all starts at the early stage of getting the right help and the right support for them and for you as a parent.” - Dr. Rolanda Fabien

There's a lot of judgement when kids have behavioral problems. We can’t always expect kids to respond in a senseful way. Most of the time, a kid's initial reaction is crying, freaking out or panicking, especially when they’re in an uncomfortable situation. In this episode, Dr. Anne Katona Linn will help us establish a secure environment for our kids, by making them feel safe and by helping them identify their own emotions. Are you having difficulty taming your kids' temper? Here’s the 3 ultimate strategies to calm the stress storm in your home. Dr. Anne also talks about her book, Shedding Lies: Living Beyond Childhood trauma, and why parents should prioritize taking care of themselves first. “We want to help a child regulate their own emotions. We can't do that unless we're regulating our own emotions.” - Dr. Anne Katona Linn

Death is one of the big taboo things people never like to talk about, on the contrary, it is something that we SHOULD be talking about! We’re not here forever. Just like how we should be prepared for the birth of our child, we should also be prepared for our death in the same way. We wouldn’t like to leave our families in agony, leaving them grieving, and at the same time leaving them clueless about how they should handle all of those countless things we left. Susan Brown is on the journey of helping families have peace of mind. She created the Peace of Mind Blueprint to help you prepare everything you need to enrich yours and your family's lives with peace of mind. Also, she created Peace Of Mind Ultimate Bundle to help you get all of your stuff organized in one place. Listen to Susan as she talks about the practical ways to help you reduce or even prevent unnecessary compounded suffering (UCS). “Nobody likes to talk about it, but we're not here forever. For me that doesn't put me into a rabbit hole of worry, but a rabbit hole of gratitude…If it's true gratitude, it propels us to movement, to do something bigger than ourselves, and initiate leaving that legacy that lives beyond generations. This piece of blueprint is the first step to that. You get to actually be here with your loved ones, even when you're not here.” - Susan Brown

Every parent grew up in a different family culture. We have different opinions and values on how we will raise our kids. Our parenting style may diffe from our spouse. So, how can parents with different values and styles learn to work together in raising their kids? Relationship expert, Figs O’Sullivan talks about how our family relationships growing up, impact how we parent or set our triggers. He also dives into how parents can use empathy to connect with their kids. We should not let our differences confuse and stress out our kids. We should work together and make our kids feel sure and secure. “I encourage parents to be cultural anthropologists.. Study your own family culture, understand what those values were and see that they're not universally true…One isn't necessarily right or wrong, they just come from different cultures. You're going to get together, and create your own culture.” - Figs O’Sullivan

A lot of kids felt like they were being silenced and they’re unheard - making them feel unimportant. These are just some of the reasons why parents are struggling about getting their kids to talk to them. We want to feel connected to them. We want to know what’s happening to them. So, how can we connect to our kids and get them to talk to us? Our guest, Jackie Bailey founded The Speak Lead Project to help children, youth and adults to Speak with power, Feed others in word and deed, and Lead with positivity. Together with Michelle, Jackie emphasizes the importance of listening to our kids, giving them the time to talk and express themselves. She also gives us some tips on how we can prove to our kids that they’re important and we want to hear them. Let’s start communicating with our kids in a much better way. “That's really counterproductive when we don't give kids the chance to talk about what really matters to them…They do have important things they want to talk about, and their opinions matter just as much as ours do, probably even more in some cases…They have their own experiences to share, and we need to listen to them.” - Jackie Bailey

Are you grieving over the death of your child? No parent in this world is prepared for their child’s death. They never expect to outlive their children. They’re looking forward to those days when their children reach their dreams and goals in life. It's very painful to lose a child, but how much more when you lose not just one but two of your children? How can you cope with this loss? Angela lost her 2 sons when her family got into a fatal car accident in California, while she’s in Japan for military duty. Her incredible story of resilience, strength, and her strong faith and commitment to God will surely touch your heart. This could give so much help and inspiration to our grieving parents and to our “forgotten grievers”, our children. “Most people think that maybe on the other side of the world was the worst place possible. But you know what? I needed to be there for a week in order to hear God's voice. Because if I was home, I would have run somewhere. But in Japan, I had no choice but to be still and know that God is still God. Whenever and wherever there's a crisis, Christ is.” - Angela Alexander

