We'd love to give this episode some sort of click-baity title like "10 Ways to Give Your Kids Constructive Criticism That They'll Really Listen To," but we're afraid we haven't exactly figured that out yet ourselves. (Have you? Do tell!) Instead, we lament our failures in that area as well as other things that freak us out. Here's your road map through our conversation:
1:28: What's New With You — Nicole's book-writing is coming to the end of the "Hurry up and write it, we need immediately!" phase, and moving soon into the "What? Oh, yeah, that's in the queue. We'll let you know when anything's going to happen with that" phase.
3:44: What Scares You? — Fear of book deadlines is pretty rational. Fear of losing your temper in an embarrassing way? Rational enough. Fear of flying? Fear of bats in the house? Yeah, you may have a point. Fear of being in a swimming pool alone because of Jaws? All right, now you're just being silly. (Nicole's got a $10 bet riding on whether someone else shares that fear, though, so if you're not afraid to admit to such a thing, step on up.)
12:52: Now, Don't Take This the Wrong Way — Aw, who are we kidding. There's no way our kids are ever going to take our well-intentioned observations as anything but proof that we hate them and everything they do. Even when we mean well, and it's important, and other people are going to judge them, and there are social and physical consequences, it doesn't matter. It's all bad ...
27:45: Our Comeuppance — ... and we know that because we are also daughters, and we have also heard our share of motherly commentary, and we have also resented the heck out of it. For proof, we submit a segment of an episode from last year in which we made the very same complaints our daughters would be making now if they had their own podcasts.
35:56: Shameless Self-Promotion — But because we do actually know a thing or two, we pass on some sites you may want to check out: Amanda suggests an article on 9 Tips for Having Difficult Conversations With Your Partner, Terri points out that you can find our colorful pull-quotes on Canva.com, Nicole continues to recommend her online workshop, and Catherine invites you to find About Family Fitness on Facebook and also read an article about how to talk to your teen about weight issues.
Thanks as always to Jon Morin for producing our podcast and for our fun in-and-out music. If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.