Podcasts about no fun the paradox

If Chappell Roan is good at anything besides singing, it's inspiring lively conversation. Buckle up for a free flowing and wide ranging conversation about parenting, influencers, community, country music, the Diocese of Pittsburgh's shameful maternity leave policy, and mimetic desire (because why not).P.S. This week, a little over 13 months after we launched this podcast, we crossed the 130,000 download mark! That is an amazing feat for a little podcast like ours, and we are so grateful to all of you who are listening and sharing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!Show Notes:Call Her Daddy with Chappell Roan“The Weeds and Wheat of Motherhood,” by Emily Stimpson ChapmanRenee Girard and Mimetic Desire“Study: The Experiences of U.S. Adults Who Don't Have Children,” Pew Research CenterAnne Hathaway: “Abortion is another word for mercy.”Drunkard's Prayer, Over the RhineMetallica: Some Kind of MonsterGabby BarrettAll Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Jennifer Senior, New York Times opinion writer and author “All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood,”  discusses the impact of having children on life satisfaction and meaning.  Citing the psychologist and behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman’s work on the "experiencing self" versus the "remembering self," Senior says that while parenting can be exhausting in the moment, most often later on in life, the years raising kids are fondly remembered. While there’s no easy answer to big life decisions, like having kids, Senior suggests that most often in life, we regret the actions we did not take rather than the ones we did - and Senior says, if you’re sitting on the fence, that may be reason enough.  

My conversations with Michaeleen Doucleff are so much fun that sometimes I forget to hit record!Usually it doesn't even matter what we talk about, but this time it's extra good. You know those times when your kid is acting like a little contrarian. You say up, they say down. You say yes, they say no. And around and around and around.Michaeleen has come up with an amazingly simple sentence that shifts this dynamic like magic.It will turn them not just into collaborators but actual co-creators.Listen as Michaeleen and I discuss oh so many things. I love my time with her so much and I think you will too!In this episode, you'll learn:How to encourage your child to contribute ideas and collaborate in planning activities.The messages about our values that we send when we choose recreation for our kids.Why things that keep kids engaged aren't always as fun as they might seem.And much more! As always, thanks for listening. Head over to Facebook, where you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community. We post tips and tools and do pop-up Live conversations where I do extra teaching and coaching to support you in helping your strong-willed children so that they can FEEL better and DO better. If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it!Get all the links, resources, and transcripts here: https://mastermindparenting.com/podcast-294About Randi RubensteinRandi Rubenstein helps parents with a strong-willed kiddo become a happier family and enjoy the simple things again like bike rides and beach vacays.She's the founder of Mastermind Parenting, host of the Mastermind Parenting podcast, and author of The Parent Gap. Randi works with parents across the U.S.At Mastermind Parenting, we believe every human deserves to have a family that gets along.Randi's Web and Social LinksWebsite: https://mastermindparenting.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparentingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/About Michaleen Doucleff:Michaleen Doucleff is an award-winning global health correspondent and the author of Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans. https://michaeleendoucleff.com/hunt-gather-parent/ Resources Discussed/LinksThe New York Times profile of Virginia Sole-Smith https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/21/well/eat/fat-activist-virginia-sole-smith.htmlHer book Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture https://virginiasolesmith.com/books/fat-talk-parenting-in-the-age-of-diet-culture/All Joy, No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood, by Jennifer Senior https://jennifersenior.net/all-joy-and-no-funOur 12-week Basics Bootcamp program is now available as a 100% online self-study course! https://mastermindparenting.com/minimasters/Live assessment:

There are so many parenting styles — attachment, helicopter, positive, peaceful, authoritarian, authoritative, and on and on. And those of us parenting neurodivergent kids know there is no one-size-fits-all approach for navigating the day-to-day, even when our big picture goal is similar — to raise children who grow up to know themselves deeply and are prepared to live self-actualized lives, whatever that may look like for them. So I really loved learning about the focus of Dr. Emily Edlynn's work on autonomy-supportive parenting, which she defines as “raising our children to understand their authentic selves, including developing self-respect, self-worth, behaving by values, the ability to self-govern, and feeling a sense of volition, or control over choices and actions.” She explains how to do this in her new book, Autonomy Supportive Parenting: Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent, Confident Children, and that's what we get into in today's show. During this conversation, we talk about the ways in which autonomy-supportive parenting nurtures a child's autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which are actually the three needs that must be met according to self-determination theory, what “controlling parenting” is and how it can have negative effects on a child's well-being, and how to balance autonomy support with appropriate support and intervention when parenting a neurodivergent child or a child who is experiencing mental health challenges. We also discussed what keeps parents from adopting autonomy supportive parenting and how to navigate it when one's partner isn't on the same page in terms of parenting approach. About Dr. Emily Edlynn Dr. Emily Edlynn is a clinical psychologist, author, mother of three, and co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. She pens the regular parenting advice column, Ask Your Mom, for Parents.com, has written for national outlets such as Washington Post, Scary Mommy, and Motherly, and has been featured as an expert across parenting articles in outlets such as the New York Times, CNN, and BBC. Emily works with children, teens, and families as the Director of Pediatric Behavioral Medicine at a private practice in Oak Park, IL. She lives in Oak Park with her endlessly supportive partner, three opinionated and charming children, and two rescue dogs. Emily's new book, Autonomy-Supportive Parenting: Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent, Confident Children is out now.   Things you'll learn: Autonomy supportive parenting (ASP) is a science-based approach that nurtures a child's autonomy, competence, and relatedness What “controlling parenting” is and why it can have negative effects on a child's well-being How ASP can be applied to neurodivergent kids by providing external structure and scaffolding while still promoting their sense of agency How to balance autonomy support with appropriate support and intervention when parenting a child with mental health challenges What gets in the way of parents embracing ASP How to navigate it when one's partner isn't on the same page in terms of parenting approach   Resources mentioned: Dr, Emily Edlynn's website Autonomy-Supportive Parenting: Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent, Confident Children by Dr. Emily Edlynn Emily Edlynn's free newsletter on Substack Emily on Instagram Emily on LinkedIn All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims Julie Lythcott-Haims on Helping Differently Wired Kids Launch (Tilt Parenting Podcast) Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World by Dr. Devorah Heitner Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishment to Love and Reason by Alfie Kohn I Will Die on This Hill: Autistic Adults, Autism Parents, and the Children Who Deserve a Better World by Meghan Ashburn and Jules Edwards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comOur guest today is the remarkable Jennifer Senior, who won the 2022 Pulitzer for Feature Writing for her Atlantic essay “What Bobby McIlvane Left Behind,” written on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. She's been a book critic and columnist for the NYT, a staff writer for New York magazine, and her book All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood, spent eight weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. She talks with Sarah and Nancy about her past work and her moving recent Atlantic essay about an aunt who was institutionalized, “The Ones We Sent Away.”* What does a Pulitzer look like, anyway?* When NYT wanted Jennifer to be “the Terry Gross of the op-ed section”* The importance of writing without judging your subjects* The “yearning and searching” part of grief* “We are always inventing and reinventing the dead” * The aunt Jennifer didn't know she had * When children were sent away “for their own good”* The hell hole that was Willowbrook* Arthur Miller and psychologist Erik Erikson both had children in institutions?* The sinister tale of Rosemary Kennedy* How much power do we actually have over our children's development?“You guys have the best podcast name,” Jen said just after taping. And the best guests! Become a paid subscriber and miss not a one

