Has your teenager completely stopped talking to you?! Do you feel that you no longer talk with each other? Does one parent have more of a conversational connection with the kids than the other? How do you keep talking with your kids if your absent parent? Todays podcast is all about how, why and if our teenagers talk with us, and what things prevent them from talking with us. Are we too protective - too nosy - or too judgemental? And should we necessarily talk about everything with our kids...

If Parenting was an official Job how would you describe it? What are the hours? The remuneration? The perks? Are there any perks? This week we discuss the responsibilities and expectations of what it means to be a Parent. Is it in the Job Description that we are essentially on call 24/7 ? In what ways do we sacrifice our own lives and lives in order to do the best job we can of being a parent. How do you see the responsibilities of the job? Is it about practicalities or about instilling...

Is your teenager ashamed or embarrassed about your excitement and preparations for Xmas? Is your teenager a moody bah humbug throughout the festive period? Could they make more of an effort? Are you missing the pitter patter of tiny feet and just wish your teens would enter into the party spirit?! Join us for a moan a groan and a bemoan of Christmases past when the kids loved the magic of it all!!! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern...

Is it a preferable option for our kids above smoking? Is it fun? OR … is it actually a gateway habit that will lead to nicotine addiction? Does it have an adverse effect on our children’s mental health? Are vapes and e-cigarettes actually dangerous? Are they simply another tool for secretly inhaling drugs?! We explore the pros and cons of vaping … and whether we should in fact be as concerned as we would be if our kids were smoking. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this...

Is CAMHS (children and adolescent mental health services) an effective service for helping children, teenagers & parents to resolve or help alleviate Mental Health Crises? We hear from listeners regarding their principally negative experiences. What can be done? How do we as a society need to change in order to reduce the number of youngsters seeking help. Is there only so much any NHS service can actually do given the size of the problem. This episode is all about YOUR experiences. Find...

Are we doing our kids a huge disservice by being too soft on them. Do we allow them to feel like they’re succeeding even when they’re failing. Should we be implementing a lot more TOUGH LOVE in our attempts to help our children prepare for adult life. Is being tough on our kids a threat to their mental health or could it in fact be the one thing that might save them. Are we over-indulging our kids or is being “soft” more about allowing our children to grow and mature in a more holistic...

This week we grapple with a topic that is perhaps one of the most distressing for children and young adults alike - especially women and teenage girls. In recent weeks stories have emerged of a new trend to spike young women (and some young men) by injecting them with syringes. We discuss what on Earth can be done to protect our teenage and young adult children from this awful threat. We talk to the newly formed pressure group GIRLS NIGHT IN - who are campaigning for nightclubs and late...

This episode we go to the heart of how Smart Phones have transformed family life. We aren’t looking at the obvious causes for concern such as cyber bullying - we are looking at the ways in which phones interrupt family time - disrupt relationships - cause stress for teenagers and are basically hard to put down. Our resident teens share some surprising philosophical observations about smart phones. Are YOU as bad as your teenagers? Are phones eroding family life? Or are they just a different...

Telling lies is always considered a bad thing. BUT - there are countless situations in which lying as a parent is often a NECESSITY - and there are often situations when it’s not as sinister as you might think when your child lies to you. There’s the seasonal characters who pop up in December and Easter - and there are white lies versus serious lies. What are the WORST lies we’ve told as parents - and do our kids lie to us? LYING is much more complex than you think … honestly … we aren’t...

Nadia & Mark grapple with the best ways in which to help our teenagers through an Anxious World. All too often we hear about Anxious Teens as if the problem sits within THEM. But how doe we help them navigate a world that FEELS and PRESENTS itself to us as more and more anxious everyday. School, Climate, Covid, Social Media, 24 Hour rolling News & an older generation that more often villainises the young rather than applaud them. This is a deep dive into our Anxious World and how best...

FIRST week back and how are you feeling - end of the first week and already many of us are at the end of our tether. Who's more BURNT OUT? Us parents or our kids? After so many weeks and months living under the cloud of COVID - and now with relative "normality" coming back - is Back to School Burnout going to happen more quickly. As one of our kids returns to school we share our own experiences of the school run!!! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of...

How does the constant news flow regarding Climate Change leave our kids feeling? How does it leave us parents feeling? If we feel powerless in the face of such an enormous and seemingly impossible dilemma how on Earth can we help our kids through it. We hear from our teens who feel they don’t even have the right to protest against things let alone do anything about it. This is a tough subject BUT it is a crucially important subject. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this...

Have this years A Level and GCSE students had it easy? Or have they actually had it the toughest any generation in post war Britain has ever had before? Is it true that they’ve been let off lightly, treated favourably, marked up by generous teachers - or perhaps (God forbid) the remote learning / home schooling and more targeted learning has actually been a boost to results? How will the Covid generation of exam takers be treated - will it be “oh, you were the Covid generation - you got it...

More specifically our chat revolves around issues of contraception, consent, accidental pregnancy & abortion. The kids felt a bit “weird” about contributing for this one … but we chew over many of your comments and experiences instead. What do you do if your child actively wants to get pregnant? How do you explain consent to a child who puts themselves at risk when they’re drunk. What is the best approach to unwanted pregnancies - how does the availability of porn make consent...

How do YOU feel about your teens or children being vaccinated? Is a clear cut YES or do you have worries? Why are youngsters being cast as the villains in the Covid crisis? What about Vaccine Passports? Is it a necessary stick and carrot approach to getting youngsters to take the jab. Is it “SELFISH” for teenagers not to take the jab or are you concerned about the long term effects of a relatively new vaccine ? Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions...

After the appalling violence and racism surrounding the EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS - and with a whole range of other issues such as sexual harassment - drugs - climate change etc - what are you most worried about for your kids as they step out into the world? What scares you most in the dead of night - what do you fear for your teenagers’ futures. Is the world really a less friendly place - a more stressful place - were things different when we parents were younger. Mark & Nadia here from you...

It’s one of the biggest taboos known to man, woman, father and mother. Do YOU REGRET having become a parent. We can all regret decisions we have made - we may even regret the time or age at which we had kids - but what do you do if you regret the whole decision? Having had one of the most overwhelming responses on social media to any parenting topic we’ve suggested - we read through LISTENERS comments and share our own REGRETS around being a parent. Find out answers to these questions and...

Has STAYCATION become a dirty word?! Given that we’ve all spent SO much time together in lockdown can we really stomach a holiday together in the UK, with bad weather - all looking at each other for a further week or two?! Mark & Nadia discuss the joys and drawbacks of staycations - the best bits (spending yet more time with your kids) - the worst bits (spending yet more time with your kids) ... holidaying never looked less attractive ... Find out answers to these questions and many more...

THE SECRET LIFE OF TEENS & THEIR PETS!!! We all want them as kids, but should we necessarily get them? Is a dog or a cat a God given rites of passage for all kids and teenagers? Mark & Nadia reflect on the role a pet can have in a child’s emotional and mental development. What experiences do they encourage? Responsibility? Care? Time management? Companionship? Mindfulness? But also - of course mortality. Frozen guinea pigs, cats that leave home & mind-reading dogs; Maddie,...

Is it ever tight to invade your kids privacy? Did YOUR parents ever read your diary? Or rummage through your room? When is it right to be concerned for your kids welfare and when are is it a case of being downright nosy? Privacy and Parenting is a minefield. How private CAN anyone be in this modern high-etc age where everyone knows where everyone is every second of the day. We delve into the private thoughts of our teens and whether they think there’s ever a moment when us parents are allowed...

Nadia & Mark discuss Nadia’s new Body Confidence Campaign for Loose Women and explore the increasing use of body tuning APPS amongst young women and young boys. In what ways do all these social media APPS and tuning instruments damage our self esteem? Are they all causing Mass Body Dysmorphia ? How would Mark & Nadia have fared in today’s climate? Or is the crisis around fake selfies and touched up photos the same crisis of the 70s and 80s just with a different technology? Maddie and...

Mark & Nadia talk about the joys and horrors of loving or loathing your chikldren's boyfriends or girlfriends. Should we as parents actually tell our kids when we sense a partner is a bad egg? What happens when we love them as if they’re our own and then they split up? Is it ever right to maintain contact with your children’s exes? The heartbreak of losing them - the fear of hating them - when is it okay to tell your kids what you really think of their choice in partners? It’s a hornets...

As a family that lives with Alcoholism & Addiction - teenage drinking is a major cause for concern in Nadia & Mark’s home. Completely banning it is unrealistic ... suggesting it’s the source of all fun is dangerous ... this conversation gets very emotional as they reflect on the challenges and the joys of being a family that lives with Alcoholism and how this trickles down to their daughter’s attitudes towards alcohol and drinking. Do most parents drop the ball when it comes to...

Do our teens see too much violence on their devices? Is violent material too freely available and what are the consequences for our children’s mental health? Are youngsters numb to acts of extreme violence? Have they all got some level of PTSD from seeing too much? Are youngsters aware of what’s right and what’s wrong violence? When is it important to see violent material (for political reasons) and when does it become counter productive? What controls are there for parents and kids when it...