Growing Up With Kids :: A Funny Parenting Podcast

This Week's Episode:
One-on-one dates with our younger kids can be a great time to be together and to teach them the mechanics of how to go on a date when they get to that stage of life. This week, Rachael breaks down a recent date she took with one of our kids, including what he learned, what she enjoyed, and how much farting there ended up being...


Since we are talking about teaching our kids to date, the Stat of the Week is about how people use dating apps and which apps are most popular.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

This Week's Episode:
We are talking about toxic positivity again, but this time inside our marriages. We look at how passivity and "equanimity" (if we even use that word correctly) can make your spouse feel crazy.

This conversation covers wives inviting their husbands to communicate their feelings in order to fight the  isolation, loneliness and feelings of confusion wives often feel. We encourage husbands to start from a place of legitimizing wives' feelings even if they aren't packaged right.

On the lighter side, we also introduce horse and froggy and talk about how much baking soda is being used to fight smells in our house right now.


The Stat of the Week is about stay-at-home-dad trends since the 1970s.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

This Week's Episode:
We are back! Again...

After a longer-than-expected layoff, we are back to talk about toxic positivity in our parenting--how we sometimes rush over our kids' feelings in an attempt to make them "feel better." If we are being honest, it is often about us wanting to feel better without really acknowledging our kids' hurt / pain / disappointment / fear and just sitting with them in it.

We also talk about how David remains an idiot in countless ways, and why he needs to trim his eyebrow(s).


The Stat of the Week is about how much less time married parents are spending together...alone.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

This Week's Episode:
After a couple months off we are back to talk about how mom's can focus on being the mom they want to be, not the mom they think they are supposed to be.

Our discussion is inspired by "Yes Day," and the way that moms and dads can often see and think about parenting differently. We might have different eyes, and often mom's feel more pressure (internally and externally) to "do everything in parenting right."

It is important to be grounded in order to feel freedom to enjoy time with our kids. We all feel judged and guilty, no matter how disciplined or loose we are as parents. So, how do moms and dads work together to find more freedom, enjoyment, and connection with their kids?


The Stat of the Week is about the pandemic's impact on young adults living with their parents.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.


This Week's Episode:
We come back to the issue of parenting guilt every few months...I guess because it is front of mind (and heart) for us. Maybe you can relate.

This week we are unpacking why we shouldn't feel so much guilt about how our kids spend their time during the summer. We remind ourselves about a few things:

• The summer doesn't have to be perfect.
• We don't have to curate a world of perfect adventures.
• It is ok--no, it is good--for our kids to be bored.
• It is normal to want space from our kids sometimes. They don't need a 24-hour a day cruise director.
• We should stop emotionally beating ourselves up over all of this.

The Stat of the Week is about the "changes" in how teens spend their time during the summer. 

Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.


This Week's Episode:
Full of practical tips for making the most (and easiest) of summer activities--be it the pool, beach, hiking or whatever. [Bonus: David gets angry about bad, one-dimensional parenting advice on social media.)

The Stat of the Week is also pool-inspired and covers some swimming statistics like how many 18-29 year old Americans own a hot tub or pool and what percentage of people pee in the pool (it's higher than it should be and probably lower than it actually is)!


We mention a lot of different items in this episode. Here are links to a few of our favorites:

• Speedo mesh bags
• Turkish beach towel
• Wet dry bag
• Sunscreens:  Blue Lizard spray and lotion
• Small first aid kit
• Beach cup holder
• Yeti Coozie
• Yeti Hopper cooler
• Large Ziploc containers
• Mom bags
  • Scout beach bag
  • Scout Rocket Pocket bag
  • BOGG bag

This Week's Episode:
Have you ever felt like you just can't be enough...enough at work, enough at home, enough in your marriage, enough with your kids, enough in your friendships???

Of course you have...we all have.

This week we are lamenting a little, encouraging each other a lot, and hopefully providing some home and encouragement for you too!

The Stat of the Week is about the potential pandemic-induced Baby Bust and how many kids mothers are having these days versus the past).


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

This Week's Episode:
We are reminding ourselves how to interact with our kids when they are being surly--no matter what age.

• Be emotionally engaged, but appropriately distanced.
• Don't expect our kids to be adults.
• Use humor (wisely).
• Listen with true curiosity.
• Communicate clearly.
• Catch your kids doing "good" things, and provide descriptive, specific praise.

The Stat of the Week is inspired by our sadness about Bill & Melinda Gates' divorce announcement and is all about divorce statistics.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
Maybe you and your spouse have never fought. But, we have. So, we are dissecting some of our recent ones--how they look, how each of us reacts, what we do to resolve them. And, we take a trip down memory lane to diagnose in which ways we have improved at fighting.