Jennifer Senior is a staff writer for The Atlantic. Her article ”What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind” won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Her most recent article is ”The Ones We Sent Away.” “I'm at the point where I'm only thinking about the big questions and the difficulty of being a human as what matter most. That's what I want to keep focusing on. Our common frailties, our common bonds, our common difficulties. Because clearly we are not going to bond politically as a nation, right? … But we can bond over our kids with disabilities. About the fact that we grieve, that we love, that we lose people. That we have friends that we love, friends that we hate. We have friendships that we miss, we have friendships that we can't live without.” Show notes: jennifersenior.net Jennifer Senior on Longform Jennifer Senior on Longform Podcast 00:00 "What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind" (Atlantic • Aug 2021) 01:00 On Grief (Atlantic Editions • 2023) 01:00 "The Ones We Sent Away" (Atlantic • Aug 2023) 02:00 All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood (Ecco • 2014) 03:00 The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (Bessel Van Der Kolk • Penguin • 2015) 03:00 Senior's New York Magazine archive 04:00 Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (Atul Gawande • Picador • 2017) 05:00 Senior's New York Times archive 12:00 Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life (Annette Lareau • University of California Press • 2011) 17:00 Heavyweight (Jonathan Goldstein • Gimlet) 18:00 "#25 Becky and Jo" (Jonathan Goldstein • Gimlet • Oct 2019) 18:00 "#2 Gregor" (Jonathan Goldstein • Gimlet • Sep 2016) 28:00 "It's Your Friends Who Break Your Heart" (Atlantic • Feb 2022) 42:00 Patient H.M. (Luke Dittrich • Random House • 2017) 47:00 "What Not to Ask Me About My Long COVID" (Atlantic • Feb 2023) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In conversation with Mike Sielski A staff writer at The Atlantic, Jennifer Senior won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for ''Twenty Years Gone,'' an account of a family still reeling from the loss of a loved one on 9/11. Her critically acclaimed 2015 book All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood spent eight weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, and in 2014 she delivered a popular TED Talk on happiness and child rearing. A frequent guest on numerous news programs, Senior formerly worked as a book critic and columnist at The New York Times and was a staff writer at New York Magazine for 18 years. On Grief is an Atlantic Edition volume of her Pulitzer-winning essay. A sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer since 2013, Mike Sielski is the author of Fading Echoes, the true story of two Pennsylvania high school football rivals who later found brotherhood while in the U.S. military in in the battlefields of the Middle East, and is the co-author of How to Be Like Jackie Robinson, a collection of life lessons taken from the trailblazing baseball legend. In 2015 he was voted the best sports columnist in the U.S. by The Associated Press Sports Editors. His most recent book The Rise is about the life of Kobe Bryant and offers a thorough account of Bryant's identity as a sports and cultural figure and an assessment of his impact on our society. Bob Costas described the books as a ''story informed by meticulous research and rendered with clear-eyed insights.'' (recorded 4/10/2023)

