Parents We've Met

How do you get your kids to do things around the house without nagging or bribing - and does pocket money help or hinder your efforts? Parent coach Kristin Ward joins Jenny and Dayna to talk through the whys and hows of chores and pocket money. Kristin shares research that suggests there’s a correlation between involving kids in housework and kids completing their education, getting on a career path, forming better relationships with family and friends – and staying away from drugs. How compelling is that?! In this episode, they also cover: The perfect age to get them started – and how that might look What to do when the kids push back, especially as they get older? How to navigate pocket money and allowances – and whether they should be linked to chores or not. How to manage our own expectations around chores (and not expect perfection!) Teaching teens to manage money through allowances How to teach kids about sharing Got a parenting challenge you need help with? Book a 1:1 coaching session online or in-person at parentingplace.nz/coaching Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠. Find us on:⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠⁠/⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parent Coach Kristin Ward is back on the couch this week chatting about building independence in kids - without pushing them too far, too soon. Kristin shares research that suggests there’s less ‘roaming’ in kids these days compared to previous decades, meaning the distance that parents allow their kids to move around, especially from their home, has reduced - while other skills that boost independence like cooking and speaking up for oneself have taken a backseat. She shares why childhood is the best time for low-stakes consequences and learning through experience, offering advice on how a simple scaffold – watch > do together > do independently – can help boost independence and confidence in a healthy way. She also talks about leaving space for ‘welcome dependence’ when family moments call for it. Got a parenting challenge you need help with? Book a 1:1 coaching session online or in-person at parentingplace.nz/coaching Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠. Find us on:⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠⁠/⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listener note: In this episode we briefly reference eating disorders. We approach this topic gently, but if this is a topic that is sensitive for you, please take care while listening. Jenny and Dayna are joined this week by one of New Zealand's leading child nutrition experts, Rachael Wilson, for a jam-packed chat on raising kids with healthy, positive relationships with food and their bodies. Rachael is a mum-to-two, a UK-trained registered dietician specialising in family feeding, feeding disorders, disordered eating and body image - and co-founder of Aotearoa-based parenting and nutrition initiative, The Food Tree. In this episode, Rachael generously shares her knowledge on a wide range of topics, from school lunches, navigating ‘beige food’ phases and selective eating, reducing mealtime battles and role modelling well, to supporting autonomy around food and encouraging positive body talk. She also explains ARFID and shares some red flags' parents can look out for; she looks at mindful anxiety regulation around food; and warning signs that might indicate disordered eating in a teen. Rachael also answers some popular listener questions, including: Do my kids have to finish dinner before dessert? What do I do if their school lunch box comes home half eaten? How do I get my child to eat more ‘colourful’ foods? Is hiding veges in food a good idea? Should I insist that my child finishes their plate? How do I manage the mountains of chocolate and treats on days like Easter and Halloween? If my child is obsessed with a certain food, is it true that I should serve it more often? What do I do if they won’t eat their dinner, but are complaining about being hungry? Should I compliment my child on their appearance? For more information on Rachael’s work, visit www.thefoodtree.co. Check out some of the articles referenced in this episode: https://www.thefoodtree.co/post/let-s-take-the-pressure-out-of-our-children-s-lunchboxes https://www.thefoodtree.co/post/ellyn-satter-and-the-division-of-responsibility-how-can-it-help-your-child-s-eating For support and resources around eating disorders, check out: https://www.ed.org.nz/ For free support for mental distress, please check out the below resources: Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor. Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email [email protected] or online chat. Just a thought Email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When their feelings are in the drivers’ seat, family life can feel tough! Parent Coach Sheridan Eketone joins us on the couch this week to unpack high sensitivity in kids and offer some hot tips and encouragement for parents on that journey. Together with Jenny and Dayna, she explores what’s going on for sensitive kids and why a simple reframe can turn sensitivity into a gift - a trait to work with, not against. She offers simple strategies for building buffer time and downtime into weekly rhythms, pre-empting and preparing for overwhelming situations, using simple emotional check-ins – and helping to raise them into resilient adults. Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠. Find us on:⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠⁠/⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're joined by Helen Manson – a mum-of-four, humanitarian photographer and storyteller, whose work has taken her into some of the most vulnerable communities in the world. Together with her husband Tim, Helen has created a beautiful ‘stretchy' family made up of adopted, biological and fostered kids and a picture of life that’s curious, outward-focused and ‘bigger than their own backyard’. Moving back to New Zealand from Uganda in 2020, they have navigated through the challenges that come with transitioning into a new way of life, while staying connected to the old one. Generous with her knowledge, Helen talks to Jenny and Dayna about raising kids with grit who are aware of the wider world (while also protected from the weight of it), and who have the building blocks to develop deep empathy and compassion for others. She shares openly about the challenges of foster care, and the need for intentional rhythms and dreams to anchor the logistics of a very busy family life. You can see more of Helen’s humanitarian photography and storytelling work here https://www.helenmanson.com/ and more about the International Justice Mission here https://www.ijm.org/. Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠HERE⁠. Find us on:⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠/⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parent Coach Kristin Ward is back on the Coaches’ Couch with Jenny and Dayna this week to chat about the vast benefits of emotion coaching - teaching kids to understand and manage their emotions (both the tiny and the mighty ones!) well. Together, they explore why allowing and validating big emotions matters, how your choice of words can dismiss or override emotions (usually unintentionally!), and practical ways to teach ‘healthy’ expressions of everyday feelings. Plus, Kristin shares some hot tips for managing meltdowns, modelling emotional coping, naming feelings, and supporting children in dealing well with challenging feelings like disappointment, frustration, and anger. Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠. Find us on:⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠⁠/⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Mackay is the founder of Sideline Advisor, a counselling and mentoring service for young athletes. In this episode he chats with Dayna and Jenny about how parents can help kids to thrive in, and enjoy sports, navigate performance-related anxiety and achieve long-term success in their chosen sports. Dave shares why effort matters more than outcomes, why he doesn’t believe in ‘player of the day’ - and why parents should ‘let the coach be the coach’. He also tackles some of your burning questions like: What happens when kids are pushed too hard in sports? How can you create memories around sports that go beyond the loss or win? What should you do – and not do – on the sideline? What are the traits of young people who succeed in sports in the long term? What are some myths about high performance sport? Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠HERE⁠. Find us on:⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠/⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back for 2026 and leaning straight into the good stuff! Dayna and Jenny are joined by Parent Coach Sheridan Eketone for a timely chat on the (often) tricky transition from summer holidays to the start of the school year. We tackle back-to-school anxiety, big feelings, friendships, after-school meltdowns and the bevy of emotions around school and pre-school. Sheridan shares handy tips for parents on making school transitions easier, including rehearsals, ‘bridges to separation’ and ‘leaving and receiving’ rituals, along with ideas for some simple things you can do daily to support confidence and independence. For our TEENS, we talk re-establishing healthy school-week routines, especially when it comes to sleep and phones, and structuring daily and weekly schedules to reduce worry and anxiety. Check out some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Untangling Anxiety: Supporting kids through worry and fear – an online self-guided course for parents and caregivers: https://hub.parentingplace.nz/courses/untangling-anxiety The Red Plate: https://parentingplace.nz/shop/red-plate-ceramic The power of rehearsals: https://parentingplace.nz/resources/lets-rehearse-how-to-make-a-hard-thing-easier Time to spare and why it matters in parenting: https://parentingplace.nz/resources/time-to-spare-and-why-it-matters-in-parenting Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas HERE. Find us on:⁠ YouTube⁠ / ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Tik Tok ⁠/⁠LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dayna and Jenny are joined this week by a very special guest, Vasa Fia Collins. Fia is the wife of the late Fa'anānā Efeso Collins - a deeply respected Samoan community leader, Auckland politician, educator and advocate - whose sudden passing in February 2024 had a profound impact on his family and the communities he served. Fia shares what it’s been like to walk through deep loss and grief, supporting her two daughters while also finding her own footing. She reflects on the individual ways her girls have navigated grief, the challenge of rebuilding routines and confidence after profound change, and how Samoan culture, faith and community have anchored their whānau through it all. She honours the dedicated father that Efeso was to their daughters – his humour, playfulness, strengths and hope for their futures – and shares how she hopes to carry forward the dreams that they had so intentionally built together. Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas HERE. Find us on:⁠ YouTube⁠ / ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Tik Tok ⁠/⁠LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is a new phone or gaming console topping your kid’s Christmas wish list? Or is tech already a part of daily life? Either way, this chat’s for you. Jenny and Dayna are joined by Parent Coach Sheridan Eketone for a deep dive into navigating screens and the digital world without meltdowns, battles or bribery. In this episode, we cover everything from setting kids up for safety before they hop online, to modelling the digital habits we want them to adopt - and resetting boundaries if things have gone too far. With Sheridan’s help, we also offer simple tools like drawing up a family tech agreement or first phone agreement together – and getting through the long summer break (school holidays!) without leaning on the screens. Looking for support when it comes to screen time, online safety and first devices? Check out: Digital Parenting: Raising kids in an online world. Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Find us on:⁠ YouTube⁠ / ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Tik Tok ⁠/⁠LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re feeling defeated by sleep, or lack thereof, this episode is for you. Sleep psychologist Dan Ford, founder of The Better Sleep Clinic, joins Dayna for a straight-up chat on sleep, stress, melatonin and magnesium, and how genetics might have a role to play in your bedtime struggles. From snoring to nightmares, insomnia to 3am wakeups, Dan unpacks some common sleep challenges and sheds light on how our kids' sleep habits might be affecting their brain development and wellbeing. Together they also explore some of your burning sleep questions, including: Why do kids get hyperactive when they’re tired? (and fool you into thinking they’re not tired) How do screens affect sleep and bedtimes? How do hormones and perimenopause affect women's sleep? Why does trying harder to sleep sometimes make insomnia worse? Kids snoring - when is it harmless and when should you get it checked? The ABCs of children’s sleep: age, bedtime, consistency. Dan also shares plenty of practical, realistic advice for parents, from creating healthy routines, to understanding why wake times matter more than bedtimes. He talks about how to support teens whose body clocks naturally run late and offers gentle strategies for those moments when a child simply can’t fall asleep without you. Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas HERE. Find us on:⁠ YouTube⁠ / ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Tik Tok ⁠/⁠LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a reassuring reminder that anger isn’t a parenting failure - it’s a message! In this coaches’ couch episode, Jenny and Dayna sit down with Parent Coach Kristin Ward to unpack what might be going on beneath those fiery ‘red-brain’ moments that sometimes sneak up on us parents. We talk about why anger shows up, why some of us meet it with shame or self-condemnation, and how understanding its purpose can completely change the way we respond. Using the ‘anger iceberg’ metaphor as our guide, we look beneath the surface at the unmet needs that often drive big reactions. We also share practical strategies for navigating moments of anger and rage, including: Preventing the blow-up by acting early, using firm boundaries before your tank hits empty The power of a ‘pause’ when emotions are high. Using, ‘We’ll talk about this later’ as a circuit breaker rather than a shutdown. Rupture and repair and strengthening connection after tricky moments. Keen for more episodes that touch on the topic of anger in parenting? 🎧 Kanoa Lloyd: Stretch and grow (your kids and yourself!) https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/kanoa-lloyd-stretch-and-grow-your-kids-and-yourself/id1710061323?i=1000674632767 Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas HERE. Find us on:⁠ YouTube⁠ / ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Tik Tok ⁠/⁠LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neuroscience educator ⁠Kathryn Berkett⁠ joins Jenny and Dayna for a deep dive into our kids’ brain development, with tips on how we can support them through every leap, wobble and wild moment that these changes bring. In the first three years of life, babies’ brains form an astonishing thousand trillion connections - and then, just when we’ve caught our breath, the second massive brain upgrade arrives in early adolescence. In this episode, Kathryn shares more on: The physical impact of screens on developing brains How to nurture a teen brain as it learns to take perspective and make sense of a changing world How gratitude, free play, and movement literally shape neural pathways Why kids need tolerable stress (and moments of fear!) to build resilience The influence of gaming on dopamine and desensitisation. Kathryn Berkett’s new book: ‘What’s going on in there? The Neuroscience of the Adolescent Brain’ is available to purchase from 27 November, 2025. Want to learn more about navigating devices and screens with kids? Check out 'Digital Parenting: Raising kids in an online world' - a course by Parenting Place. Find us on:⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠/⁠⁠LinkedIn ⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our first-ever coaches’ couch episode, Jenny and Dayna pick the brains of parenting expert Sheridan Eketone to find out how we can maintain a united front in parenting – even when we disagree with our partner. From balancing differences in parenting styles and upbringings, managing fallout and disagreements, to finding common ground and consistency between households in co-parenting situations, Sheridan offers hot tips and takes on how to make communication and collaboration a little smoother. Keen for more episodes on relationships? Check out: 🎧 Jo Robertson: Sex and relationships in tricky seasons 🎧 Navigating tricky stuff at Christmas with Sheridan Eketone Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas HERE. Find us on: YouTube / Instagram / Facebook / Tik Tok /LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jenny and Dayna are joined by the inimitable Jack Tame, a dad, stepdad, journo and familiar voice of New Zealand media, for an honest kōrero about the ups, downs, joys and ‘marrow-deep’ exhaustion that make up modern dad-hood. Jack shares about the wave of love that struck the moment his newborn entered the world - the kind that gets you in the guts as well as the heart. He shares the challenges of the work/whānau juggle, the secret power to be found in the dependability of routines, and how becoming a parent has changed the way he sees himself and the world around him. Jack also offers his reflections on the daunting task of raising kids in a digital age, and what it looks like to stay as grounded and intentional as possible. Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas HERE. Follow us on: YouTube / Instagram / Facebook / Tik Tok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kicking off on Tuesday 4th November, Season 3 of Parents We've Met brings new goodness to your listening ears. This season, we’re shaking things up a little! We have new episode formats 'From the coaches' couch' where our Parent Coaches unpack your real-world parenting challenges and offer hot tips and tools to try at home. Alongside seasoned experts, Jenny and Dayna will take a dive deep into some meaty parenting topics like sleep, adolescent brain development, emotional wellbeing and more. And of course, there'll be plenty more raw, entertaining and honest chats with well-known New Zealanders - opening up about their experiences as parents, often for the first time. Join us as we explore the mess and magic of parenthood! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices