Episodes
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Anna Macfarlane, a mom of four kids and an online marketing and branding expert, joins me to break down how to build a fanbase on Instagram and TikTok: family style. Anna manages the @kidsaretheworst parenting humor account on Instagram, which has more than 500,000 followers. She also manages several other successful accounts and teaches social media marketing courses for families, businesses and bloggers.
In our conversation, we talk about how to get started on Instagram and TikTok and how to grow a healthy fanbase. We also discuss the benefits of being on social media and why TikTok is growing faster than most people realize. (It’s not just for teenagers.) Other topics we cover include how to manage your time on social media, talk to your kids about social media and post responsibly.
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Mike Julianelle, a dad of two who writes online as Dad and Buried, joins me this week to break down the cost of parenthood. In our conversation, we cover expenses every parent faces such as child care, transportation, vacation, food, medical expenses, diapers and more. We also cover the emotional cost of parenthood, such as stress and the loss of sanity.
Learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast at www.ParentNormal.com.
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Sara Buckley, a comedian, podcaster, social media pro and most importantly, a mom of 3, is this week’s guest. In our conversation, Sara opens up about her experience as a teenage mother and how it changed her life in high school and beyond.
Sara explains how she felt when she learned she was pregnant and how friends and family responded to the news. Sara also shares her strong opinion about MTV’s Teen Mom “reality” show and how we don’t support teen moms enough. We also talk about when Sara gave the birds and the bees talk to her kids, how her marriage has remained strong after 15 years and how she started doing standup comedy.
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Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series, is this week’s guest. It’s an interview from the archive that took place a couple of years ago while Jeff was on the set of the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, which many of you have probably read or watched with your kids by now. We’ll be back with new interviews next week.
Learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast on www.parentnormal.com.
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My guest this week is one of my favorite all-time comedians Nick Thune. Now this isn’t a typical Breaking Down Parenting interview because this interview dates back to 2015 when this podcast was called The ParentNormal Comedy Podcast.
I wanted to share it again not just because I’m a fan of Nick Thune and he tells a couple of funny stories, but because it was the very first podcast interview I ever did, which makes it perhaps the most memorable podcast interview I’ve ever done. And if you’re a fan of this show, I thought you’d enjoy hearing how this show all started.
You can hear I’m a little bit nervous in the interview. That’s partly because it’s the first podcast interview I’ve done. But it’s mainly because we’re talking 15 minutes before Nick’s about to go on stage and I wasn’t sure how cool he was going to be about answering my questions and opening up about his family. But as it turned out, he was very cool about it and I’ll always be grateful for it.
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This week’s guest is James Breakwell, a father of four daughters and a comedy writer known to many as @XplodingUnicorn. In our conversation, we break down the parts of parenthood that send us into parent survival mode, how to survive with the stress and crazy parenting moments that James has had to survive however he can. We also talk about James’ new book How to Save Your Child from Ostrich Attacks, Accidental Time Travel, and Anything Else that Might Happen on an Average Tuesday.
This is James’ third appearance on the podcast, dating back to the early version of the show when it was called the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast. We reminiscence on how James’ popularity has grown and how his writing life has changed.
Find more at www.parentnormal.com.
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This episode is a must-listen for parents of twins. My guest is Macgill Frutchey, a mom of three, including twins. She’s also the funny mom behind the social media account Macgyvering My Way Through Motherhood. In our conversation, we talk about how Macgill literally had dreams of having twins come true and the excitement that brought her family. We also cover recognizing different baby cries, how to tell baby twins apart, best baby shower gifts for moms of twins, synchronized milestones of twins, being parent-trapped, how to carry two babies, getting creative like Macgyver and much more.
Find every episode of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast and more at www.parentnormal.com.
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This week’s guest is Jenna Kim Jones, a mom of two, comedian and co-host of the podcast Couple Friends. In our conversation, we break down parent friendships. Specifically, we talk about how to find friends when you're a parent, what to expect from parent friends, why parent friendships are important, what to do with parent friends and much more.
Find every episode of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast on www.ParentNormal.com.
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This week’s guest is Jennifer Douglas, a mom of two and the creative mind behind Goldfish and Chicken Nuggets (the website and social media accounts, not the foods). After reading Jen’s blog post on The Hot Mess Mom’s Guide to Throwing Your Kid A Solid Birthday Party, I knew she would be a great guest to help break down pro tips for birthday party planning.
In our conversation, we talk about when kids should start having birthday parties with friends, how long the parties should last, good locations for a party, what to eat, party gift ideas for guests and much more. I also ask Jen about her time as team captain for UCLA swimming and representing Canada on the National swim team. Isn’t that so cool?
