The Dr. John Delony Show - An Honest Take on Parenting Today (With Dr. Becky Kennedy)

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

On today’s episode, John speaks with clinical psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy about being a sturdy parent, the effect kids have on marriages, and why parenting can be lonely. Next Steps: ✨Learn mo...re about Good Inside. 📙Buy Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be on Amazon. 👩 Follow Dr. Becky Kennedy on Instagram. 📞 Ask John a question! Call 844-693-3291 or send us a message. 📚 Building a Non-Anxious Life 📝 Anxiety Test  📚 Own Your Past, Change Your Future  ❓ Questions for Humans Conversation Cards  💭 John's Free Guided Meditation  🤘🏼 The Dr. John Delony Show Merch  Connect With Our Sponsors: Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp. Get 15% off with code DELONY at Bon Charge. Get up to 40% off with code DELONY at Cozy Earth.   Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe.  Go to Hallow for a 90-day free trial.  Visit Helix Sleep for special offers!  Get 20% off with code DELONY at Organifi.   Get 25% off your order at Thorne.    Go to Trainwell to get started! Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights   🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 MUSIC Here's what I'm hearing from dads. Okay. They're just opting out. We interpret struggle as our fault. Yes. What's the antidote to that? I mean, I think there's a bunch of antidotes for that.
Starting point is 00:00:17 I had an experience when my show took off, there was a big dirty secret that I had carried, which was... MUSIC off, there was a big dirty secret that I carried, which was... What's up? What's up? This is John with the Dr. John Delaney Show, and this is the episode that I've gotten the most requests for from the people of the internet. That's you, the folks who listen to our show, the folks who are always checking us out on YouTube or on the social screens, wherever people happen to consume the show, this is the episode people have been asking me for. I recently flew to New York City and sat down with my new friend, Dr. Becky Kennedy of Good
Starting point is 00:01:01 Inside. What many believe is she's the parenting expert on the planet right now. And she has an incredible vibrant community. And we sat down to talk parenting, how to be married with kids, everything. She is one of the leading voices with parenting today. I'm so excited. We had a great time hanging out. And I can't wait for you to hear my conversation with the great and powerful Dr. Becky Kennedy check it out Dude, thanks for inviting me into your studio. This is awesome. I'm so happy to talk to you. This is the coolest man yeah, okay, so I would have when I started doing this I never would have thought that on the
Starting point is 00:01:43 Instagrams on the internet that more people would send Me back and forth your stuff and so as I got into it early, I thought I was the smartest guy in the room because and You have changed my parenting and my approach to being married probably more than anybody else You and I step perl probably the two people who have impacted me the most. So thank you for doing that, for showing me like, it's kind of like flying on an airplane and then you think, I could probably drive this, right? When it comes to like how to be a good partner, how to have kids, all that stuff. So I'm imagining we'll get through one or two of these questions that I have. I've got tons of these things.
Starting point is 00:02:24 And as I'll tell my audience, like this is a thinly veiled, I need your help. That's what we're asking here. So I want to start here. What I've seen over the last, I've been working with young people for a long time, for a couple of decades. And what I've seen increase over the last probably 10 years, but especially in the last five, is that kids feel like, seem to be holding the emotional space of the household. Like the whole house rests that kids feel like they seem to be holding the emotional space of the household. Like the whole house rests on kids, whether they're teenagers, whether they're college
Starting point is 00:02:50 kids or even newborns. Like the whole parents are looking at their kids to say, are we okay? In my guts, that doesn't feel right. That feels too much so that a kid can't carry that. Am I out to lunch here? I do not think you're out to lunch here. I have a little more to say. You're definitely not out to lunch. We'll start there. It's always a good starting point. I mean, I think what you're also pointing to is some things
Starting point is 00:03:17 happened in terms of like an overcorrection where, I don't know, when we were being raised or even generations before, it was like, parents in charge. I don't know, when we were being raised or even generations before, it was like, parents in charge, I don't really care about how you're feeling, go to your room, you know, pull up your bootstraps, let's move on. And then I think there has been this overcorrection to how are my kids feeling? And I am not only so hyper attentive to how they're feeling. But now we've gone from not caring about kids' feelings to my kids' feelings have the power to dictate what I do as a parent. And I actually think, you know, I love a pilot metaphor. I have so many, we'll see how many I can get
Starting point is 00:03:58 in today. But if you think about one version of a pilot, the whole passenger cabin is upset, there's turbulence. You're like, oh my God, turbulence. And let's say version one of a pilot, the whole passenger cabin is upset, there's turbulence. They're like, oh my God, turbulence. And let's say version one of a pilot was like generations ago as a parent who'd say, everyone be quiet. You're making a big deal out of nothing. Zip it. Okay. And you know, it's not really what I want to hear as a passenger.
Starting point is 00:04:18 I'm kind of like, does the pilot even realize it's turbulent or I probably get more activated. But pilot two to me is the overcorrection, which is, oh my God, turbulence! And everyone has to be calm. In fact, I'm not even calm when you're not calm. And maybe someone could come into the cockpit and tell me how to do this. And you're like, oh my goodness, like, I'm not even scared of the turbulence anymore. I'm really scared that this person is my pilot. Like literally, my feelings have gone from not important to contagious in a way that is equally as kind of scary to me. And I think a good insight what we stand for, and then what we try to make very practical is kind of thinking about parenting as that pilot
Starting point is 00:04:59 you want. You want a pilot who's going to validate your experience. Hey, here, there's a lot of screaming. We get it. There's turbulence. And even a pilot who says going to validate your experience. Hey, I hear there's a lot of screaming. We get it. There's turbulence. And even a pilot who says, you guys want to keep screaming back there? Do your thing. Because what I know, and this is the boundary point, is I've kind of flown planes a long time.
Starting point is 00:05:17 I know I'm going to get us to the ground safely. So it makes sense you're upset. I know what I'm doing. And I will see you on the ground. And I know what I'm doing, and I will see you on the ground. And I know if I'm the pastor, I'm like, okay, they told me my experience is real, but they also weren't taken over by my experience. There's a validation, but then there's also this boundary and differentiation. My pilot didn't become my anxiety.
Starting point is 00:05:42 And I think what you're saying is we kind of have to come back a little bit towards toward the middle. You've got to, you gave me a word, I've probably quoted you a hundred times, the word sturdy. And that's the best word. Like it's not rigid, it's not soft, it is like a tree. It'll sway, but that sucker's rooted into the ground. If I back all the way out working with parents, I almost am struggling with asking a parent to be sturdy because I don't feel like adults are sturdy right now. I know.
