Open Book Parenting

04/09/2026

Loving your kids doesn't mean you like them every single minute. You can appreciate your life big picture and still be awfully tired of cleaning the gutters, dealing with morning traffic, or doing laundry. Being jealous doesn't mean that you wish ill on another person. And wanting things to be different is a prerequisite to making things different. In short, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you for having a bad day or week. Now if it's stretching out longer? If you're struggling to find joy anywhere? Please reach out.

04/09/2026

You don't have to nail every hard conversation. You don't need to be an expert on every difficult topic. Dr. Elena Lister shares that her late husband -- also a psychiatrist and an analyst -- said the most important thing was to have an "open heart." When we approach our kids with that open heart, we'll get more right than we'll ever get wrong. You can hear more by tuning into the TELL ME IT WILL BE OK podcast wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. And I hope you'll subscribe while you're there!

04/08/2026

Sometimes we're afraid of having big conversations because we're afraid that we won't get it right. That's ok! In this excerpt of the TELL ME IT WILL BE OK podcast, I ask Dr. Elena Lister about that, how do we start when we've got some stage fright? Listen in on her practical and reassuring advice then listen to the whole episode to get even more of her special wisdom.

04/08/2026

04/08/2026

Hard things like learn a whole set of new anti-anxiety skills; model coping for their child; face their own distress when their child is struggling; reach out for help; and hold hope even when things feel pretty overwhelming. YOU GOT THIS and you don't ever have to do it alone. ❤️ 😘

04/07/2026

Anxiety -- especially in younger children -- short circuits the smartest, most sophisticated parts of our brains, which is why there's no talking sense to a child in full meltdown mode. They literally can't hear us. First we need to calm their bodies so can access their ability to think clearly. That's why it's so important to build and practice calm down skills when we DON'T need them. Parents can create a family culture that cares for our bodies and our souls so that when things get scarier, we know how to take good care of ourselves, calm down those bodies, and access our strong, brave thinking. What to learn more? Check out ChildAnxietySupport.com.

04/07/2026

The reason Dr. Elena Lister speaks so eloquently about how to navigate death with children is that her youngest daughter died as a small child. In this vulnerable excerpt of our podcast, she shares how this inspired and changed her career trajectory. In her book with Dr Michael Schwartzman, Giving Hope:Conversations with Children About Illness, Death, and Loss, she opens by sharing a discussion she had with her oldest daughter's class to share that Molly's sister was dying. Listen here and then I invite you to check out the whole episode of the TELL ME IT WIL BE OK podcast.

04/07/2026

Ok, this is powerful. This research looked specifically at medical procedures and how parents can help calm anxiety. The parents I tend to work with -- smart, compassionate, great at communicating -- sometimes err on the side of empathy when what their child needs is distraction.
Learning about research like this helps us improve the ways that we support our kids. See? No blame, just new learning to help us help our anxious children and teens. It doesn't get any better than that! Want more supportive learning like this? Let's work together!

04/05/2026

Anxiety isn't a bad thing and being anxious isn't a bad thing either. Anxiety can be a great motivator to keep us safe and keep us on task. But sometimes makes things a whole lot worse. Learning how to have anxiety and manage it is a lifelong skill to practice. If your child is struggling -- or if you are struggling -- check in with me and see what it might be able to do for you and your family. ❤️

04/05/2026

What's that saying? Nobody gets out of here alive? Death is part of life and aging is a privilege that, unfortunately, not all of us will experience. In this excerpt from the TELL ME IT WILL BE OK podcast, Dr. Elena Lister and I talk about how we can't compartmentalize death and we can't avoid it. So what does this mean for us as parents? Dr. Lister's youngest daughter died as a child and their beliefs differed. Here she shares how she navigated that with honesty and compassion.

04/04/2026

Talking about death is like talking about many tough topics, which is that you bring it up BEFORE you need to. In this excerpt from the TELL ME IT WILL BE OK podcast I bring up how we talked about our daughter's adoption before she could speak and so Dr. Elena Lister says, yes, and that's how we should talk about death. Bring it up BEFORE we need to so that we can get comfortable. Listen in to this excerpt and then I hope you will check out the entire episode.