Jennifer Senior was a long-time staff writer at New York magazine and a daily book critic for the NYT. Her own book is the bestseller, All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood. She’s now a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she won the 2022 Pulitzer for “What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind,” a story about 9/11. But in this episode we primarily focus on her essay, “It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart.”You can listen to the episode right away in the audio player above (or click the dropdown menu to add the Dishcast to your podcast feed). For two clips of our convo — on why friends with different politics are increasingly rare, on how Jesus died for his friends — pop over to our YouTube page. A new transcript is up in honor of what we are still learning about Trump’s attempted violent coup: Bob Woodward and Robert Costa on the perpetual peril of Trump. Below is a segment of that convo — probably the most significant one we’ve had on the Dishcast yet:Turning to the debate over abortion in the ashes of Roe, a reader dissents:I’m having a hard time understanding why you’re so misleading about abortion rights in the US compared to other nations, and naive about protection of the other rights under the 14th Amendment. Germany allows abortions up to 12 weeks for any reason, but what’s remarkable about Germany is not the 12-week mark, but that Germany offers pre-natal care, child care, employment guarantees, etc. that make it much easier for a woman if she chooses to go through with her pregnancy. The US doesn’t have anything like this. And even with the new right in America pretending to hop on board the social insurance train, passing any laws in a conservative-majority Congress that would provide more social services to pregnant women would deliberately NOT address or protect the right of a woman to control her own fertility — that is, to decide to have a child or not. In other words, the interests of a woman’s bodily autonomy and reproductive control would be denied. That makes women, on the whole, unable to live freely in society. But we don’t have to hop over to Europe to run a comparison. Canada protects abortion rights for any reason, with most clinics providing the procedure up to 23 weeks. This aligns with the (previous) fetal viability cutoff that Roe protected. And recently Mexico decriminalized abortion entirely, which paves the way for full, legal abortion rights.The US is now the regressive anomaly, not the progressive outlier you insist we are. And your idea that abortion can just be decided via democracy is cute — maybe that would’ve been true in the past — but SCOTUS could care less about the legislative process. You only have to look at their recent gun decision to realize that. You should make these things clear when you discuss abortion, instead of conveniently obfuscating the context and facts.As far as your confidence that the other rights under the 14th Amendment — gay marriage, access to contraception, etc. — will stand firm, I’m not sure why. Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney-Barrett evoked stare decisis in their confirmation hearings, and this turned out to be a shameless lie from all of them. With the conservative majority in place, they could then take up the Dobbs case and use it to overturn Roe entirely — stare decisis be damned.Alito left the door open to address Obergefell, etc. in his draft opinion, so why would you think Thomas taking it a step further is just him “trolling”? The majority of Americans wanted Roe left in place; its provisions were the compromise that balanced the interests of the woman with that of the fetus that you incorrectly thought was lacking. (Listen to Ezra Klein’s podcast with court expert Dahlia Lithwick to understand why that is). Yet despite its popularity, Roe was struck down. The majority of Americans support gay marriage. But the conservative court has publicly stated now that they don't care about what Americans want or think. Alito and Thomas have clearly said what they're willing to go after next. Kavanaugh playing footsie with the idea that those other rights are safe is just another lie that you are too willing to fall for, as I was too willing to think they wouldn't, in the end, touch Roe.As far as healthcare access in Germany, Katie Herzog made that point during our “Real Time” appearance last Friday:From a “Real Time” watcher:I disagree with you on quite a few issues, but appreciated your level-headed commentary on Bill Maher’s show. You’re one of the only people I saw today who forcefully made the point that the SCOTUS decision still allows for action by Congress — it’s a crucial point that has been totally lost in this discussion.From another fan of Bill’s show:I appreciated your take pointing out that the US is the only country that has made abortion rights a constitutional right, and I do understand your argument that this is something that needs to be decided through the democratic process. But I’m wondering if perhaps, on a deeper level, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Your attitude has been for a long time that America is unique, exceptional, in its supposed commitment to individual freedom, as reflected in its constitution. Doesn’t that imply that enshrining personal rights in its constitution is in fact a perfect evocation to our country’s exceptionalism, what sets it apart from the cynical bickering and proceduralism of European parliamentary systems?I believe in democracy, tempered by constitutional restraints. So the kind of judicial supremacy you seem to be advocating seems outside that. I repeat that I would not have repealed Roe, for stare decisis and social stability reasons. But for the same reason, I wouldn’t have voted for it in 1973. I also believe that the Court could approximate your vision, in defending minority rights. But women are hardly a minority, and many women — at about the same rate as men — want abortion to be illegal.Many more dissents, and other reader comments on abortion, here. That roundup addressed the concern over stare decisis that readers keep bringing up. As I wrote then:Yes, I worry about stare decisis — but it is not an absolute bar to changing precedents. Akhil Amar, the renowned constitutional scholar at Yale, rebuts the same argument. Amar also just appeared on Bari’s podcast, in an episode titled, “The Yale Law Professor Who Is Anti-Roe But Pro-Choice” — a great listen.Bari addressed the Dobbs decision in her new piece, “The Post-Roe Era Begins.” Another reader looks at the legislative route:I think President Biden and the Democrats as a whole would be in a far better position with voters today if over the past 18 months they had taken that same “small bites” approach on a variety of other issues: border security, election reform and just about any other challenge where they now have nothing to show the American voters because they approached those issues if they had significant majorities in each house. They could even take this “small bites” approach right now on the abortion issue, given (as you’ve documented) that the vast majority of Americans favor access to abortions with reasonable restrictions. Instead, Chuck Schumer runs a bill that’s even more permissive than Roe.I know it’s naïve to think we can take politics out of policymaking, but maybe, given the election hand they were dealt, it would have been good politics to pursue progress over progressivism. Right now they’d be running on a far different record (one of being the adults in the room) and could present a much stronger claim for leading our nation. Instead, they wasted a lot of time and opportunity pretending they had the clout to adopt the entire far-left progressive agenda.Another reader delves into the Court precedents that Democrats are wringing their hands over:You wrote about Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell: “Thomas also concedes that there could be other constitutional defenses for these previous decisions beyond ‘substantive due process.’”There is one defense, at least. The 14th Amendment has a due process clause and an equal protection clause. When Casey upheld Roe, the right to abortion was based upon due process, not equal protection. Dobbs found that due process did not guarantee the right to abortion. Equal protection of the laws is different. If a state allows an opposite-sex couple to marry or have sex, but bans a similarly situated same-sex couple from doing so, then equal protection of the laws is denied based upon sex, in violation of the 14th Amendment. If there were a state where females were banned from obtaining abortions but males were specifically permitted to have abortions, then that would be a denial of equal protection, based upon sex. But there is, of course, no world in which that would happen, and if there were, the state could simply ban males from having abortions as well and cure the equal-protection problem. Obergefell was based upon both