Starting point is 00:06:15 I feel like they're all over the place and almost needing a kid to be anchored, right? Am I crazy? No, I think this is what we're saying is you don't want a pilot who looks to the passengers to know if they are safe on a plane. So where do you tell a couple who's struggling like in a marriage? I think sturdiness and what you're saying, it is this ability to just define it. To me, being sturdy is your ability at once to know what's going on for you, to know your values, to know your limits, to be connected to yourself, while at the same time, you're kind of just still
Starting point is 00:06:53 porous enough that I can connect to you. I can know what's going on for you. I can see that as real as important, but I can balance that with what is going on for me. I'm not taken over by it, but I'm also not so threatened by it that I have to push it away. And I think what you're saying is, how can we be sturdy for our kids if often we don't feel sturdy ourselves or sturdy in the partnership we're in,
Starting point is 00:07:20 given that's a foundation for our family? And I think this is actually the right question. And it is why I feel so passionate about the work that is good inside because I think we approach the whole system at once. That's it. That's it. Yeah. That's what it is.
Starting point is 00:07:37 How can I understand how to validate my kids' experience and understand that, yeah, it wouldn't be a big deal in my life, but it is a big deal to not be invited to a birthday party. How can I see that as real for my four-year-old, but not add on my own anxiety of, oh my goodness, my four-year-old's never going to have friends and- And not call that mother and say, you should have invited my kid. You're right. Exactly. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:58 Right? And so I think what it starts with is developing a different type of relationship with ourselves. If I'm someone who grew up in a kind of stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about household, right? We don't do this in our family. You're soft, whatever it is, then it makes sense when I see my kid upset, I get very triggered. I yell or I shut them down because at some point it was adaptive to shut my own emotions down during my earliest years.
Starting point is 00:08:27 And so I think sturdiness as an example, if that's a parent I'm talking to, I'd say, look, I know you want to show up in a different way to your kid. That's amazing. And let's have an order of operations in which that makes sense. I can't give out what I don't have inside me. It just, the math doesn't work. So I might even say, tell me about something hard in your day. It can be really hard if you grew up thinking emotions were soft.
Starting point is 00:08:49 And actually the starting point before I talk to my kids differently, is even just to be able to say to myself, I had traffic today. That wasn't the biggest deal in the world. But I'm also allowed to take a moment to say, that was annoying. My morning didn't start out the way I wanted it to. That is not what I imagined. That's not what I would have wanted. Our ability to even just take a moment and say that to ourselves, that's going to make us better
Starting point is 00:09:14 able to not be so thrown off by my kid's emotion because I'm building up the skill inside. I had an experience when my show took off, there was a big dirty secret that I had carried which was I'm out here traveling the country talking to folks, but my daughter, she was five or six, wouldn't hug her dad and I couldn't figure it out. And at first it was like I'm a big guy, I could pick up and she would go rigid and and it was kind of a funny Game, but also wasn't funny and it wasn't until my wife said is there any chance that her body's identified you is not safe And I remember thinking you know I said out loud like I don't yell. I don't hit anybody like she goes no No, you're a great dad, but we all can feel the nuclear reactor here, right?
Starting point is 00:10:05 And I got frustrated and I went and sat with a therapist and I was like, and nine months later, I remember a, and it was going through some hard stuff, right? And I remember speaking the words out loud, we were all wrestling and I said the words, Josephine, get off me. And I remember, I was like, no way, right? And now three or four years later, I'm a human jungle gym, she can't get off. But I realized the angst and the turmoil in my house was, you keep doing this, it's funny because just maybe a month ago, I was sitting in front of that same therapist and I said,
Starting point is 00:10:40 I just need what I know to be true to be here. And she's like, that's a long journey. And but what you're saying rings true with me, which is my kids can't not be anxious if I'm electric all the time, or if me and my partner aren't doing good. They can't they don't have anything to anchor into. And so but I walk around blaming them for the tension in the house and all they're doing is absorbing and putting back into the world what I'm putting in there. I feel like we have a culture that loops and loops on this idea of being happy, happy,
Starting point is 00:11:16 happy, happy. And then, which depending on what you Google, it always spits out some kind of curve, right? The U-shaped happiness curve of your life. But there's this idea that having kids takes happiness from you. And now for the first time in history, people are just opting out completely. How do you balance and you do the best at this of telling the truth and also telling the truth? How do you navigate looking at somebody saying you can we're in a world
Starting point is 00:11:45 in a little sliver of history you can choose whatever you want and having kids isn't the funnest thing or the happiest thing all the time but also on the back end the research says the depth of joy is pretty profound and there's something worth it's kind of like doing a workout right there's something worth going in there and being uncomfortable for an hour so that 30 years from now I can roll around with my grandkids, right? How do you walk through that season with somebody who's talking, your happiness shouldn't dictate, right?
Starting point is 00:12:15 It shouldn't dictate every minute of your day and there's some things to sacrifice for. Yeah, I mean, I think you're asking so many questions here, like in all the right ones. So number one is, what is the difference between kind of short-term convenience and- Gosh, that's the right word, convenience. It's convenience. I think that's what, I actually feel like- That's a great word. Humanity.
Starting point is 00:12:40 Humans, we like convenience. It's hard to fight it. It's dopamine, it's ease, it's the thing that short-term our body's like, yes, please, we like convenience. It's hard to fight it. It's dopamine, it's ease. It's the thing that short term our body's like, yes, please, more of that. And so there've always been these moments, I think, in history where, you know, society, we have more convenience in our life. Obviously, the car is one, the plane, the internet. Something has happened, I think, in the last number of years where I think we will always choose convenience over what is long-term good for us.
Starting point is 00:13:08 It's hard, but I think we're seeing even in whether people are deciding to have children or not, even how we interact with our kids, that we are prioritizing convenience in a way I think that we never have before. To the degree it makes us kind of worried at times like, ooh, what is it going to be like in 20, 30 years, right? Obviously the world, right? We have a lot of inconvenient moments. And I think that is something around parenthood that we just have to talk more about. Having young kids is massively inconvenient. I think that's like the best definition. Like I go to the grocery store, I'm just trying to get milk and some orange juice. My kid has a meltdown and I'm like, now I have to leave and now I have to put those
Starting point is 00:13:50 things back and I can't even pay for them because the line is too long and now I have to get back there. That is hugely inconvenient. And we don't say that enough. It's not rainbows and butterflies when you have your three year old freaking out and you're six month old on your chest, right? And I actually think the more we can help people anticipate these inconvenient moments, know that those moments aren't a sign that something's wrong with you or wrong with your
Starting point is 00:14:15 kid. It doesn't mean you're doing something so bad. And when we can help a generation of adults build more coping skills for the inconvenient grocery store meltdown, for the inconvenient, no, you do it for me puzzle moment with your kid, for the inconvenient moment of, I thought I was going to have 10 minutes alone with my kid after work before they go to bed, and instead they're protesting and they're having a hard time. All of those moments are a gap between our perceived unconscious expectation and reality.
