All Episodes
Parent Pause — 203 episodes
Your child doesn’t need a best friend
“Just ignore them” is terrible friendship advice
What if your child misses out on afterschool opportunities?
After school melt down… may be a compliment!
September can be more of an endurance event than a fresh start, if we’re not careful
Your child’s first week is not a prophecy
If school gets the angel and you get the monster, home may be working
Stop asking your child how school was
Sometimes the best preparation is to become less helpful
Allowing your child to dread the thing they chose
Before you ask about their results, ask yourself this
Why does it hurt so much when our child is left out?
Friendship advice to ignore
Your child doesn’t need lots of friends
The hardest thing about the summer isn’t the children
Your child doesn’t need you to be entertaining
The summer your child will remember isn’t the one you’re planning
The happiest children aren’t always the busiest
The chore that changed a little boy
Children don’t just need to belong. They need to feel needed
Are we raising children… or consumers?
Your child doesn’t always need another choice
Why do we keep asking children what they want?
Stop trying to make your child confident
The confidence our children borrow
Perhaps your child doesn’t need more confidence
The best babysitter is the one that can go home
The most dangerous thing about social media isn’t what you think
Your child doesn’t need a smartphone. They need childhood.
The best thing we can teach our children about endings
Missing it doesn’t mean you want it back
What if the problem isn’t change? Might it be that we don’t stop to say goodbye
Before you ask “are you ready?” Ask this instead
The end of the school year is not a performance
Don’t rush your child out of this school year
‘Mature for their age’ is that a good thing?
A chore that changed everything
Should you let your child take care of you?
The thing your child needs most might surprise you
The loneliest playground conversation
When your child’s Special Education Needs don’t feel very special
Why teenagers need adventure more than advice
Your daughter does not need a perfect mother, or your son a perfect dad
The risks of not marking our children’s growing up
The mental health tool many parents are forgetting
Your child doesn’t need a happier parent - they just need you!
Are we raising children who know what they think?
The child who never gets it wrong
Will AI stop your child from thinking?
The ten-minute conversation that takes weeks
Are you being kind… or careful?
The conversation you keep not having
Borrowing time, borrowing sanity
The Dangerous Idea of the ‘Good Parent’
You can't take sick leave from parenting - but you can do this
Anxiety is contagious, so parents be calm!
The many ways we make our children more anxious
Why your child’s anxiety isn’t the problem
Anxiety isn't the enemy
When you’re ill and still trying to be a good parent
The panic of being ill when you’re the one holding everything
What if being ill isn’t an interruption - but a message?
AI in a fluffy jumper
Popcorn brain and the lost art of boredom
The day my child asks a machine for advice
Retiring from martyrdom
The mother you didn’t get
What if Mother’s Day isn’t about you?!
Are we raising children, or prompt engineers?
If a machine can write your essay, what is school for?
Your child’s homework isn’t the problem, but the machine might be
Who told you pleasure was dangerous?
Rest is not a reward!
The biscuit I ate standing up
If we want children to be safer online, adults have to go first
'How much screen time' is the wrong conversation
The internet isn’t a playground - so why do we treat it like one?
When it seems like nothing can help your child's anxiety...
When your child's anxiety is contagious
When your child's anxiety walks into the room before them
How to find our way back after a wobble
What to do when we wobble...
How do you know when you're not okay?
Getting rid of stuff isn't the answer
The story our children's stuff tells us...
My kids have too much stuff!
Making a decision, changes you
When there's no 'right' answer
When a decision won't leave you alone
Finding our way back from a 'bad patch'
For the days you don't feel like a good parent
Wobbles can't be scheduled
The myth of the 'fresh start'
Parenting while grieving
What if you don't want A New Year?
The festive hangover
It's okay to run away (briefly)
It's okay to secretly dislike some festivities
The pressure cooker of festive expectations
Could your inner child be sabotaging bedtime?
Don't take your child's eye roll personally
Your inner teen isn't gone!
Forecasting everyone’s feelings
Your side hustle is exhaustion
The job you didn’t apply for (but somehow got)
The joyful kind of rest
Rest that you don't need to earn
A tiny pause that changes everything
Healing the teenager you once were
Your teen self is still in the room
Meeting your own inner teenager
Confidence fatigue
When 'Nice' gets in the way
The Confidence Myth
Seeing through teenage eyes
Wonder is contagious
The art of seeing again
Making peace with the muddle
The beautiful blur of the messy middle
The myth of 'one day...'
A surprising way to feel better about yourself
Our kids need us to say 'No'!
Why we need boundaries
Finding your tune
The unexpected playlist
Background noise
The gold threads
The mental checklist
The things no-one sees
The cracked mug
The echo after the shout
The volcano moment
Rest in the middle
The ever-moving horizon
The list than never ends
New friends, new risks
When your child is left out
Shifting sands of friendship
Letting go of guilt
The season shift
An important milestone
What do we want to hand down?
Marking the moment
The summer you actually had
The New Term Nerves
The guilt at the end of summer
It's your holiday too
The holiday you actually get
Good enough holidays
The holiday I didn't get
Some days feel like a failing
Permission to drop the act
The magic of just sitting on the floor
The art of getting it wrong
Good enough is a superpower
The Myth of the Perfect Parent
You don't have to earn your rest
Finding moments that are yours
The art of the gentle no
We're allowed to have needs too
When you're touched out and talked out
The power of you being there
The mirror shows the good stuff too
Parenting is playing the long game
Knowing your value as a parent
The laugh that lightens your day
You don't need to hide your wobbles
Tiny wins still count
The hard days don't mean you're doing it wrong
Not everything needs to be fixed
You're not making it worse
What if there isn't a problem to fix...
When you feel like everyone else got the manual
You don't have to be an expert
The grief that no-one talks about
Different is not less
Let the day be good enough
Permission to lower the bar
What if they're bored...
Tiny pockets of fun
You're not doing it wrong, it's just hard
You Can Care Without Carrying It All
You're Not A Bad Parent, they're just having big feelings
Boundaries Are Still Love
When You're Someone's Safe Place
It’s Not About You (even when it feels like it)
You're allowed to feel
The voice you use on yourself
Your nervous system is listening
There's nothing wrong with you!
There's nothing you need to do
Stirring pasta and emailing never ends well
We are more than what we do
Contagious Calm
Speaking as to a child
Missing who we were before...
We Deserve Gentle Too
A soul to return to
Possessing the pauses
The Parent Pause
Gloriously flawed
When life happens
Finding our stride