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The Balanced Parent Podcast — Education for Kids
The Balanced Parent Podcast

Parenting is often lived in the extremes. It’s either great joy or chaotic overwhelm. One moment you’re nailing it and the next you’re losing your cool. I want to help you find your way to the messy middle, to a place of balance. You see, balance is a verb, not a state of being. It is a thing you DO, not a thing you ARE. It’s an action, a process, a series of micro-corrections that we make, each and every day, to keep ourselves feeling centered. We are never truly balanced, we are engaged in the process of balancing.Hello, I’m Dr. Laura Froyen, and this is the Balancing Parenting Podcast, where overwhelmed, stressed-out, and disconnected parents go to find tools, mindset shifts, and practices to help them stop yelling at the people they love and start connecting all delivered with heaping doses of grace and compassion. Join me in conversations that will help you get clear on your goals and values and start showing up in your parenting, your relationships, YOUR LIFE, with open-hearted authenticity and balance.

Copyright: © 2022 The Balanced Parent Podcast All Rights Reserved.

Latest Episodes:

133: Break the React & Regret Cycle to Reclaim Your Power w/ Christian de la Huerta Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

Mainstream parenting (aka the parenting most of us received, and that most of us are trying to move away from) often relies solely on power currencies that are inherently damaging to relationships: fear, control, and hierarchy. If any of those are present in a romantic relationship, we know (even if we can't always see it from the inside) that it's not ok, not healthy. Yet they tend to be the default for so many of us, myself included, and not just with our kids, but in our own heads even as we try to change ourselves. The irony of trying to become a more peaceful, respectful, and compassionate parent by using the very tactics we are trying to avoid with our kids on ourselves, will always fill me with bemused sadness. And yet each day is a constant practice of reminding myself that I, too, am worthy of compassion, dignity, and respect. And that releasing shame, blame, judgment, fear, and control is just as healthy for me as it is for my kids. And what's more, if I want true and lasting change, then it starts with me. Not in my actions in the world with my kids or my partner, but in my interactions with the person I will be in a relationship with the longest: myself. This work, this life-long work, is the topic of not only the Reactivity to Responsive challenge (taking place at the end of September) but also this week's discussion on the podcast with my guest, Christian de la Huerta, a sought-after spiritual teacher, personal transformation coach and leading voice in the breathwork community.

If you want to find out more about the work Christian do, you can do so at SoulfulPower.com (if you get on his email list, you will get a sample chapter from his book!) and follow him on Instagram @christiandlh. You can get a copy of his book, Awakening the Soul of Power, here.

132: Parenting as a Spiritual Journey with Mary Van Geffen Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

If you were able to listen to the bonus episode last week, let me know if it helped you in dealing with a spirited child who is stuck in their big feelings (if you have one), I always love hearing from you! To continue the conversation around this topic, we will talk about how parenting a challenging, strong-willed kiddo can be seen as a spiritual practice and a journey.

I know that raising a spirited, strong-willed child can be well... a lot. And so, to help me in this conversation, I have brought in a wonderful colleague, Mary Van Greffen. She is an international parenting coach for overwhelmed moms of strong-willed & spicy children. She believes that when a mom realizes how hard she is on herself and cracks the door open for some self-compassion, her entire family is bathed in light!

If you are looking for more support, you can visit Mary's website and follow her on Instagram @maryvangeffen.

Bonus: Live Coaching - How to Help A Kid When They Are Stuck In Their Big Feelings Aug 19, 2022

Show notes

Listen in to this coaching session with a wonderful mom from my BalancingU Membership community as I help her problem solve how to help her spirited kiddo who is struggling to move past his strong feelings.

Free (anonymous if you prefer) coaching on the podcast is a perk of being in my BalancingU membership.

131: Keeping Kids Safe with Jen Szeghi Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

In this episode I am joined by a special guest, Jennifer Szeghi. She is a parenting expert and the founder of Successful Parenting.
Here's a summary of our conversation:

What we can do as parents to keep our kids safe
Having a conversation with kids on developing a healthy relationship with their bodies
Protecting Your Child from unsafe adults (and who is responsible for their safety)
Keeping our kids safe in the social media space

130: Helping Your Child Get Comfortable With Going To Therapy with Jamie Edelbrock Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

If you are a parent to a kiddo who is struggling with behavior issues, anxiety, or ADHD, my heart goes out to all of you. Please know that you are not alone. There is support available to you and that is why for this week's episode, we are going to talk about what we can do when one of our kids need help. This is something I have coached a few moms through in my membership, and if you'd like to listen in, those replays are available inside.

To help me in this conversation on the podcast, I brought in a mom who has been right where you are, Jamie Edelbrock. She is married to her high school sweetheart and together they have three daughters. She has worn many hats, some of which include a homeschool mom, preschool director, family ministry director, blogger and author of the children’s book “Tangled Up.” She wrote this book after her starting therapy with her child.

If you want to learn more, visit Jamie's website www.jamieedelbrock.com and follow her on Instagram @tangledupbook.