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This week, Tara Clark, the mom behind the popular social media account Modern Mom Problems, joins me to break down modern parent problems. In our conversation, we talk about how parenting today is both harder and easier than it was for previous generations of parents. We discuss technology, safety, television, helicopter parents, evolving roles for moms and dads and much more.
To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.parentnormal.com.
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This week, Andy Herald, a father of three from How to Be a Dad, joins me to break down bath time. In our conversation, we talk about how kids hate to get in the bathtub as much as they hate to get out of a bathtub. We also talk about the floods kids make while in the bath, bath toys, how often most parents bathe kids and much more. You can even hear how Andy compares bathing a baby to mountain climbing.
To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.parentnormal.com.
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This week, Stephanie Jankowski, a teacher and mom of three, joins me to break down what teachers really think of their students. In our conversation, we talk about what parents might not realize about the job of a teacher, how teaching goes beyond what’s in a textbook, memorable stories from the classroom, parent/teacher conferences and much more.
Stephanie’s new book Schooled: A Love Letter to the Exhausting, Infuriating, Occasionally Excruciating Yet Somehow Completely Wonderful Profession of Teaching is now available.
To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.ParentNormal.com.
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This week’s guest is Amanda Pacovsky, a mom of one, which is perfect because we break down one and done parenting in this episode. Specifically, we discuss the pros and cons of one and done parenting, how to know if being one and done is right for you, how to avoid spoiling an only child and much more.
To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.ParentNormal.com.
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This week’s guest is Rachel Sobel, a mom of two and the writer of Whine and Cheez(its). She joins me to break down clingy kids. In our conversation, we talk about when kids are the clingiest, how to be patient with clingy kids and where parents can go (or not go) to escape clingy kids.
To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.ParentNormal.com.
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This week, my guest is Serena Dorman, a mom of two and the hilarious voice behind the Mommy Cusses social media accounts. She joins me to break down the WTF moments of parenthood.
In our conversation, we talk about memorable WTF moments, reactions to WTF moments and when the most WTF moments occur for parents. Serena also shares her advice for parents who may face a WTF moment today.
Serena also shares the stories behind some of her most popular memes, which have helped her build an audience of hundreds of thousands of parents online.
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This week, Lisa Munn, a mom of four boys known to hundreds of thousands of followers on social media as Sarcastic Mommy, joins me to talk about the art of raising teenage boys.
In our conversation, we discuss how to talk to teen boys about relationships, acceptable social media use for teens, teen driving, disciplining teen boys, searching for colleges and much more. Lisa also shares how she got her start on social media and built a huge following of parents online.
To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.ParentNormal.com.
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This week Simon Holland, who I consider the funniest dad on social media, joins me to break down dad stereotypes versus reality. In our conversation, we talk about rival dads, how the role of a dad has progressed since the 1950’s and what happens when dads try to be cool.
We also break down some of Simon’s (@simoncholland) most popular tweets, such as:
I accidentally said skrt when I meant to say yeet in front of my daughter’s friends and they went sicko mode making fun of me. I’m afraid I’m out of the squad. Accidentally played dad instead of dead when I encountered a bear and now it can ride a bike without training wheels.To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit ParentNormal.com
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This week we’re talking about (cough, cough) sick kids. Just when you think kids can’t be worse to clean up after, they start sneezing in your face and throwing up in you lap. Yet, somehow their sicknesses make us want to hold them closer.
Joining me to break down the topic of sick kids is Gila Pfeffer, a mom of four teenagers who has dealt with all kinds of sicknesses. In our conversation, we talk about daycare germs, kids vomiting in public, how sicknesses change as kids get older, how parents have no fear of getting sick and much more. Gila also talks about moving her family from the United States to London and about some of the differences in health care.
This is also a special episode for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Gila is a breast cancer pre-vivor and survivor. Gila talks about her unique story and how it impacted her family. She also shares the advice she gives to other families impacted by breast cancer.
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This week, I’m joined by Adrian Kulp, to break down first year milestones. In our conversation, we talk about underrated baby milestones, favorite milestones, milestones for parents and how our perceptions of milestones change when we have more kids.
Adrian is a father of four and author of the new book We're Parents: The New Dad Book for Baby's First Year: Everything You Need to Know to Survive and Thrive Together. We're Parents is the follow up to Adrian's first book, We're Pregnant: The First Time Dad's Pregnancy Handbook. The book offers quick and actionable advice month-to-month for the first year as well as charts to help you track your baby's development and important milestones.
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