Podcasts about Lenore Skenazy

You can listen wherever you get your podcasts or check out the fully edited transcript of our interview at the bottom of this post.In this episode of The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, I speak with Katie Kimball of Raising Healthy Families. We discussed getting kids in the kitchen and getting them to love cooking, raising teenagers and why they are wonderful, managing screens at different ages, and what kind of skills kids need to become independent, well-rounded and self-sufficient once they leave our homes.Make sure to check out Katie's course Teens Cook Real Food! **If you'd like an ad-free version of the podcast, consider becoming a supporter on Substack! > > If you already ARE a supporter, the ad-free version is waiting for you in the Substack app or you can enter the private feed URL in the podcast player of your choice.Know someone who might appreciate this episode? Share it with them!We talk about:* [00:00] Introduction to the episode and guest Katie Kimball; overview of topics (cooking, teens, life skills, screens)* [00:01] Katie's background: former teacher, mom of four, and how her work evolved into teaching kids and teens to cook* [00:04] Why the teen years are actually great; what teens need developmentally (agency and autonomy)* [00:08] Beneficial risk and safe failure; how building competence early reduces anxiety later* [00:10] Getting kids into cooking: start small, build confidence, and let them cook food they enjoy* [00:16] Cooking as a life skill: budgeting, independence, and preparing for adulthood* [00:21] Screen time: focusing on quality (consumptive vs. creative vs. social) instead of just limits* [00:25] Practical screen strategies used in Katie's family* [00:28] Motivating teens to cook: future-casting and real-life relevance (first apartment, food costs)* [00:33] Teens Cook Real Food course: what it teaches and why Katie created it* [00:37] Fun foods teens love making (pizza, tacos)* [00:39] Where to find Katie and closing reflectionsResources mentioned in this episode:* Teens Cook Real Food Course https://raisinghealthyfamilies.com/PeacefulParenting* Evelyn & Bobbie bras: https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/bra* Yoto Screen Free Audio Book Player https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/yoto* The Peaceful Parenting Membership https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/membership* How to Stop Fighting About Video Games with Scott Novis: Episode 201 https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/how-to-stop-fighting-about-video-games-with-scott-novis-episode-201/Connect with Sarah Rosensweet:* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahrosensweet/* Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/peacefulparentingfreegroup* YouTube: Peaceful Parenting with Sarah Rosensweet @peacefulparentingwithsarah4194* Website: https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com* Join us on Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahrosensweet* Newsletter: https://reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/newsletter* Book a short consult or coaching session call: https://book-with-sarah-rosensweet.as.me/schedule.phpxx Sarah and CoreyYour peaceful parenting team-click here for a free short consult or a coaching sessionVisit our website for free resources, podcast, coaching, membership and more!>> Please support us!!! Please consider becoming a supporter to help support our free content, including The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, our free parenting support Facebook group, and our weekly parenting emails, “Weekend Reflections” and “Weekend Support” - plus our Flourish With Your Complex Child Summit (coming back in the summer for the 3rd year!) All of this free support for you takes a lot of time and energy from me and my team. If it has been helpful or meaningful for you, your support would help us to continue to provide support for free, for you and for others.In addition to knowing you are supporting our mission to support parents and children, you get the podcast ad free and access to a monthly ‘ask me anything' session.Our sponsors:YOTO: YOTO is a screen free audio book player that lets your kids listen to audiobooks, music, podcasts and more without screens, and without being connected to the internet. No one listening or watching and they can't go where you don't want them to go and they aren't watching screens. BUT they are being entertained or kept company with audio that you can buy from YOTO or create yourself on one of their blank cards. Check them out HEREEvelyn & Bobbie bras: If underwires make you want to rip your bra off by noon, Evelyn & Bobbie is for you. These bras are wire-free, ultra-soft, and seriously supportive—designed to hold you comfortably all day without pinching, poking, or constant adjusting. Check them out HEREPodcast Transcript:Sarah: Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Peaceful Parenting Podcast. Today's guest is Katie Kimball of Raising Healthy Families. She has been helping parents feed their kids and, more recently—in the past few years—teach their kids to cook. We had a great conversation about getting kids in the kitchen and getting them to love cooking, and also about raising teenagers and what kind of skills kids need to become independent. We also talked about screens, because any parent of a teenager who also supports other parents—I want to hear about what they do with getting kids to be less screen-focused and screen-dependent.Katie had some great tips in all of these areas, including cooking, feeding our families, and screens. In some ways, we're just talking about how do we raise kids who are independent, well-rounded, and have the skills they need to live independently—and those things all come into play.I hope that you really enjoy this conversation with Katie as much as I did. Let's meet Katie.Hi, Katie. Welcome to the podcast.Katie: Thank you so much, Sarah. I'm honored to talk to your audience.Sarah: I'm so excited to talk to you about teenagers, raising teenagers, life skills, screens—there are so many things to dive into. You seem like a very multifaceted person with all these different interests. Tell us about who you are and what you do.Katie: I do have a little bit of a squirrel brain, so I'm constantly doing something new in business. That means I can talk about a lot of things. I've been at the parenting game for 20 years and in the online business world for 17. I'm a teacher by trade and a teacher by heart, but I only taught in the classroom for about two years before I had my kids. I thought, “I can't do both really, really well,” so I chose the family, left the classroom, and came home.But my brain was always in teacher mode. As I was navigating the path and the journey of, “How do I feed these tiny humans?”—where every bite counts so much—I was really walking that real-food journey and spending a lot of time at the cutting board. My brain was always going, “How can I help other moms make this path easier?” I made so many mistakes. I burned so much food. There's so much tension around how you balance your budget with your time, with the nutrition, and with all the conflicting information that's flying at us.So I felt like I wanted to stand in the middle of that chaos and tell moms, “Listen, there's some stuff you can do that does it all—things that are healthy, save time, and save money.” That's kind of where I started teaching online.Then I shifted to kids' cooking. For the last 10 years, I've been sort of the kids' cooking cheerleader of the world, trying to get all kids in the kitchen and building confidence. It's really been a journey since then. My kids currently are 20, 17, 14, and 11, so I'm in the thick of it.Sarah: We have a very similar origin story: former teacher, then mom, and a brain that doesn't want to stop working. I went with parent coaching, and you went with helping parents with food and cooking, so that's exciting.I can tell from what I've learned about you offline that you love teenagers—and I love teenagers too. We have people in the audience who have teenagers and also people who have littler kids. I think the people with littler kids are like, “I don't want my kids to grow up. I've heard such bad things about teenagers.” What do you want people to know about teenagers? What are some things that you've learned as the mom of younger kids and then teens?Katie: It's such a devastating myth, Sarah, that teens are going to be the awful part of your parenting career—the time you're not supposed to look forward to, the time you have to slog through, and it's going to be so difficult.It's all difficult, right? Don't let anyone tell you parenting's easy—they're lying. But it's so worth it, and it's so great. I love parenting teens. I love conversing with them at such a much higher level than talking to my 11-year-old, and I love watching what they can do. You see those glimpses of what they'll be like when they're a dad, or when they're running around an office, or managing people. It's incredible to be so close. It's like the graduation of parenting. It's exciting.That's what I would want to tell parents of kids younger than teens: look forward to it.I do think there are some things you can do to prepare for adolescence and to make it smoother for everyone. I like to talk about what teens need. We want to parent from a place of what teens developmentally need, and they really need agency and autonomy at that stage. They're developmentally wired to be pushing away—to be starting to make the break with their adults, with that generation that we are in. Sometimes that's really painful as the grown-up. It almost feels like they're trying to hurt us, but what they're really doing is trying to push us away so it doesn't hurt them so badly when they know they need to leave.As parents, it helps to sit with the knowledge that this is not personal. They do not hate me. They're attempting to figure out how to sever this relationship. So what can we do to allow them to do that so they don't have to use a knife? If we can allow them to walk far enough away from us and still be a safe haven they can come home to, the relationship doesn't have to be severed. It just gets more distant and longer apart.When they want independence and autonomy, we need to make sure we give it to them. My tip for parents of younger kids is that, especially around ages 8, 10, 11—depending on maturity level—where can we start providing some agency? My team will say, “Katie, don't say agency. It sounds like you're talking about the FBI or some government letters.” But it's the best word, because agency isn't just choices—it's choices plus control, plus competence to be able to make change in your own life, in your own environment.We can't have agency unless we give our kids skills to actually be able to do something. The choice between “Do you want the red cup or the blue cup?” is for toddlers. That's not going to be enough once they're in the stage where their mind is growing and they can critically think. We want to give our kids skills, responsibilities, choices, and some ownership over their lives. That starts in upper elementary school, and it gets bigger and bigger.Sarah: I would argue it starts even earlier. Toddlers can make the red cup or blue cup choice, and as they keep going, you can give them more and more agency.One of my favorite parenting people, Alfie Kohn, says that kids should have the power to make decisions that make us gulp a little bit.Katie: Oh, I love that.Sarah: I think that's true. We come up against our own anxiety too: What if they make the wrong decision? But it's incremental, so the decisions become bigger and bigger as they get older. That's how they practice being able to make good decisions—through experience.Katie: We know statistically that anxiety right now is spiking massively that first year out of high school—where young adults are heading into the world, either to university or for a first job. One theory—one I would get behind—is that everything of adulthood, all the responsibilities, are crashing on their shoulders at once, and they haven't experienced that level of responsibility. Sometimes they haven't had opportunities to fail safely, and they don't know what to do.Sometimes we think we're pushing problems out of their way and that it's helpful, but we're really creating bigger problems down the road. So with that long-term perspective, I love that “gulp.” We've got to let them try and fail and hold back.Sarah: Do you know Lenore Skenazy, who started the Free Range