Less Drama More Mama

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**Less Drama More Mama**

Less Drama More Mama is the podcast for moms who want to feel calm, in control, and confident about how to handle anything life throws their way. As a Master Certified Life Coach, LCSW, former School Counselor, and blogger, Pam Howard has been empowering parents for years. In her podcast, she shares personal stories, case studies, and life coaching tools to help you go from feeling frazzled and disrespected to feeling calm and connected. Learn more at LessDramaMoreMama.com.

Latest Episodes:

When Your Child Is Moody: What Helps and What Doesn’t – 415 Jul 21, 2026

Show notes

Your child is in a bad mood.

You offer suggestions, make a joke, or point out what’s going well.

Nothing seems to help, and before long, you’re in a bad mood, too.

It’s easy to feel responsible for turning their mood around.

But what if supporting them doesn’t require changing how they feel?

In this episode, I talk about why some kids seem moodier than others, why their moods can affect you so quickly, and how to support them without needing to cheer them up or taking their behavior personally, so their bad mood doesn’t have to become yours.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/415

The post When Your Child Is Moody: What Helps and What Doesn’t – 415 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

How to Release Anger Without Taking It Out on Your Kids – 414 Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

Everyone gets angry. But not everyone recognizes it, lets themselves feel it, or knows what to do with it when it shows up.

Sometimes anger is obvious. Other times, it looks more like irritation, resentment, anxiety, tension, or the need to control everything around you.

You may not think of yourself as an angry person at all, but that doesn’t mean the anger isn’t there.

In today's podcast episode, I’m talking about what happens when you suppress or repress anger, how it can affect your parenting, and what your body needs when anger shows up.

You don’t have to choose between giving yourself permission to feel angry and helping your child feel safe.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/414

The post How to Release Anger Without Taking It Out on Your Kids – 414 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

When Your Child Reminds You of Yourself – 413 Jul 07, 2026

Show notes

Have you ever looked at your child and thought, “Wow. You're so much like me”?

At first, that recognition can feel sweet. You understand them in a way other people might not.

But it can also create some blind spots.

You may think you know what they’re feeling, what they need, or why something matters so much to them, when part of what you’re seeing is your own history.

In this week’s episode, I’m talking about **three common traps of parenting a child who reminds you of yourself**, and what helps you notice when the similarities are helping you understand them versus keeping you from seeing them clearly.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/413

The post When Your Child Reminds You of Yourself – 413 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Why You Overreact as a Mom – 412 Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

Have you ever reacted to your child and wondered afterward, “Why did that feel so big?”

The thing they did was small. Your reaction was not.

This week, I share the story of a mom in my program who had a huge reaction over a tray of sliders.

She came to coaching convinced she knew exactly why she’d reacted.
She was only partly right.

Minutes into our session, we weren’t talking about sandwiches anymore.

We weren’t even talking about her son.

We were talking about a pattern that began decades earlier.

In this episode, I’ll show you how we got there and why it matters if you’ve ever had an overreaction you couldn’t explain.

If your reactions have ever left you feeling confused or ashamed, I hope this episode helps you understand yourself with a little more compassion.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/412

The post Why You Overreact as a Mom – 412 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

This One’s for My Dad: A Father’s Day Tribute – 411 Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

For years on this podcast, when I've talked about my dad, it's been in the context of understanding myself, my patterns, and some of my struggles.

Most of us carry complicated feelings about our parents. We can wish some things had been different and still be grateful for what they gave us. Both can be true.

This week, in honor of Father’s Day, I’m sharing the parts of my dad and our relationship that I haven’t talked about enough, and that I’m especially grateful for.

You'll also discover a hidden talent of mine you've never heard on the podcast before.🤔

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/411

The post This One’s for My Dad: A Father’s Day Tribute – 411 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Five Things To Make Parenting Feel Easier This Summer – 410 Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

"Mom, I'm bored."
"There's nothing to eat."
"Can you drive me?"
"He's touching my stuff."

It's 10 a.m. and you've already refereed two arguments and answered the same question four times.

And there are still nine more hours until bedtime.

Summer sounded so relaxing back in May.

No morning rush, lunches to pack, or homework to oversee.

But those pressures just got replaced by different ones: constant togetherness, less structure, more driving, more meals, and more chances for everyone to get on each other's nerves.

By mid-summer, you may notice you're more irritable and quicker to react than you want to be. And when that happens, the instinct is to assume you need better parenting strategies.

Usually you don't.

Your tank is running low, and this episode is about refilling the tank.

I share five specific, doable things that protect your capacity, so summer feels a little easier until the buses come back.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/410

The post Five Things To Make Parenting Feel Easier This Summer – 410 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

The Parenting Advice I No Longer Give – 409 Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Over the past 14 years of coaching moms, I've learned a lot and changed my mind about a few things.

You might assume I'm talking about time-outs, sticker charts, rewards, consequences, or some other parenting strategy.

The truth is, my views on those things haven't changed all that much.

What has changed is where I begin with a client and my understanding of why it's so hard to put good parenting advice into practice in the first place.

In this week's podcast episode, I share how my coaching has evolved, what led me to explore nervous system work, and why the advice I give today sounds different than it did earlier in my career.

If you've ever struggled with reactive parenting and wondered why knowing what to do doesn't always translate into doing it, this episode is for you.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/409

The post The Parenting Advice I No Longer Give – 409 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Holding it Together vs. Having it Together – 408 Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

From the outside, you look like you're doing fine. Maybe even great.

So why does it feel like you're one "that's not fair!" away from losing it?

It's the difference between two things that look similar from the outside, but feel nothing alike on the inside.

One of them is exhausting.

The other creates a little more ease and a little less struggle.

In this episode, I'm breaking down which one you've probably been doing, why it stops working, and what it looks like to move toward something different.

If you're tired of working so hard just to keep it together, press play.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/408

The post Holding it Together vs. Having it Together – 408 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Parenting Problems Aren’t Always What They Seem with Dawn Friedman – 407 May 26, 2026

Show notes

Today’s episode is the final one in the Mental Health Awareness Month podcast collaboration I organized with a few other parenting and mental health podcast hosts. We each chose one episode from our own show to share on the others’ podcasts throughout the month.

This episode comes from Dawn Friedman’s podcast, Tell Me It Will Be Okay.

Dawn has worked with kids and families for more than 30 years as a preschool teacher, clinical counselor, parent educator, and parent herself. Her work focuses mostly on supporting parents of anxious kids.

In this episode, Dawn talks about something she calls “judicious giving up,” which is about stepping back from the urge to immediately fix a parenting problem and getting curious about what’s actually going on underneath it.

Sometimes the bedtime struggle isn’t really about bedtime.
The school refusal isn’t really about school.
The behavior isn’t always the whole story.

Dawn also talks about how parenting struggles can bring up our own fears, expectations, identities, and beliefs about who we think we’re supposed to be as parents.

At the end of the episode, I share some of my own thoughts about nervous system patterns, emotional reactions, and why insight alone usually isn’t enough to change the way we respond.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/407

The post Parenting Problems Aren’t Always What They Seem with Dawn Friedman – 407 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Helping Anxious Kids Do Hard Things with Cynthia Coufal – 406 May 19, 2026

Show notes

"I don't want to go."
"Can I just stay home?"
"I don't even care about that anyway."

When your anxious child says these things, it can feel kinder (and easier) to let them skip the party, stay home from school, or avoid taking the bus.

But short-term relief often creates bigger anxiety in the long run.

For Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm sharing an episode from Cynthia Coufal's podcast, The Teen Anxiety Maze. Cynthia is a school counselor and teen anxiety coach who has spent more than 25 years helping kids understand and manage anxiety while building confidence and independence.

In this episode, Cynthia breaks down the connection between avoidance and anxiety, why some kids convince themselves they don't care about things they deeply want, and the powerful shift from “I have to” to “I choose to.”

At the end of the episode, I share a few of my own thoughts about what stood out to me and how it connects to the work I do with moms.

This episode is packed with practical examples and an important perspective on discomfort, resilience, and what helps anxious kids (and moms) grow.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/406

The post Helping Anxious Kids Do Hard Things with Cynthia Coufal – 406 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

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