Best JLML Press | Wondery Podcasts (2025)

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Fighting Is Playing (Let the Kids Work It Out) 32:52

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6d ago32:52

32:52

It's unnerving when our kids engage in conflict with siblings or peers, whether it's over a toy, their perceived 'space', or even our attentions. As emotions escalate, so does grabbing, pushing, and sometimes hitting. No parent wants to witness this, and our instinct tends to be to try to manage the situation by separating the warring factions, com…

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Making a Successful Transition to Preschool (with Mr. Chazz) 45:16

13d ago45:16

45:16

Janet welcomes a timely visit from iconic educator Mr. Chazz who shares how parents and teachers can help kids successfully transition to a new preschool or childcare situation. His focus is on trust and maintaining the sense of connection that supports parents and kids to separate with confidence. Janet's "No Bad Kids" Master Course is at nobadkid…

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How to Help a Strong-Willed Child (Without Wounding His Spirit) 23:03

20d ago23:03

23:03

A parent describes her 4-year-old son as energetic, independent and strong-willed. While she appreciates her son’s enthusiasm and free spirit, she constantly struggles to reign him in and finds herself yelling, "You're not listening!" As an example, she says they often take nature walks with friends, and he inevitably runs ahead at an unsafe distan…

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Validating Feelings Isn't Working 21:00

27d ago21:00

21:00

The practice of acknowledging our children's feelings and struggles can provide healing, calming messages of safety and acceptance. With a genuine tone and a few words, our acknowledgments can help children share pent-up emotions, feel seen and heard, and gradually regulate, which in turn eases problematic behaviors. However, parents commonly share…

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The Help Toddlers Need With Aggressive Behavior 32:54

1M ago32:54

32:54

Janet responds to 3 messages from listeners who say their kids exhibit aggressive or violent behavior towards their peers, in one case "pushing, hitting, or attacking faces, sometimes without warning." While all these parents recognize that fatigue and other discomforts can contribute to this behavior, it often seems that their kids lash out for no…

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The Bad Advice I Gave About Toilet Training 34:25

1M ago34:25

34:25

In a previous "Unruffled" episode, Janet offered advice to a parent who was struggling with potty training. That parent wrote back recently to announce her daughter's 4-year saga had finally come to a successful conclusion... it was NOT the result of the parents following Janet's advice, but going full speed ahead in the opposite direction. In this…

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Calming Our Reactivity to Children's Irritating, Demanding Behaviors 21:35

2M ago21:35

21:35

In this popular encore episode, a parent writes that she’s overwhelmed by her two girls constantly demanding her attention, following her around their home and calling “Mommy! Mommy!” even if they are in the same room. “It’s driving me mad,” she writes. “It’s like a dripping tap. It is getting to the point where I just want to scream.” This mom not…

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Eating Disorders, Healthy Body Image: What Parents Need to Know (With Grace Lautman, CN, LMHC) 41:38

2M ago41:38

41:38

Janet is joined by Grace Lautman, a therapist and nutritionist who focuses on eating disorders, the conditions that can create and aggravate them, and how eating — or not eating — can be a symptom of mental health issues. She writes: "My hope has always been to provide accepting spaces for all individuals and bodies to explore and honor their relat…

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Rejection, Exclusion, Teasing — What to do When Friends Aren't Kind 33:59

2M ago33:59

33:59

We all want our kids to enjoy thriving friendships, to feel appreciated by supportive peers. But that's not always case, and it can be heartbreaking to see the hurt, disappointment, and confusion our child feels when — for whatever reason —friends aren't treating them as they should. How do we support our kids' to navigate this? How much should we …

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Sleep, Baby, Sleep (with Hari Grebler) 43:11

2M ago43:11

43:11

RIE expert Hari Grebler joins Janet to discuss her respectful and surprisingly simple ideas for helping our babies to sleep. Hari's positive approach begins with babies and applies to toddlers as well, ultimately building a foundation that serves our needs and those of our children throughout their lives. Janet's "No Bad Kids Master Course" is avai…

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Secrets to Talking to Kids About Anything 27:57

3M ago27:57

27:57

3 families reach out to Janet and ask, "How do I say it?" Listen to find out more! Janet's "No Bad Kids Master Course" is available at NoBadKidsCourse.com. Please support our sponsors. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis…

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I'm Bad, I'm Stupid—Kids Being Harsh on Themselves 28:28

3M ago28:28

28:28

"I'm annoying, bad, stupid, not good at anything. I hate myself." It can be disconcerting to hear our kids say such unkind things about themselves, using harsh words that we've made a point not to use with them. Is this perfectionism? Low self-esteem? Passing feelings of vulnerability? What can we do to encourage our kids to stop bagging on themsel…

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My Boy Seems Anxious, Sensitive, Easily Overwhelmed... Is This Normal? 31:18

3M ago31:18

31:18

Janet responds to three parents who are worried that their kids seem overly anxious and sensitive in social situations. Each parent has tried to be patient and trusting, but they wonder if their child's temperament may be abnormal, especially when compared to their peers. Aside from frustration and concern, one parent says: "I'm so lost... Sometime…

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Discipline Isn't Working - 3 Common Reasons and What To Do Instead 31:52

3M ago31:52

31:52

Effective discipline can be confusing! It can feel like we're working so hard to be caring, empathetic, and patient with our kids—and not lose our temper—yet still, the challenging behaviors keep happening. And then when we try to set boundaries, our child has a meltdown that seems to last forever. What are we doing wrong? In this episode of "Unruf…

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Struggling with a Strong-Willed Toddler's Tantrums 35:39

3M ago35:39

35:39

This week Janet consults with the single mother of a 2.5-year-old who's concerned about how she's handling her daughter's behaviors. She describes her toddler as strong-willed, smart, intuitive, loving, sweet, and caring, but when she doesn't get what she wants, she loses it, throwing things, hitting, and screaming. This parent realizes that her da…

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How to Handle Our Kids' Obsessive Jealousy 35:12

4M ago35:12

35:12

Bossiness. Toy taking. Unkind words. Hitting. Behaviors like these are particularly common between siblings but can happen with peers as well, and they're frustrating and disturbing for us to witness. How to we address them? Separate the warring factions? Issue a mandate? Negotiate a settlement? Perhaps just let it play out? In this episode, a pare…

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3 Ways to Lift Your Parenting Spirits (with Loryn Brantz) 33:49

4M ago33:49

33:49

Loryn Brantz is an Emmy-winning author, illustrator, and mom of two, who once built puppets for Sesame Street. Loryn joined Janet on a previous episode of "Unruffled" to talk about parenting a child with disabilities, sharing the joys and challenges of her journey with honesty and her signature warmth and wit. Her new book "Poems of Parenting" is a…