Home Podcasts Your Parenting Mojo - Respectful, research-based parenting ideas to help kids thrive
Your Parenting Mojo - Respectful, research-based parenting ideas to help kids thrive

Your Parenting Mojo - Respectful, research-based parenting ideas to help kids thrive

Jen Lumanlan 315 Episodes Oct 4, 2026

Your Parenting Mojo is a podcast that explores academic research on parenting and child development. Host Jen Lumanlan interviews researchers and analyzes peer-reviewed studies to provide practical, evidence-based strategies for parents. The show covers topics like reducing conflict, building connection, and understanding child development. Jen is also the author of the book 'Parenting Beyond Power'.

Episodes

RE-RELEASE: What’s Really Behind Your Hardest Parenting Days
RE-RELEASE: What’s Really Behind Your Hardest Parenting Days Oct 4, 2026 42:18 You did everything right today, and it still wasn't enough. Your kid melted down over something small, you lost your patience faster than you wanted to, and now you're lying in bed wondering if today's hard moment left a mark.   In this episode, I get into why some days with our kids are harder than others, and it's rarely just about what happened in that one moment. Temperament mismatch (o
Episode Summary 11: Breaking the Cycle: One Mom’s Honest Story
Episode Summary 11: Breaking the Cycle: One Mom’s Honest Story Sep 27, 2026 23:36 You promised yourself you wouldn't become your mother. Then your kid won't put their shoes on for the third time, and the voice that comes out isn't really yours.   In this episode, I talk with Terese, a parent who grew up walking on eggshells around a mother who yelled often.  She would yell because Terese had her school books on the dinner table - and then after dinner, she would yell bec
10 Years, 10 Lessons: Everything I Got Wrong About Parenting
10 Years, 10 Lessons: Everything I Got Wrong About Parenting Sep 20, 2026 49:44 Before my daughter was born, I made a book split into two halves. One cover said 'me.' The other said 'you.' I filled the 'you' side with a list of hopes for who she'd become. I had a lot of ideas about the person she should be before I'd ever met her.    This episode marks ten years of the podcast, and I'm using it to walk through ten things I got wrong along the way. Because if you're in
Why Your Preschooler Is Hitting, Biting, or Kicking (And What Helps)
Why Your Preschooler Is Hitting, Biting, or Kicking (And What Helps) Sep 6, 2026 21:01 Your child's preschool number shows up on your caller ID, and your stomach drops before you even answer. Preschool never calls with good news. Your kid hit someone at the sand table, or kicked a friend in line for the bathroom, and now you're standing there wondering if you have to call another parent and apologize, and whether this is the start of your kid becoming the one nobody wants to play wi
Re-release: Creative Problem-Solving (Without Giving the Answer)
Re-release: Creative Problem-Solving (Without Giving the Answer) Aug 16, 2026 53:51 Sara's four-year-old started asking permission for things he used to just do on his own, like grabbing the markers off his own shelf. It was a small request, but it worried her, since nothing about her home had ever required asking first.    This episode follows what she did next. Sara gets specific about creative problem-solving in action: a drone in the sky and a line of dump trucks waiti
Re-release: Raising an Entrepreneur (Without Taking Over Their Business)
Re-release: Raising an Entrepreneur (Without Taking Over Their Business) Aug 2, 2026 01:00:03 When my daughter Carys was 10, she started a pet-sitting business. She opened a Roth IRA with the income, built a client base of dog walkers and cat owners in our neighborhood, and figured out a system for remembering security codes only after a couple of alarms went off by accident.   This episode is about that decision. Skills needed for entrepreneurship come from real clients and real co
Episode Summary 10: Burnout vs Depression: The Mental Load of Mothers
Episode Summary 10: Burnout vs Depression: The Mental Load of Mothers Jun 14, 2026 18:06 Many mothers go to the doctor because they feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and they aren’t sleeping - and leave with a depression diagnosis and a prescription. The message is: your brain isn't working right, and medication will help you cope. But what if the problem isn't your brain at all? In this episode, I talk with journalist Bob Whitaker, who has spent decades investigating psychiatric treatment
266: If ADHD Medication Doesn’t Help Kids Learn, What Does?
266: If ADHD Medication Doesn’t Help Kids Learn, What Does? May 31, 2026 30:24 If you listened to our first episode on ADHD, you already know that the story most parents get about the diagnosis has some significant gaps - in the diagnostic criteria, in the research funding, and in the case for lifelong stimulant medication. This episode goes deeper on the topic of medication for kids.   Most parents medicating their child with ADHD in the U.S. are doing it because the
265: Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Kids Learn Best
265: Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Kids Learn Best May 10, 2026 29:37 Most parents have heard that play is how children learn. But in a world full of educational toys (even for babies, preschoolers, and kindergarteners!), enrichment classes, structured activities, and apps designed to make babies smarter, making time for play is harder than it sounds. The pressure to get kids ahead earlier keeps building - and the research that's supposed to reassure us often gets b
264: Who Really Decided Your Child Needs ADHD Medication?
264: Who Really Decided Your Child Needs ADHD Medication? Apr 26, 2026 47:52 If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, stimulant medication is probably the first thing their doctor mentioned. And if you're trying to figure out whether it's the right choice for your family, you deserve more than a pamphlet published by a drug company. You deserve the full picture - including what the research really shows, who funded it, and the questions the medical model of ADHD hasn't
263: What’s Really Behind Your Child’s End-of-Day Meltdowns
263: What’s Really Behind Your Child’s End-of-Day Meltdowns Apr 19, 2026 20:27 If your child holds it together all day at preschool or daycare and then completely unravels the moment they get home - melting down over dinner, refusing to use the potty, making every transition a battle - you're watching afterschool restraint collapse in action. It's exhausting. And it can bring up some painful feelings for parents too, including wondering whether your presence is making things
262: How Limits Show Up in Your Child’s Body
262: How Limits Show Up in Your Child’s Body Apr 12, 2026 37:02 If your morning routine for preschool looks less like a smooth routine and more like 21 rounds of "no", "stop", and "not like that" before 8 am, then things aren’t working well for either of you.   In this episode, we walk through one ordinary preschool morning minute by minute, from the cereal bowl to the car seat buckle.   We also learn how to move from: "how do I get my child to c

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