due process and equal protection, so if due process is removed we still have equal protection. Lawrence was decided on due process alone, but it easily could be upheld based upon equal protection. (Justice O’Connor, in concurring in the ruling, said she would have relied upon equal protection instead of due process.) So Lawrence and Obergefell seem safe. Griswold does not seem safe under equal protection, but it may be safe under other provisions, although no state is currently seriously trying to ban the sale of contraceptives. Although Bostock was a decision based upon the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and not on the Constitution, Gorsuch ruled that the law that banned sex discrimination in employment applied to gays and transgender people. His reasoning was that if you fire a female employee for being married to a women but don’t fire a male employee for being married to a woman, then you are discriminating based upon the employee’s sex. There is a very strong argument that the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause works similarly. I broadly agree with this. Speaking of the transgender debate, a parent writes:While I generally agree with your balanced approach, I think you are still missing what is fueling the alarm on the right. As a parent of a 14 year old, I’m very aware of the extraordinary confusion that some teens now face because of the mainstream promotion of gender identities. For many kids, all this is harmless and ridiculous, and they tune it out. For a very tiny number of kids, this information may be extremely necessary, and perhaps even lifesaving, so they don’t feel so alone.  But unfortunately, I believe there is a quite significant number of kids that have come to believe that all their teen problems will be solved if they simply lop off a few body parts. A few days ago I caught up with a friend who is a wreck because her 14-year-old daughter asked if she could cut off her breasts. This girl has some issues with body anxiety and acceptance, like the majority of teen girls, and has now decided she can avoid all the bad aspects of maturing into a woman by simply becoming a man, which in her mind is closer to remaining a girl, which is what she really wants. The mother is trying to help every way she can, and is about as caring and progressive as a parent can possibly be. But you have to understand how parents today are simply helpless to combat the flood of bizarre, foolish, and/or utterly toxic information that their kids find on the internet, or in social media with their classmates. We entirely ban our 14-year-old from all social media, and from all internet sites except for those needed for school, because we have seen time and time again how kids’ lives are getting wrecked from all that sludge. Most parents are simply not equipped to handle it. Many aren’t able to police their child as thoroughly as we do, and for those on the right with kids, I believe this very real damage has caused some to turn to any platform such as QAnon or other fringe groups that can make sense of this real trauma and harm to their kids. If you don’t have kids, it’s very easy to dismiss this as hysteria. But if you are aware of what's happening to kids nowadays, it’s truly terrifying.Lisa Selin Davis would agree; her new piece on Substack is titled, “It’s a Terrifying Time to Have a Gender-Questioning Kid.” And I completely understand where the reader is coming from. I find the relentless promotion of concepts derived from critical gender and critical queer theory to be destabilizing to kids’ identities, lives and happiness. These woke fanatics are taking the real experience of less than a half percent of the population and imposing it as if it is some kind of choice for everyone else. This is called “inclusion.” It is actually “indoctrination.”Telling an impressionable gay boy he might be a girl throws a wrench into his psychological development, adding confusion, possible generating bodily mutilation. Making all of this as cool as possible — as so many teachers and schools now do — is downright disturbing. The whole idea that all children can choose their pronouns because the tiniest proportion have gender dysphoria is a form of insanity. But it’s an insanity based on critical theory whose goal is the dismantling of all norms, and deconstruction of objective reality by calling it a function of “white supremacy.” This next reader has “a theory I’ve wanted to float by you”:I’m increasingly becoming of the opinion that the modern trans/gender movement is the twisted offspring of something in the gay rights movement that we thought was a good thing but actually wasn’t: the notion that someone is “born that way.” Today, we increasingly feel the need to diagnose children who were “born a certain way” and then provide medical interventions for something that is aggressively conflating the physical and the mental. (I’m using the historical Abrahamic distinction between the two here, sure there’s a philosophical debate about whether or not this distinction exists.) And that makes perfect sense if you think that the foundation of acceptability for these immutable identities is determined at birth — we have medicine in service of zeitgeist.I think the original sin here is going with “what we could get done” in the gay rights movement and stopping before we finished the job — of letting everyone know that these are preferences, and you need to respect and love people regardless of the choices they make and not just because they “can’t help it” because they were “born that way.” If we were to do away with this biological imperative driving identity, we’d end up with what we should really be striving for: radical acceptance of personal choices, and deconstruction of gender roles and stereotypes without engaging in pseudoscience.The trouble with this argument, I think, is that it doesn’t reflect the experience of most gay people. We do not “choose” our orientation. That is the key point — whether that lack of choice is due to biology or early childhood or something else is irrelevant. And genuinely trans people do not choose to be trans either. It’s a profound disjunction between the sex they feel they are and the sex they actually are. It also may be caused by any number of things. But it is involuntary.The queer left rejects this view entirely — because, in their view, there is no underlying reality to human beings, biological or psychological. It’s all about “narratives” driven by “systems of power,” and being gay or trans is infinitely malleable. That’s why they continuously use a slur word for gays — “queer” — to deconstruct homosexuality itself, and turn it merely into one of many ways in which to dismantle liberal society. I regard the “queer left” as dangerous as the far right in its belief that involuntary homosexual orientation doesn’t exist. Lastly, a listener “would like to make a couple of suggestions for Dishcast guests”:1) Razib Khan — he has been blogging for 20 years on genetics, particularly ancient population movements (e.g. Denisovans and Yamnaya). His Unsupervised Learning is currently the second-highest-paid science substack after Scott Alexander. To give you a flavour, his post on the genetic history of Ashkenazi Jews was very popular. Khan also does culture war stuff, mostly because he is a scientist and believes in truth and science. He has subsequently been the subject of controversy, as you can see from his Wikipedia page — which isn’t really fair, but gives you a flavor. His post “Applying IQ to IQ: Selecting for smarts is important” is the kind of thing that gets him in trouble. He is my favourite public intellectual, in large part because he combines actual hardcore science information with anti-woke skepticism. And he is just generally a very smart and interesting guy. Though I’m a fan of his substack, I’d like to hear him on your podcast because I’d like to find out more about Razib as a person, how he feels about the controversies, etc.2) Claire Fox — Baroness Fox of Buckley — is a former communist turned libertarian and Brexiteer, once a member of European Parliament and now a life peer in the House of Lords. Her Twitter feed gives a pretty good idea of her interests and views. Here are some clips on cancel culture in higher education; single-sex spaces for women; and a libertarian view on smoking. She broadly belongs to the British “TERF island” of gender-critical feminists. I know you’ve had Kathleen Stock on your podcast already, but Fox’s background, libertarian views and current membership in the House of Lords make her particularly interesting.I know Razib and deeply admire him and his intellectual courage. And it’s true that, in real life, he’s a hoot, a lively conversationalist, with an amazing life story. Because of his views about the science of genetics and human populations, he is, of course, anathema to the woke left. One good reason to invite him on. Get full access to The Weekly Dish at andrewsullivan.substack.com/subscribe

Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world's leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Jennifer Senior, author of All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood and the recent Atlantic cover story, “American Rasputin.” Jennifer Senior is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's your friends who break your heart. That's the title of the article by Jennifer Senior for The Atlantic. It is an incisive and enlightening piece that also made me laugh out loud. Friendship doesn't get the kind of attention that other forms of relationship tend to get. It is not studied as much in psychology. It is not examined like family relationships for the sake of explaining the way someone is. It is not fretted over like romantic relationships or marriage. It is not obsessed over for the sake of maximizing productivity like the relationships in work culture. And yet, as Senior writes, “friendship is the rare kind of relationship that remains forever available to us as we age. It's a bulwark against stasis, a potential source of creativity and renewal in lives that otherwise narrow in time.” So Jennifer Senior writes about friendship, but from an unexpected perspective: from their end, the dissolution of friendship. In addition to her work with The Atlantic, Jennifer Senior has written for the New York Times and New York Magazine, among other publications. She is also the author of All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood.

#127 - Author and coach Becca Ribbing explains why we look for new jobs every few years, how people can recognise that things need to change, and ways we can improve our job satisfaction.What you'll learn[1:40] How Becca found out she wanted to spend her life coaching others.[3:24] The personality traits that make Becca a good coach.[3:55] The typical clients Becca works with and how she helps them identify what they want next.[5:45] Why people's perceptions of their “dream job” shift and why people seek change over time.[9:39] The problems with having a rigidly defined career path.[12:35] The ways our values shift as we grow and how this affects our career choices.[16:19] How you can improve your job satisfaction without changing your job.[19:35] How to identify what it is that you really want.[24:07] How journaling can help you and how often you should do it.[26:17] The challenges of finding your life purpose while working and raising a family.[31:01] How to recognise when you need to break out of a cycle and the importance of re-evaluating your values.[38:15] The dangers of burnout. Resources mentioned in this episode (some of these are affiliate links and we may get a commission in the event that you make a purchase - this helps us to cover our expenses and is at no additional cost to you):The Clarity Journal, Becca RibbingAll Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood, Jennifer SeniorFlow, Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiThe Messy Middle, Scott BelskyBurnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, Emily NagosakiFor the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:https://changeworklife.com/does-the-job-for-life-exist/Re-assessing your career?  Know you need a change but don't really know where to start?  Check out these two exercises to start the journey of working out what career is right for you!Take me to the exercises!Also, make sure to join the Change Work Life Facebook group and check out the ways you can support the podcast on the Change Work Life Support page.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

"What if the rewards of having children are different from, and deeper, than happiness?"Topics included in this episode: It's scientifically proven that when children are born, parent's happiness decreases Justin & Kylie discuss how they felt after becoming parents & their levels of happiness All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood "What if the rewards of having children are different from, and deeper, than happiness?" Children improve our Life Satisfaction Meaning & purpose Purchase a ticket to the Bringing Up Boys SummitPurchase The Do's & Dont's of Discipline or find it in your Happy Families Membership. Because a happy family doesn't just happen.Find us on Facebook at Dr Justin Coulson's Happy FamiliesEmail us your questions and comments at podcasts@happyfamilies.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"What if the rewards of having children are different from, and deeper, than happiness?" Topics included in this episode: It's scientifically proven that when children are born, parent's happiness decreases Justin & Kylie discuss how they felt after becoming parents & their levels of happiness All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood "What if the rewards of having children are different from, and deeper, than happiness?" Children improve our Life Satisfaction Meaning & purpose Purchase a ticket to the Bringing Up Boys Summit Purchase The Do's & Dont's of Discipline or find it in your Happy Families Membership. Because a happy family doesn't just happen. Find us on Facebook at Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families Email us your questions and comments at podcasts@happyfamilies.com.au.

This week, Marissa's guest is the prolific and brilliant Jennifer Senior, a staff writer for The Atlantic, who has also been a writer for the New York Times, New York Magazine and is author of the book All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting. Marissa and Jen discuss Jen's latest for The Atlantic --a profile of a friend who died on 9/11, and what she learned about grief and hope. Also: there is talk of the effects of the pandemic on parenting and of course, there's cake. Marissa bakes up Marion Burros' famous plum torte, albeit with some twists. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Parenthood doesn’t come with a guidebook. We live in confusing times, and we are left to define parenting on our own terms. Sometimes, this is terrifying (since we don’t want to mess up our kids!). But it can also be amazingly freeing. Today’s episode features New York Times writer Jennifer Senior, who explains that there may be a better goal in parenting than the elusive dream of wanting our kids to be happy. You can find the full clip here, and for more info about Jennifer Senior, check out her website. Take a look at her book, All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood, at https://amzn.to/3cGd1d. I'd love to know what you think, so join in on the conversation! Subscribe, leave a review, or follow PG-ish on Instagram (@pgishparenting), or you can always find me at www.pgishparenting.com.

