Moms of Tweens and Teens

Latest Episodes:

ADHD: Asking the Right Questions Before, During, and After Your Child’s ADHD Diagnosis Nov 08, 2022

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Are you wondering if your kid has ADHD? Or maybe you just received an ADHD diagnosis or you're currently dealing with challenges with your ADHD kid.
When I started thinking one of my kids had ADHD. It was an overwhelming and scary time - How do I know for sure? Will she feel like something is wrong with her if I do get her tested? Does she need to get tested, are her teachers seeing that she’s struggling in class, where do I go to get her tested, how do I find someone good, and once she was diagnosed, what do I do to get her the support she needs?

Well, if you're relating, I have a very special guest, Dr, Norrine Russell who is back on our show for the second time due to popular demand and to talk about her new book, “Asking the Right Questions about ADHD Before, During, and After Your Child’s Diagnosis.”
Norrine has over 20 years of experience working in youth development and is an Executive Functioning & ADHD Expert. She is also the mother of two atypical children who has personally walked this path and gets it!
In this interview, she shares what to do step by step as you go through this process.

What you will learn:

The importance of being your child or teen's advocate.
When you should get your child an evaluation.
The questions you should ask when your teen has been diagnosed with ADHD.
Why do you need to ask for a follow-up appointment after a diagnosis?
What's the difference between a school diagnosis and an outside diagnosis?
What do parents do that gets in the way of their teen's learning?
The questions that shouldn't be asked at a Doctor's visit.
What questions to ask when your child is diagnosed with ADHD?
The words ADHD kids need to hear from their parents.
How to talk to your teen about coaching or tutoring when they're resistant.

Where to find Dr. Russell:

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Sheryl also has an Inner Circle weekly Parenting Program with a community of like-minded moms, personal coaching, and tons of resources to equip and support you to love well, navigate the challenges and meet your tween and teen’s unique needs during these pivotal years.

Reframing Our Child’s Learning Differences as a Superpower Nov 01, 2022

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Hi friend,

Welcome to The Moms of Tweens and Teens podcast and I’m so glad that you’re here.

Question - What does Albert Einstein, Steven Speilberg and Pablo Picasso all have in common?

Do you know? Do your kids know?

They all have dyslexia. And I quote from my special guest's book - “The Gift of Being Different.” “They all achieved great things because their dyslexia was a gift that allowed them to create and think in new and creative ways. This was their superpower.”

My two very special guests today are best-selling author Monica Berg, and her daughter, Abigail, who joins us at the end. Together they have written a children’s book called “The Gift of Being Different.”

If you have a kid who struggles with learning differences, you know the struggles and challenges they can have and how stressful it can be as a parent.

And I have two kids who struggle with learning differences and I did too. The sad thing is it’s easy to feel stupid and less than. We look around and wonder why aren’t we getting it? What’s wrong with me?

But what if we could raise our kids to see the traits they might consider flaws or imperfections are their greatest gifts? What if they knew that what makes them “different” is actually their superpower? For that matter, what if we knew it, too?

I can’t wait for you to hear this interview with Monica and her daughter Abigail where they remind us to see our differences in a different light - one where our differences can be our greatest superpower and guide us toward our unique gifts and the extraordinary potential we all have inside of us.

What you will learn:

How to change your mindset to saying "learning difference" versus "disability."
The benefits of learning to dyslexia (and other learning differences) as a superpower.
How to have a conversation with your kid about their learning difference.
Training your child to give themselves emotional feedback and thus empowering themselves.
Dealing with family or friends that don’t understand your child’s learning difference.
Reframing a diagnosis to empower our kids
Why it’s so important to build your child up and not let anything hold them back.

Where to find Monica:

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

sMothered: How to Strengthen the Mother-Daughter Relationship from the Hit Reality TV Show! Oct 25, 2022

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Hi friend,

I am so glad you are listening in because we aren having some fun today!