There’s a sea of mom’s podcasts out there, but just a handful for dads. Our dads also need support. They need a place where they can celebrate the exciting and rewarding things about having kids and about being dads. They also need a place where they can vent out their struggles and express their vulnerability. Adam Flaherty and Marc Checket started The Modern Dadhood podcast, to set up a community where dads can have a conversation about their joy, their hardships and those insanities of being a dad in this time. Adam and Marc share with us today those knowledge and perspectives they learned by talking to dads of all walks of life. Together with Michelle, they dive into what it means to be a modern dad. “The fact that you're aware of it and talking about it and mindful of it, it's all going to work out, you're not going to fail as a parent simply because you're aware of this thing. If we can elevate the conversation about fatherhood, to something that people talk about openly and regularly with that vulnerability that we've been describing, it helps in any way to make people better fathers, better parents.” - Adam Flaherty

Supporting the kids in getting to school is one of the parents’ struggles. “How am I going to support my kids, when I am not very good at it myself?” - some parents ask. Are you having a hard time teaching your kids? You may want to consider getting a tutor for your kids. It will surely take off the pressure. Our guest expert, Russ Hanush is the founder of STEM Academics and Physics Phor Phun Tutoring. He has built a system and a process to make education less stressful to the children and to the families out there. This episode will help you find the right tutor for your kids and help them get into stressless education. “Get that tutor in there before there's a problem. A tutor should be part of your educational team. Education is a holistic process. The classes tend to build on themselves, as we go through the grade school levels we're learning our fundamentals. If you don't have a strong basis in your fundamentals at that point, then you start struggling with the next piece of material they're teaching.” - Russ Hanush

Destroying the other one is a big mistake many parents make when they divorce. Talking negatively about someone whom your kids love, will cause them a lot of confusion, and will affect their future relationships. So, how can you talk to your kids about your divorce without attacking the other one? Controlling your ego will help you detain yourself and put your attention on what's the best thing for your kids. Don’t make the kids feel like they had any part in the break up. Listen to Monica Ramirez and Michelle as they talk about how you can control your ego and have that positive parenting through divorce. Remove the guilt and the shame from the kids, talk to them with love. “I know divorce is hard. The best thing you can do is try to remove your ego. Try to remove your ego and think what is the best I can do for my kids? How can I help them out? Because every act has consequences. Whatever you talk bad about your ex mate, your kid is going to project that later on in life with their future relationships.” - Monica Ramirez.

Kids most of the time are messy, loud and obnoxious, but that's just who they are. We want to stay positive and be gentle, but our expectations on our children as well as on ourselves, becomes our biggest clash. How can we not let all of these triggers, hustles and bustles as well as our traumas interfere with our parenting? Tune in as Michelle and Klara Sedlacek, an emotional wellness coach, talk about how moms can lessen their expectations to have control on those triggers and pressures in life. This episode will help moms find their missing link - the self-acceptance. Moms, you can turn those tensions into connection - learn to dance with the mess and connect more to your kids! “We are so preoccupied like, How do we raise kind children? How do we make sure they are resilient? How do we make sure they succeed? But internally as moms, we carry so much harshness inside towards ourselves. We are trying to wiggle out through that, and show our kids how to be kind, but then we are creating this internal struggle.” - Klara Sedlacek

A lot of marriages have fallen apart, leading to separation and divorce. Divorce is always tough. It dramatically affects everyone in the family, especially the children. Co-parenting doesn't end when the divorce ends, it just begins and will continue for decades ahead. How can you tell your kids about the divorce? How can you prepare and protect your children from the painful impact of the divorce? Rosalind Sedacca, known as “The Voice of Child-Centered Divorce” talks about the ways you can protect your children before, during and long after the divorce. Together with Michelle, they dive into how to deliver the news to the kids in a way that’s loving and supportive - putting together a positive and less conflictual divorce. They also talk about the challenges of dating after divorce when you're a parent. “It's getting out of your ego and putting the kids first. It makes a huge difference. Your kids will thank you when they're grown adults, or they'll be very resentful and hold you responsible for the pain that you caused them unnecessarily. It's not the divorce per se that messes kids up, it's how parents handle the divorce. So we have a responsibility and the ability to do a better job.” - Rosalind Sedacca