Let’s talk about pregnancy! At the time of recording this podcast, Adee was 26 weeks (about 6 ½ months) pregnant with her first baby. Pregnancy has been an incredible journey for both Michael and Adee, and in this episode, they talk candidly about their experience. They discuss topics including: The most surprising parts of pregnancy What they’re most proud of during their journey so far Their biggest struggles (including how to share responsibilities during pregnancy and when baby arrives) How Adee has had to change her workouts during pregnancy to prevent ab separation Helpful books they recommend and classes they’ve been taking Whether you are thinking about getting pregnant in the future, you’re pregnant right now, or you want to support someone in your life who is pregnant, you will love this podcast! We would love to hear from you! If you have a question you want us to answer on the podcast, let us know by leaving a voicemail at workingagainstgravity.com/podcast. And don’t forget to follow along @workingagainstgravity on Instagram. Want to be the first to know when new episodes are released? Click here to subscribe in iTunes! (https://apple.co/2Y4Qn7h) Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3gU2Tz4) Stitcher (https://bit.ly/3eQR0Ir) Also, podcast reviews are pretty darn important to iTunes (and other platforms). The more reviews we receive, the more likely we’ll be to get this podcast and message in front of more people (something about iTunes algorithms?).   We’d be extremely grateful if you left a review letting us know your favorite part of this episode! Topics:  2:04 – What’s been most surprising so far in pregnancy? 6:52 – What has each person been most proud of during pregnancy?  11:14 – What have they struggled with most?  11:50 – How COVID-19 impacted Adee’s pregnancy experience 13:14 – How exercise had to change for Adee 14:36 – Changes in her pregnant body 16:00 – Hiring a physical therapist 17:50 – Michael determining how much to participate in everything/shared responsibilities   24:50 – Books they have been reading 29:16 – Classes they are taking (hypnobirthing, breastfeeding) 32:04 – Adee changing her workouts to prevent ab separation 34:42 – Spinning babies exercises 35:15 – Vision for what life looks like with baby Links: Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin Expecting Better by Emily Oster You Are Your Child’s First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy Baby Sign Language 101 by Lane Rebelo NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby by Tracy Hogg The Natural Baby Sleep Solution: Use Your Child's Internal Sleep Rhythms for Better Nights and Naps by Polly Moore

Is it okay to take a rowdy 8-year-old to a cleaning job when you can't find a babysitter? If you're a working parent struggling with the after-effects of COVID-19, you may want to reconsider. If reputation is everything for professional house cleaners, should you postpone an appointment with your cleaning clients if you don't have a sitter? And will babysitting kids at work make you look unprofessional? Find out what one maid learned from taking her kid to work so you can avoid making her mistakes. Today's #AskaHouseCleaner sponsor is Savvy Cleaner Training for house cleaners and maids. #SavvyCleaner #AngelaBrown *** RATE THIS SHOW *** https://sotellus.com/r/savvy-cleaner *** RATE THIS PODCAST *** https://ratethispodcast.com/askahousecleaner *** FAST TRACK TO CLEANING SUCCESS *** https://SavvyCleaner.com/Calendar-of-Courses *** MOST REQUESTED LIST OF CLEANING STUFF I USE *** https://www.Amazon.com/shop/AngelaBrown *** MORE VIDEOS ON THIS TOPIC *** Blending Work and Family: You are not alone - TEDx Talks - https://youtu.be/X1v2W7ZoLeQ How Do You Balance Work and Family - GaryVee TV - https://youtu.be/8lWSdOdzMj4 Work Life Balance - How to Balance Between Work and Your Personal life - Practical Wisdom - Interesting Ideas - https://youtu.be/BEhksY-DO1o Hey Steve: The Work, Life, Love Balance - Steve TV Show - https://youtu.be/Dt3-v9uz7Wk Time Management Tips - Working Mom Life Hacks - One Big Happy Life - https://youtu.be/Ao7PPt1GSfA *** GOOD KARMA RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE *** These good karma links connect you to Amazon.com and affiliated sites that offer products or services that relate to today’s show. When you click on the links and buy the items you pay the exact same prices or less than if you found the links on your own elsewhere. The difference is that we make a small commission here at the show for sharing these links with you. Mindful Parenting in a Chaotic World: - https://amzn.to/2WOsMrW When Work and Family Collide: Keeping Your Job from Cheating Your Family - https://amzn.to/2TrDh2k The Kids Are in Bed: Finding Time for Yourself in the Chaos of Parenting - https://amzn.to/3gcbPQ4 Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth - https://amzn.to/2A9RNpi All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood - https://amzn.to/2YmF6PI *** CONNECT WITH ANGELA ON SOCIAL MEDIA *** LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/savvycleaner/ Facebook: https://Facebook.com/SavvyCleaner Twitter: https://Twitter.com/SavvyCleane Instagram: https://Instagram.com/SavvyCleaner Pinterest: https://Pinterest.com/SavvyCleaner *** GOT A QUESTION FOR A SHOW? *** Email it to Angela[at]AskaHouseCleaner.com Voice Mail: Click on the blue button at https://askahousecleaner.com *** FREE EBOOK – HOW TO START YOUR OWN HOUSE CLEANING COMPANY *** http://amzn.to/2xUAF3Z *** PROFESSIONAL HOUSE CLEANERS PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP *** https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProfessionalHouseCleaners/ *** VRBO AIRBNB CLEANING FACEBOOK GROUP *** https://www.facebook.com/groups/VRBO.Airbnb.Cleaning/ *** LOOKING FOR WAY TO GET MORE CLEANING LEADS *** https://housecleaning360.com *** WHAT IS ASK A HOUSE CLEANER? *** Ask a House Cleaner is a daily show where you get to ask your house cleaning questions and we provide answers. Learn how to clean. How to start a cleaning business. Marketing and advertising tips for your cleaning service. How to find top quality house cleaners, housekeepers, and maids. Employee motivation tactics. Strategies to boost your cleaning clientele. And cleaning company expansion help. Our host, Angela Brown, ran and managed one of the largest independently owned cleaning companies in the Southeast for 25-years. She’s the CEO, and founder of Savvy Cleaner Training for House Cleaners and Maids. *** SPONSORSHIPS & BRANDS *** We do work with sponsors and brands. If you are interested in working with us and you have a product or service that is cohesive to the cleaning industry read this: https://savvycleaner.com/product-review *** THIS SHOW WAS SPONSORED BY *** SAVVY CLEANER - House Cleaner Training and Certification – https://savvycleaner.com MY CLEANING CONNECTION – Your hub for all things cleaning – https://mycleaningconnection.com SAVVY PERKS – Employee Benefits for Small Business Owners – https://savvyperks.com VRBO AIRBNB CLEANING – Cleaning tips and strategies for your short-term rental https://TurnoverCleaningTips.com *** VIDEO CREDITS *** VIDEO/AUDIO EDITING: Kristin O https://savvycleaner.com/reviews/kristin-o POST PRODUCTION: Amber O https://savvycleaner.com/reviews/amber-o HOST: Angela Brown https://savvycleaner.com/reviews/angela-brown PRODUCER: Savvy Cleaner https://savvycleaner.com