Starting point is 00:14:45 And I think speaking more honestly about parenting doesn't make parenting less desirable. It actually makes parents a lot more competent and a lot more equipped for all of the ups and downs that are just inherent in the journey. Well, that's what I love about what you guys do here at Good Inside is it's the same way when I talk to a husband or a dad who grew up getting beat up, getting thrown around and finding himself not wanting to repeat that, but there's no other plan. Right. And if I can take away, if I can demoralize it and I can take away this, like you have
Starting point is 00:15:19 character issues and say, dude, you lack some skills, man. You've never practiced this before. That's exactly it. That's exactly it. and say, dude, you lack some skills, man. You've never practiced this before. But you give parents permission to say, you've never had a meltdown with a three-year-old. I remember getting two kids out of car seats and thinking, I would rather set myself on fire. Like I can just, it will take me 30 seconds
Starting point is 00:15:38 to go in that store and get what I need. And yet it's the in and the out. But you distill it down to a set of skills people don't have. And when it's a skill, then I can practice it. It's a free throw. I can practice that. If it's a shame-filled failure, I'm not going to practice. I'm just going to try to pull those through it or I'm going to try to go around it, right?
Starting point is 00:15:55 Ignore it. That's right. I mean, I think, I really think parenting is the last frontier where we glorify instinct alone. It's insanity though, right? Instinct alone. It is especially insane because again, you want to go to the doctor who has the best medical school. They wear that with a badge of pride.
Starting point is 00:16:12 And I don't know one investor anymore who'd invest in a CEO founder who said, I'm never going to need executive coaching. I do it by instinct. You're like, I'm glad we established that this meeting is over. Thank you for saving me my time. And yet with parenting, there's this idea and it's put out in society, especially with moms, but anyone, maternal instinct. I should be able to figure this out on my own. It shouldn't be this hard. I mean, you are one human raising a totally different human.
Starting point is 00:16:41 There is nothing harder than that. And I think I love a good metaphor to really drive this home. And so to me, most parents I know would say, there might be some things with my kids I want to do similarly to how my parents did it with me, but there's definitely a lot I want to do differently. Some people say I want to do almost all of it differently. But if we think about that- I don't like those people.
Starting point is 00:17:04 I'm just kidding. Yeah. And if you think about that. I don't like those people. Right? Yeah. And if you think about parenting as a language, it's like saying I was raised in English and I want to speak to my kids in Mandarin. No amount of wanting to learn Mandarin is going to help you learn Mandarin if you're not learning and practicing Mandarin. Like if I said to my friend, I just feel like now that I'm a mom, Mandarin is going to come naturally. I should be able to figure it out my own. They'd be like, yeah, that's just not how Mandarin works. Like, you can learn it, but you will have to learn the skills and practice.
Starting point is 00:17:32 And then in your worst moments, Becky, you are going to end up yelling in English. Like, that's just what's going to happen. And I really do think good inside is like a language for parents where the only thing that comes naturally in parenting is how you were parented. And so if you want to do things differently, I do think loving our kids a lot of these moments, that deep love can come naturally. But yeah, handering a grocery store meltdown, knowing what to do when your kids ask you hard questions, but how does the baby get in the belly and you're like, okay, okay, you're really asking
Starting point is 00:18:04 me, okay, okay. Or lying to your face or being woken up at 2 a.m. for the ninth night in a row. I think you're right. That's not character. That's not love. That's skills. And the best news about skills is you're not behind. Anyone can learn it at any time.
Starting point is 00:18:19 What do you, well, here's, tell me if I'm crazy. I get, so I'll get a call and it will be a dad or it will be a wife. And they will say, or a dad or a mom. And they'll say, our sex life has fallen apart and we've been married 10 years. And then we talk and we talk and we talk and we talk. And then they'll say, oh, we have a five-year-old, a three-year-old and a one year old and I'm pretty sure like my partner's pregnant. And I'll often just stop and say, hey, call me back in five years.
Starting point is 00:18:54 Like there's going to be survival sex. There's going to be just gaps. You're going to have to learn how to communicate in other ways. We don't have a picture. That's right. None of us talked about what this is supposed to feel like and that I'm allowed to miss somebody or miss the old days and we're creating new, new days. But there's no skill in how do we sit and talk about, right?
Starting point is 00:19:18 Now we have this chaotic world. What's intimacy look like in this new world? What does laughter look like in this new world? What does getting away look like in this new world? What does laughter look like in this new world? What does getting away look like in this new world? Am I bananas? I think that what you're saying, and I said this recently to a live audience that seemed to really resonate, is we have a better understanding of how kids learn how to swim than we do about anything about child development.
Starting point is 00:19:43 Because if you think about, I don't know if you did swim lessons, I did swim lessons for my kids, you spend a lot of time and a lot of money, and it just takes a long time. Where imagine if you didn't understand the swim process, the first, second lesson, you know what you'd say? This isn't working, this isn't working. I'm just gonna pull my kid out of swim,
Starting point is 00:20:00 or this is a bad teacher, or my kid's never gonna learn how to swim. We know that when your kid puts their face in the water and blows bubbles, by the way, you're still years from swimming, but we're like, yay, right? Because you know to expect it. Whereas what is it like to be partnered up and raising young kids? What's going to change in my partnership? What is the energy shift going to look like? What is it like when my kid starts to hit to know what are the skills I need to learn to stop hitting?
Starting point is 00:20:28 But how long will it take between learning skills, practicing skills, and seeing it show up in the game? I was talking to Duke women's basketball coach. It was interesting. She's like, you watch tape all the time and you look at players reads and some players in certain moments, they have tough reads. So we have to change it and you practice and you practice and players reads and some players in certain moments they have tough read so we have to change it and you Practice and you practice and you practice and then in the game
Starting point is 00:20:47 It doesn't show up and you practice and you practice and then one day later than you want you're like, oh there it is There it is. But all of this actually has so much to do With expectation because how we all end up feeling in any moment isn't just a feeling how we all end up feeling in any moment isn't just a feeling. It's often the feeling and how surprised we are by the feeling. And I always think if we can remove the surprise, feelings are still hard, but they're a lot less explosive. So if I know a couple examples, I have a five-year-old, a three-year-old, a one-year-old, and I'm sitting being like, I don't have sex with my partner anymore.
Starting point is 00:21:25 If I can say to myself after I knew this stage was coming, by the way, still permission to feel sad, to feel lost, how else can we feel close? But the way it's going to feel the level out of 10 is going to be totally different. If I understand why kids lie, my reaction to lying to my face is not going to be like, let's throw my kid a party. I'm not going to throw my kid a party for lying at me. But if I understand developmentally what's happening, my reaction's totally different. And so I think this is really a call in parenting.