129: Supporting Anxious Kids without Making Things Worse with Dawn Friedman Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

For this week's episode on The Balanced Parent Podcast, we are going to dig in into childhood anxiety and specifically delve into the most common missteps that well-meaning parents of anxious kids make that actually end up increasing anxiety in the long run. As a parent to an anxious kiddo, I've found myself caught in a few of these traps and I think my conversation with Dawn Friedman, therapist and child anxiety expert will be so helpful.

If you are looking for more support, visit childanxietysupport.com and follow Dawn on Instagram @dawnfriedmanmsed.

128: How to Raise Anti-Racist Children with Britt Hawthorne Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

I know we all want a better world for our children, that's a big part of why you're on this respectful parenting journey with me, right? At some level, most of us believe that by raising our children with dignity, respect, and emotional intelligence, we will send out emotionally healthy, whole children who know how to stand up for themselves, what healthy relationships look like, and how to advocate for a more just world. This is truly powerful and world-changing work, and a significant part of creating this truer, more beautiful world, is helping our children learn to see inequity, get curious about bias and prejudice and engage with the process of dismantling the -isms that hold us all back.

But the "how" of actually doing that work, can be so daunting. So I invite you to join me for a super practical conversation on this topic with
Britt Hawthorne. She is a Black bi-racial momma, teacher, author, and anti-bias and antiracist facilitator. Britt partners with caregivers, educators, and families to raise the next generation of antiracist children. Together with her beloved partner, they are raising their children to become empathic, critical thinkers, embracing justice and activism.

Be sure to follow Britt on her Instagram @britthawthorne (her page is one of my favorites- so much gold!) and visit her website britthawthorne.com. And if you want to learn more, check out her beautiful book Raising Anti-Racist Children.

127: Coping with ADHD as a Mom with Patricia Sung Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

ADHD is getting a lot of buzz out there in the world recently, and many adults, especially woman (who as girls perhaps had their symptoms overlooked) are getting diagnosed, sometimes alongside their kids. I've spoken to quite a few of you who have gone through this process and so many of you have expressed initial feelings of relief, that there is a real, true reason that things have always seemed a bit harder for you, and it's not because you're a failure, you're just wired a bit differently. But after that relief there tends to be a feeling of... "Ok, what now?"

So, if you're newly diagnosed with ADHD , or even if you have some suspicions that this may be going on for you or your kids, this episode is for you! I have brought in a friend and a colleague, Patricia Sung, who is an ADHD expert and the host of the Motherhood in ADHD podcast. She helps moms with ADHD get themselves together one step at a time and feel confident in running their family life. After years of serial entrepreneurship and teaching middle school, she has a uniquely practical perspective on strategies for building a life that works when your brain is different.

Whether you have it yourself and it complicates your life or if you're noticing it in your kids, Patricia will help us figure out how to make things a little bit easier for you.

If you want to learn more and find courses on how to navigate ADHD, visit Patricia's website www.motherhoodinadhd.com and follow her on Instagram @motherhoodinadhd

And, if you're looking for a deeper dive, we will be having a great conversation on adult ADHD coming up in the BalancingU membership. Click here to learn more!

126: College or Not Series: Helping Your Child Find Their Purpose w/ Greg and Beth Langston Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

This week's episode is the final installment of our College or Not Series. I've heard from so many of you that you've been enjoying the series, even those of you with littles, and I'm so glad to hear that! When I was navigating decisions about my future as a child and teen, college was the *only* option presented to me by my family full of teachers and while that was the right choice for me and I'm so happy I am where I ended up, looking back I wish I'd been presented with a wide range of options. The necessity of this became even clearer as a professor guiding students who were burdened by crippling debt. I want something different for my kids, something guided by their hearts rather than society's "shoulds".

And so, we are going to be talking about how we can help kids develop a growth mindset and help them figure out who they are and their goals early on as they get closer to college. To help me in this conversation, I have Greg and Beth Langston. Greg is an expert in building high-performance teams across 10 different industries while Beth is an expert essay editor with a proven track record of helping students navigate the dreaded college applications essay process with tremendous success. Together they develop transformational self-discovery courses for high school students.

If you are interested in their self-discovery courses, you can check them out on their website: www.collegeflightplan.com.

125: College or Not series: Helping Your Child Identify the Future that is Right for THEM w/ Oie Dobier Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

I hope that the first episode of our College or Not Series helped you find resources in supporting your child in determining their passion in life. For this week, we will have the second installment of the series which will tackle figuring out if college is the right path for your child and supporting your child in finding careers that are fulfilling for them (and not what we think is right for them). So much of respectful parenting is about setting aside our preconceived notions of how children "should" be and learning to accept and parent the child in front of you, and educational choices should be no different!

To help me in this conversation, I brought in Oie Dobier. She is the founder of Project Who Am I where she, along with her daughter, helps students who are struggling with their career choices discover their natural talents, passions, and values so they can pursue a fulfilling career.

You can find Oie on projectwhoami.com and they have a special free guide for those who have teens (yay!). GET IT HERE.

They are also on Facebook and Instagram (her daughter, Nya, shares lots of stories and reels on teenage perspectives) so be sure to follow them.

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