This episode will make you laugh at us, but hopefully it will also encourage you that your fights are normal. Not only that, fighting gives the opportunity for reconciliation and for use to teach our kids about unconditional love.


The Stat of the Week covers the fears of returning to normal that many people have as the pandemic (hopefully) winds down. But, don't fear; our brains will adapt back to post-pandemic life.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
We are talking about the benefits of old technologies (e.g., newspapers, answering machines and record players), as well as the positives of modern technology. This is not an episode just griping about "kids these days," but is a discussion related to how we mix the modern and the slightly less modern to find good balance and set our kids up well to succeed in relationships and life.


The Stat of the Week is an interesting study on why older people complain about how younger generations are lacking today.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
This week we are sharing some of our losses, some sweet moments with our kids, and some thoughts on the challenges of certain ages--specifically age 4. Kids are growing in independence, but still so very needy. They can be stubborn (can't we all). And, they want to do things on their own and that can...Take. So. Much. Time.

The Stat of the Week is about the the ages when children are the most difficult. Is it age 4 or age 4 or age 8? [Spoiler: We think it is age 4.]


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode
It's Spring Break, so we are bringing back one of our most popular episodes. It was recorded pre-pandemic, so keep that in mind as you listen...
________________________________________________________________________

Enjoying your spouse seems like an obvious thing to do, but it isn't always as easy as we'd think or like. This week we cover 6.5 ideas on how to increase your level of "likitude" with your spouse. Here's a quick preview:

      1. Carve out time together.
      2. Being seen & heard.
      3. Be curious and genuinely interested in activities your spouse prefers (that you don't).
      4. Have a "mutual" sense of humor.
      5. Recognize & respect different needs for interaction & introversion.
      6. Get out of your normal context.
      7. Seek out friends who see (and remind you of) the good in your spouse.

The Stat of the Week is about leisure time activities and time spent caring for children from the American Time Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
We are planning on a more active summer and fall--God willing--so we are refreshing our family mission statement to make sure we stay aligned amidst the busyness.

This can be a fun and relatively easy way to provide our family with direction, see and name our kids' strengths, and celebrate both the communal (our family) and the individual (each child). A mission statement helps our kids feel like they are part of something, and it communicates that "this is what it means to be part of this family."

A few things to keep in mind: 

• You don't have to be perfect (like the von Trapps).
• Keep it simple. Don't follow our example; we tend to overcomplicate things like this.
• Make it fun. (We added a campfire and S'mores.)
• Involve the kids.
  • Ask them to name the good and the bad--there are no bad answers.
  • Don't be offended when they do talk about the bad. What an awesome opportunity to hear them and love them.

Plus, a few funny stories about David's awkward interaction with a stick and how dogs mark their territory (unfortunately, in our rugs sometimes).

The Stat of the Week is about the pandemic's Baby Bust.


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
The babysitters here!

After covering a few funny stories about babysitter quirks we experienced over the years, we discuss a few pointers on finding babysitters and setting your kids up for success: prioritizing dates when you have small kids, finding great babysitters through referrals, setting clear expectations, informing the sitter of any individual kids' quirks, and the power and joy of loosening boundaries.

The Stat of the Week covers the average cost of a babysitter (in 2021, 2020 and 2019).


Thank you so much for listening!
We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

Action Item: Put courage into someone you love and who trusts you. Go tell them they are doing a great job as a parent and/or spouse during a very difficult time.


Thank you so much for listening! We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
Nearly half of the people you walk by on any given day during the pandemic is wrestling with anxiety and/or depressive disorder. You may relate. At times, we certainly can. We have been feeling an increase in anxiety over the past few weeks.

There is light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, but there are still many challenges at work, in our homes, with our kids' school that have not yet returned to normal. This is creating increased levels of anxiety and guilt, which we unpack in this week's shorter-than-normal episode.


The Stat of the Week is about the pandemic's impact on anxiety among adolescents and adults. Rachael also rails on a movie we haven't even watched yet.

Thank you so much for listening! We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
"Forgiveness is not being weak—it takes strength and courage to forgive." - How To Teach  Kids Forgiveness Skills

The benefits of practicing and giving forgiveness:

• "The forgiveness group showed improved psychological and behavioral adjustment. The forgiveness group showed improved academic performance. Participants in the forgiveness group reported significant decreases in anger, hostile attribution, aggression, and delinquency at post-test and follow-up; they also reported significant increases in empathy at post-test and follow-up and grades at post-test." - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
• Forgiveness As an Educational Goal With At-Risk Adolescents
• Forgiveness Education for Fourth Grade Students in Turkey

How do we teach forgiveness skills to our kids?