Starting point is 00:22:01 We need education. Like we need school to some degree, not in the ways of like homework and being yelled at by teachers, right? But the best part, education is power. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. While the world seems like it's falling apart, we're all under huge pressure to perform
Starting point is 00:22:22 and look like we're all keeping it together. And we all know that support is good, but we're not allowed to ask for it. Women are often told that they have to be everything to everyone all of the time and somehow they have to just intuitively know how to do it all. And men are often told they are the reason for every bad thing in the world and that asking for help means they are weak or less than. Here's a statistic that will blow your mind. 76% of people globally agree that mental health care can help resolve personal problems, yet 6 out of 10 people still believe that society discourages people from asking for help. Good folks, real strength comes from
Starting point is 00:23:01 opening up about what you're carrying and doing something about it so that you can be your best self for you and for everyone else in your life. If you're feeling the weight of the world, talk to somebody, anyone, a friend, a loved one, or yes, a therapist. I talk with a therapist weekly and you might consider doing it too.
Starting point is 00:23:22 If you're thinking about trying therapy, contact my friends at BetterHelp. BetterHelp is 100% online therapy, so it's affordable and convenient for your schedule. To get started, just fill out a short online survey to get matched with a licensed therapist. And if it's not the right fit, you can switch therapists at any time easily
Starting point is 00:23:39 for no extra cost. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash deloney to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash deloney. I want to talk about cozy earth and this heat. Listen, I grew up in Texas, so I know about heat and the summers in Tennessee are no joke either. I'm already starting to double up my cold tub sessions because it's hot, hot, hot. But the real game changers have been my cozy earth sheets and the joggers.
Starting point is 00:24:15 The sheets are made from this coast from bamboo and I don't know exactly what that means, but it's now my secret weapon against the scorching days and the muggy nights. I have to have it cool at night and and these Cozy Earth sheets are a game changer. Cozy Earth's bamboo sheets are breathable and moisture wicking, keeping everyone cool at night. And the joggers? They're tough, but they're lightweight and silky soft, perfect for wrestling with my kids out in the yard, or working out, or heading out for a low-key night when the temperatures drop just a little bit, but you never overheat.
Starting point is 00:24:48 And since switching to Cozy Earth, my sleep quality has shot up and I wake up refreshed and I think I look kind of rad in these joggers. So if you're ready to beat the heat and look good doing it, go to CozyEarth.com slash Deloney and use code Deloney to get 40% off. That's CozyEarth.com slash Deloney and use code Deloney to get 40% off. That's CozyEarth.com slash Deloney with code Deloney. And listen, stay cool, my friends. I want to talk about loneliness and parenting. I've got to go back and find the study, but I remember sitting there stunned by it.
Starting point is 00:25:22 There was an old, I think it was Native American proverb, but it may have been from somewhere else, that no woman should be left alone with a crying baby was just kind of a cultural ethos. That's madness. And I got to thinking about the suburban neighborhood I grew up in Houston where you have a kid and you go home and they put you in this box, in your house and you just stay there alone. And then you switch out, right?
Starting point is 00:25:50 So my wife was teaching, she would teach classes at night and then I would just be with this kid who didn't want anything to do with me. And all I felt when I couldn't, I remember just sitting there sobbing thinking, I can't get my kid to stop crying. What a loser, you know what I mean? What a loser.
Starting point is 00:26:06 Not knowing that a six month old is a bundle of, it's a nervous system that's just out in the world, right? I could not get him to stop, but I didn't have anyone to tell that to. And I just sort of sat on it and sat on it and sat on it. And then I thought, I can't do this. I remember when my wife said, hey, the bottles, she had pumped and the bottles were in the fridge. I didn't know he was supposed to warm them up.
Starting point is 00:26:28 I remember giving my kid a bottle and he was shaking and I was like, oh, he loves this. I didn't know. I didn't even know what I didn't know. But I knew over time, I sucked at this. I'm failing here. I'm just going to go work a little bit more. That's how I can help my family the best. How do we talk about being lonely as parents, especially as young parents
Starting point is 00:26:48 or teenage parents? I don't know any parent that wants to feel out of control, yet you're stuck in your house by yourself and all you have is whatever nonsense is out there. Yeah. I mean, I do think that aloneness is always the enemy, right? Where, again, we think feelings give us a hard time or experiences give us a hard time and feelings, experiences, things that happen, those can definitely all be hard. But the thing that's hardest for humans is feeling alone in a hard experience, feeling alone in a trauma. That's the difference between trauma, right? That is trauma. I think that's what trauma is. It's an event with high emotionality that's
Starting point is 00:27:26 stored in aloneness. Now, obviously some events have higher potential for that, but yeah, you come home, you have this baby, nobody's taught you anything and worse, they've told you trust your instinct. You're like, well, my instinct might be to yell at a child. So I don't know if that's- And they tell you, this is magic. It's so crazy. Exactly. Everything's wonderful. So expectations are here.
Starting point is 00:27:48 Skills are here. And reality's down there. And reality's down there. Where like when I see a new mom, especially, I'm always like, I really had a hard time in the beginning. And let me just tell you, the beginning was like 10 and a half months. And they're like, oh, I was like, yeah. There were more unenjoyable moments for me. I struggle with dependency. Like a lot of people, if you love being around
Starting point is 00:28:10 people who are independent, then the beginning stages of parenthood are like really hard, especially hard. And you're right when you're then alone. I think what we have the tendency to do, especially when we're alone, is we interpret struggle as our fault. Yes. And so then it's not even the struggle you're responding to as much as the story that it's your fault or that someone more, you know, better would do it differently or that again, it should be easier or that you're not cut out to be a parent or that how I feel in this
Starting point is 00:28:43 moment is representative of how I'm going to feel every moment. We do all these grand things. We make it our fault. We make it global when we're alone. And we make it forever. And we make it forever. What's the antidote to that? I mean, I think there's a bunch of antidotes for that.
Starting point is 00:28:56 I just cannot overstate the importance of having more of an education for parents. And I don't mean I love Instagram. I do. I love a 60 second clip, but that is a crumb for a parent because you also can't even describe something with nuance. And so we all get these more extreme views of what it should be like. So I think education is one, because even if you're a little alone with a crying baby, but in your head, you've learned enough times.
Starting point is 00:29:21 It is not my job to stop a baby's crying. That's actually not my job. That's not good for anyone. This is not a sign of failure. Babies cry. I'm going to support my baby with these words I've learned and practiced. That moment is going to be hard, but it won't spiral you into an abyss. So I think education is just one thing.
Starting point is 00:29:40 I think another thing is having some type of community or village. And even if that's online, because sometimes you're a new parent, you're in your house, I think another thing is having some type of community or village. And even if that's online, it's because sometimes your new parent, you're in your house, you're like, I can't even really leave the house to get to this group. That is not one more sign that you're a bad parent. That is a sign you're in an incredibly difficult stage. And I do think one of the things big, when we're struggling is we can either say the struggle is a sign of something that's my fault or the struggle is a sign of something
Starting point is 00:30:11 I need. And when I need something, that's not some, again, signal that I'm weak. Knowing what you need is like a really important sign of strength. And so maybe I do need to log on somewhere and have a safe talk. Maybe there is a Zoom group. Maybe there is a friend I can text, hey, were the first couple months like both incredibly exhausting and mind numbing to you at the same time. Most people are honestly like that's exactly what it was exhausting and difficult and mind numbing all at the same moment that I remember my wife saying she went and found three, you know, have to go find them, but she went, and almost ceremonially, but went and said like,
Starting point is 00:30:48 hey, y'all are gonna be my three, right or dies. I'm gonna text you, it might be 3 a.m. if you're up, and will you text me back? And it was just those, hey, this is happening, and getting two other moms who were like, exactly, exactly, supposed to be like that. And they go, it still sucks, but okay. That's right. Because you're removing, if you picture it, you're removing aloneness.
