Pop Culture Parenting

One of the greatest movies and one of the most important topics pair perfectly for this episode. We discuss the science of attachment, it's influence on development and mental health through childhood and adult life and how we can improve it for our kids and ourselves. We can't wait to hear your feedback, stories, questions and advice!

For this reflection episode we share stories, questions and advice from the amazing PCP community about cultivating courage in our kids. Nick and Billy discuss how the textbook theory can be applied to real life situations and end on a beautiful insight into how one therapist guides a child through these challenges in their clinic. Our longest episode yet but we hope you still enjoy it!

The real world can be a pretty scary place and we all want our kids to learn how to face these fears. In this episode Nick and Billy talk about how we can help kids develop true courage for whatever comes. Spoiler alert, the answer isn't send them out into the jungle alone! We hope you enjoy and please send in you questions, experiences growing up regarding courage and any tips you've learnt to share with the PCP community.

There were so many amazing questions following our changing behaviour episode that we recorded a second reflection episode! This time we dive into scenarios of play fighting, real fighting, perspective taking, motivation, negotiations and biting! We also share some lovely feedback and advice from our greatest asset, the PCP community. Thank you everyone and we hope you enjoy it.

We had so many phenomenal questions, feedback and advice following the latest episode that we've decided to break up the reflection into two parts. We hope you enjoy this chat about how we can use the science of how kids learn to guide them through behavioural challenges.

Behavioural difficulties are one of the most challenges aspects of supporting kids of all ages. Understanding what influences behaviour gives us insight into how we can best guide our kids when they are struggling. Just like Sidney does for Billy in White Men Can't Jump, the trick is setting them up to learn whatever skill they are struggling with, from the dribble to the dunk.

In this reflection episode we explore the challenges of breaking cycles and building wellbeing in ourselves and the kids we support. Some great examples of how to apply these principles in real life from listeners too. Thanks to everyone who contributed and we hope you enjoy the discussion.

In this episode Nick and Billy talk about how we can all get caught up in the daily grind and feel like we are stuck in a negative cycle, just like Groundhog Day! There is hope however in the evidence of positive psychology which can guide how we build our own wellbeing and that of the children in our lives. We hope you enjoy listening to the episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. Please send in your questions and suggestions about how we can all improve in terms of looking after our own wellbeing and the kids we support.

So many amazing questions this week! In rapid fire we cover starting age, changing school, homework, help seeking and building partnerships with educators. Our long questions dive into choosing the right school, kids who are struggling with peers, separation anxiety, parental guilt and so much more! Thank you to everyone who sent in questions and we hope you enjoy the episode!

In our first episode back for the year we discuss how we can support the children in our lives to succeed at school, especially in their social and emotional development. From their first days in childcare to those big school transitions there is so much we can do to set them up or help them get back on track if things have become tough. We hope you enjoy and can't wait to hear your questions!

For the first half of our Christmas special we read out our favourite Griswolds and Winslows from listeners, thank you to everyone who sent them in! Then we chat about Die Hard and the benefit of investing in the relationships that matter to us over this holiday break. Thank you to all the fans for a wonderful year!

In this reflection episode we answer listener questions about how to practically apply mental health first aid as family members and professionals supporting children. Thank you to all the generous listeners who sent in their honest and difficult situations, helping us discuss challenges such as avoidance, aggression, self-harm, suicidal thinking and our own mental health first aid.

This week Nick and Billy chat about the amazing movie Thelma & Louise, how it relates to mental illness and then dive into a practical approach to supporting kids who are struggling. We can't wait to hear what you think and read the questions you send in!

Our developmental trauma reflection episode is our longest yet and for good reason. We had so many amazing questions sent in and we hope we did them justice. Thank you to our phenomenal, honest and vulnerable community.

A tough but really important topic for us all this week. We discuss what developmental trauma is, how it impacts our kids, what we can do to protect against it and how to help children and families who have experienced it.

In our social skills episode we cover some of the amazing questions that came in about this important part of development. We dive into hitting, saying sorry, empathy, boys vs girls, the impact of childcare, conflict, shyness, neurodiversity, the role of schools, sticking up for yourself and many more. We hope you enjoy!

Grease & social skills explores how we can best support kids to succeed in their relationships from babies to teenagers and everything in between. We also also get to hear about how much Nick loves this movie!!!

So many great questions this week! We cover lots of different aspects of supporting kids who are different including how we build their strengths, create inclusive relationships and environments, use inclusive language, protect self-esteem and validate their experiences. Thank you to all who sent in their amazing insights and challenges to help us all learn together.

A single question from an amazing parent guides us this week in an emotional discussion about Forrest Gump & kids who are different. Thank you to our amazing community for you vulnerability and willingness to learn together how we can best support all children in our community.

Our siblings reflection episode takes a deeper dive into aspects of supporting siblings including jealousy, conflict, equity, neurodiversity and our own childhood sibling relationships. We end on a question from a phenomenal parent striving to build bonded relationships for the children in her care. Thank you everyone for sharing and we hope you find this episode helpful.

Legends of the Fall & siblings hopes to help guide all of us (Nick and Billy too) through the challenges of raising multiple children. We hope it helps and can’t wait to get all of your feedback and amazing questions.

Wonderful questions this week going deeper into the practical application of co-regulation for different scenarios, developmental abilities and strengths. We also chat about neurodiversity, our role as parents and a phenomenal use of the movie theme in one of the long questions!! We hope you enjoy.

We are back folks! Jurassic Park & co-regulation will hopefully help guide us all in how we support our kids, including Billy!

Huge reflection episode this week with so many fantastic questions from listeners! We chat about supporting all kids in risk taking from an early age up to late teens. We cover kids who love risky situations, those who are hesitant and those who don't even seem to realize! Thank you to everyone who helped guide us for this important discussion.

