The Raising Kids with Purpose Podcast

"Don't kick it in the middle!" Every parent on my son's 9- and 10-year-old soccer team yells it, and every single time, the ball goes right down the middle for the other team to kick in the goal. Then the coach changed his words, and they stopped getting scored on as much as they were. 

In this episode, I break down why your child's brain can't really process a "don't," why "don't" is every parent's g...

How many times have you told your child to "say you're sorry," only to hear a quick "I'm sorry" and then watch them do the same thing an hour later? That's because "sorry" is just a word. What we actually want is the skill underneath it: empathy.

In this episode, I walk you through "Walk in Their Shoes," an activity I created for my PURPOSE Learning Program that went a little crazy on Instagram. It teaches...

In the final episode of this 3-part series, Adriane tackles the question her own 14-year-old asked her point blank: "If yelling doesn't work, why do you do it?" This episode dives into:

• Reason #7: how yelling traps both you and your child in a cycle of dysregulation
• Reason #8: the toll it tak...

In Part 1, Adriane broke down the brain science behind why yelling backfires — and shared the story of the backyard scream that landed her with shingles. In this episode, she goes past the brain science into what yelling actually costs you: your connection, your child's trust, and — if left unaddressed — deep-rooted shame that can follow them into adulthood.

In this episode:

In this episode, the first of a 3-part series, Adriane breaks down the first three of nine reasons why yelling doesn't work, backed by brain science, and gives you tools you can start using today.

In this episode:

• The backyard-scream story, and how it turned into a physical health scare
• Why 90% of parents report yelling at their kids, and why it feels effective in the moment
• Reason #1: Yelli...

Rupture and Repair: How to Fix Parent-Child Conflict Before It Causes Lasting Damage

Ruptures with our kids are inevitable, but repair is what makes the relationship stronger, not weaker. In this episode, Adriane revisits a blog post she wrote back in 2020 about a rupture with her son and breaks down the exact process for repairing conflict with your kids: acknowledging harm, taking responsibility, validat...

This August felt different. The first day of school was the least stressful one Adriane's ever had, and it wasn't luck. It's because the same routines her family has used for over a decade are finally just... baked in. In this episode, Adriane revisits her friend Emily McDermott's 5 must-have back-to-school routines (from a guest post Emily wrote for the blog last year)...

Every single word you speak to your child is either building an identity that says "I am enough, I am worthy, I am loved, I am seen" or quietly teaching them that their worth is connected to what they do next. In this episode, we're talking about positive lunchbox notes for kids, the neuroscience behind affirmations, the real difference between self-esteem...

School refusal is so often labeled defiance, manipulation, or laziness, but it's actually a child's nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do: keep them safe. In this episode, Adriane shares her own years-long journey through school refusal with her son, from the "perfect student" mask that cracked open at home, to the day he walked into a classroom and walked right back out yelling "anxiety sucks," to finally finding...

Your kid melts down, tells you no, or hits their sibling and has aggressive behaviors, and it's exhausting. There are two hidden problems behind almost every "big behavior": there's always something deeper going on under the iceberg. In this episode, Adriane reveals the two hidden reasons behind defiance, meltdowns, and hitting and why once you see it, you...

If your kid melts down out of nowhere, digs in their heels, or reacts in a way that leaves you completely stumped, this episode is for you. Adriane breaks down five simple, doable strategies for parenting a child with big behaviors that don't include another discipline chart or consequence system, but tools that actually work with your child's brain instea...

You're playing with your kids because you know it's good for them, but something feels off. You might even feel annoyed. In this episode, I break down the 5 specific ingredients that make play actually land and create a stronger bond with your kids. At first, you'll have to think about these things, but the more you do it, the more they'll all become a hab...

"I don't have time to play with my kids" is rarely about the clock. It's usually beliefs and burnout talking. In this episode, I talk about why play can feel almost threatening when you're completely depleted, what the research actually says about getting out of that state, and why the fix isn't finding more time; it's a mindset shift.

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