Starting point is 00:31:09 Yeah. Now once I know I'm not alone, meaning once I know there's not something wrong with me for feeling this way, it becomes lighter. It doesn't become easy. There's no moment of like balloons and rainbows when you remove aloneness, but the difference between hard and impossible is big. Gosh, that's so good. The difference between, say that one more time. The difference between hard and impossible is big.
Starting point is 00:31:34 And I think a lot of moments in parenting- That's so huge. It's just they're hard. And that's what I think is so important for parents to know. The best it gets at certain moments is hard. You don't go from impossible to joyful. That is not an arc anybody has ever had. No, and ironically, the better we get at managing the hard, the less often hard becomes impossible
Starting point is 00:31:58 and then the more space there is for moments of joy and connectedness, right? But that actually all comes from how we learn to manage the hard because if not, the hard becomes impossible and crowds out everything. And I think what your wife spoke to community, honesty, education, and just someone saying, you're not crazy. That's how it was for me too. Or it wasn't like that for me, but that's okay. And it is like that for you. And that doesn't mean anything about you. This is a good time. You should probably go talk to somebody. Right?
Starting point is 00:32:26 Or... Level up. I remember taking a picture of a rash and just sending it to her text group and then being like all of them wrote back like normal, normal, normal. And I was like, oh God, because you know, I was like, oh, my kids got some rare, you know, whatever. Yeah. And it was just, okay, good.
Starting point is 00:32:41 That's right. That's right. So I want to take a left turn here. Great. I want to talk to Hmm let me say this I'm just going to be as raw as I can with this. Great. So here's what I'm hearing from dads. Okay. Useless. They don't want me around. I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to ask anybody. I definitely don't want to do this like my dad did. And also this gnawing sense of this data just came out the other day that 25 to 35 year old women
Starting point is 00:33:15 have just passed men in earning potential. And like, I'm just redundant here. And what they're doing, because they can, because there's still society off ramps for men, they're just opting out. They're either leaving or they are leaving with a video game controller. They're leaving on the couch. Or they are deciding, like what I did, I'll just work 90 hours. I can't help in any other way.
Starting point is 00:33:43 I'll just put some money in the checking account and then I'll feel good. I mean, you're asking me this question at a really good time because I've been really obsessed with dads in the last kind of couple months and really thinking about dads. And I'm also seeing other dads who are leaning in, in a way that I haven't seen or read about and you know, generations. And so I guess my number one thing I want to say to that is just dads really matter. Dads really matter. And I think when we look at the world we all want to build where people can be in healthy relationships, where you know that strength is actually so deeply connected to how you
Starting point is 00:34:20 relate to what's going on inside you. So yes, being strong relates to how you're able to manage your feelings. And dads have, I think moms have a role to play there too. Dads have kind of really amazingly unique role to rewrite a different story for their sons and their daughters. And I think one of the things you're putting together, and I think a lot of dads struggle with this, is equating kind of knowing what to do with being important. Those are two very different things.
Starting point is 00:34:52 That took me a long time. That's right. And dads can even still have a really positive impact on their kids when they don't know what to do. And I think there's a way of naming this, like every parent, but if dads feel like, oh, I'm just in the way and I don't know what to do, something that's always helpful to say to a kid is, I'm not sure exactly what to say right now, but I want to tell you I'm here. I'm not sure what to do and I'm worried I'm going to get it wrong, but I love you. You're a good kid. We're going to get through this. Like you
Starting point is 00:35:23 can just put out there the first part, I don't know what to do. I'm not sure how to respond to this. I feel like there are words I would wanna say and I don't have them right now. And I want to assure you, I'm here with you. There's a guy I have high, high respect for and his kids are just extraordinary.
Starting point is 00:35:42 And I asked and he said, I just started taking them to breakfast once a week. So I started with my son and it was boring and then it was boring and there was boring and then it was hey dad I think there's this girl yeah and but it was or hey explain to me some deep theological but it only came from presence and presence and presence I think that's right the input is more and longer than any of us in this efficiency oriented world that we live in would want it to be.
Starting point is 00:36:08 You do get a lot of rejection from your kids and I think we take the bait way too often as if that's the whole truth. If you actually reframe your kids pushback or eye roll as they're trying to just figure out how much to take in from me and how close to be and they're young. So by the way, no adults do that terribly well either, you know, but they're just kind of muddying through it, right? And they're also kind of unconsciously testing out how much can I trust my parent?
Starting point is 00:36:39 How much can I trust my dad? Because I'm going to say it wrong one time and I'm going to get overwhelmed. And before I even go to kind of the depth I'd want to have in the relationship, I need to know that I have a parent who can take it. And so they do kind of test out, I don't want to go to breakfast with you. I have nothing to say to you. And again, if we can just think, do not take the bait, right? And I think there's a way in which this has felt like weak.
Starting point is 00:37:04 I can't let my kid get away with that, but I often tell people, like imagine Steph Curry or LeBron and you see them with like a group of eight-year-olds or 16-year-olds and they're like, Steph Curry, you're the worst shooter in basketball. And then you hear Steph Curry being like, you can't say that to me. You'd be like, Steph, like, get a hold of yourself. Right, right, right. Like, that's like, you know what a sturdy person does? They don't respond because they know who they are and they don't need a 16-year-old or an eight-year-old to prove it to themselves. They're secure enough that they can hear something about them that they know isn't true and they
Starting point is 00:37:40 don't need to prove their own truth in the relationship So I tell especially dads like channel your inner LeBron like you would not want to see LeBron saying you don't want to go to Brackets with me you're like LeBron dude like come on. You're like NBA all-star. Just like relax Okay, but the next step is we're going yeah, it's almost like the Good will hunting scene like we're having this we're gonna sit here. Yes, let's say anything. That's right I'm gonna eat. That's right. So this is me Taking a John ism and you tell me if this is right or wrong. Okay, I'll often tell parents and maybe I'm hitting the pendulum too hard your nine-year-old doesn't get a vote in your emotional state and Like in that may be too far, but I want parents to practice.
Starting point is 00:38:26 I don't get a vote, dude. They're nine. Like we as a society don't let them drive or buy cigarettes, right? Because they're nine. And so my nine year old can pop off all day long. I can sit down when the smoke is clear and talk about that's disrespectful. Or in our house, we have a values, like this is who we are. And that way I can point back and say, we all agreed, like you're at the table.
Starting point is 00:38:47 This is not how we talk to each other in this house. But I'm not going to outsource my feelings to my nine-year-old or my 15-year-old. And it's hard. Yeah. Right? It's hard. Because then if we're not outsourcing it, the reason it's hard is we actually have to do it for ourselves.
Starting point is 00:39:04 I've got to do it for myself. That's right. But it is true. And so I don't mind you don't have a vote. I guess I'd put a tweak on it. Just because to me, I think our kids, they feel our intention over our intervention. They feel our mindset and they feel, are you looking at me like we're on the same team and you like me? Or even though you're saying the same words, are you looking at me like we're on the same team and you like me or even though you're saying the same words, are you looking at me like I'm a nuisance or like I'm difficult. Are you looking at your phone while you're telling me that thing? That too, right?
Starting point is 00:39:32 So I think there's something to and again, I think everything at Good Inside, we always come back to these two things at once. I can validate my kid's reality and my kid needs to know I'm not overtaken by it, that I have their long-term interest in mind and I won't let their short-term protest get in my way of doing what I know is good for them. This is like a pilot saying we need to make an emergency landing and you might be on a plane being like, oh man, I have this meeting, I have this wedding and maybe you think it's not that big of a deal and you start protesting and imagine your pilot saying, oh, actually forget, we won't land.
Starting point is 00:40:07 We'll go through the storm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanted you to say to me, it does stink that you can't get to your wedding, but I also don't want you to change your mind. And so I think you're taking your kid to breakfast and they're like, I don't want to go with you. I'm just going to stay quiet the whole time. Validate something in there.
Starting point is 00:40:26 Just even if it's like, I get it. It's not what you want to do. That's boring. Yeah. Yeah. I get it. I'm just like not high on your list of people to have interesting conversations with. I get it.
Starting point is 00:40:35 You know, and we are going to go. And if you're quiet the whole time, that's how today's breakfast. But it's, it's important for me, maybe not for you. It's important for me that we not for you, it's important for me that we get good time together. Like I just think as a kid, they're not going to grout and then we think we're going to say these things. I think John, this is the other part. We say these things like, it's important for me to get time together. You can just sit there, you know, maybe that's how today's go goes, but we're going to go out for pancakes,
Starting point is 00:41:00 whatever it is. We think our kids going to look at us after and be like, dad, you crushed that moment. Thank you. Right. Right? Or I set a boundary, you know, oh no, there's no sleepover on a Wednesday. And I think my kid's going to say that is reasonable. I do have a school tomorrow. Good call. Good call. I love you, your sturdy leader. You know, like my kids have never said that to me. And so kids are allowed to protest. We still, as the leader of our home, just like the CEO of a company,
Starting point is 00:41:26 you have to make good long-term decisions, even when the people around you are focused on short-term ease and comfort. That though impacts, we have a very unintentional culture. We're just getting to the next thing. And that suggests if you bring a child into the world, you owe it to yourself and to your community and to your
Starting point is 00:41:53 neighbors and to your kids, you have to start being intentional with your life. At least some, I'm a realist, some percentage of the time. I prioritize short-term ease too sometimes, right? Sure. I prioritize short-term ease too sometimes. I always say, I don't want to fall off the wagon, but sometimes I'll park it and climb off and roll around in the mud and then I'll get back on it. That's fine. Again, there's no perfection here. There's no parent, I know, definitely not me.
Starting point is 00:42:16 It's like, I am always making long-term good decisions. No, I'm like a human. Hello. But there is something to a little inventory of like, all right, let me look at this week. What is my, I always say at Good Inside, we're very long-term greedy in our parenting. Our kids are going to be 18 and over. They're going to be out of our house for so many more years. Then they're in our house, which also means for so many more years than they're locked
Starting point is 00:42:39 into a relationship with us, they will choose whether they want to be in a relationship with us. And so these long-term decisions matter and we don't build strong relationships with our kids by saying yes to them all the time and giving into short-term stuff all the time because they end up presenting us. Why didn't you make good decisions? Why didn't you land the plane when you needed to? I needed a parent, yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:59 I needed a pilot. I didn't have my pilot license then. And so that stuff really does build a long-term relationship, but it won't lead to a short-term high five. Hey, it's Deloney for Organifi. I talk to people every day who are stressed to the max. They're anxious, not sleeping well, disconnected and just grumpy. Most people are trying to fix all of their discomfort with comfort food or caffeine or
Starting point is 00:43:24 scented candles. Can we all just agree what we're trying probably isn't working? This is where Organifi comes in. Organifi's superfood products are made to help you feel better with more energy, less stress and better sleep by giving you what your body needs without all the artificial nonsense. Case in point, I love my happy drops.
Starting point is 00:43:48 They're little gummies made with all natural ingredients that have positive effects on mood and emotional well-being. Stuff like saffron, which helps your brain use your natural serotonin, one of your happy chemicals, and lift your mood. In fact, there are clinical studies showing that people who take saffron have improved social relationships and other studies that show saffron can literally help lift your mood. Organifi also makes green juice and red juice blends
Starting point is 00:44:15 that you can mix with water and then when you're ready to rock and roll, you just drink them and you're ready to go. Listen, I can talk about ingredients and clinical studies and all that, but here's the best endorsement I can give. I use Organifi every single day. My son takes Organifi every single day. I travel with it. I take it at home. And you should give Organifi a try too.
Starting point is 00:44:35 Go to organifi.com slash deloney and use code deloney to save 20%. That's 20% off site-wide with code DELONIE at organifi.com slash Delonie. You changed how I define the word guilt. Talk me through that. Yes. Because when you said it, I've been teaching on guilt for years. And when you said it, I was like, well, I was wrong on that one. So walk me through guilt.
Starting point is 00:45:00 So this to me is like how so many of the different things I think about happen where I just keep hearing these things from parents like, what does that mean? What do you really mean by that? And so something I hear, especially from moms, though it could be from dads is, okay, I've put my kid to bed for 39 straight nights. I'm going out to dinner with my college girlfriend who's in town, but my kids clinging to me and they're like, you have to put me down. And then they'll say to me, I feel so guilty.
Starting point is 00:45:23 And then I don't go. Or I want to sleep in one weekend morning, but I feel like if I tell my partner, they're going to tell me how tired I am. And then I'd feel too guilty. And I kept thinking, this is interesting because our emotions are information and our emotions have evolutionary purpose. So what are we doing that some emotion is getting in our way of doing something that's good for us? And that's when I realized I don't think people in those scenarios are talking
Starting point is 00:45:50 about guilt at all. Because to me, what guilt is, it's a feeling we have when we act out of alignment with our values. And again, then that's important because even if it's uncomfortable, it's an important feeling. Yeah, your body's like, I'm going to make you feel uncomfortable, not to send you into a spiral, but to get you to pause and ask yourself, well, why did I yell at the taxi driver? Why am I late to every meeting? If I can actually reflect on that because guilt helps me reflect, then I can change. Amazing.
Starting point is 00:46:20 But then I kept thinking, but going out to dinner here and there with a friend, I know that woman that's in alignment with her values. Okay. And right, whatever the other, sleeping in one weekend morning, like that person values rest. So what is this? And then what I realized is there are so many moments that we say, I feel guilty that we're
Starting point is 00:46:43 not talking about guilt. When we say I'm too guilty to have dinner with a friend once in a while, I'm too guilty to sleep in and let my partner take care of the kids one weekend morning, I think what we're actually speaking to is our tendency to notice other people's distress, my kids distress that I'm leaving, my partner's, oh, but it's going to be hard to take care of the kids alone. Two situations when there's distress and I look at those feelings of distress and I'm kind of like, no, I'll take those from your body.
Starting point is 00:47:15 I will put them into my body and I will call it guilt, but it's not really guilt. It's just my tendency to take on other people's emotions and process their emotions for them. And that, I have a Johnism, the tools you use to keep you safe as a kid will, by and large, destroy your adult relationships. One hun- I mean, that's right, where everything we struggle with in adulthood was an adaptation in childhood. I think that form of guilt, it does everybody, like you're saying, a big injustice. Because number one, we have to start with a place of true compassion.
Starting point is 00:47:55 And I would say further appreciation. Anybody who's listening is like, I do that. Maybe I'm not guilty. Maybe I'm just taking in other people's emotions to start with. Hold on. I would say to myself, like, thank you. Thank you for your years of service. Really. Thank you for your years of service. That protected me. That was adaptive during all of my early years when I needed to figure out who I needed to be in my family of origin to get the most love and
Starting point is 00:48:25 protection I could. And if taking care of other people's emotions was the way I did that, then like boy was I a crafty eight year old to figure that out. And like, can I click on something? Yeah. So, peacekeeping is one. I found love by being sexually active a lot. I drank too much into drugs as a kid. I'm hearing more and more 35-year-olds looking at their 18-year-old self or their 16-year-old
Starting point is 00:49:01 self with a lot of condemnation or the 21 year old self trying to survive. And so like saying I'm a people pleaser that tends to have less cultural baggage and some of these other things. And there's something about telling us like, dude, like hug your 16 year old self. They're doing what they could to survive. We don't let them buy beer. They're trying, they're doing what they had to do to survive. Yeah, you're talking about like, you know, being very sexually active. You could say, okay, well, what was my body was seeking connection, closeness. In what ways was that allowed growing up? If I was a, if I'm a man, like was I a boy who could have gone to a parent saying, I'm
Starting point is 00:49:41 having a hard time with math. I feel left out by my friends. Would I have been greeted with like a hug? I'm so glad you're talking to me about this. Or would I have been given? Shut up, get out. Exactly. Or like even hearing that suggestion or you like, you must not know my family to even ask that question. But that's evidence of, Oh, so what did I do at age five, eight, 11, 16 to figure out how to be close to people given that's a basic evolutionary need? It's oxygen for a child. 100%.
Starting point is 00:50:16 And so, wow, I figured out that one avenue was like a lot of sex. Yeah, physical contact. Okay. Well, even if that doesn't work for me now, I can still take a moment to understand its origin and yes, have some appreciation for that kid part of me that was kind of thinking, okay, this Avenue is closed off, this Avenue is closed off. And instead of shutting down as a human being, I was like, wait, I found it. Reckless sex. Okay.
Starting point is 00:50:47 Like, they're- Be compassionate to that kid. Yeah. And almost appreciative. You can appreciate someone's attempt to protect you totally separate from the impact that form of protection ended up having. There you go. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:01 If you sit with addicts in, or let me rephrase it. If you see people who are struggling with addiction, it's like, how'd you know when you say like, no, alcohol works. It's amazing. That's right. It's amazing. That's right. Right?
Starting point is 00:51:14 Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah. And over time, it may not be adaptive, right? That's exactly right. And there's an exhale. But there's some, yeah, I love that idea of being compassionate and seeing where that behavior has behavior sounds so like I'm your dad, but like where that expression, there you go.
Starting point is 00:51:31 Like as you're older, where is that still trying to, where's my body still trying to care me in those ways? And where is it now maladaptive? It's not helpful. And I think this is, this goes directly to kind of this next generation. I feel so passionately about raising where if we teach kids that they're acting out behavior is not a sign of who they are, but it's a sign of what they need.
Starting point is 00:51:53 That means they are going to be more and more likely to figure out other ways to get what they need that are more adaptive. Right? And so even though we're talking about sex at age 16, this is actually the same as thinking about hitting. Okay, so my kid at age three is hitting not because they're a bad kid, not because they have some character deficit. It's because they're frustrated that their sister has their favorite truck and they don't yet have a skill to manage that frustration. Okay, so we can teach that.
Starting point is 00:52:26 And then, by the way, anger is a healthy emotion. Anger tells us what we need. I don't want anyone to ever lose touch with their anger because anger in that way is a sign that you still have some type of self-confidence, self-respect to think you deserve things. Now, learning how to manage anger, that comes to skills and curiosity. And I think as a culture, we've received such little curiosity and compassion in our early years for the source of our behavior that we almost think compassion is dangerous. Like someone's like, I'm going to be compassionate about this awful behavior. Like whatever you've tried, I promise you shame locks you into bad behavior way more
Starting point is 00:53:04 than compassion does every time. Yeah, yeah. There's a great minister in our community that says, whatever you think your hate's doing, love will do better. I assure you. Right. And so you can hate this thing or you can say, come sit down. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:17 Exactly. How do you, on the flip side of that, if we can look at childhood behaviors, there's often a kid saying, I don't have the skill set here or I'm expressing a need for something. Was it like 65% of homes are single parent homes now? What do you say to the parent that's working three jobs and they see these behaviors in their kids, they know they're there and they're between a rock and a hard place? Yes.
Starting point is 00:53:45 I mean, the first thing I would say is probably no words at all. I just want to give that person a hug and say, holy moly, you are managing more than is humanly possible. And again, the setup of childcare and of support for parenting is completely lacking. And I think that's also one of the reasons we see declining birth rates. People are like, yeah, I don't know about this setup anymore. You know, I'm starting to question it. The next thing I would say to that parent is there are probably ways to think smaller. I think when we're struggling with our kids, we think really big and it can get away from
Starting point is 00:54:21 us in terms of, okay, it's hard for you to connect with your kid. And then parents are like, I'm gonna take them to the amusement park on Saturday. And then I'm like in traffic and I'm spending so much money and I'm resentful. I'm gonna be without my phone for three hours. I'd be like, look, with all due respect, you are rarely without your phone for five minutes. Let's just start with five minutes, right?