My very special guests are Dawn & Cher Hubsure - who you may recognize as the Mother/Daughter duo from TLC’s hit reality tv show s'Mothered or MTV’s My Super Sweet 16.

They are so warm and real and fun. I would have loved to hang out with them all day.

Dawn and Cher have also written the book, A Bond That Last Forever, How We Got This Close and You Can Too and they also are the hosts of the Chattermouth podcast.

After the podcast, I was struck by how important it is to focus on the good stuff. As a mom of two daughters over the years, it’s been easy to worry and nag and want to control things versus focusing on the positives and thinking about the ways we can build that connection and a strong foundation

You’ll love this fun conversation today as we talk about ways to strengthen the mother-daughter bond, tips from their book, and what it’s like to work together on a hit tv reality show.
Let's dive in!

What you will learn:

How moms can be open to feedback from their teens.
Boundaries between moms and their adult children.
Tips from their book on strengthening the bond between moms and their kids.
What it’s like working together as a mother and daughter.
How they started in Reality TV, what it was like being on MTV’s super sweet 16 and more!

Where to find Dawn and Cher:

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

How to Help Your Kids To Spot Grooming and Emotional, Psychological and Sexual Abusers Interview with Dr. Amy Saltzman Oct 18, 2022

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Dr. Saltzman is a physician, mindfulness coach, author, former Stanford gymnast, and abuse survivor who is passionate about creating protective prevention programs and establishing comprehensive national policies to end abuse in sports and other community programs.
Research indicates children are most vulnerable to sexual abuse between the ages of seven and thirteen. Unfortunately, engaging, age-appropriate educational materials that teach children to recognize and prevent abuse are almost non-existent.
Until now.
“Spot a Spider” is a groundbreaking new training program started by Dr. Amy Saltzman, M.D, that teaches children, teens, and young adults how to protect themselves from all types of abuse: sneaky (covert) emotional abuse (also known as grooming), and obvious (overt) emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
Let’s dig in!
What you will learn:
Recognize the subtle threads a spider weaves to trap others in their trap.
How perpetrators use our fear and desire to control others.
Understand the data that shows the more comfortable kids and families are with using proper body names, the less likely they are to be abused.
The signs of a coach or teacher or someone of authority grooming your child.
Why it's so important to be continuously having conversations about abuse with our kids?
How parents can easily make excuses or not have their eyes open regarding abuse.
Parents are also being groomed to trick you into believing the best about your child’s perpetrator.
What we should be teaching our kids about boundaries.
Tips for parents who are reluctant to talk to their kids.
Where to find Spot a Spider:
Website: https://spotaspider.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/spotspiders
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spotapsider
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Spot-a-Spider-109695641783458

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

A Tangible Way To Show You Care: The Better Box / Interview with Sarah Angle Sep 27, 2022

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Today, I’m talking to Sarah Angle, the founder of The Better Box.
The Better Box was born after experiencing mental health challenges with her ex-husband and now as a college professor. Sarah watches many of her students struggle with anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. The Better Box was designed to bridge the gap between counseling and clinical intervention. It gives people something to do, touch, smell, and feel in the moment.

Let’s dig in!

Scroll down to read the full episode transcribed.

What You Will Learn:

The Better Box: what it is and how you can use it for someone in your life who is depressed.
The signs of depression in teens and the role that shame has with depression.
The signs of depression that Sarah missed with her husband.
The importance of having open conversations about feelings and mental health with our kids.
How a daily gratitude journal can change your mind.
How connection with others impacts the brain.
The difference The Better Box is making in schools.

Where you can find The Better Box:

Website: https://www.yourbetterbox.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/your_betterbox/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourBetterBox

Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

How To Prepare Your Teen For Life After High School / Interview with Josefine Borrmann Sep 20, 2022

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Hi friend, Welcome to the show today!

