Episodes

Meghan Leahy is one of our favorite parenting experts. - Her advice is grounded in experience (she's got 3 kids and is a parenting columnist for the Washington Post), understanding (again: she's got 3 kids!), and compassion (like the rest of us,

Yes, you can thrive with chronic illness and special needs. - In fact, you can create a Very Happy Story no matter what challenges you're dealing with on the home front. - Liza Blas, a mom of two, created the Very Happy Stories podcast and blog after...

What do you with troubled boys? - With boys who are failing school, sneaking off, and using substances? Boys who have resisted disciplinary efforts and redirection? - That's the question at the heart of Kenneth R. Rosen's latest book,

When we become parents, someone really should hand us a book that details, exactly, how to NOT raise an a-hole. Karen Alpert (of the blog Baby Sideburns), a mom of two and author of Mamas, Don't Let Your Kids Grow Up to be A-Holes: Unfiltered Advice on How to Raise Awesome Kids, recognizes that parents are terrified of inadvertently raising assholes. "It is definitely one of my big fears," she says. "I don't want to raise a kid that's an a-hole. All the sexting and scary stuff and male chauvin...

Dr. Michele Borba knows how to help boys thrive. - She's a "boy mom" -- a mother of 3 grown sons, educational psychologist, and the author of Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine. -

Ever wished you had a guide to raising boys? - A manual you can consult when your tween son confuses and frustrates you? - Now, one exists -- and it's Jen's first book! - The First-Time Mom's Guide to Raising Boys: A Practical Guide to Your Son's Fo...

Parenting a child with ADHD or neurodivergence can be challenging. Especially if you're also neurodivergent. "When my youngest son was about 3 weeks old, he started crying and it really never stopped," says Rachel Blatt, co-host of the podcast Constant Chaos. At first, they thought it was colic, but visits to multiple gastrointestinal specialists didn't help. When he wasn't yet talking (at all) at age 2, "a wonderful teacher" suggested having the child evaluated. The family schedule an appointm...

You may wonder, how do you raise a feminist son? - Or you might be wondering, WHY would you raise a feminist son? - What if we phrased it this way: How do you raise boys who respect and value all humans? - "The word feminist, all over the world,

Do you have a highly sensitive boy? - Perhaps your son has been called "too sensitive” or “too emotional.” Maybe he is easily overwhelmed, especially when he's surrounded by a lot of sensory stimuli. - Approximately 10% of all males are thought to b...

Like us, Teacher Tom is concerned about how we raise our boys. - "In our culture, we have a society where men are lonely, men have higher suicide rates and men are more prone to violence, and sexual abuse.

Having sons forced Tosha Schore to reevaluate everything she knew about boys. - Schore, the daughter of a single mom, grew up stepped in the women's movement. As a child, she attended marches and rallies for women's rights and, in college,

Steve Biddulph is a legendary parenting educator. - He's the author of The Secrets of Happy Children, Raising Boys in the 21st Century: How to Help Our Boys Become Open-Hearted, Kind and Strong Men, and The New Manhood, among others.

Is future-focused parenting the key to raising adults? - Yes, says Deana Thayer and Kira Dorrian, parent coaches and co-hosts of the Raising Adults podcast. - "It's not about raising boys; it's about raising men," Kira says.

School + nature = forest schools - Image: Laine Photos and Film - "A forest school is holistic education outdoors in nature," says Nicki Farrell, co-founder of Wildings Forest School in Queensland, Australia.

Males represent 25-40% of individuals with eating disorders. - That’s not something people tell us when our boys are babies, and it’s not something most pediatricians mention at well-child checks -- despite the fact that males are at a higher risk of ...

Can you prevent addiction? Or alcoholism? - After all, no one dreams of taking their son to rehab. Or arguing with him, repeatedly, about his use of pot, alcohol or meth. - When our babies are little, we tell ourselves that if we do everything right...

Does your son have a problem with executive function? - Let's put it another way.... - Does he struggle with homework, procrastination, time management, or lack of motivation? Does he have ADHD? If so, he probably needs help developing his executive ...

How DO you homeschool boys? - Trying to recreate school-at-home doesn’t work for most boys -- as so many families found out during the pandemic. And placing your life and career on hold while you educate your kids isn't exactly practical either. -

What would happen if we based our education for boys on their interests? - The idea of crafting an education around a student's interests is a bit novel in today's world of standardized curriculum and tests. But the concept is sound.

Can the K'Bro app help boys develop emotional resiliency? - Yes, says K'Bro founder Patrina Mack, a mother of a son who was inspired by her son's school-inflicted emotional challenges. Importantly, she says, K'Bro is a boy-friendly,

ON BOYS podcast is now officially three years old. - Our episodes have been downloaded more than 465,000 times -- with almost 314,000 of those downloads coming over the past year. Join us in this very "unplugged" episode,

In her new book To Raise a Boy, author Emma Brown writes, "This is what I want for my son as he grows up: the ability to be himself without paying a social penalty." [NOTE: This episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence from 16:30-21:30] That's what we want too. And we get frustrated sometimes because so many people don't even realize (or aren't willing to acknowledge) that boys and men face gender-specific issues too. We're hopeful that Brown's book will help move the needle be...

The Book of Dares: 100 Way for Boys to be Kind, Bold and Brave turns "dare culture" on its head. - As you likely know, boys live in a world in which status is never fixed; it’s dependent upon their ability to rise to the challenge,

Social media has been a lifeline during the pandemic. It can also destroy lives. - In 2016, Ed Peisner's then-16-year-old son was viciously attacked in a social-media motivated assault -- which was filmed and uploaded to social media before his father...