One of our most requested topics is finally here! This week we chat about the adventures of Indiana Jones and risk taking. We hope you find it helpful and we are excited to get your questions which are always full of treasure!!

This week we have 20 rapid fire questions, advice from an amazing professional, our first audio question and as always a bunch of honest, vulnerable and insightful longer questions to guide us home. We hope you enjoy and thank you to the PCP community for being amazing!

We can get pretty caught up in the tough bits some times so this week Nick and Billy chat about their experience in becoming parents. For any new parents, seasoned veterans or even those supporting others in their parenting we hope you enjoy!!!

Phenomenal questions this week about stigma, siblings, social skills, masking, schools, labels and so much more. We hope it helps to guide us all towards more inclusive and stronger communities.

Neurodiversity strengthens our community. Like the world of Blade Runner, we can learn so much from those different to us. We hope you enjoy this episode.

In Nick’s own words a very balanced episode this week. We share our own experience, honest and insightful questions from listeners and strategies to improve upon co-parenting challenges. Hope you enjoy.

Co-parenting can be challenging for those of us raising kids together, following a separation or even on our own. This week we chat about why it matters and some helpful tips beyond dressing up the as nanny and putting on a British accent.....`

This week we dive deeper into what’s behind peer pressure, how we can set our kids up to succeed through this window and help them if the are finding it a bit tough. We also chat about neurodiversity, building values and confidence and a great story from Nick about his playground experience. Thank you to our amazing listeners for their generous and honest questions.

This podcast is about finding the sweet spot between the textbooks and real life when it comes to parenting. Dr Billy (a developmental paediatrician) and Nick (a developing parent) are a couple of dads having honest discussions about parenting day to day. We'll be using iconic TV and cinema scenes from the 80's & 90's to give context to Billy's parenting advice.

Peer pressure can be a really tough experience for kids and those who support them. Thankfully we can provide guidance and a safe harbour through these tricky times, just like Dominic Toretto does for his team.

The subject of Tantrums has driven the largest amount of questions on a topic so far. Dr Billy and Nick tackled listeners questions in 38 degree heat! It's a miracle Nick made it through while Billy remained cool, calm and considered. Enjoy!

When a kid has a tantrum, particularly in public, it has got to be up there as one of the most challenging parenting moments. Dr Billy uses a classic scene from Rambo (maybe the biggest tantrum ever?) on how to support kids and help calm the situation without going to war with them

In our final episode of 2022 we celebrate our listeners Winslows (wins) and Griswolds (lowpoints) before we unpack the the best tips to relieving the pressure during the holiday season on parents. Thanks to everyone that sent messages and shared their reflections on the podcast this year and particularly this episode!

Episode 50!?!? Where did the time go? Amazing questions this week about supporting healthy self-esteem. We discuss signs a child is going ok, how to find the right balance in challenging our kids, how to approach neurodiversity, bullying and too much praise. Hope you enjoy.

Self-esteem is one of the most important and most difficult aspects of child development and mental health. In our final heavy topic for the year Nick & Billy explore how we support positive self-esteem in our kids and ourselves. It’s gets pretty emotional but well worth a listen for anyone supporting kids or finding it tough themselves.

In the wise word of Dutch “stick around” for this one. We answer questions about the how, why, when and where of pretend play these week. We loved making and we hope it helps guide you into pretend play with the kids you care for.

Pretend play is lots of fun but it’s also a really important part of childhood. Play allows us to fine tune our development and learn skills that will ensure we succeed in life and against the predator!! We hope you enjoy this episode as we certainly did.

We’ve taken your questions about kids who grow up too fast and distilled them into what Nick calls “The Big 4”. We talk about preventing kids growing up too fast, do kids need tough times, how to help kids that have grown up too fast and what steps to take if you feel like you may have missed steps yourself.

Growing up too fast can have a negative impact on many aspects of child development and mental health. Trauma, unrealistic expectations and a lack of opportunity with guidance are some of the risk factors for the kids we support, and for William Wallace. Many of us have also had to grow up too fast and we hope this episode helps to understand and approach this tough topic.

Amazing questions this week! We spoke about supporting language development in younger and older kids, dummies, swearing, academic concerns and selective mutism. We’re gonna try to get to the other questions on Instagram too as we ran out of time!! Thanks for sending them in and hope you enjoy!

Language development is so much more than learning how to talk. In fact that isn’t even the first step!!! This week Nick and Billy discuss the timeless classic Dirty Dancing & our role as instructors in teaching our children about language.

This week we reflect on last weeks chat about depression and answer your amazing questions. We talk about our role as parents, prevention, the details of therapy and medication and kids who won’t engage. Thanks for sharing your journey!!

Depression is more than feeling sad or low. It is a destructive mental illness that causes so much heartache and suffering in our communities. It is essential that we all understand depression to make sure we see and support those who are fighting against it. This week Nick and Billy chat about what is behind depression, how it presents in our kids and what we can do about it. We also learn about depression from the wonderful characters of the 80s fantasy classic - The Neverending Story!!

In our follow up screen time we spoke about what kids watch on screens, different types of screen use, talking to kids about screens, strategies for screens and how to get grandparents in the same page. We especially loved people sharing their honest experiences with screens and a special shout out to those with broken TVs and remotes 😂

Screen time causes so much stress and guilt for families and feels like a new phenomenon. This week Nick shines (as always) with his honest and practical experience with screens, while Dr Billy delivers practical strategies and evidence back learning

So many great questions from listeners about bullying this week. We talk about figuring out if it’s bullying or just fun between mates, at what age should we start talking about bullying, safe and healthy responses, sticking up for other kids, what to do if our kid is the bully and what schools can do. All of this plus a bonus question from Nick!