This week is a slightly different podcast in which we hand the conversation over to you listeners and discuss the issues surrounding Eating Disorders that affected you most in Lockdown and during the Pandemic. Has Coronavirus made us ALL eating chaotically - do we live in a culture that necessarily encourages binge eating AND binge dieting ... YOU share with US your thoughts, worries & experiences ... Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A...

This week we hear from former Emmerdale actress Gemma Oaten who has struggled with Anorexia and Bulimia about what can be learnt from the tragic death of Nikki Grahame who sadly lost her lifelong battle with Anorexia last week. In what ways can we learn from Nikki’s tragic story and better understand how Eating Disorders have been aggravated by a year of lockdowns, social distancing and isolation. Mark & Nadia hear from daughter Maddie about the chaotic eating that has defined many...

Some are calling it THE SUMMER OF LOVE ... but should we be as gung ho about coming out of Lockdown as many youngsters would like us all to be? YES we are all wanting a return to some kind of normal but is there a real danger that our teens could put themselves in harms way by PARTYING TOO HARD and not looking after themselves enough? Are we PARENTS so keen to get out and enjoy life for ourselves that we could be about to sleepwalk into a combined nightmare of too much drink, too much drugs,...

It’s been a STRANGE and CHALLENGING year for everyone - but for parents and teenagers the potential for fireworks and conflict has been massive. After all lockdown has been like an enormously LONG episode of BIG BROTHER. We stop to consider the highs and lows of the experience - have we got close to our kids - have they got closer to us? Have we all learnt things about each other and ourselves we didn’t know before the CRISIS? How has a total lack of privacy for us parents impacted on our own...

Many of us parents may not even have heard of the phrase - but to be “cancelled” is to be “called out” on “bad behaviour” or to be frozen out of things socially because you’re opinion is wrong or your actions are unacceptable. But who is doing e deciding? We examine the rights and wrongs of cancel culture. Is it a form of sanctioned trolling between and amongst teenagers - is it this generation’s way to rebel against ideas and attitudes they don’t agree with? Is it a form of vigilantism that...

This very harrowing conversation goes to the heart of what Nadia & Mark’s daughters have had to tolerate when it comes to unwanted harassment and attention from men. The majority of those doing the harassing are men in their 30s/40s and 50s. We hear from our eldest Issy and from our 18 year old Maddie about their own experiences of Sexual Harassment and the ways in which the tragic Sarah Everard case has emboldened young women to “reclaim the streets” ... why is there such a problem? What...

As kids return to school and parents breathe sighs of relief now that Home schooling is done ... NOT everyone is excited about the prospect. For many - going back to school marks the return of worries, fears and anxieties that have been removed for the past year. Bullying, struggling with learning, exams, cramming and trying to catch up with the teaching time that has been “lost” - are we running the risk of RUSHING our kids back into school and running them back into stress and anxiety? Not...

Do your teens threaten to disown you if you take a photo of them? Is it now one of the most heinous crimes to post an image of your child on your social media? Has it always been like this or has the SELFIE (with all of its facilities to be stage managed and technologically altered) essentially KILLED the family photo and the family album?! What will we look at in years to come ? Or will there be a photographic gap in time? More and more teenagers do not want theirs photos taken let alone...

Has there ever been a point when you’ve wanted to throw in the cards and call it a day? Have you ever REALLY regretted being a parent? We are exploring the taboo that IS Parental Burnout. We accept there can be BURNOUT in work - BURNOUT in play - but BURNOUT as a parent ... what should we do if we’ve had enough?! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent.  They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in...

How would YOU feel if your child didn’t have the ambition YOU had - or the ambition you FEEL they need to have in order to succeed? Is ambition in your kids about academic success, financial success, or emotional happiness? At what point does AMBITION morph into selfishness and competitiveness and by extension a potential sense of failure! Are PUSHY PARENTS ambitious for their kids or for themselves? Mark & Nadia attack AMBITION from all angles - and also consider whether they’ve perhaps...

Were YOU the “smart” one - the “creative” one - the “slow” one ... the “lazy” one? We all do it in some way - but are we (as parents) labeling our kids too early in their lives - at a point when they are still finding out who they are or what they want to be or do? For what reasons do we label our kids or even each other as parents? Is it a way of coping - making sense of the world - or is it an indirect way of actually killing the full potential of our kids and ourselves as parents. In what...

How much do our teens fear failure / how much do we as parents feel like we have failed them? Should we let our kids fail more - are we reaching them from failure too much ... Do we parent in a society where everything is about success and failure has become the dirtiest and most damaging of words ...? What does failure mean? Is it mostly about academic failure? Once again Nadia d Mark entertain the fact that they have been complete failures as parents Find out answers to these questions and...

In lockdown we are ALL on our phones more - scrolling through Tik Tok and Instagram seeing more and more images of supposedly lives and perfect bodies. We are all talking on ZOOM and FaceTime - meaning we are seeing ourselves (unfiltered) more and more! The self critic is at full throttle (for teenagers and parents alike!) Nadia & Mark talk about trying to help YOUNGSTERS feel POSITIVE about their BODIES ... and the ways in which SOCIAL MEDIA can be both a bad place AND a good place when...

At the best of times trying to stress the importance of good sleep and exercise to a teenager is difficult - during a pandemic it’s impossible. Mark & Nadia share their fears, abject failures, and their thoughts on how on earth they can lay the groundwork for a healthy life when most teens couldn’t care less about getting fit or sleeping well. Their daughter Maddie shocks them with how futile their task really is. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode...

It’s got to the point now where our children can see through our well meaning parenting lies, they now know when we are putting a positive gloss on things, they are more plugged into the rules and limitations of lock-down than us parents - so HOW on EARTH do we keep them motivated - how do we guard against them tipping into mental health crises? How can we help ourselves as parents? We talk a LOT about the need for honesty, transparency and a sense of humor in what must surely be our final...

Is this an accurate description of a generation of youngsters who can’t cope with the world or a bullying phrase used by older people to dismiss youngsters concerns? Mark & Nadia interrogate the ways in which the term is used - how it’s gone from something quite lighthearted to something that can be deeply controlling and misogynistic in some circles. Are we actually creating more of a problem by even using the term? Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode...

Xmas is a difficult time for us parents at the best of times. Being a parent to teenagers at Xmas is even tougher. Doing it all with lock-downs, different tiers, social distancing and family bubbles brings another layer of difficulty. We hear how our teens are feeling about Xmas ... and we remember the nostalgic days of Xmas back when they were toddlers and there was still the excitement of Santa ... we are brought down to Earth with a bump by Maddie... Find out answers to these questions...

Today's chat is about how embarrassing we can be as parents. What is it about being a parent that immediately makes us uncool and essentially irrelevant? Nadia & Mark's daughter MADDIE shares some home truths about just how embarrassing they both are - as does Nadia's friend's son Carlitos. When do TEENS start to feel the cringe? And are we doomed from the outset on our parenting journeys? Plus - who is more embarrassing? Nadia or Mark??!! Find out answers to these questions and many...

A funny AND serious exploration of those elements of parenting we are simply too afraid to admit we don’t like. To suggest you don’t like an aspect of parenting runs the risk of being named and shamed as neglectful - but Mark & Nadia decide to provide ALL parents with a truly confessional hour of revealing what parts of being a parent are boring, tedious, exhausting, and unrewarding. However, the teens can also have a bit of a moan about how embarrassing parents are too!! Find out...

A funny AND serious exploration of those elements of parenting we are simply too afraid to admit we don’t like. To suggest you don’t like an aspect of parenting runs the risk of being named and shamed as neglectful - but Mark & Nadia decide to provide ALL parents with a truly confessional hour of revealing what parts of being a parent are boring, tedious, exhausting, and unrewarding. However, the teens can also have a bit of a moan about how embarrassing parents are too!! Find out...

A subject that never goes away - and is never always the same - to mark Anti Bullying Week - we explore the reasons behind bullying, whether we SHOULD understand the bully, and how to deal with the more insidious low level (and often more damaging) bullying that can occur below the radar of parents AND teachers. It’s another emotional and heated conversation - as Mark & Nadia are reminded of their own difficult encounters with bullying. Find out answers to these questions and many more...

Is it ALWAYS right for teenagers to go into therapy? Do teenagers need therapy and counselling today more than ever or have we got too soft and “namby-pamby” and in fact, youngsters need to just pull their social up and get on with just being teenagers? Is therapy a middle-class phenomenon? When could it be a lifesaver? With all the pressures of lockdown, the increased availability of drugs and alcohol, and continual reports suggesting that mental health issues for youngsters are on the...

How are we going to get through lockdown 2.0??? How do you even sell this to your teenager when you are finding it a bitter pill to swallow yourself?! How can we even put a silver lining on missing an important year of their lives? A year to be carefree, not stuck at home with boring parents!! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If...

How to Cope with them and WHATS Going on For them? When is a moody teenager just a moody teenager and when are they struggling with a mental health crisis?! What do TEENAGERS hate most about the term “MOODY TEENAGER”? Are they justified in their MOODYNESS? Or do they need to get a grip?! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have...

Where is the borderline between being a parent and being a friend. Is it ever inappropriate to try and be BESTIES with your teenage children. Should we simply be strict disciplinarians - or is it actually important to be approachable? It is a difficult balancing act being an approachable parent and Nadia and Mark explore the parenting minefield of whether it's right or wrong to try and be friends with your teenage children. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of...