The conversation regarding #pandemic life has centered around maintaining motivation for work and school, but can we find inspiration as well? In this episode, Jennifer + Rachael consider how to reach for the stars when you can't go outside. Is it possible to create new ideas right now — or will we keep overworking ourselves in an effort to control an uncontrollable situation? (Asking for a friend.) Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today! Episode Links The Difference Between Motivation & Inspiration https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140512234002-23063390-motivation-inspiration/ Motivation vs. Inspiration: How to Achieve Your Goals in the Long-Term https://erickson.edu/blog/motivation-vs-inspiration Why Inspiration Matters https://hbr.org/2011/11/why-inspiration-matters All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DB2WQAQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 Clear Health Costs https://clearhealthcosts.com/ The Surprising Reason the Best Ideas Come to You in the Shower https://www.rd.com/advice/work-career/best-ideas-in-shower/ Want more Jennifer? Visit Jennwork: www.jennwork.com. Want more Rachael? Visit Reworking Parents: www.reworkingparents.com Our music is “Run for your Money,” by Devil and Perfects. Listen to them on Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Senior has been an Op-Ed columnist since September 2018. She had been a daily book critic for The Times; before that, she spent many years as a staff writer for New York magazine, doing profiles and cover stories about politics, social science and mental health. Her best-selling book, "All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood," has been translated into 12 languages, and her work has been anthologized in many essay collections, including four volumes of “The Best American Political Writing.” She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her husband and son.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you add fun into your daily life, it changes everything! Life is easier, things flow better, you struggle less, and most importantly, you feel more balanced. Fun is important! In this episode, I explain how I add fun to every part of my life, even to my work life! From chores to homework time, this episode is all about adding joy to every part of your day.Resources:Sign up for the resource library and get access to my free downloadable with even more ideas on how to make life more fun. Join the Facebook community group for a regular dose of support and encouragement. - Jennifer L. Scott YouTube Channel The Daily Connoisseur- Timer Apps for your phone (android). Parrot timer or Mr. Bomb- All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer SeniorStock Media provided by TrendingMusic / Pond5

Scott Rutherford is an Associate Professor and the Executive Director of the Weider Foundation Leadership Development Lab at the Rotman School of Management. Prior to this, Scott was the Practice Expert on Leadership Mindsets and Capabilities at McKinsey & Company. Today’s discussion dives into the differences between happiness and joy, and why it’s important to focus and pursue joy instead of happiness. With so many leaders in very rewarding and prestigious positions, why is it that they’re so unhappy? Scott weighs in!  Key Takeaways: Scott shares the difference between chasing happiness and chasing joy. Happiness is temporary, but joy is a much deeper feeling. It is a mood.   We want independence, autonomy, and freedom. We are granted those things by working fulfilling jobs, but as we climb up the ladder to continue to strive for these core desires, we end up moving further and further away from it as all of our free time gets consumed in the work.  How can you keep a pulse on your joy? It comes to deliberate thinking on what brings you meaning in life and being present with where you are.  Millennials want to do meaningful work and companies are noticing this. They see that in order to make their staff happy, they have to bring more to the table than just a paycheck.  Leaders can encourage their staff to experience joy by asking them meaningful questions about why they like the work that they do. Joy is a very personal thing, so each person is going to answer uniquely. Take that in and encourage them to keep pursuing their joy.     Mentioned in This Episode: Rotman.utoronto.ca All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior   Subscribe to Leader Lab, and Leave a Rating & Review!

The book "All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood" by Jennifer Senior sparks a discussion at La Colombe Coffee Roasters in NYC about joy and happiness.  Are we joyous? Are we happy?  How can we instill gratitude in kids at an early age? How can we as adults see the positive in the negative? All that and a REAL story about a skeleton found in a kitchen!  

I follow my enthusiasm by reading…a lot. And once a month, I share (some of) the books I read last month and the books I intend to read this month. You can join the informal book club by sharing your own list with me on Facebook and find all the posts here. (The usual disclaimer applies.) What I read this month: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in Silicone Valley Startup, by John Carreyou All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting by Jennifer Senior Time to Parent, organizing your life to bring out the best in your child and you by Julie Morgenstern Circe by Madeleine Miller The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough (I got this from the Book of The Month Club! Sign up here!)   Listen in at TaraSwiger.com/podcast236

点击每期节目可以看到具体文稿内容How cultures around the world think about parentingBy Amy S. ChoiWhat can American parents learn from how other cultures look at parenting? A look at child-rearing ideas in Japan, Norway, Spain — and beyond.The crisis of American parenting, as anyone who has looked at the parenting section of a bookstore can attest, is that nobody knows what the hell they're doing. Yet despite this lack of confidence and apparent absence of knowledge, many American parents zealously believe that their choices carve out their children's futures. Indeed, they seek the advice of expert after expert in the field in order to succeed at one goal: to raise the happiest, the most successful, and the most well-adjusted leaders of the future.But what dangers lay in thinking that there is one “right” way to parent? How much of how we parent is actually dictated by our culture? How do the ways we parent express the essentialness of who we are, as a nation?“Americans have no script,” says Jennifer Senior (TED Talk: For parents, happiness is a very high bar), author of All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood. “We believe we get to invent our future, our opportunities and who are our children are going to be. Which is wonderful, but also very troubling.”In reporting her book, says Senior, when she asked mothers who they went to for parenting advice, they named friends, websites and books. None named their own mothers. Only the most current child-rearing strategies were desired, in order to best position their children for achievement in the future.In other words, that which is most American about us — our belief that the future is unwrit — is what is driving us mad as parents. Senior paraphrases Margaret Mead, who wrote this in 1942: In America, there are only this year's children.968重庆之声每周一至周五8点56分每天三分钟养成良好英语听说习惯

