Askable Mama

Askable Mama Counseling & Mental Health Services
Early Sexual Health Education, Parenting

01/09/2026

There are no words for the heaviness and, quite frankly, the bizarreness of this time. On the one hand we’re trying to sign up for camps, pack lunches, cheer on the game, and on the other we’re watching horror unfold and feeling helpless, maybe fearful, and maybe avoidant.

But if your child is at an age where they are seeing or hearing about the shooting of Renee Nicole Good, it’s necessary to talk to them about it. It’s important that they don’t normalize what’s happening here. It’s important for them to understand that this is not normal. None of it! Including the seeming indifference being shown to a woman dying in front of you and denying her assistance. That is not normal and watching it again and again, and not having it denounced, is desensitizing.

Love this post by and but wanted to add three points of my own:1) I think giving a specific age is complicated. The co...
12/15/2025

Love this post by and but wanted to add three points of my own:

1) I think giving a specific age is complicated. The conversations and needs are more important than a specific age. (I’m not advocating for 13 year olds to have phones but I am saying NO tween or teen should have ANY device if they haven’t had the conversations or learning about the items listed on the right).

2) You may be very specific about delaying “smartphone” use, but if you’re waiting until your child is 13 or 16 and in the meantime they have access to an iPad and play games like Roblox, interact in group chats, and use the internet - they may as well have a phone! When a child has access to this kind of device (and arguably sooner) they should have had many conversations about the concerns listed here.

3) talk to them about S*xtortion!! Tell them what it will look/sound/feel like and let them know what to do if it happens.

Need help having these conversations? Reach Out!

10/21/2025

I’m off my usual topic but wanted to say a huge thank you to .awkward for addressing my question with a whole episode!

With so many caffeinated products being marketed to tweens and teens I think a lot about the impacts.

Some of the things I’ve been contemplating are:

Could there be a correlation between the high rates of anxiety in kids and caffeine intake?

What are the risks of using caffeine as a performance enhancer in academics and sports?

How addictive is caffeine?

Does early caffeine use impacts later addictive tendencies (they may do a whole other episode on this but my very light research on the topic says it can!)

Here’s a link to the episode:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-so-awkward/id1576221880?i=1000728004895

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