Kids movement? She has a TED Talk that came out recently where she talks about how she attributes the rise in anxiety to the fact that kids never have any unwatched time by adults. They never have room and space to figure out their own way to make things work. Of course, I don't think anyone's saying we should inappropriately not supervise our kids, but they need more freedom. If they don't have freedom to figure things out on their own, that's where the anxiety comes in.Katie: For sure. When Lenore and I have interacted, she likes to call it “beneficial risk.” Climbing the tree is the classic example, but because I love to get kids and teens in the kitchen, we got to talk about the beneficial risk of using sharp knives and playing with fire—literally returning to our ancestral roots.The way I see it, and the way I've seen it played out in my own home: I taught my now 20-year-old to use a chef's knife at age 10. He built competency. He took risks. He discovered how he wanted to navigate in the kitchen. So when he was 15 and getting his driver's permit, I felt pretty peaceful. I thought, “He's so mature. I've seen him make good decisions. He's practiced taking beneficial risks.”I felt confident handing him the driver's license. When it came time for him to get a cell phone—first a kid-safe phone and then a fully unlocked smartphone—I felt like we had been building up to it because of our work in the kitchen. I think he did better than his peers with taking appropriate risks driving a car and having a smartphone in his pocket, because he'd had practice.Sarah: And that was in the kitchen for your family.Katie: Yes.Sarah: Cooking is one of my special interests. I love to cook. My kids love baking. They were never that interested in cooking, although they all can cook and they do cook for themselves. My 21-year-old who has his own apartment has started sending me pictures of the food that he makes. He made some baked chicken thighs with mushrooms the other day, and a green salad. He sent me a picture and I said to my daughter, “Do you want to see a picture of Asa's chicken?” And she said, “Asa got a chicken?” She was picturing it running around. We all laughed so hard because I wouldn't put it past him, honestly.When my kids were younger, they weren't that interested. Maybe I could have gotten them more interested in the cooking part, but I always felt like that was my thing. What tips do you have—for any ages—about how to get kids interested and involved? You said your son was using a chef's knife at age 10. What are some ways to involve kids and get them interested in that skill?Katie: Knives are a great start because they're scary and they're fun—especially for guys. You get to use something dangerous. My second son, John, asked to learn to use a chef's knife, so he learned to use a sharp paring knife at age four and asked to level up to a chef's knife at age seven.For parents of kids who are still in that intrinsic motivation phase—“I want to help”—the good news is you don't have to try. You just have to say yes. You just have to figure out what can my brain handle letting this little person do in the kitchen. If it's “I'm going to teach them to measure a teaspoon of salt,” then do it. Don't let cooking feel like this big to-do list item. It's just one teaspoon of salt.Can I teach them to crack an egg? Can I teach them to flip a pancake? Think of it as one little skill at a time. That's what cooking is: building blocks. If it's something like measuring, you don't have to have them in your elbow room. You can send them to the table; they can have a little spill bowl. Then you can build their motivation by complimenting the meal: “This meal tastes perfect. I think it's the oregano—who measured the oregano?” That's how we treat little ones.The medium-sized ones are a little tougher, and teens are tougher yet. For the medium-sized ones, the best way to get them involved is to create a chance for authentic praise that comes from outside the family—meaning it's not you or your co-parent; it's some other adult. If you're going to a party or a potluck, or you're having people over, figure out how to get that kid involved in one recipe. Then you say to the other adults, “Guess who made the guacamole?” That was our thing—our kids always made the guac when they were little. And other adults say, “What? Paul made the guacamole? That's amazing. This is awesome.” The 10-year-old sees that and blooms with pride. It makes them more excited to come back in the kitchen, feel more of that, and build more competency.Sarah: I love that. That's an invitation, and then it makes them want to do more because it feels good. We talk about that in peaceful parenting too: a nice invitation and then it becomes a prosocial behavior you want to do more of.I started cooking because I wanted to make food that I liked. I'm old enough that I took Home Ec in middle school, and it was my favorite class. I think about my Home Ec teacher, Mrs. Flanagan, my whole adult life because I learned more from her that I still use than from any other teacher. I remember figuring out how to make deep-fried egg rolls in grade seven because I loved egg rolls. You couldn't just buy frozen egg rolls then. So I think food that kids like can be a good way in. Is that something you find too?Katie: One hundred percent. If you're cooking things they don't like, you get the pushback: “Mom, I don't like…” So it's like, “Okay, I would love to eat your meal. What do you want to eat?” And it's not, “Tell me what you want and I'll cook it.” If you meal plan, you get to make all the choices.My kids have been interviewed, and people often ask, “What's your favorite thing about knowing how to cook?” My kids have gotten pretty good at saying, “We get to cook what we like.” It's super motivating.Sarah: When I was growing up, my sister and I each had to make dinner one night a week starting when I was in grade five and she was in grade three. We could make anything we wanted, including boxed Kraft Dinner. I can't remember what else we made at that young age, but it was definitely, “You are cooking dinner, and you get to make whatever you want.”Katie: Why didn't you do that with your own kids, out of curiosity?Sarah: It just seemed like it would take too much organization. I think we tried it a couple times. Organization is not my strong suit. Often dinner at our house—there were lots of nights where people had cereal or eggs or different things for dinner. I love to cook, but I like to cook when the urge hits me and I have a recipe I want to try. I'm not seven nights a week making a lovely dinner.Also, dinner was often quite late at my house because things always take longer than I think. I'd start at six, thinking it would take an hour, and it would be 8:30 by the time dinner was ready. I remember one night my middle son was pouring himself cereal at 6:30. I said, “Why are you having cereal? Dinner's almost ready.” He said, “Mom, it's only 6:30.” He expected it later—that's the time normal people eat dinner.My kids have a lot of freedom, but nobody was particularly interested in cooking. And, to be honest, it felt a bit too early as a responsibility when my sister and I had to do it. Even though I'm glad now that I had those early experiences, it was wanting to make egg rolls that made me into a cook more than being assigned dinner in grade five.Katie: That push and pull of how we were parented and how we apply it now is so hard.Sarah: Yes.Katie: I'm thinking of an encouraging story from one of the families who's done our brand-new Teens Cook Real Food. The mom said it was kind of wild: here they were cooking all this real food and it felt intensive. Over the years she'd slid more into buying processed foods, and through the class, watching her teens go through it, she realized, “Oh my gosh, it's actually not as hard as I remember. I have to coach myself.” They shifted into cooking with more real ingredients, and it wasn't that hard—especially doing it together.Sarah: It's not that hard. And you hear in the news that people are eating a lot of fast food and processed food. I'm not anti-fast food or processed food, but you don't want that to be the only thing you're eating. It's actually really easy to cook some chicken and rice and broccoli, but you have to know how. That's why it's so sad Home Ec has gone by the wayside. And honestly, a whole chicken, some rice, and broccoli is going to be way cheaper than McDonald's for a family of four. Cooking like that is cheaper, not very hard, and healthier than eating a lot of fast food or processed food.Katie: Conversations in the kitchen and learning to cook—it's kind of the gateway life skill, because you end up with conversations about finances and budgeting and communication and thinking of others. So many life skills open up because you're cooking.You just brought up food budget—that could be a great half-hour conversation with a 16- or 17-year-old: “You won't have infinite money in a couple years when you move out. You'll have to think about where you spend that money.” It's powerful for kids to start thinking about what it will be like in their first apartment and how they'll spend their time and money.Sarah: My oldest son is a musician, and he's really rubbing his pennies together. He told me he makes a lot of soups and stews. He'll make one and live off it for a couple days. He doesn't follow a recipe—he makes it up. That's great, because you can have a pretty budget-friendly grocery shop.I also don't want to diss anyone who's trying to keep it all together and, for them, stopping by McDonald's is the only viable option at this moment. No judgment if you're listening and can't imagine having the capacity to cook chicken and rice and broccoli. Maybe someday, or maybe one day a week on the weekend, if you have more time and energy.Katie: The way I explain it to teens is that learning to cook and having the skills gives you freedom and choices. If you don't have the skills at all, you're shackled by convenience foods or fast food or DoorDash. But if you at least have the skills, you have many more choices. Teens want agency, autonomy, and freedom, so I speak that into their lives. Ideally, the younger you build the skills, the more time you have to practice, gain experience, and get better.There's no way your older son could have been making up soups out of his head the first month he ever touched chicken—maybe he's a musician, so maybe he could apply the blues scale to cooking quickly—but most people can't.Sarah: As we're speaking, I'm reflecting that my kids probably did get a lot of cooking instruction because we were together all the time. They would watch me and they'd do the standing on a chair and cutting things and stirring things. It just wasn't super organized.That's why I'm so glad you have courses that can help people learn how to teach their children or have their kids learn on their own.I promised we would talk about screens. I'm really curious. It sounds like your kids have a lot of life skills and pretty full lives. Something I get asked all the time is: with teens and screens, how do you avoid “my kid is on their phone or video games for six or seven hours a day”? What did you do in your family, and what thoughts might help other people?Katie: Absolutely. Parenting is always hard. It's an ongoing battle. I think I'm staying on the right side of the numbers, if there are numbers. I feel like I'm launching kids into the world who aren't addicted to their phones. That's a score, and it's tough because I work on screens. I'm telling parents, “Buy products to put your kids on screen,” so it's like, “Wait.”I don't look at screens as a dichotomy of good or bad, but as: how do we talk to our kids about the quality of their time on screens?Back in 2020, when the world shut down, my oldest, Paul, was a freshman. His freshman year got cut short. He went weeks with zero contact with friends, and he fell into a ton of YouTube time and some video games. We thought, “This is an unprecedented time, but we can't let bad habits completely take over.”We sat down with him and said, “Listen, there are different kinds of screen time.” We qualified them as consumptive—everything is coming out of the screen at you—creative—you're making something—and communicative—you're socializing with other people.We asked him what ways he uses screens. We made a chart on a piece of paper and had him categorize his screen time. Then we asked what he thought he wanted his percentage of screen time to be in those areas—without evaluating his actual time yet. He assigned those times, and then we had him pay attention