Comparing Without Despairing
Competitive parenting is a trap—and one it can be hard to avoid. But if "mompetition" isn't the answer, and comparing is despairing, are there ways we can compare our parenting and our kids' progress that are actually useful?
What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms · Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (pdst.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
It's easy to compare our parenting—often as measured by our kids' achievements—with their peers' achievements. As in, how other parents might be doing it better.
This week, we're talking parenting tips for resisting “mompetition”— and how we can use comparison to create healthy perspectives instead of "compare and despair."
Amy and Margaret discuss:
- Why competition is a biological imperative
- The effects of social media and other societal forces on parenting
- How to know if we're putting too much pressure on our kids
Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:
- Matthew Hutson for The Atlantic: "Why We Compete"
- Aruna Raghuram for ParentCircle: "Are you a competitive mom? Here are the many ways in which mompetition can harm your child"
- Urban Dictionary definition of "mompetition"
- Eileen Kennedy-Moore for Psychology Today: "How to Resist Competitive Parenting"
What Fresh Hell Podcast is going on tour across the Northeast US this fall! Join us for a live version of the podcast and bring all your mom friends. We can’t wait to go back on the road! https://bit.ly/whatfreshhelltour
We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:
https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, mompetition, parenting competition
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices