Mastermind Parenting Podcast

I'm doing a bunch of research right now because I have just started writing my second book! And this one's going to be a collaboration with my friend and fellow Mastermind Mom, Sarah Miller. She is a doctor who is a pediatrician about half the time, and half the time internal medicine. We're having a lot of fun, and we're just in the outlining, planning it out phase right now. And we're testing a hypothesis. So, the hypothesis is basically that when you have a child who, from a very young age, is a challenging kid. One where your gut instincts tell you, “Hmm. I think there's something to figure out with this kiddo.” You know, let's say you're going to that baby class that all your friends signed up for and you've got the one child, I'm sure it's probably half the class, but in your mind, it's the one child who just is crying the whole time. And all the other babies are like clapping and doing all the baby things. And you've got the kid and you're sitting there working your ass off to try and have your little tiny baby enjoy this music class. And by the time that baby's two, you're starting to go to the birthday parties and all the other kids seem to be participating, but you've got the child who's like clinging to your leg and they don't want to play. All the other parents are talking and sharing a beverage and you're having to deal with your kid who is refusing to leave your side. And then it's time to start preschool and the teachers are telling you, “Oh, it's just separation anxiety.” So, there's just like there's scenario after scenario, after scenario where you're thinking there's something going on with your kid, but you don't even know where to start. And our hypothesis is that most people reach out or start asking questions during their doctor's visits with the pediatrician. Your pediatrician is a child development authority in your life. And someone you have that relationship where you feel like you can ask your “mom questions” and there's not going to be any judgment. Do you think? And so listen to this episode and if you want, let me know if this is you. If you reach out to your doctor, your pediatrician, to find out about all the typical milestones and they're the ones that you go to every time your kid has a birthday or when in their first year of life, every month. Because they're looking at all the markers, and they're the ones who are kind of following your kid’s developmental progress. As always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community, where 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! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ Resources Discussed/Links Weekly Parenting Support in Your Inbox, sign up today.: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Book your live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

Do you want your kids to be successful in school? I know most of us want our kids to grow up to be the kind of people that have the skills to manage their time and frankly, their lives AND unfortunately, because many of us struggle with these skills ourselves, we can feel overwhelmed by this topic. I sat down with a true expert academic coach with a background in organizational psychology. Evan Weinberger is the owner of Staying Ahead of the Game, an worldwide academic coaching and tutoring company he founded in 2006. You don’t want to miss learning from Evan; he is such a sharp and insightful leader in the space of helping kids develop critical executive skills to help them kick ass in school and life. Enjoy! As always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community, where 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! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ About Evan Weinberger Hi! I am Evan! When I started Staying Ahead of the Game in 2006 after nearly two decades of struggling with my own learning differences in school, my main goal was to help students perform to their potential by equipping them with the systems, habits, tools, and skills they need to manage stress and achieve greater success. From the Houston location, I co-founded Illuminos in 2016 to bring these important services to the Greater Washington D.C. Metro Area. I look forward to bringing these much-needed services to more locations soon.  As my impact grows through the success of my companies, I am reminded of why I got into this business in the first place: to give students the wisdom that I wish I had at a younger age. I wanted to help students instead of CEO’s because I saw a problem that desperately needed a solution: students graduating without the soft skills needed to make a difference in the real world.  In addition to working with students, I very much enjoy my work educating educators. I now serve on multiple boards and committees centered around creating the best possible educational experience for every student, regardless of learning differences or socio-economic status. Evan’s Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StayingAheadoftheGame Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saotg/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/staying-ahead-of-the-game Resources Discussed/Links Mini-Masters Self Study Program for Parents of Strong-Willed Children. Because parenting is hard, but it shouldn’t be this hard.: https://mastermindparenting.com/minimasters/ Book your live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

This week is a big episode for me, and you don’t want to miss every morsel of this conversation with the author, Michaeleen Doucleff. She wrote Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans. I make her fascinating book required reading for every parent I work with in my private programs.  This book is not like other parenting books - it reads like a fascinating anthropological study of human behavior. The oldest cultures in the world have mastered the art of raising happy, well-adjusted children. What can we learn from them? In this episode, we break down what we are getting wrong when it comes to parenting in our mainstream culture and bringing back the ancient wisdom of our foremothers in a very practical and relatable way…the good news is that this means more time for yourself and adult activities. Get ready to learn from Michaeleen - she is absolutely delightful! I definitely have a mom crush on her, and you will too.  As always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community, where 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. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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. About Michaleen Doucleff Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, is a global health correspondent for NPR’s Science Desk and the author of the New York Times bestseller Hunt, Gather, Parent. The book describes a way of raising kind and confident children, which moms and dads all over the world have turned to for millennia. Doucleff has a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Berkeley, California, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Caltech. For the past decade, Doucleff has reported on disease outbreaks and children’s health for NPR. Before that, Doucleff was an editor at the journal Cell, where she wrote about the science behind pop culture. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter and German Shepherd, Savanna. Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ Resources Discussed/Links Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaleen Doucleff: https://amzn.to/39yjEkf Book your live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

In this episode, I sat down with Josh, a dad that sort of reluctantly became a Mastermind parent. I hear from moms ALL THE TIME that their husband is not willing to learn new parenting tools and may even think it’s unnecessary and foolish.  Well, this might be an episode you INSIST your husband listens to because Josh was also “Mastermind Parenting resistant” not so long ago. He questioned my credibility and “real” qualifications to do what I do, but his badass wife, Ali, wouldn’t take no for an answer…she fought for her family to find more peace and both she and Josh are so glad she did! Listen to this episode for more of my thoughts and strategies on how you can move toward being a Mastermind Parent! And as always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community where 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. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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. Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ Resources Discussed/Links Book your live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

So, what constitutes a difficult child? I think we need to start with that and that's even a hard thing to say, because nobody wants to call their kid difficult. Right? I get it. We have a kid that's struggling. Our household feels anything but peaceful. We have a dream that we want our kids to be at peace. We want a calm environment. We want that household that maybe we didn’t have but desired when we were growing up. We have all these hopes and dreams. And now you have a child who is “difficult” and you need to figure some things out. So, during today’s episode, I break down what I believe constitutes a difficult child. And then I give you some helpful tips, some strategies to help you find a way to find more peace in your household and manage some challenging behaviors your kiddo may be exhibiting. Like I often do, I unpack a real-life situation, one that may be familiar to you and your family. I stumbled upon this Mastermind Parenting method because I was also experiencing the challenges of a difficult child. It was because I couldn't find the exact right resource. I couldn't find the exact right program. I liked this part from one program, but I liked another part from another program, but I actually sort of liked this part from some “old school” methods that didn't seem aligned with the newer styles. And I realized, I was not someone who likes to follow exact recipes, so I threw together what worked for me and my family, and that’s what I’m sharing with you now. So, if you’re struggling with that difficult child, listen to this episode, and I’ll give you my top three tips for finding a way to a better place. Listen to this episode for more of my thoughts and strategies on how you can move toward being a Mastermind Parent! And as always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community where 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. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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. Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ Resources Discussed/Links Free 5-Part Video Series for Parents: Setting Limits without Spanking, Time Outs, or Sticker Charts: https://mastermindparenting.com/spanking-series/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

What do you do when you and your partner disagree on parenting styles and strategies? Unfortunately, this is the case with most of my moms. In this episode I unpack a story that is all too common. It’s a story of a volatile household, “To-Do List Sex,” and constant stress. The mom in this story has stuck with the Mastermind Parenting program and learned new methods of parenting. She stayed in her own lane, kept slogging along, and made mistakes along the way. But she’s done her own work, created change in her mind and her life, and took a stand. She refused to sweep the issues under the rug anymore and stuck to her guns. It wasn’t easy. Her husband is a good guy, deep down. So often, so much of the struggle is a giant miscommunication. Over time, little by little, things have gotten better. She has found ways to change patterns and hold her partner accountable. She’s been able to step into her strength and improve all the relationships in her life. Listen to this episode for more of my thoughts and strategies on how you can move toward being a Mastermind Parent! And as always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community where 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. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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. Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ Resources Discussed/Links Communication can be tough! Get the cheat sheet and audio training for my 3-Step recipe for having a productive conversation: https://mastermindparenting.com/productive-conversation/ Live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

My guest this week and I chat about how parents can be empowered as experts on their own children. My guest today is Allana Robinson. She and I connect on so many levels and have a great conversation about some new science around parenting and what we’re learning. Allana is a parenting coach, as well as a registered early childhood educator and developmental specialist. We know now that it’s not just triggers and consequences that shape behavior. In fact, the “old school” ABA (Appiled Behavioral Analysis) model completely ignores the functions of the nervous system. It completely ignores how social triggers and how social interaction influences behavior. It completely ignores trauma. It also completely ignores social and emotional learning. Allana and I unpack her experiences and her training, and how newer models like I talk about here on Mastermind Parenting allow kids to process emotional expression. Children live in their emotional brain. And so of course they're going to often be easily overstimulated and lots of things are going to set them off. And they're trying to make sense of the world through these dysregulated moments. Our job is to help them as grounded grownups, help reel them back in and help them learn the skills to reregulate. They're going to make mistakes. We can't be on top of it all the time, but when they make mistakes, it’s important that we show up and help them to learn those new skills. Children learn to regulate by being regulated. Children learn to be empathetic by being empathized with. We have to model what we want them to do in order for them to learn how to do it because they learn by observation. Listen to this episode for more of my thoughts and strategies on how you can move toward being a Mastermind Parent! And as always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community where 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. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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. Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ About Allana Robinson Allana Robinson is a parenting coach and she's the CEO of Uncommon Sense Parenting as well as a registered early childhood educator, developmental specialist, mom of two and military wife. Allana supports parents of toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners in understanding why their children are misbehaving and how to fix it without yelling, shaming or timeout. Allana’s mission is to empower parents as the experts on their own children and create an inclusive world full of calm, competent, confident kids. Website: https://www.allanarobinson.com/ Resources Discussed/Links Mini-Masters Self Study Program for Parents of Strong-Willed Children. Because parenting is hard, but it shouldn’t be this hard.: https://mastermindparenting.com/minimasters/ Live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

In this bonus episode, I’m weighing in on the Oscars drama where Will Smith slapped the shit out of Chris Rock. There are so many opinions and different angles being discussed right now and I doubt you’ve heard one like mine. Have a listen and join the conversation on social media to let us know your thoughts!  Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/

Chances are, if you're listening to this podcast, you have a hunch that you've got a strong-willed child. In today’s episode I wanted to talk about what really constitutes a child being strong-willed. Firstly, isn't every child strong-willed at some point or another? That's what I always say to the people who come to me, that everybody's got a “strong-willed” child.  The truth of the matter is that Mastermind Parenting is really for all humans. It's just that our strong-willed ones are the ones that bring us here because they're not complying with the old school parenting methods that most of us were raised with. And so, we seek resources, and we listen to podcasts, and we read books, and we're looking for the tools and the tips. But how do you know if your kid is a strong-willed kid or just a regular human kid that shows up with some strong-willed behavior because we all sometimes have strong-willed behavior? Strong-willed kids are very determined to do something even if other people say it should not be done. They are the challenging and difficult ones, the “squeaky wheel” of the family. They hijack the household, and it’s the child you walk on eggshells around. This is the child that when they are happy, you feel like you can finally breathe…ahhhhh. I’ll be totally honest, your strong-willed child is the one you love, but you don’t necessarily like. Listen to this episode, and I’ll share with you a very personal story of how my own strong-willed child impacted our family. I’ll also go through some questions and a scenario from someone else, and maybe you’ll be able to relate to one or both of these stories. And with each, as always, I’ll share tools and tips on how you can recognize the behaviors of strong-willed children, and some Mastermind Parenting strategies that will help you, and your family, breathe easier more often. Listen to this episode for more of my thoughts and strategies on how you can move toward being a Mastermind Parent! And as always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community where 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. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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. Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ Resources Discussed/Links Mini-Masters Self Study Program for Parents of Strong-Willed Children. Because parenting is hard, but it shouldn’t be this hard.: https://mastermindparenting.com/minimasters/ Live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting

Many of you are searching for tips on how “not to” parent. This doesn't surprise me because I've talked about this on the podcast before. Asking for the “not to’s” instead of the “how to’s” is part of our human condition. It's much easier and more natural to focus on what not to do rather than what to do.  I've heard this referred to as the human negativity bias and it's something that we've carried over, it's part of our primal wiring. We're always scanning our environment for things that might feel unsafe or dangerous. So, we're always kind of looking for the negative, looking how we can keep ourselves safe and healthy, what we need to avoid and “Not do.”  That's why when our kids are running by a pool and we might say, “Don't run, don't run.” Instead of saying, “Walking feet, walking feet.” It's so much easier and instinctive to say what not to do rather than what to do. Searching for, “What am I not supposed to be doing?” is somewhat of a natural question. Because even though you don't know exactly what to do, you want to make sure that you’re not doing the “terrible” things, something wrong. The way to counteract that human negativity bias is through awareness and a lot of the learnings and positive psychology, which I incorporate into Mastermind Parenting. I'm a bit obsessed with neuroscience and I have been for a very long time. I think it's just so amazing that we can actually create new habits that retrain the way that we communicate, retrain the way that we think, and retrain ourselves. It’s that old adage, “You can't teach an old dog new tricks.” But you can. You just have to practice a whole lot. And when you start to practice little things like focusing on what the behaviors you want, rather than the behaviors you don't want, it doesn't come naturally. It seems so simple, but it doesn't come naturally. So, you have to practice it. In today’s episode, I’m going to use some simple examples and scenarios which will help you begin to practice this shift from the more authoritarian style of parenting which tends to focus on telling our kids what “not to do,” and move toward some more positive approaches found in Mastermind Parenting. It’s about practicing these skills that let you communicate expectations before things go sideways. It’s figuring out what you want, not what you don’t want. Listen to this episode for more of my thoughts and strategies on how you can move toward being a Mastermind Parent! And as always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community where 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. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it! About Randi Rubenstein Randi 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. Web/Social Links Website: https://mastermindparenting.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermindparenting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastermind_parenting/ Resources Discussed/Links Get a no-pressure, complimentary live assessment for your most challenging parenting problem.: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Live assessment: https://mastermindparenting.com/live-assessment/ Join our Free Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/mastermindparenting