to what reality was. Reality was 90 to 95% consumptive. It was an amazing lightbulb moment. He realized that to be an agent of his own screen time, he had to make intentional choices.He started playing video games with a buddy through the headphones. That change completely changed his demeanor. That was a tough time.So that's the basis of our conversation: what kind of screen time are you having?For my 11-year-old, he still has minute limits: he sets a timer and stops himself. But if he's playing a game with someone, he gets double the time. That's a quantitative way to show him it's more valuable to be with someone than by yourself on a screen. A pretty simple rule.We'll also say things like, “People over screens.” If a buddy comes over and you're playing a video game, your friend is at the door.That's also what I talk to parents about with our classes: this isn't fully consumptive screen time. We highly edit things. We try to keep it engaging and fun so they're on for a set number of minutes and then off, getting their fingers dirty and getting into the real world. We keep their brains and hands engaged beyond the screen. The only way I can get a chef into your home is through the screen—or you pay a thousand dollars.We can see our screen time as really high quality if we make the right choices. It's got to be roundabout 10, 11, 12: pulling kids into the conversation about how we think about this time.Sarah: I love that. It sounds like you were giving your kids tools to look at their own screen time and how they felt about it, rather than you coming from on high and saying, “That's enough. Get off.”Katie: Trying.Sarah: I approach it similarly, though not as organized. I did have limits for my daughter. My sons were older when screens became ubiquitous. For my daughter, we had a two-hour limit on her phone that didn't include texting or anything social—just Instagram, YouTube, that kind of stuff. I think she appreciated it because she recognized it's hard to turn it off.We would also talk about, “What else are you doing today?” Have you gone outside? Have you moved your body? Have you done any reading? All the other things. And how much screen time do you think is reasonable? Variety is a favorite word around here.Katie: Yes. So much so my 11-year-old will come to me and say, “I've played outside, I've read a book, my homework is done. Can I have some screen time?” He already knows what I'm going to ask. “Yes, Mom, I've had variety.” Then: “Okay, set a timer for 30 minutes.”I have a 14-year-old freshman right now. He does not own a phone.Sarah: Oh, wow. I love that.Katie: In modern America, he knows the pathway to get a phone—and he doesn't want one.Sarah: That's great. I hope we see that more and more. I worry about how much kids are on screens and how much less they're talking to each other and doing things.I had a guest on my podcast who's a retired video game developer. His thing is how to not fight with your kid about video games. One thing he recommends is—even more than playing online with someone else—get them in the same room together. Then they can play more. He has different time rules if you're playing in person with kids in your living room than if you're playing alone or playing online with someone else.Katie: Nice. Totally. My story was from COVID times.Sarah: Yes, that wasn't an option then. Someone I heard say the other day: “Can we just live in some unprecedented times, please?”Katie: Yes, please.Sarah: You mentioned the intrinsic motivation of somebody admiring their guacamole. What are your tips for kids—especially teens—who think they're too busy or just super uninterested in cooking?Katie: Teens are a tough species. Motivation is a dance. I really encourage parents to participate in future casting. Once they're about 15, they're old enough. Academically, they're being future-casted all the time: “What are you going to be when you grow up?” They're choosing courses based on university paths. But we need to future-cast about real life too.Ask your 15-year-old: “Have you ever thought about what it'll be like to be in your first apartment?” Maybe they haven't. That helps reduce that first-year-out-of-home anxiety—to have imagined it. Then they might realize they have gaps. “Would you be interested in making sure you can cook some basic stuff for those first years? When you're cooking at home, it's my money you waste if you screw up.” That can be motivating. “I'm here to help.”Sometimes it comes down to a dictate from above, which is not my favorite. Your sister and you were asked to cook at third and fifth grade. I agree that might be a little young for being assigned a full meal. We start around 12 in our house. But by high school, there's really no reason—other than busy schedules. If they're in a sport or extracurricular daily, that can be rough. So what could they do? Could they make a Sunday brunch? We come home from church every Sunday and my daughter—she's 17, grade 12—she's faster than I am now. She'll have the eggs and sausage pretty much done. I'm like, “I'm going to go change out of my church clothes. Thanks.”If we're creative, there's always some time and space. We have to eat three times a day. Sometimes it might be: “You're old enough. It's important as a member of this household to contribute. I'm willing to work with you on really busy weeks, but from now on, you need to cook on Saturday nights.” I don't think that has to be a massive power struggle—especially with the future casting conversation. If you can get them to have a tiny bit of motivation—tiny bit of thinking of, “Why do I need this?”—and the idea of “If I cook, I get to make what I want,” and the budget.Sarah: The budget too: if you're living in your own apartment, how much do you think rent is? How much do you think you can eat for? It's way more expensive to order out or get fast food than to cook your own food.Katie: I feel so proud as a fellow mom of your son, Asa, for making soups and stuff. In Teens Cook Real Food, we teach how to make homemade bone broth by taking the carcass of a chicken. It's a very traditional skill. On camera, I asked the girls who did it with me to help me figure out what their dollar-per-hour pay rate was for making that, compared to an equal quality you buy in the store. Bone broth at the quality we can make is very expensive—like $5 a cup.They did the math and their hourly pay was over $70 an hour to make that bone broth. Then they have gallons of bone broth, and I call it the snowball effect: you have all this broth and you're like, “I guess I'll make soup.” Soup tends to be huge batches, you can freeze it, and it snowballs into many homemade, inexpensive, nourishing meals.Sarah: I love that. You've mentioned your course a couple times—Teens Cook Real Food. I'm picturing that as your kids grew up, your teaching audience grew up too. Were there other reasons you wanted to teach teens how to cook?Katie: Yes. We've had our kids' cooking class for 10 years now. It just had its 10th birthday. The most often requested topic that's not included in the kids' class is meal planning and grocery shopping. It wasn't something I felt like an eight-year-old needed.For 10 years I had that seed of, “How can I incorporate those important skills of meal planning and grocery shopping?” Then my teens got older, and I thought, “I've told parents of teens that our kids' cooking class will work for them, but it's not enough. It wasn't sufficient.”It was so exciting to put this course together. Even just the thinking—the number of index cards I had on the floor with topics trying to figure out what a young adult needs in their first apartment, how to connect the skills, and how to make it engaging.We ended up with eight teens I hired from my local community—some with cooking experience, some with literally none. We had on-camera accidents and everything. But they learned to cook in my kitchen, and it's all recorded for your teens to learn from.Sarah: I love that. What are some of the recipes that you teach in the course?Katie: We have over 35. We spent a whole day with a chef. He started talking about flavor and how seasonings work, and he taught us the mother sauces—like a basic white sauce, both gluten-free and dairy-free, a couple ways to do that, and a basic red sauce, and a couple ways to do that.My favorite cheeky segment title is “How to Boil Water.” We have a bunch of videos on how to boil water—meaning you can make pasta, rice, oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes. There's a lot of stuff that goes in water.Then we built on that with “How to Eat Your Vegetables.” We teach sautéing, steaming, and roasting. The first big recipe they learn is a basic sheet pan dinner. We use pre-cooked sausage and vegetables of your choice, seasonings of your choice. It's one of those meals where you're like, “I don't need a recipe. I can just make this up and put it in the oven.”Then, to go with pasta and red sauce, we teach homemade meatballs. We get them at the grill for steak and chicken and burgers. Of course we do French fries in a couple different ways.Choice is a huge element of this course. If we teach something, we probably teach it in two or three or four different ways, so teens can adapt to preferences, food sensitivities, and anything like that.We use the Instant Pot a lot in our “How to Eat Your Protein” segment. We do a pork roast and a beef roast and a whole chicken, and that broth I talked about, and we make a couple different soups with that.Sarah: You almost make me feel like I haven't had lunch yet.Katie: I'm starving, actually.Sarah: I'm quite an adventurous eater and cook, but I'm going to ask you about my two favorite foods—because they're like a child's favorite foods, but my favorite foods are pizza and tacos. Do you do anything with pizza and tacos in your course?Katie: We do both pizza and tacos.Sarah: Good!Katie: Our chef taught us, with that homemade red sauce, to make homemade dough. He said, “I think we should teach them how to make a homemade brick oven and throw the pizzas into the oven.” Throwing means sliding the pizza off a pizza peel onto bricks in your oven. I was like, “We're going to make such a mess,” but they did it. It's awesome.Then we tested it at home: can you just make this in a normal pizza pan? Yes, you can—don't worry. You don't have to buy bricks, but you can. Again, there are different ways.Sarah: I think teenagers would love making pizza on bricks in the oven. For us we're like, “That seems like so much work.” But teenagers are enthusiastic and creative and they have so much energy. They're wonderful human beings. I can see how the brick oven pizza would be a great challenge for them.Katie: It's so fun. My kids, Paul and John—20 and 14—they've both done it at home. As adults we're like, “It's such a mess,” but we're boring people. Teenagers are not boring. So yes—definitely pizza.Sarah: That's awesome. We'll link to your course in the show notes. Before we let you go, where's the best place for people to go and find out more about you and what you do?Katie: Definitely: raisinghealthyfamilies.com/peacefulparenting. We're going to make sure there's always something about teens at that link—whether it's a free preview of the course or a parenting workshop from me. There will always be something exciting for parents there.Sarah: Amazing. It's been such a pleasure. I thought maybe I didn't do all this stuff, but considering how both of my sons who are independent cook for themselves all the time, I think I must have done okay—even if it was just by osmosis.Katie: That's the great thing about keeping your kids near you. That was your peaceful parenting: they were in the kitchen and they were there, as opposed to you booting them out of the kitchen. There are lots of ways.Sarah: My daughter is an incredible baker. She makes the best chocolate chip cookies. I have this recipe for muffin-tin donuts that are amazing, and she's a really great baker. She can find her way around a quesadilla, eggs, and ramen for herself. I think once she moves out, if she doesn't have mom's cooking anymore, she'll probably also be able to cook.Katie: Yes. And so many parents need that bridge. They're like, “My kids love to make cookies. They bake, but they won't shift to cooking.” I would hope that future-casting conversation could be a good bridge.Sarah: Yeah. You can't live on cookies—or you might think you can for a little while, but then you'd start to feel gross.Katie: Exactly.Sarah: Thanks a lot, Katie.Katie: Thank you so much, Sarah. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sarahrosensweet.substack.com/subscribe