Before we launch into our awesome episode today, I want to make sure that you have signed up for our FREE 3-Day Workshop that kicks off next Tuesday, September 27th. The topic is - Escaping Entitlement: Raising Responsible, Respectful and Kind Teens in an Entitled Generation.

Moms have been begging me to talk about this topic.

If you have a tween or teen and you find yourself worrying about their future, or you’re dealing with disrespect or a lack of motivation, and you don’t know how to support them or you are burned out and need some encouragement and help - come. I promise you will leave feeling so encouraged.

I’m going to share my personal story and experience, insights, and tools to empower your kids and improve your relationship.

To check it out, go to momsoftweensandteens.com/entitled and get signed up!

So let’s get on to the show.

My special guest is Josefine Borrmann is the founder of Strive To Learn, a tutoring and college prep service that provides students with 1:1 support from experts who foster accountability and teach them the skills they need to prepare for life outside of high school.

In our interview today, Josefine shines a light on what our teens need from us when preparing to leave the nest, the importance of mentoring versus monitoring so our kids will learn the skills they need while still at home, and so much more!

Let’s dive in!

What you will learn:

The difference between mentoring and monitoring and how parents can shift to mentoring their teens and tweens instead of monitoring them.
How having too many rules for your teen may actually backfire on you.
Letting go in stages so our kids can learn skills that will serve them well when they leave the house.
The benefits of rephrasing the word “mistake” into “growth opportunity.”
Why you should find another adult who isn't your teen's parent to be a mentor for them.
What does it sound like for our teens when we ask them, "What were you thinking?"
The benefits of an improved relationship with your teen when they have a tutor.
What to look for in a tutor.
What should you not say to a child with a learning difference?
How do you know if your kid is ready for college or not ready for college?
The benefits of a gap year.

Where to find Josefine:

Website: https://www.strivetolearn.com/

Facebook:

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Behind Their Screens: What Teens Are Facing (and Adults Are Missing) / Interview with Drs. Emily Weinstein and Carrie James Sep 06, 2022

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Drs. Emily Weinstein and Carrie James are Principal Investigators at Harvard Project Zero, where for over a decade, they’ve researched youth and technology. They chase answers to questions like How do today’s technologies shape teens’ lives and development? What’s hard for them and why? How can adults better support kids who are growing up with unprecedented connectivity?

Drs. Weinstein and James direct the Digital Dilemmas study and the Reimagining Digital Well-being project. They are also passionate about developing resources to support schools and families in rethinking digital citizenship, including through their longtime partnership with Common Sense Education. Their new book is Behind Their Screens: What Teens Are Facing (and Adults Are Missing).

Let’s dive in!

What you will learn:

The pressures our teens feel to take a stance online about current events.
The subtle ways teens engage in cyberbullying.
Why can’t our kids feel like they can't just turn off their phones when someone's being mean to them?
What adults misunderstand about what it's like to try and be a good friend in an age of constant connectivity.
What the term “technoference” means, and how does it affect our parent-child relationship?
How parents can pivot out of the referee role and into being more like a coach where the role is to be alongside your teen.
Why technology and screen time is not the enemy and why it's more about how each individual kid is using their screens.
What it means to say that social media is an “amplifier.”
Some parents' assumptions about screen time that isn’t necessarily true.
The friendship and empathy ties that keep our kids on their phones.

Where to find Carrie & Emily:

Website: Behind Their Screens

Twitter: Dr. Carrie James

Twitter: Dr.

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

How To Support Our Teens With Their Mental Health / Interview with Lauren Cikara Aug 30, 2022

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Lauren Cikara of Active Minds joins me today for an important conversation about supporting our teens in the area of mental health. Active Minds is the nation’s premier nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for our teens and young adults.

Through education, research, advocacy, and a focus on young adults ages 14–25, Active Minds opens up the conversation about mental health and creates lasting change in the way mental health is talked about, cared for, and valued in the United States.

This is one conversation you don't want to miss!