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood

In 2010, journalist Jennifer Senior's magazine story, All Joy and No Fun, became an overnight sensation with its blunt declaration that parents love their children and hate their lives. Anyone who experiences or observes the agony and ecstasy of modern parenting knows that children bring both happiness and misery. We spend more time with our children, but feel guilty about the quality of our parenting and our children are more accomplished yet more depressed than ever before. What does it all mean?  Jennifer Senior has expanded her idea into a new best-selling book and while she might not have all the answers, her questions cast some much needed light on the reality of parenting today.

Think for a moment about how much has changed about life, just in our own lifetime.  Everyday there are new ideas or new products that disrupt existing paradigms.  Is it any wonder then that parenthood today is very different than in our parents or grandparents time?Where once children were looked at as economic units to the family, today we live in a child centered society, where the rules, the expectations and the impact on parents have all changed.Are we better off?  Are we having more fun, are children more rewarding?  The answer is, it depends.That’s the landscape that Jennifer Senior enters into in her wide ranging looking at parenthood, All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood.My conversation with Jennifer Senior: 

Jennifer Senior is a contributing editor at New York and the author of All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood. "I've had moments in motherhood that have been close to something like religious. But I don't think social scientists say things like, "How many numinous moments have you had?" They don't do that, so you have to figure out what to do. I was suddenly turning to other texts to try and explain all of this." Thanks to TinyLetter for sponsoring this week's episode. Show notes: @JenSeniorNY Senior on Longform [3:15] All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood (Ecco • Jan 2014) [6:30] "All Joy and No Fun" (New York • Jul 2010) [8:30] "Alone Together" (New York • Nov 2008) [39:00] "Hollywood on the Potomac" (New York Times • Dec 1993) [39:30] "The Language of the Deaf Evolves to Reflect New Sensibilities" (New York Times • Jan 1994) [44:15] "Hill Climbing" (New York • Apr 2001) [44:45] "Sorry, Your Time is Not Up" (New York • Aug 2001) [45:00] "Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness" (New York • Jul 2006) [46:00] "Can't Get No Satisfaction" (New York • Oct 2007) [46:15] "Recession Culture" (New York • May 2009) [46:15] "Why You Never Truly Leave High School" (New York • Jan 2013) [56:45] "In Conversation: Antonin Scalia" (New York • Oct 2013)

Last Friday night was "pizza & ice cream night" in our house.  Nowhere to go, nothing to do other than watch the Olympics, eat some unhealthy but yummy food and spend some quality time together.  At least that was the picture I had in my head for the evening. The problem was one of my daughters was not on board with MY plan and instead told me how bored she was and how she wanted to watch "Merlin".  I instantly went to a place of judgement thinking- this kid has no idea how good she has it- pizza, ice cream, Olympics.  I think about Slum Dog Millionaire when the children are looking through the trash heaps for something edible to eat.  Cathy and I discuss this experience at length and give some ideas on how best to navigate through such a situation. What would you do if your kid decided to switch from Spanish over to French?  Well that's what mine did even though I view it as less practical.  It was a test to my overly-logical view point as well as my parenting.  How would you react? We also discuss the book All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior.  The research now shows that we are busier than ever and how that can affect our psyche.  We distinguish between helicopter parenting and being a "super" parent.  Last we discuss how joy is one of the more difficult emotions to own. If you shop Amazon by going through our website first (there is an amazon link on the bottom right hand of our home page), a portion of your sale will help fund our Be U program.  Thanks for supporting us! Check out our new website & be sure to sign up to get all new podcast sent direct to your inbox @ ZPR. Todd's Men Adventure Retreat is February 28th through March 2nd.  Please email @ comments@zenparentingradio.com for details. We would love to hear any comments from the show by sending us an email @ comments@zenparentingradio.com You can be sure to hear more by liking our facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/ZenParenting

Last Friday night was "pizza & ice cream night" in our house.  Nowhere to go, nothing to do other than watch the Olympics, eat some unhealthy but yummy food and spend some quality time together.  At least that was the picture I had in my head for the evening. The problem was one of my daughters was not on board with MY plan and instead told me how bored she was and how she wanted to watch "Merlin".  I instantly went to a place of judgement thinking- this kid has no idea how good she has it- pizza, ice cream, Olympics.  I think about Slum Dog Millionaire when the children are looking through the trash heaps for something edible to eat.  Cathy and I discuss this experience at length and give some ideas on how best to navigate through such a situation. What would you do if your kid decided to switch from Spanish over to French?  Well that's what mine did even though I view it as less practical.  It was a test to my overly-logical view point as well as my parenting.  How would you react? We also discuss the book All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior.  The research now shows that we are busier than ever and how that can affect our psyche.  We distinguish between helicopter parenting and being a "super" parent.  Last we discuss how joy is one of the more difficult emotions to own. If you shop Amazon by going through our website first (there is an amazon link on the bottom right hand of our home page), a portion of your sale will help fund our Be U program.  Thanks for supporting us! Check out our new website & be sure to sign up to get all new podcast sent direct to your inbox @ ZPR. Todd's Men Adventure Retreat is February 28th through March 2nd.  Please email @ comments@zenparentingradio.com for details. We would love to hear any comments from the show by sending us an email @ comments@zenparentingradio.com You can be sure to hear more by liking our facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/ZenParenting