When a nine-year-old rides the subway alone, is that neglect or normal childhood? Lenore Skenazy, a speaker, writer, and reality show host who was once dubbed "America's worst mom," makes the case for why kids need more independence and shares tactics for how parents can give it to them in the modern city or suburb. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Local Recommendations: Lety's Bakery Let Grow (site) Free Range Kids (site) See more from Lenore: “Why I Let My 9 Year Old Ride the Subway Alone” (article)‍ Free Independence Kit‍ Lenore's TedTalk‍ Tiffany Owens Reed (Instagram) Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!   This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Click here to learn more about membership.

When Lenore Skenazy let her nine-year-old use the New York Subway on his own, she was dubbed ‘America's Worst Mom'. In our age of safetyism, children are expected to be supervised, monitored and coddled at all times – not left alone to explore the outside world. No generation has ever been so sheltered. And nor has any generation felt so anxious and depressed. Here, Lenore Skenazy – president of Let Grow – makes the case for free-range parenting, for letting kids have some independence from their parents, and toning down the panic over ‘stranger danger'. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wonder if all the hovering, scheduling, and “keeping kids safe” is actually making them more anxious? In this episode, I sit down with Lenore Skenazy, founder of Let Grow and author of Free Range Kids, to explore how giving kids independence, freedom, and trust can help them thrive.We cover Free Play Fridays, friendship clubs, and simple everyday strategies to build competence, confidence, and that all-important internal locus of control. Lenore shares real stories, expert insights, and practical tips that you can start using today to help your children become capable, confident, and joyful…all while easing your own parental stress.→ Leave Us A Voice Message! Topics Discussed:→ How can giving kids independence reduce childhood anxiety?→ What is the Let Grow approach to free-range parenting?→ How do Free Play Fridays and friendship clubs help kids thrive?→ Why is the internal locus of control so important for children?→ How can parents build confidence without hovering or over-scheduling?Sponsored By: → Be Well By Kelly Protein Powder & Essentials | Get $10 off your order with PODCAST10 at https://bewellbykelly.com.→ AG1 | Head to https://drinkag1.com/bewell to get a FREE Welcome Kit with the flavor of your choice that includes a 30 day supply of AGZ and a FREE frother.→ Function | Own your health for $365 a year. That's a dollar a day. Learn more and join using my link. Visit https://www.functionhealth.com/bewellbykelly and use gift code BEWELL100 for a $25 credit toward your membership.→ Maui Nui | The Reserve Holiday Roast is available now through Maui Nui Venison. Get yours at https://mauinuivenison.com/kelly→ Kosterina | Use code KELLY for 15% OFF your first order at kosterina.com/bewell Not sure where to start? Shop all my Kosterina favorites at https://kosterina.com/bewellTimestamps: → 00:00:00 - Introduction→ 00:05:40 - Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride The Train Alone→ 00:10:52 - Helicopter Parenting Fears→ 00:18:52 - Stop “Worst Case” Thinking→ 00:24:51 - Community & Social Norms→ 00:35:18 - What 5-Year-Olds Can Do→ 00:40:21 - Social Media & Parenting→ 00:45:07 - Let Grow Parenting Tips→ 00:48:56 - Parenting Today→ 00:52:19 - Yale Museum Study→ 00:55:21 - Kids & Anxiety→ 01:02:01 - Joy of IndependenceCheck Out:→ Let Grow Kids → https://www.freerangekids.com/→ X ( Twitter)→ Instagram→ YouTube→

As parents, we're told homicidal maniacs, drug peddlers, and creeps are lurking in every shadow, waiting to grab your children. But is that true? Is our obsession with keeping our kids safe doing more harm than good? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota investigates the difference between good parenting and overparenting — and the political history behind our fear that kidnappers are roaming the streets. David enlists the help of author and advocate Lenore Skenazy, a champion for “free-range parenting,” who was once labeled the World's Worst Mom when she let her child ride the New York City subway alone.  Want to hear more? As an exclusive bonus to our paid subscribers, click here for David's full conversation with Lenore Skenazy. Lenore explains how to protect kids on social media, how she developed her parenting philosophy, and so much more. Not yet a paid subscriber? Click here for a special membership offer exclusive to Lever Time listeners. Click here for a full transcript of the episode. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wonder if we're raising our kids with too much fear and not enough freedom? In this episode, I'm joined by Lenore Skenazy—founder of Let Grow, author, and self-described “America's Worst Mom”—to dig into what's really holding our kids back. We talk about the shift from play-based to phone-based childhoods, and how we, as parents and educators, can reverse course by letting kids take back some independence—without feeling like we're putting them in danger.We explore how anxiety, both in kids and adults, is often fueled by overprotection, and how letting kids do more on their own actually builds emotional resilience, executive function, and confidence. Lenore shares powerful stories, smart strategies, and even a few laughs to help us rethink how we support our kids in becoming more capable and self-reliant. If you've ever worried about being too overprotective—or just want to help kids thrive—this conversation will inspire you to take that first step. Episode Highlights: [0:00] - Opening thoughts on parenting struggles and intro to my new workbook [1:35] - Welcoming Lenore Skenazy and how she became known as “America's Worst Mom” [3:54] - The column that sparked a national conversation [5:17] - The disconnect between our childhoods and how we raise our kids now [7:53] - How school policies and culture reinforce parental anxiety [8:50] - The myth of stranger danger and why statistics don't ease fears [11:52] - The Let Grow Experience and how it rewires parent and child behavior [15:06] - Why emotional courage is essential for both kids and parents [17:59] - The anxious generation of parents—and how overprotection feeds the cycle [19:43] - What free play really teaches and how it rewires the brain [24:11] - Why sandbags belong in play clubs and other fun discoveries [27:29] - Real-world problem solving in play: Franklin and the leaf pile [30:41] - Why squabbling is not a problem—it's the learning process [31:07] - The hero's journey and how hardship builds emotional resilience [33:34] - A flat tire becomes a triumph of independence [34:04] - Phones out, yes—but we must also restore play [35:15] - Let Grow's mission to support independence and responsibility [38:59] - Helping parents take courageous actions, even if they're still worried [41:36] - The goal isn't to eliminate worry—it's to act with courage anywayLinks & Resources: Lenore's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/lenore_skenazy_why_you_should_spend_less_time_with_your_kids?subtitle=en  If this episode has helped you, remember to rate, follow, and share the Self-Driven Child Podcast. Your support helps us reach more people and create more content that makes a difference.If you have a high school aged student and would like to talk about putting a tutoring or college plan together, reach out to Ned's company, PrepMatters at www.prepmatters.com

For Shop Talk, we bring you fascinating data and wisdom from the righteous troublemakers known as Jonathan Haidt, Lenore Skenazy, and Zach Rausch. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve been told that “good” parents never take their eyes off their kids — but what if that’s the very thing making childhood (and parenting) harder? In this fascinating chat, Dr Justin Coulson sits down with Lenore Skenazy — New York Times bestselling author of Free Range Kids and co-founder of Let Grow — whose viral act of letting her 9-year-old ride the NYC subway alone sparked a global movement. Fresh from her TED Talk, Why You Should Spend Less Time With Your Kids, Lenore dismantles the “terrible lie” that children can’t handle life on their own — and reveals why the best learning, confidence, and resilience often happen when parents step back. KEY POINTS The fear-driven parenting trap — and how media and culture made “unsupervised” a dirty word. The myth of “better safe than sorry” and why it’s hurting our kids. How independence builds competence (and true confidence). What happens in a child’s brain when they solve problems without adult help. The staggering truth about “stranger danger” and why it’s wildly overblown. How to make it normal again to just open the door and let kids play. QUOTE OF THE EPISODE “Independence leads to competence — and competence leads to confidence.” RESOURCES MENTIONED Lenore Skenazy’s TED Talk: Why You Should Spend Less Time With Your Kids Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy— New York Times bestseller Let Grow nonprofit: letgrow.org Range by David Epstein ACTION STEPS FOR PARENTS Open the door. Let your child play or walk somewhere safely on their own. Resist the rescue. When your child faces a small problem, pause before stepping in. Swap “be safe” for “trust yourself.” Let your language build courage, not fear. Talk about freedom. Ask your kids what independence means to them — and listen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a textToday on Your Child Is Normal, I'm thrilled to re-air one of our most important conversations with Lenore Skenazy — author of Free‑Range Kids and president of the nonprofit Let Grow, which is leading a national movement to restore childhood independence.Lenore explains why when we trust kids to do more on their own, they grow stronger, more confident, and less anxious. She upends the “hover-parenting” norm and invites us to rethink what real childhood looks like.In this episode you'll hear:•How childhood became over-scheduled, over-monitored, and under-trusted.•Why giving kids more freedom isn't neglect—it's empowerment.•Practical steps you can take this week to let your child take the reins (just a little).•Lenore's latest work including her brand-new TED Talk, “Why You Should Spend Less Time With Your Kids.” (Watch it here ➜ https://www.ted.com/talks/lenore_skenazy_why_you_should_spend_less_time_with_your_kids?language=en)  Your Child is Normal is the trusted podcast for parents, pediatricians, and child health experts who want smart, nuanced conversations about raising healthy, resilient kids. Hosted by Dr. Jessica Hochman — a board-certified practicing pediatrician — the show combines evidence-based medicine, expert interviews, and real-world parenting advice to help listeners navigate everything from sleep struggles to mental health, nutrition, screen time, and more. Follow Dr Jessica Hochman:Instagram: @AskDrJessica and Tiktok @askdrjessicaYouTube channel: Ask Dr Jessica If you are interested in placing an ad on Your Child Is Normal click here or fill out our interest form.-For a plant-based, USDA Organic certified vitamin supplement, check out : Llama Naturals Vitamin and use discount code: DRJESSICA20-To test your child's microbiome and get recommendations, check out: Tiny Health using code: DRJESSICA The information presented in Ask Dr Jessica is for general educational purposes only. She does not diagnose medical conditi...

How are our kids actually spending their time — and is it aligned with what we value for our families' lives and for our children's well-being? This week, Amy and Margaret discuss: How sleep too often loses out to homework and activities Time tracking and the sobering truth it can show about how many hours a week our kids actually spend on screens How outdoor time and free play, too often in short supply, affects creativity, independence, and self-regulation Strategies for families to audit time, realign priorities, and invite kids into decision-making It's worth the effort to track how our time is actually spent. As Annie Dillard said: “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” Here are links to some of the resources we mention in the episode: Gretchen Livingston for Pew Research Center: The way U.S. teens spend their time is changing, but differences between boys and girls persist Cleveland Clinic: How Much Sleep Kids Need: Recommended Hours by Age Dahl KL, et. al: Time Playing Outdoors Among Children Aged 3-5 Years: National Survey of Children's Health, 2021. Yeshe Colliver et. al for Early Childhood Research Quarterly: Free play predicts self-regulation years later: Longitudinal evidence from a large Australian sample of toddlers and preschoolers Our Fresh Take with Christina Martin on How Children Learn Through Play Our Fresh Take with Lenore Skenazy, author of FREE-RANGE KIDS Our Fresh Take with Ginny Yurich, host of the 1000 Hours Outside podcast Our Fresh Take with Laura Vanderkam, time-tracking expert Sign up for the What Fresh Hell newsletter! Once a month you'll get our favorite recent episodes, plus links to other things to read and watch and listen to, and upcoming special events We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/ Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at ⁠www.monarchmoney.com/FRESH Ready to raise money-smart kids? Start now with your first month FREE at acornsearly.com/FRESH! Head to GigSalad.com and book some awesome talent for your next party, and let them know that What Fresh Hell sent you. How kids spend time, kids and screen time, parenting priorities, unstructured play, outdoor play for kids, kids and sleep needs, family time management, limiting screen time, Annie Dillard quote parenting, homework vs sleep, raising independent kids, parenting podcast, What Fresh Hell episode, time tracking for families, free play benefits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The secret to reducing childhood anxiety is actually quite simple: just let kids do more stuff on their own, says Lenore Skenazy, cofounder and president of Let Grow, an organization dedicated to normalizing childhood independence. In conversation with TED's Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Skenazy discusses why parenting has become more demanding in our safety-obsessed world — and offers a more joyful, trusting alternative to helicopter parenting, with tangible steps for how to start safely (and sanely) letting your kids grow. (This conversation was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.)TED Talks Daily is nominated for the Signal Award for Best Conversation Starter Podcast. Vote here!Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyouTEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you raise confident and capable children in a seemingly scary and unsafe world? According to Lenore Skenazy, the solution is simple yet controversial — you leave the kids alone. Lenore is the president of Let Grow and the founder of the Free Range Kids Movement where she argues that parents don't need to hover over their kids as much because they'll be more than okay — they'll thrive. Chris and Lenore discuss why overprotecting kids can backfire, how parents might be unintentionally stifling children's innate curiosity, and why one of the best tools to teach kids is to step away and let them learn and problem-solve themselves.FollowHost: Chris Duffy (Instagram: @chrisiduffy | chrisduffycomedy.com)Guest: Lenore Skenazy (Instagram: @lenoreskenazy_freerange | LinkedIn: @lenoreskenazy | Website: https://www.freerangekids.com/) LinksInstagram: @letgroworghttps://letgrow.org/Free Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let GrowSubscribe to TED Instagram: @tedYouTube: @TEDTikTok: @tedtoksLinkedIn: @ted-conferencesWebsite: ted.comPodcasts: ted.com/podcastsFor the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscriptsInterested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ravi Gupta welcomes back Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids and president of Let Grow, to explore how fear-driven parenting and digital distraction are reshaping childhood. From the 1980s milk-carton panic to today's surveillance tech, they show how over-scheduling breeds helplessness instead of competence. Citing new polling, Skenazy reveals kids overwhelmingly prefer unstructured play with friends over screens or adult-run activities. They link these trends to rising youth anxiety, falling literacy, and weakened civic resilience—arguing that restoring children's freedom is both a personal and political imperative. Signal Award voting (make sure to vote if you haven't yet): https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting?utm_campaign=signal4_finalists_finalistnotification_092325&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio#/2025/limited-series-specials/genre/science-education -- Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com  Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/ 

A family who had CPS called on them four separate times for letting their children play outside in front of their house. A mother who was arrested after her ten-year-old walked into town and back alone. How do we keep this from happening?Welcome back to the EPPiC Broadcast - today, our guest is Lenore Skenazy, president of Let Grow. She's here to discuss the negative consequences of society not allowing responsible children to spend time independently in their neighborhoods - and how to affect change.You can also find Lenore's recent TED Talk here! https://youtu.be/whaesnYloMQ?si=Vc8EZPxpmh9mi5Y9 The EPPiC Broadcast is hosted by Michael Ramey, president of the Parental Rights Foundation. You can sign up for email alerts to keep yourself informed on parental rights news at https://parentalrightsfoundation.org/get-involved/.Support the show

Journalist and activist Lenore Skenazy explains how fear and over-parenting left kids more anxious and less independent, and and how a movement to restore that independence is gaining ground.

Send us a textOkay, so you've probably heard the story: a New York mom lets her 9-year-old ride the subway alone… and the entire world loses its mind. That mom is my guest today, Lenore Skenazy, and she's been lovingly (and infamously) dubbed “The World's Worst Mom.” Spoiler: she's actually one of the bravest, funniest, and most sensible voices in parenting today.Lenore's simple act of trusting her kid sparked a global conversation about parenting, independence, and the culture of fear we've all been marinating in. She went from being vilified on morning shows to becoming the president of Let Grow and the author of Free Range Kids, a whole movement dedicated to giving kids back their confidence (and parents back their sanity).And honestly? Talking to her made me do a little gut-check of my own. When I imagined sending my son on the subway at 9, my first reaction was, “Oh hell no.” But then I thought about it—what was I actually afraid of? Abduction? Not really. More like him getting lost and maybe a little scared. And then I thought… wait. Isn't that kind of the point? To let him practice being lost and then figure it out? (Cue me rethinking all my “just let me do it for you” parenting moments.)In this episode, we dig into why we've become so terrified of letting kids do literally anything, how “worst-first” thinking has hijacked modern parenting, and why giving kids independence isn't neglect—it's actually the best gift we can give them. Lenore even tells me about a mom who was spoon-feeding her 10-year-old (yep, you read that right) and what happened when that kid finally learned to cut his own mango. Spoiler: it's glorious.If you've ever caught yourself hovering a little too close to your kids or wondering if you're “doing it wrong,” this episode is your friendly permission slip to breathe, back off a little, and let your kid surprise you. And if you're not a parent? Trust me, this convo still hits. It's really about fear, resilience, and how much we all grow when we're allowed to stumble a little.What's Inside:The wild story of how one subway ride made Lenore a global headlineWhy fear has become the default mode in modern parenting (and how to break free)The surprising ways overprotection backfires on kids' confidence and resiliencePractical steps from Lenore's Let Grow project that help families rebuild independence So here's the mic drop: are you living out of fear, or letting yourself and your kids grow into the badass humans you know you can be? If you've got a “world's worst mom” (or dad) story of your own, I want the tea. DM me on Instagram and let's laugh, cringe, and maybe rethink some of this parenting madness together.  Mentioned in this episode:Free Range Kids by Lenore SkenazyLet GrowPeter Gray's book Free to LearnJonathan Haidt's book The Anxious GenerationOonagh Duncan on InstagramFit Feels Good Strong AFLeave me a voice note on Speak Pipe! 

Michael Smerconish delivers a commentary from the Philadelphia suburbs discussing the gap between life perception and reality, particularly in the context of college education and the American Dream. He explores the realities most American college students face, emphasizing that a majority do not experience the 'traditional' four-year residential college experience. Smerconish connects this theme to political divides, noting how educational backgrounds correlate with political affiliations. Smerconish incorporates views from professionals like economist Neil Mahoney and politicians like Doug Sosnick, highlighting economic concerns and shifts in voter demographics. The narrative also brings in perspectives on America's strengths and optimism as expressed by figures like Jim Van Dehi and Tim Warrens, advocating that the American Dream, while challenged, is still alive. The script transitions into a conversation on modern childhood, discussing 'helicopter parenting' and advocating for greater childhood independence via insights from Lenore Skenazy, who promotes the 'Free Range Kids' movement. Finally, the segment touches on the poll question of whether the American Dream still holds true, revealing a more optimistic view from Smerconish's audience compared to a national survey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whether it's micromanaging playtime, constantly hovering or incessantly texting, the adult takeover of childhood has created a crisis of anxiety in both children and parents, says Lenore Skenazy, cofounder and president Let Grow, an organization dedicated to normalizing childhood independence. With wit and humor, she lays out the unexpected benefits of letting our kids be a bit more “free range” — and shows why the most teachable moments happen when parents aren't there.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch.Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyouTEDSports: ted.com/sportsTEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-viennaTEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when an entire generation grows up micromanaged, chauffeured, and monitored as if childhood itself were a dangerous crime? In one of the most eye-opening and hilarious episodes of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, Lenore Skenazy — author of Free-Range Kids and co-founder of Let Grow — joins Ginny Yurich to expose the absurdity of today's fear-based parenting culture. With razor-sharp wit and decades of cultural insight, she dismantles the myths that keep parents locked in anxiety and kids locked out of real life. From Halloween candy scares to daycare workers logging every bathroom break, Lenore reveals how fear has crept into every corner of childhood — and why it's robbing our kids of resilience, joy, and independence. But this isn't just cultural critique — it's a blueprint for freedom. Lenore shares why worrying is just a false form of control, why exposure to reality (not more rules) is the cure for parental anxiety, and why unstructured play may be the most important “classroom” of all. Packed with humor, wisdom, and unforgettable one-liners, this conversation challenges parents to step out of the fear stew and give their kids back what they're desperate for: agency, trust, and the chance to grow. If you've ever felt torn between protecting your kids and preparing them for the real world, this episode is your wake-up call — and possibly the permission slip you've been waiting for. Learn more about Let Grow and all they have to offer here Get your copy of Free Range Kids here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this thought-provoking episode of Nothing Left Unsaid, Tim Green and his son Troy sit down with journalist and author Lenore Skenazy, famously dubbed “America's Worst Mom” after letting her 9-year-old ride the New York City subway alone. From that moment came a movement, Free-Range Kids and the nonprofit Let Grow, challenging a culture of fear that tells parents constant supervision is the only path to safety. Lenore shares how overprotection and “worst-first thinking” are fueling anxiety in both parents and children, while true resilience is built through independence, problem-solving, and trust. With humor, statistics, and stories from her years as a reporter and advocate, she reveals why kids are far safer than we think and how giving them freedom is one of the greatest gifts we can offer. This conversation blends cultural critique with practical wisdom, offering a hopeful blueprint for raising confident, capable kids in an age of anxiety, true to the mission of Nothing Left Unsaid. SPONSORS: ElevenLabs: Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ElevenLabs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for supporting this episode and powering Tim's voice. SOCIAL: Website: ⁠⁠nlupod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@nlutimgreen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/NLUpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@nlupod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ AUDIO ONLY: Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen on Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PERSONAL: Tackle ALS: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tackleals.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Tim Green Books: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠authortimgreen.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Brady spoke to Lenore Skenazy, President, “Free Range Kids”, “Let Grow” about What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Kelly's conversation with Lenore Skenazy this past Tuesday, we're going deeper into the moment that changed everything for this mom and sparked a national conversation about how we raise our kids. When Lenore's 9-year-old kept begging for some independence, she finally said yes—letting him ride the New York subway home alone from Bloomingdale's. The op-ed she wrote about it in The New York Sun brought fierce criticism and praise in equal measure, with some calling her brave and others suggesting she should be reported for child abuse. It's a story that gets to the heart of something so many of us wrestle with: How do we help our children develop confidence and self-reliance in a world that feels increasingly dangerous? And what happens when our desire to protect them might actually be holding them back from becoming the capable, independent people we want them to be? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When well-meaning parents try to keep kids safe from every possible harm, they might actually be creating more anxious, less capable children. In this conversation recorded live on stage at this year's Aspen Ideas Festival, Kelly talks with Lenore Skenazy, who became known as "America's Worst Mom" after letting her nine-year-old ride the New York subway alone and psychologist Dr. Camilo Ortiz, who developed "Independence Therapy" to treat childhood anxiety through independence rather than avoidance. They explore how protecting kids from distress, disappointment, danger, and discomfort interferes with essential skill-building, why being around our children too much leads to over-parenting and how simple changes like waiting five seconds before jumping in to help can make a huge difference. The conversation covers practical strategies for fostering independence, the importance of mixed-age play and the hopeful news that 11 states have now passed laws protecting parents' rights to raise free-range kids. Special thanks to The Aspen Ideas Festival where this episode was recorded. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Send us a textOkay, let's talk about the thing that is straight-up hijacking our homes right now: screens. If you've ever shouted, “Get off your phone!” at your kid while... checking your own email for the 50th time that hour? Yep, same. That's why I brought on the brilliant, passionate, and hilariously relatable Emily Cherkin, also known as The Screen Time Consultant.Emily is a former middle school teacher turned full-time tech-intentional parenting badass. She's worked with families, schools, and even policymakers and has been quoted by CHUCK NORRIS, for crying out loud. But what really hit me? She gets it. She gets the emotional labor, the mom guilt, the struggle between “don't rot your brain” and “I just need 20 minutes of quiet to make dinner.”In this episode, Emily unpacks why screen time is actually a symptom, not the root problem; why parental controls are basically the IKEA instructions of tech parenting (look good on paper, don't really work); and how to shift our whole approach without going full “live in the woods with no WiFi” extreme.Also, fair warning: You will leave this conversation questioning the idea that your kid needs a phone “just in case they get kidnapped.” (Spoiler: statistically… no.)If you've ever handed over a screen and then immediately felt like a failure, or had a deep desire to yeet your kid's iPad into a lake, this episode is your new therapy. No judgment, no shame. Just some straight-up truth bombs and actual strategies that make sense in the real world.What's Inside: Why screens aren't the real issue, and what's actually going onThe sneaky ways screen time is hijacking relationships, not just attention spansWhy fear-based parenting (hello, Stranger Danger) is totally messing with our decisionsHow to build real-life skills in your kids before handing over the techFeeling overwhelmed and wondering if it's even possible to raise decent humans in a world full of TikTok and YouTube Shorts? You are not alone.This conversation is your reminder that you don't have to go full Amish to protect your kid's brain. Let's talk about what's working (and what's making you want to scream into a pillow). DM me on Instagram @oonaghduncan and let's swap screen-time war stories. Seriously. I want to hear what's happening at your house.Mentioned In This Episode:Emily Cherkin's book: The Screen Time SolutionLet Grow Movement, Lenore Skenazy's work on childhood independenceThe Light Phone (a non-smartphone alternative)Emily's WebsiteSocial Media Victims Law CenterFollow Emily on Instagram @thescreentimeconsultantOonagh Duncan on InstagramFit Feels GoodLeave me a voice note on Speak Pipe!