Starting point is 00:54:38 And I'm not saying that because I don't believe in someone. I'm actually saying that because I do believe in someone. So let's just set ourselves up. So that single parent is working three jobs. Like, can you say to your kid today, I just want to tell you you're a good kid and I love you. I want to tell you I'm sorry for the moments I yell. That's a sign of my exhaustion, not a sign of anything about you. I just did an intervention in 10 seconds. I can kind of say, okay, did one small shift today. And then I can do another small shift tomorrow. And that's kind of as good as it did one small shift today and then I can do another small shift
Starting point is 00:55:05 tomorrow and that's kind of as good as it gets. Can we do three minutes? Okay, cool. Yeah. All right. I'm going to run through some rapid fire here. Okay? Yes.
Starting point is 00:55:15 What do you tell the mother or father who doesn't want to play with their kids because it's boring? I would say number one, it's okay. Can we say that out loud? Yes. It's okay that play feels boring. It feels boring for a couple of reasons. Our life is full of so much dopamine now and so much instant gratification where play is
Starting point is 00:55:34 slow and without dopamine. So that's number one. Number two, a lot of people find play very hard with their kids because nobody played with them. And so if you realize, oh, I'm doing something that generationally has never been done before, of course it's going to feel deeply uncomfortable. Set yourself up for something small. It's two minutes of Play-Doh. It's a five minute game.
Starting point is 00:56:00 And then I think those increments probably over time feel less boring because again, you've worked up for them. And we've had to get creative in our house. We have a wrestling mat that we roll out that the, that I thought my son liked this. My daughter loves it. But yeah, but yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 00:56:17 Finding things that can also, okay. Awesome. Um, is my kid manipulating me? They're good at home or they're terrible at home, but they're good out there. So I know they can, so it must be. And I guess the meta question here is projecting adult ways of being and navigating social situations onto a child. Yeah. I don't think manipulating is a helpful framework for kids or adults. I actually think the single biggest thing we can change as a parent isn't a strategy,
Starting point is 00:56:46 isn't a script, it's our mindset. As soon as you think about your kid as manipulating you, you're an enemy territory with each other. And then we're going to intervene like they're our enemy, which means they're going to get defensive, they're going to feel disconnected, power struggle, screaming, etc. I would say the same thing as an adult. As soon as you think my friend is manipulating me, enemy territory. It's actually just not useful, whether or not it's true is irrelevant. I think instead you can say, what would make my kid behave one way at school and another at home? What would make me behave one way at work and then
Starting point is 00:57:19 give it to my husband? Is it because I'm manipulating him? I think someone there would say, oh, probably not. Maybe you're, again, you're exhausted. Maybe he's actually your safe person. Maybe he has to establish what is okay and what's not okay while still not kind of demonizing you. And I think that's what I would shift about that. Is it true that kids, by and large, do it works, contextually? You know what? I don't think it's even that intentional where kids...
Starting point is 00:57:43 I was wrong on that one. I just think our kids are trying to figure out how to kind of operate in the world and how to build skills. And they usually see us as like the safest container, which doesn't make bad behavior okay, but it does mean it's a clue. Contextually. Exactly to what's going on. And if we see it that way, we can almost oddly become like almost weirdly excited when our kids have a hard moment because if you're oriented by impact, instead of just by short term ease, then you know when your kid lies
Starting point is 00:58:18 to you or when your kid says, I'm not going to bed, that you actually have an opportunity to build skills for anxiety, to build skills for shame. These are things that are going to happen over and over. And so you see these hard moments not as a sign your kid is manipulating you, but actually is kind of like a high impact opportunity. Pathway back to him. I love that. Okay, last one.
Starting point is 00:58:44 Okay. What's the I mean, we could have talked about kids in technology, we'll have to do a whole other show on that. Two more real quick, sleepovers, yay or nay? I'm not, I think it depends on the kid and depends on the family. So I'm not, yay or nay is like a rigid rule. I think it's great in general for kids to have opportunities to have risk, to be uncomfortable, to consolidate skills away from you. That's the only time kids do consolidate skills. Whether that happens in a sleepover or it happens in another type of environment is really based on the family and what feels right to them.
Starting point is 00:59:21 Okay, great answer. Last one, where are you most misunderstood? I think that we get kind of lumped into snowflake parenting, soft, quote, gentle. And I think like we started with this idea of sturdiness really shows the difference, but as a world, as a society, we are getting increasingly bad at holding two seemingly oppositional truths at the same time. I actually think this is one of the things Good Inside can bring to the world. It's like if we raise a generation of kids who know,
Starting point is 00:59:56 I can have a relationship with my feelings and I can be firm and boundaries and assertive. Actually, those things work best together. We are showing that you can kind of have both at once. And that's the model of parenting where I think we can be misunderstood, but I feel so passionately about continuing to bang the table and say, yes, parents,
Starting point is 01:00:18 you are an authority, you set limits, you make key decisions, you set boundaries. And while you do that, you can stay connected to your kid. You can have both at the same time. I'm not even going to say anything after that. There we go. Appreciate it.
Starting point is 01:00:34 Awesome. I've been on board with the benefits of red light therapy for a long time, and that's why I'm excited to tell you about Bon Charge. Our lives are lived almost entirely inside under the harrowing glow of fluorescent lights, little screens, medium sized screens and big screens. All of this stuff affects our mood, our sleep, our anxiety and studies are showing it.
Starting point is 01:00:57 And this is why I love Bon Charge. Bon Charge is a world leader in red light therapy and in EMF blocking gear. I use their red light therapies every single day. Red light therapy can help boost your mood, help with healing, help reduce stress, and even help with sleep. I use my red light therapy panels,
Starting point is 01:01:15 the infrared sauna blanket, the EMF mat, all of it. And listen up, if your skin looks tired, check out Bond Charge's red light mask for skin recovery, collagen production, and improved blood flow. I got the mask and I'm starting to look sooooo handsome. Listen, just wear it 10 minutes a few times a week for fresher skin. No creams, no appointments, it's lightweight, it's cordless, check it out. Go to boncharge.com slash deloney and use coupon code deloney to save 15%.
Starting point is 01:01:46 That's B-O-N-C-H-A-R-G-E bondcharge.com slash deloney and use coupon code deloney to save 15%. All right. That was my conversation with the amazing Becky Kennedy. And listen, we've linked to everything the good inside app, which is incredible. If you're a parent and you're just looking for what to do next when you get all kinds of wild things, it's a great app. We've linked to that.
Starting point is 01:02:13 We've also linked to her book, good inside and all the other stuff we talked about. Thank you so much for joining us. Check her out on social media. She's a great follow and I'll see you soon. Be kind right now. It feels like great follow and I'll see you soon. Be kind. Right now it feels like that's pretty much all we got left. Be kind to each other and find somebody to serve. I love you guys. Stay in school. Don't do drugs. Bye.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.