The Whole Parent Podcast

In this throwback episode, Jon takes on the Santa question: the moment every parent eventually faces when wonder collides with honesty. Framed around the tension between magic and trust, he explores how Santa works in a child’s developing brain and why the real issue isn’t whether Santa is “real,” but how we show up when kids ask big questions. Parents will walk away with clarity, compassion, and practical ways to navigate Santa co...

In this episode, Jon explores why losing hits kids so hard—and why meltdowns over games are rarely about the game itself. Centered on the idea that “losing feels like a threat when a nervous system can’t predict what’s coming next,” he reframes sore losing as a regulation issue, not a character flaw. Parents will walk away with clarity, compassion, and practical ways to build frustration tolerance and resilience without shaming, fi...

In this episode, Jon explores why parents often find themselves reacting on autopilot—saying things they swore they’d never say, in a tone that feels uncomfortably familiar. Centered on the idea of “factory default settings,” he explains how stress, fatigue, and old neural pathways quietly take over, even when our values are different. Parents will leave with relief, self-compassion, and practical nervous-system tools to interrupt ...

Episode Summary

In this episode, Jon explores what it means to hold boundaries when your child is angry with you—and why that discomfort doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. Grounded in the truth that “kids aren’t supposed to like your boundaries all the time,” he reframes children’s anger as a normal, even necessary part of development. Parents will leave with reassurance, nervous-system insight, and a clearer sense of how to...

In this episode, Jon unpacks why toddlers seem to say “no” to everything—even the things they want—and why this phase isn’t defiance or manipulation, but their earliest tool for agency. Framed as a selfhood struggle, not a power struggle, the conversation reframes constant refusal as a sign of healthy development. Parents will leave with clarity, reassurance, and simple ways to reduce battles while protecting connection and support...

In this episode, Jon answers three real parent questions about clinginess — those “Velcro moments” when a child won’t let you leave the room and panic replaces logic. Through stories, brain science, and attachment research, he explores why clinginess is not a sign of overdependence, but a child’s way of saying “you are my safe person.”

Parents will walk away with a clearer understanding of what clinginess really communicates, how to...

In this episode, Jon digs into the real reason transitions feel so “impossible” for kids — not because they’re being dramatic, but because shifting out of a moment they love can feel like a genuine shock to their system. Through stories, neuroscience, and deeply relatable parent questions, he explores why task-switching is so hard for developing brains and how a “satisfying end” can change everything. Listeners walk away with clari...

In this episode, Jon unpacks why kids interrupt, especially in those moments when it “starts to feel disrespectful and chaotic” and you’re thinking, they’re old enough, they should know better. He breaks down what’s really happening in the developing brain around time, impulse control, and attachment, and why so many “rude” behaviors are actually bids for connection. Listeners walk away with a clearer understanding of what their ch...

In this episode, Jon answers three real parent questions about kids who shut down, melt down, or avoid trying altogether — the moments when, as one child put it, “I’d rather not try than be bad at it.” Through stories, neuroscience, and relatable examples, Jon offers a grounded way to understand the gap between a child’s stress limit and their skill limit, and why “new things are hard” becomes a life-changing mantra for both parent...

Episode Summary
Jon unpacks why kids often look “ungrateful” or overwhelmed during gift-heavy holidays—and why it has nothing to do with entitlement and everything to do with biology, routine disruption, and emotional overload. Through real parent questions, he explores what’s happening underneath the behavior, why forced gratitude backfires, and how parents can set expectations, model appreciation, and protect connection with...

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In this episode, Jon answers a parent’s question about neurodivergence and walks through how to think about kids who are more intense, more sensitive, or more easily overwhelmed. He breaks down what neurodivergence actually means, why some kids struggle more with regulation, and what parents c...

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In today’s episode, Jon returns to the show’s original format—raw, unscripted, brain-based parenting questions—this time focused entirely on sibling dynamics. If you have more than one child (or plan to), this might be one of the most clarifying episodes you ever listen to.

Inside this episode:
Why kids compete… why they fight over noth...

If your mornings feel like a daily emotional avalanche, lost shoes, floppy limbs, scratchy socks, MELTDOWNS, you’re not alone. In this episode, Jon goes back to the original Whole Parent format and answers real listener questions about morning routines, meltdowns, and the brain science behind why kids fall apart at the exact same time every day.

Instead of asking “What am I doing wrong?”, we flip the script:
What if the problem...

It all started with a gold star. A single shining sticker on a kindergarten chart that—without me realizing it—began rewiring my understanding of love, worth, and motivation. In this episode of The Whole Parent Podcast, we dive into the hidden cost of praise—why “good job” might be doing more harm than good, and how something as innocent as a sticker chart can turn play into performance.

Drawing on groundbreaking research from psych...

A grainy home video from 1993 opens a door many parents avoid: the thin line where love and control blur. From that single forced smile, we follow the thread into cognitive dissonance, exploring why we promise ourselves we won’t yell and still end up yelling, and why small justifications feel so necessary when our identity as a “good parent” is on the line. Leon Festinger’s doomsday research gives language to our everyday contradic...

This is one of my shorter mini-episodes where I read this weeks Substack article. 

We answer here the simple and yet extremely common question "What are we supposed to do when our kid hits us or someone else?" 

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Stories aren’t just how we pass time—they’re how we pass on what it means to be human. We sit down with librarian and children’s literature expert Betsy Bird to unpack why reading aloud is more than a bedtime ritual. It’s brain food during the fastest phase of neural growth; a daily practice that builds language, attention, and the social skill that holds every relationship together: empathy.

We dive into research showing ...

My oldest son couldn’t read at seven. And me? I was writing a parenting book for a major publisher. Being asked to speak to thousands of parents. Teaching emotional development, brain-based learning, and motivation. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

In this episode, I tells the vulnerable and surprising story of how we stopped trying to teach how to read, and started teaching why to read instead. What happened next wasn’t magic. It was s...

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Episode Description:

What if the very thing we’ve been striving for as parents—obedience—wasn’t actually a virtue? What if, inst...