Yascha Mounk and Lenore Skenazy discuss why kids should take risks.  After letting her 9-year-old ride the New York City subway alone—and creating a media firestorm—Lenore Skenazy wrote the book, “Free-Range Kids.” Lenore is also a co-founder of Let Grow. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Lenore Skenazy explore why parents are reluctant to let their children take risks, how unsupervised activities help children learn, and how to embrace giving your kids independence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would YOU let your 9-year-old ride the NYC subway alone?!

Lenore Skenazy joins us for a discussion on fostering youth resilience and independence. We explore how unstructured time and autonomy can better equip young people to handle frustration and develop problem-solving skills.

Send us a textIn this episode, we explore how modern culture has stripped childhood of the freedom it needs to thrive—and what can be done to bring it back. Our guest is Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids and co-founder of the nonprofit Let Grow, launched with Jonathan Haidt, Peter Gray, and Daniel Shuchman to champion independence, resilience, and real-world learning.Together, we unpack how fear, measurement, and control have come to dominate parenting and education. From the rise of isolated family units to the spread of enrichment culture, today's children are surrounded by adults who often confuse supervision with support. The result is a generation of kids with less room to explore, solve problems, and grow on their own.We talk about how Let Grow is working to change this—by making it normal again for kids to walk to the store, play unsupervised, and take age-appropriate risks. Lenore shares the story of a high school that gave students one week of unstructured play, and the surprising transformation that followed. The spark of self-direction wasn't lost—it was just waiting for space to reappear.Visit letgrow.org to explore free programs, school initiatives, and policy work that supports childhood independence.

Mentor Sessions Ep.012: Nathan Law on Hong Kong's Fight for Freedom, Bitcoin, and Lessons for the WestCould Hong Kong's slide into tyranny foreshadow challenges for the West? Is Bitcoin the key tool activists need to protect their freedom? In this powerful episode, we sit down with Nathan Law, Hong Kong's youngest-ever legislator, whose journey took him from student activist to political prisoner, and now to exile in the UK with a $140,000 bounty on his head. Nathan shares his firsthand account of the Umbrella Movement, the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong, and how Bitcoin helps activists resist financial control. This isn't just a story—it's an urgent signal. Stay tuned, because the stakes are higher than you might realize.What You'll Discover:• How Nathan went from college student to Hong Kong's youngest legislator • The stark reality of Hong Kong's fading freedoms under China's rule • Bitcoin's role in empowering activists against bank freezes and oppression • Vital lessons the West must heed from Hong Kong's struggleChapters:• 00:00:00 - Introduction: Hong Kong's Warning to the World• 00:01:42 - Nathan's Journey: Student Activist to Legislator• 00:03:04 - The Umbrella Movement and 2019 Protests• 00:04:25 - Escape to the UK: Life in Exile• 00:10:04 - Hong Kong Today: Tyranny and Censorship• 00:17:00 - Bitcoin vs. Financial Censorship• 00:24:20 - Education Under Siege: Indoctrination in Schools• 00:30:51 - Identity Crisis: Hong Kong vs. China• 00:36:04 - China's Rise and the West's Missteps• 00:43:09 - Bitcoin in Hong Kong: Freedom's Tool • 00:50:56 - Lessons for the West: Freedom Hangs by a Thread• 00:56:13 - Nathan's Why: A Reluctant Hero's Drive• 01:00:29 - How to Help: Supporting Hong Kong's Fight • 01:05:47 - Closing Call: Freedom's FutureAbout Nathan Law:• Book: Freedom: How We Lose It and How We Fight Back – Grab it on Amazon: https://www.nathanlawkc.com/freedom• Documentary: Who's Afraid of Nathan Law? – Emmy-nominated, stream on PBS or Amazon: https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/nathanlawfilm/• Follow Nathan: @nathanlawkc on all platforms (except TikTok) Schedule a Free Discovery Session with Nathan to fast-track your Bitcoin education and enhance your self-custody security: https://bitcoinmentor.io/?fluent-booking=calendar&host=nathan-1712797202&event=30min Struggling to explain Bitcoin to friends and family? Blockhunters - The Bitcoin Board Game makes it fun and simple. Visit blockhuntersgame.com and use code BTCMENTOR for 10% off to ignite Bitcoin curiosity today! FREE Bitcoin Book Giveaway: New to Bitcoin? Get Magic Internet Money by Jesse Berger FREE! Click here: bitcoinmentororange.com/magic-internet-money BOOK Private Sessions with Bitcoin Mentor: Master self-custody, hardware, multisig, Lightning, privacy, and more. Visit bitcoinmentor.io Subscribe to Mentor Sessions: Don't miss out—follow us on Twitter:BTC Sessions: @BTCsessionsNathan: @theBTCmentorGary: @GaryLeeNYC Enjoyed this? Like, subscribe, and share! Watch our last episode with Lenore Skenazy on free-range parenting: https://youtu.be/IkhB9UdDolo#Bitcoin #HongKong #Freedom #Democracy #Activism #NathanLaw #BitcoinMentor #MentorSessions #HumanRights #BitcoinEducation #Blockchain #Crypto #BitcoinPodcast #Freedom #Podcast #umbrellaprotest

Is it possible that giving our kids more freedom might actually help them thrive? In this powerful episode of The Fresh Start Family Show, Wendy welcomes Lenore Skenazy—author, speaker, and founder of Let Grow—to explore the surprising connection between independence and mental wellness in kids. Together, they unpack how our culture's obsession with safety and control is fueling anxiety, and how simple acts of trust—like letting kids walk to the store or ride a bike alone—can be the very antidote our families need. Lenore shares the story that launched her into the national spotlight as “America's Worst Mom” (spoiler: she's anything but), along with decades of insight from research partners like Dr. Peter Gray and Jonathan Haidt. With warmth and humor, she offers actionable ideas and free Let Grow resources to help parents reclaim their confidence and raise capable, resilient kids. This is an inspiring, perspective-shifting episode for every parent ready to let go… and let grow. For links & more info about everything discussed in this episode, head to www.freshstartfamilyonline.com/274. Grab my FREE Quick Start Learning Bundle & discover 3 secrets to empower, connect, and build true collaboration with your strong-willed child! Head to ⁠https://freshstartfamilyonline.com/power⁠ Contest Time! ⁠Enter our YouTube Contest ⁠here and one one lucky family will win a package value of over $550! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mentor Sessions Ep.011: Lenore Skenazy onFree-Range Parenting, Bitcoin, and Raising Self-Sovereign Kids Did you know 80% of kids today are tracked like FedEx packages by their parents? Eight out of ten—crazy, right? But what if all that hovering is turning our kids into anxious, incapable adults who can't think for themselves? We're sitting down with Lenore Skenazy, the fearless mom dubbed “the world's worst” for letting her 9-year-old ride the NYC subway solo. She's the brains behind Free-Range Kids and Let Grow, a nonprofit smashing the helicopter parenting epidemic. This isn't just about letting kids play outside—it's about raising resilient, Bitcoin-ready rebels who can inherit the future. We're unpacking how surveillance kills trust, why our safety obsession is backfiring, and how Bitcoin's self-sovereignty ethos could be the key to badass parenting. Stick around if you're a parent, a Bitcoiner, or just fed up with society's nanny-state nonsense—this one's a must-watch. Chapters:00:00:00 - The Surveillance State Starts at HomeIntroduces the issue of child surveillance and its prevalence in modern parenting. 00:02:10 - Why Parents Can't Let GoExplores the societal and emotional reasons behind overprotective parenting. 00:05:23 - Trust Over TrackingHighlights the importance of trust as an alternative to constant monitoring. 00:12:06 - Bitcoin and Permissionless ParentingConnects the philosophy of Bitcoin to fostering independence in children. 00:15:22 - Attachment Done RightDiscusses healthy attachment and its role in raising confident kids. 00:19:16 - Play: The Secret SauceEmphasizes the value of unstructured play in child development. 00:27:51 - Let Grow's School RevolutionCovers initiatives like Let Grow and Play Club that promote free-range principles. 00:44:04 - The Anxious Generation's RootsExamines the historical shift toward anxiety-driven parenting. 00:55:56 - Facing Backlash and Building TrustCombines Lenore's personal story, the Bitcoin advantage, and the long-term benefits of trust.About Lenore Skenazy:Website: letgrow.orgTwitter: @FreeRangeKids Schedule a Free Discovery Session with Nathan to fast-track your Bitcoin education and enhance your self-custody security: https://bitcoinmentor.io/?fluent-booking=calendar&host=nathan-1712797202&event=30min Struggling to explain Bitcoin to friends and family? Blockhunters - The Bitcoin Board Game makes it fun and simple. Visit blockhuntersgame.com and use code BTCMENTOR for 10% off to ignite Bitcoin curiosity today! FREE Bitcoin Book Giveaway: New to Bitcoin? Get Magic Internet Money by Jesse Berger FREE! Click here: bitcoinmentororange.com/magic-internet-money BOOK Private Sessions with Bitcoin Mentor: Master self-custody, hardware, multisig, Lightning, privacy, and more. Visit bitcoinmentor.io Subscribe to Mentor Sessions: Don't miss out—follow us on Twitter:BTC Sessions: @BTCsessionsNathan: @theBTCmentorGary: @GaryLeeNYC Enjoyed this episode? Like, subscribe, and share! Check out our previous interview with Tom Luongo on financial warfare and Bitcoin: Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whaMYQeMHh0 #Bitcoin #Parenting #FreeRangeKids #SelfSovereignty #LetGrow #BitcoinEducation #BitcoinMentor #MentorSessions #Blockchain #Crypto #LenoreSkenazy #BitcoinPodcast #Freedom #Podcast

How do we raise confident, resilient kids in a culture that's become obsessed with supervision? In this episode, Dominic Gourley is joined by Lenore Skenazy – author of Free-Range Kids and President of Let Grow – to explore why independence is crucial for childhood development. They discuss why overprotection can backfire, how free play fosters leadership and creativity, and how building trust (not constant monitoring) strengthens both kids and parents. Drawing parallels between parenting and leadership in the workplace, Lenore and Dominic show why stepping back is the key to helping the next generation step up. If you want to raise or mentor more capable, resilient, and independent young people, this conversation is a must-listen. Learn more about Let Grow: https://letgrow.org/ Learn more about Human Synergistics: https://www.human-synergistics.com.au/

Kids and teens are experiencing less independence than in the past — whether due to screen time, parents' fears of letting them roam freely, or other factors. It's a problem. But why? And what can be done? In this episode, host Dr. Delaney Ruston discusses this important topic with journalist Lenore Skenazy, who was labeled “America's Worst Mom” after letting her 9-year-old take the New York City subway home alone. Skenazy has spent years sounding the alarm on the harms of decreased youth autonomy, including co-founding Let Grow with psychologists Jonathan Haidt and Peter Gray. This episode explores the factors contributing to decreased independence and offers tools for parents and schools to combat this trend. It also examines the role of technology and tracking devices in this context, addressing both their benefits and potential pitfalls. This episode is intended for adult and teen audiences.   Featured Expert Lenore Skenazy   Books Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy   Research References Mott Poll Report: Promoting children's Independence: What parents say vs do Media violence, physical aggression, and relational aggression in school age children: a short-term longitudinal study. (Aggressive Behavior)    Additional Resources Lenore Skenazy's blog LetGrow.Org   Time Code 00:00 Introduction 00:20 The Decline of Children's Autonomy 01:02 Challenges in Encouraging Independence 01:22 Parental Concerns and Media Influence 02:00 Exploring Solutions with Lenore Skenazy 02:39 Lenore's Controversial Parenting Decision 08:21 The Birth of Free Range Kids Movement 10:07 Statistics and Parental Fears 18:05 Let Grow Initiative and School Programs 22:34 Technology's Role in Children's Independence 32:44 Conclusion and Resources  

Are we protecting our kids or holding them back? In this episode, Justin talks with Lenore Skenazy about the unintended consequences of overprotection and why kids need to experience risk to build confidence, resilience, and essential life skills. From eliminating stairs in homes to constant parental surveillance, we examine how fear-based parenting is shaping modern childhood—and what we can do to change it. KEY POINTS: The growing trend of designing homes for maximum parental surveillance and risk elimination. Why removing all risks from a child’s life can have long-term negative effects on their mental health and independence. The difference between reasonable safety precautions (e.g., seat belts, helmets) and excessive protection that stifles growth. How parental fear contributes to anxiety, depression, and dependence in kids. Practical ways to introduce independence and calculated risk into children’s lives. QUOTE OF THE EPISODE:"Fear doesn’t prevent death, but it prevents life." KEY INSIGHTS FOR PARENTS: Removing every possible risk doesn't make kids safer—it makes them less capable. Letting children navigate small risks (like climbing stairs, using a knife, or walking to school) helps them build real-world skills. Worrying can feel like an action, but it doesn’t change reality—teaching skills and fostering independence does. Kids don’t need a risk-free life; they need a chance to learn, adapt, and grow. RESOURCES MENTIONED: Let Grow – Free resources for fostering childhood independence. Supervision Not Required podcast – A new podcast on raising confident, capable kids. ACTION STEPS FOR PARENTS: Identify one small area where you can give your child more independence. Teach them practical skills rather than avoiding potential risks. Shift your mindset from "How do I eliminate all risks?" to "How do I prepare my child to handle them?" Connect with other parents who value childhood independence to build confidence in your approach. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Lenore Skenazy let her nine-year-old ride the subway alone, she was dubbed "the worst mother in the world." In this preview of Saturday's interview, discover why preparation beats protection and how trusting kids with real responsibility helps them become capable adults. Plus, learn why the illusion of control might be holding our children back. Quote of the Episode: "If you want responsible kids, you have to give them responsibility"—Alfie Kohn Key Insights: Preparation matters more than protection. Trust builds capability and confidence. Control is ultimately an illusion. Mistakes are learning opportunities. Clear boundaries enable independence. Practice builds competence. Real-world experience teaches responsibility. Consequences should lead to learning, not restriction. Resources Mentioned: Let Grow movement Lenore Skenazy's work Jonathan Haidt's research Happy Families Action Steps for Parents: Prepare Rather than Prevent Practice skills before independence Provide necessary tools and information Create clear safety guidelines Build Trust Gradually Start with small responsibilities Allow learning from mistakes Maintain open communication Focus on Growth Use setbacks as teaching moments Celebrate increased independence Balance freedom with preparation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terri speaks with Lenore Skenazy author, speaker, and cofounder of LetGrow.org to discuss the why and how of bringing independence, competence, and courage back to our lives.  The Challenge for this episode:Our challenge for this episode is to visit the LetGrow.org website and select the Parent Dropdown menu from the top bar.  Select at least one resource from the section, review it, and put it to use.  Then post about your experience on the Element is Everything podcast page on YouTube.  Let's see if we can get a support group going, sharing our trials and tribulations as we create a community of families raising the courageous generation.  As we let go so that they may grow, they will, in turn, find...their element.   

Structured activities. Monitored playdates. Helicopter parenting. Have we lost the ability to let our kids discover the world on their own? Many believe that free play is a great solution for both child and parent, but what exactly does healthy free play look like for toddlers and young children?  Lenore Skenazy, author and co-founder of Let Grow, explains how allowing children to be more independent will give them skills and confidence that will last a lifetime. Then, in our Parenting Story of the Day, Allison Schwalm talks about how daughter struggled with separation anxiety until she found a unique playgroup. The first day she dropped her daughter off, something magical happened. You can also watch this podcast on YouTube and reach us at podcast@munchkin.com.  Lenore Skenazy / Free Range Kids / IG / FB / X / YT / LinkedIn  Lenore is an American speaker, syndicated columnist, reality show host and author who co-founded Let Grow, an organization advocating for free-range parenting, with Professor Jonathan Haidt, Daniel Shuchman, Dr. Peter Gray. She assisted Haidt with two chapters on his instant #1 New York Times bestseller “The Anxious Generation” and is the author of “Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts With Worry.” She was featured in the award-winning documentary film “Chasing Childhood” which features psychologists, activists, and leaders of the free play movement who fight to bring back the untold benefits of a less curated childhood. "Chasing Childhood" Documentary To learn more about the film, where to stream it, and how to host a screening in your community, please visit: https://chasingchildhooddoc.com/ StrollerCoaster: A Parenting Podcast is created by Munchkin Inc., the most loved baby lifestyle brand in the world.  You can find all your favorite Munchkin products – including the Night Owl Stroller featured in this episode – at Munchkin.com.  Use the code STROLLERCOASTER15 for 15% off regular-price items!  Follow Munchkin on Instagram / Facebook / Pinterest   Trees for the Future

Parents are more scared than ever. The media warn of “Stranger Danger.” Lenore Skenazy says this is foolish. Parents should let their kids be MORE independent. She calls it “Free Range” parenting. She says kids are healthier when given unsupervised freedom. Parents are happier too. But what about the kidnappings? Skenazy points out those are extremely rare. It's MUCH safer for kids to walk outside than ride in a car, yet parents rarely worry about driving. Today in America, some parents have even be arrested for letting their kids walk outside alone. We asked her about that and much more, in our full interview.

In this episode of the ADHD Parenting Podcast, hosts Ryan and Michael engage in a thought-provoking discussion with special guest Lenore Skenazy, founder of Let Grow. They explore the critical importance of free play and independence for children, particularly those with ADHD. Find Let Grow @ www.letgrow.org Find Mike @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.grownowadhd.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Find Ryan @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.adhddude.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠ [00:00:00] Start [00:02:36] Importance of kids' independence. [00:04:45] Importance of free play. [00:09:12] Internal locus of control. [00:12:18] Screen addiction and outdoor play. [00:14:24] Letting go of parental control. [00:20:38] Parenting children with ADHD independence. [00:21:22] Parental fears and children's independence. [00:26:06] ADHD parenting challenges. [00:29:27] Let Grow Play Club concept. [00:35:01] Feeling useful and competent. [00:35:57] Independence as therapy for anxiety. [00:41:06] Importance of free play. [00:42:21] Kids' independence and free play. [00:46:46] Kids' independence and responsibility. [00:50:03] Let Grow experiences and anecdotes.

Lenore Skenazy is a journalist, author, and advocate for children's independence, best known for founding the "Free-Range Kids" movement. She is also the co-founder of Let Grow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting childhood independence and challenging the culture of overprotective parenting. Skenazy's work, including her book Free-Range Kids, encourages parents to let their children explore, learn, and grow through self-reliance and outdoor experiences. To keep up with Lenore, visit Free-Range Kids, and to learn more about Let Grow, visit Let Grow. Stay connected:  Twitter: @FreeRangeKids Facebook: Lenore Skenazy Instagram: @lskenazy

As the dust settles from the election, the opportunity for self-reflection and evaluation by those who lost doesn't appear to be happening. Michael Herman explains why the MSM, Hollywood, et al., refuse to learn from their mistakes. Lenore Skenazy is a breath of fresh air when it comes to parenting advice. Her latest essay makes the case for letting your kids walk around outside and how it leads to a brighter future for them. Article of the Day: It's hard not to feel cocky when you're winning. However, as Brandon Smith puts it, this is the time to be on guard, because the folks whose grip on power is slipping are willing to burn it to the ground. Sponsors: Life Saving Food  Fifty Two Seven Alliance Iron Sight Brewing Co. Quilt & Sew

Frank talks with Danny Fingeroth, a veteran cultural critic, editor, educator and writer, whose books include Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald's Assassin. They talk about the story of Jack Ruby. He later has a discussion with Lenore Skenazy, Founder of Free Range Kids and the President of Let Grow, the non-profit promoting childhood independence. They discuss Halloween myths, trick-or-treating and children's independence. He later gives the UFO Report on Swiss documents revealing UFO sightings and an image revealed of a 'mothership'. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frank starts the show joined by WABC host Dominic Carter to talk about the Los Angeles Dodgers beating the New York Yankees in the World Series. He then talks with Kathy Boufford, an attorney and the author of the new book Divorce Matters: What You Really Need to Know When It's Time to Get a Divorce. They talk about marriage and the importance of having a good divorce. Frank talks with Danny Fingeroth, a veteran cultural critic, editor, educator and writer, whose books include Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald's Assassin. They talk about the story of Jack Ruby. He later has a discussion with Lenore Skenazy, Founder of Free Range Kids and the President of Let Grow, the non-profit promoting childhood independence. They discuss Halloween myths, trick-or-treating and children's independence. He later gives the UFO Report on Swiss documents revealing UFO sightings and an image revealed of a 'mothership'. Frank starts the third hour talking about the popularity of Uncrustables, a frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwich, among NFL players. He also gives Carmine's football picks for the week and sits down with Jim McCann, Founder of 1-800-FLOWERS and Smile Farms. He's also the author of the new book Lodestar: Tapping Into the 10 Timeless Pillars of Success. They talk about keys to success and lessons from the book. He also gives the Conspiracy of the Day about the connection between the Menendez brothers, Clive Davis and P. Diddy. Frank wraps up the show talking about Halloween. He is also joined by Noam Laden for News You Can Use and radio host Brian Kilmeade to discuss news of the day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lenore Skenazy, Founder of Free Range Kids and the President of Let Grow, the non-profit promoting childhood independence Topic(s): Halloween myths and trick or treating Website: freerangekids.com Book: https://www.amazon.com/Free-Range-Kids-Parents-Teachers-Grow/dp/1119782147/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=free+range+kids+skenazy&qid=1634222260&sr=8-1 Social Media:  https://twitter.com/FreeRangeKids?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor https://www.facebook.com/lenore.skenazy/ https://www.instagram.com/lskenazy/?hl=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CALM AND CONNECTED - EPISODE 166How do you encourage your kids to be more independent? When do you as a parent step back to give them the space to step up? Lenore Skenazy joins Janine today to discuss some of these questions. They discuss: The importance of play and how it relieves stressBodily reaction to fear and avoidance to fearPlaying across mixed age groupsThe skills you learn when you play The Let Grow ProgramSetting tasks for your kids to do on their own without a parent there Passive kids and problem solving Kids having the concierge lifeHow Lenore likes to rest and relax About The Guest - Lenore SkenazyAfter her newspaper column “Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone” created a media firestorm, Lenore got the nickname “America's Worst Mom.” (Google it!) She went on to write Free-Range Kids, the book-turned-movement that says our kids are smarter, safer, and stronger than our culture gives them credit for! Lenore has lectured everywhere from DreamWorks to Microsoft to Harvard Med School, Yale Child Study Center -- and the Bulgarian Happiness Festival! (For real.) On TV, you may have seen her on The Today Show, The Daily Show or her own reality show, World's Worst Mom. In 2017 Lenore co-founded Let Grow, the nonprofit promoting childhood independence, with three others, including Jonathan “The Anxious Generation” Haidt. She is its president. Lenore lives in New York City with her husband and beloved computer. Her children are gainfully employed. (Phew!) And, for the record, she used to write for Mad Magazine. Yep. MAD. But now she's so serious that here is her piece on "Independence as Therapy" in The New York Times. Website - https://letgrow.org/For parents: https://letgrow.org/program/parents-and-families/For schools/teachers/admins/counselors: https://letgrow.org/program/educators/For therapists: https://letgrow.org/program/independence-therapy/Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/759938234394061About The Host - Janine HalloranJanine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play' which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play!If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletterIf you're interested in joining the Coping Skills Community Hub, an ever-expanding resource library and community of families and professionals teaching kids how to cope, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hubIf you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkidsConnect with Janine on Social MediaInstagram: @copingskillsforkidsFacebook: facebook.com/copingskillsforkids and facebook.com/encourageplayYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JanineHalloranEncouragePlay

Ravi welcomes Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids and president of Let Grow, to discuss the state of modern parenting. Dubbed “America's Worst Mom” for allowing her son to ride the subway alone, Lenore shares her thoughts on how fear-driven media and overprotection have altered childhood. Ravi and Lenore explore the rise of “helicopter parenting,” how giving children autonomy can strengthen their resilience, and the broader societal implications of a generation growing up with limited freedom. Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show: 321-200-0570 --- Follow Ravi at @ravimgupta Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Notes from this episode are available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Lost Debate is available on the following platforms:  • Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ravimgupta • Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw  • iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/ • Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

Season 2 of This Helps drops October 17th!

Lenore Skenazy is “America's Worst Mom”, founder of Free Range Kids and President of Let Grow. Bret talks to her about parenting in an era of zero risk.Find Lenore on X: https://x.com/FreeRangeKids  (@FreeRangeKids)Find Let Grow at their website: https://letgrow.org/*****PaleoValley: Wide array of amazing products, including SuperFood Golden Milk and beef sticks. Go to https://paleovalley.com/darkhorse for 15% off your first order.*****Join DarkHorse on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com/Check out the DHP store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://www.darkhorsestore.org/Theme Music: Thank you to Martin Molin of Wintergatan for providing us the rights to use their excellent music.Support the Show.

In this episode Nikki Eisenhauer sits down with Lenore Skenazy, the face behind the Free Range Kids movement, to delve into the transformative power of free range parenting. Together, they explore how this approach not only challenges the prevailing culture of overprotection and safetyism but also significantly contributes to early childhood education and early childhood development by fostering resilience, independence, and a deeper trust in children's capabilities. Through a blend of personal anecdotes and professional insights, this conversation sheds light on the necessity of reevaluating our parenting practices to empower the next generation to navigate life's challenges with confidence and strength. Visit Lenore's Organization here: www.letgrow.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are modern parents too protective? Why do we worry so much about things that almost never happen? And how did Mike learn about bus stops? SOURCES:David Bjorklund, professor of psychology at Florida Atlantic University.Peter Gray, professor of psychology at Boston College.David Lancy, professor emeritus of anthropology at Utah State University.Lenore Skenazy, president of Let Grow and founder of the Free-Range Kids movement. RESOURCES:"Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children's Mental Well-being: Summary of the Evidence," by Peter Gray, David Lancy, and David Bjorklund (The Journal of Pediatrics, 2023)."Parental Intrusive Homework Support and Math Achievement: Does the Child's Mindset Matter?" by Daeun Park, Elizabeth Gunderson, Erin Maloney, Eli Tsukayama, Sian Beilock, Angela Duckworth, and Susan Levine (Developmental Psychology, 2023)."Children Today Have Less Independence. Is That Fueling a Mental Health Crisis?" by Caitlin Gibson (The Washington Post, 2023)."Yes, the ‘Old Enough!' Kids Really Think the Camera Crew Are ‘Electricians'," by Charlotte Walsh (Tudum by Netflix, 2022)."Kidnapped Children Make Headlines, but Abduction Is Rare in U.S.," by Jonathan Allen (Reuters, 2019)."Utah's ‘Free-Range Parenting' Law Said to Be First in the Nation," by Meagan Flynn (The Washington Post, 2018)."Mother Who Left Baby Outside New York Restaurant in 1997 Says Arrest Was Unjust," (The Guardian, 2017)."Children's Independent Mobility: An International Comparison and Recommendations for Action," by Ben Shaw, Martha Bicket, Bridget Elliott, Ben Fagan-Watson, and Elisabetta Mocca (Policy Studies Institute, 2015)."I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone. I Got Labeled the ‘World's Worst Mom,'" by Lenore Skenazy (The Washington Post, 2015)."Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone," by Lenore Skenazy (The New York Sun, 2008). EXTRAS:"Should You Give Kids an Allowance or Make Them Get Jobs?" by No Stupid Questions (2022).Old Enough!