• Model it: We practice forgiving our spouses, our friends, and them.
• Ask for it: Teach how to ask for forgiveness.
• Have patience: Don’t rush your child to forgive.
• Seek justice: Forgiving someone is not the same as saying what happened was ok or didn’t matter or just forgetting abou it.
• Teach empathy: Seeing the other side and understanding another person. Recognizing everyone’s sense of worth and inherent value.
• Give freedom: Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. You can forgive, but also not want to be friends. There are natural consequences to hurting someone.
• Share examples: Call out examples of forgiveness in books and movies.
• Teach self-forgiveness: We need to help them avoid shame and blame and guilt.

The Stat of the Week covers the negative impact of the pandemic on people's sleep.

Thank you so much for listening! We'd love it if you took a moment to subscribe and rate/review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
It has been an unusual (to say the least) year. It can help to take a step back and review with your spouse, partner or a friend where you are at, how your kids are doing, and what each of your kids need from you right now. It's like a performance review but with no judgement, tons of encouragement, and hopefully a little fun. (There might be "rewards"!!)

Why are we doing this? Three reasons to start:

• Slow Down & Remind Ourselves: We are busy. We feel overwhelmed. We can forget what we are really doing here.
• Go Team!: This is an opportunity to be seen by our partner and for us to see them, so we can connect and be on the same page.
• Encourage & Energize Ourselves: We remember the “losses” but not the “wins.” Leads to discouragement and despair. This is a chance to be reminded about what is going well and how we can courageously step into the challenges in front of us (and our kids).

This episode has some ideas on how to structure this time and how to make sure it is productive and life-giving.

The Stat of the Week is about one thing that can help kids deal with stress. You may already have one of these laying around your house (or running around it).

Thank you so much for listening! We'd love it if you took a moment to rate and review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
We lose it a few times over a bucket of chicken and the few French words we know.

Also, we dive into how we are wrestling with the guilt of virtual school, working, keeping homes afloat, all the while living through a pandemic. It can be hard, so don't go it alone out there.

Do not be discouraged. You are up for the challenge. You do not need to feel guilty. You and your partner can walk through this together. And, we are glad to offer a little encouragement, wisdom, and humor for the walk.


The Stat of the Week is about differences in empathy between men and women. Check out the original source material: Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child.

Thank you so much for listening! We'd love it if you took a moment to rate and review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp

This Week's Episode:
Often what our kids are feeling or conflict arising in our marriages are being driven by feelings, thoughts, and identities that we aren't even consciously aware of. This week we delve into how our underlying identities--as a good dad, an impressive cook, a good host, etc.--can rear their heads and cause conflict.

The good news it that this is an opportunity to pursue our spouses, partners, and kids. We can take a step back and separate ourselves from the moment to get some perspective. We can ask good, genuine questions. We can know our loved ones and help them achieve greater self-knowledge as well.

Join us on this exciting path towards intimacy, love, and mutual acceptance.


The Stat of the Week is a survey of college students and their parents related to when one becomes an adult, and what are the attributes that "prove" one is actually an adult.

None of us would say we are shooting for perfection. However, the way we feel and act sometimes indicates we do actually expect ourselves to be perfect. We all feel pangs of guilt and shame, second guess ourselves, and beat our selves up for failures (small and large).

• Offer yourself grace--it is best for you, your spouse / partner, and for your children. When we mess up, we can offer ourselves forgiveness. And, if appropriate, we can ask our kids for forgiveness.
• We need to fight the urge to compare ourselves to other parents. (See episode #053 for a deeper dive on this topic.)
• Avoid people pleasing.
• Presence, not perfection.
• Intentionality, not perfection. Do the work on the front-end so we have the humility and wisdom on the back-end.
• Surround yourself with the right voices. Not people who shame us, but those who encourage us and make us better. 

The Stat of the Week is from an academic analysis of the economy of Harry Potter's world. We talk about currency (i.e., gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts), new business creation (or lack thereof), and government regulation.


Other topics covered include moist vs. damp cake, migraine medicine commercials, and parenting resources.


Thank you so much for listening! We'd love it if you took a moment to rate and review the podcast in whichever app you choose to listen. And, as always if you have a friend who may be encouraged by this conversation, don't hesitate to share the podcast with them.

Also, you can follow us on:

• Instagram: growingupwithkidspodcast
• Facebook: @growingupwithkidspodcast
• Twitter: @DavidGrowUp and @RachaelGrowUp