What you will learn:

How can we support our teens with their mental health?
How to talk to our teens about their problems using the Validate, Appreciate, and Refer method.
Why are so many still hesitant to discuss mental health and how we as parents can help our kids by asking the right questions?
Tips to empower your teen when a friend tells them they are having suicidal thoughts.
How parents can be better listeners to their teens versus jumping in to fix things.
How do we equip our youth to have everyday conversations with each other so that they are paying attention to their peers?
How can we discern if it is just a bad day versus if their kid is in a mental health crisis?
Why are kids having so many mental health issues today?
Tips for teens transitioning to college and what to look for in terms of mental health support so if it's needed, your teen knows where to go.

Where to find Active Minds and Lauren:
Website: https://www.activeminds.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/active_minds
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/active_minds/
Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/activemindsinc
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@active_minds
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/activemindsinc
How To Get Involved - Fall Open House: September 8, 2022 at 5pm EST https://events.zoom.us/e/view/-BfYOC1FS_qTNNeF_s_b4A

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Cultivating A Positive Body Image In Our Boys / Interview with Dr. Charlotte Markey Aug 23, 2022

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Dr. Charlotte Markey is a world-leading expert in body image research, having studied all things body image, eating behavior, and weight management for her entire adult life. She is passionate about understanding what makes us feel good about our bodies and helping people to develop a healthy body image. Charlotte loves to share her body image wisdom with others and is an experienced book author, blogger, and professor at Rutgers University, Camden.

In our interview today, I talk with Dr. Markey about her book, “Being You: The Body Image Book for Boys.” We discuss the pressure boys feel to be athletic and muscular and the physical and mental impact this has on our boys. What can we do about it to raise our boys with a healthy self-image?

Let’s dive in!

What you will learn:

The different concerns boys have than girls regarding their bodies.
Some of the common struggles and challenges boys have with their body image.
What pressures are boys under right now concerning their weight?
Myths about boys' development.
What does body image really mean? And why is it important to talk about it with our boys?
What are some of the messages boys internalize that they aren't necessarily talking about regarding their bodies?
What is the cause for the rise in body dissatisfaction in boys, from eating disorders to bulking up?
The rise in eating disorders in boys since the pandemic.
How to talk to your sons about their body image and self-acceptance.
Can moms just talk to their sons about this issue like fathers?

Where to find Dr. Markey:

Website & “Being You” Book: https://www.thebodyimagebookforboys.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drcharlottemarkey

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/char_markey/

Support the show

Check out What's Waiting For You At Moms of Tweens and Teens
Find more encouragement, wisdom, and resources:

Website: https://momsoftweensandteens.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Join our Community HERE.

Find awesome resources HERE.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momsoftweensandteens/

Helping Your Teen Become Money Smart / Interview with Jean Chatzky and Kathryn Tuggle Aug 16, 2022

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Who here wishes that they were better at knowing how to teach their kids how to manage their money?

Maybe you never learned how to budget your own money growing up and had to learn when you hit adulthood.

If you’re like me, you weren’t all that good at budgeting and often had to learn the hard way. I remember signing up for a credit card in college and having no idea about being charged interest and thinking it was so much fun to go shopping and buy a new outfit only to find out later that I had to pay interest when you couldn’t pay the whole thing off. And I must admit that I bounced more checks than I want to admit because I hadn’t learned how to manage a checkbook.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to raise kids who were financially empowered - where they understand the value of a dollar, are motivated to earn their own money, and be responsible with that money to save, give and spend wisely.

My special guests today are the authors of a fantastic book How To Money - Jean Chatzky is a New York Times Best Selling Author and financial expert who has spent decades reporting on personal finance — including 25 years on the Today show. She is also the CEO and co-founder of HerMoney. And Kathryn Tuggle is Chief Content Officer and Gracie-Award winning Editor-in-Chief at HerMoney.com and produces and cohosts the HerMoney Podcast.

Let’s dive into how to empower your kids to take charge of How to Money!

What you will learn: