The Parenting Book Club Podcast

Em tries a new method to boost overall wellness. T figures out a mum hack for her daughters that never stop talking. Em + T discuss perfectionism, always appearing positive, and T shares about her experience having a panic attack in public. Em shares her favourite netflix binges. T learns about street children in Brazil, and how desperate they are to make it to tomorrow. Em asks about what we can do to help them.

In today’s episode… Why we changed the podcast from a book club. Why Em has become a co-sleeper (not by choice), and how she’s juggling full time work + parenting. T feels done with Australia, and makes a few big changes. Why is Em learning Norwegian with George (plus a clip of George practicing). Why T picks up surfing, self-care, and the guitar- as an antidote to the negatives of parenting life. Em has a tough family holiday and questions whether full-time travel is for her. 

Many people use the term ‘resilience’ without actually knowing the definition. In this book, we learn what resilience in children actually looks like, and the 7 ways to develop it (hint- the younger the better!).

The Montessori Method is a well-known educational style, often depicted by beautiful wholesome wooden play rooms, and children ‘reaching things’ for themselves. Emily & Tully get an introduction to Montessori in this episode, and they find out the ways they have both accidentally and intentionally implemented Montessori in their homes with their children. Enjoy!

This week we were recommended a book on raising boys but were shocked to find ourselves reading a controversial book on how women can better manage their relationships with men. We hope you enjoy something with a little more teeth!

Emily and Tully both chose to welcome their second baby into the family by using RIE principles with their elder children. In this episode they discuss the unique style used, and the amount of subconscious programming it takes (for the parents)- but the huge payoff as both their elder children adjusted very well to their new home life. We hope you enjoy!

This week we read “Raising Good Humans” and we find out why it is that reading heaps of parenting books doesn’t necessarily help you when you really need to level up your parenting skills. If you want your new parenting skills to kick in, there’s something important you need to do first! We hope you enjoy.

Ash Ascoli writes a book of beautifully written, vulnerable poems; exploring the process a woman goes through as she navigates the loss of her babies. Emily and Tully ask some ‘hard to ask’ questions of a woman who has experienced multiple losses- such as does resentment towards your partner build? and what do you do when you disagree on IVF?

Leading our families is not an automatic skill that we all instantly excel at. Managing so many people requires deep thinking, planning, and intentional action. In Brene’s book Dare To Lead, we explore how we can find the right balance of vulnerability vs firmness, flexibility vs boundaries, and courage vs fear.

“The Baby Bible” by Bed Judd is apparently the new ‘what to expect’! In this conversation with Yasmin from @cbrsmamas, we discuss breastfeeding (how much is the right amount of challenging and how to know when to quit), making friends as a new parent, and more.

Gary Chapman explores the psychology behind children’s love language, how to use it appropriately, and warns of the dangers of using their love language inappropriately. This game changing book made us think a lot of our partners love languages too, and how we could use these tools with the whole family.

When Penni gave birth to her first child, we was surprised to discover that the blissful newborn period of cuddles and peace never came for her. She experienced medical issues, a seemingly permanently angry baby, a distant husband, and a deep dislike for herself and her own thoughts & actions. Then came baby #2, and Penni continued to feel more and more anxious and irritated despite the fact that the message she was receiving was what a good job every other parent seemed to be doing. In her book and in this podcast episode, Penni gets real and raw about the struggle with mental illness. How it differs from ‘the mother load’ and parental burnout. How to talk to someone who shared mental struggles with you. And how she pulled herself out of a cycle of pain.

In this eye opening and fascinating book, Emily & Tully explore a side of ‘beauty’ that is commonly misunderstood and considered to be ‘privileged problems’. But the reality is that we are raising daughters and sons in a world where we value and classify people by the way they look, so how can we consider this as we go about raising our own little people?

In this episode Tully’s husband joins us to discuss his qualms with books such as this, and why they assume the worst of Dads to be. We discuss why it is that men don’t need to learn how to use a wet wipe, and the things they really need to be made aware of is the massive shift of identity when they join the ranks of Fatherhood. Sadly, Emily got held up and could not be with us for this episode!

“Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina”. Some things we discuss in this episode are; the SINGLE most important thing to do in pregnancy, is TV okay for babies, and the best predictor of academic performance during childhood. The science is CLEAR when it comes to raising little people. There are certain things they need, or do not need, in order to gain IQ advantage. But…. does IQ matter as much as some parents think? Are there more important measures of human success? Emily and Tully discuss.

Could it be impossible to ever feel like you’ve reached a place of comfort with parenting? Emily and Tully discuss how they themselves bring their own flaws into their parenting journey.

We spend so much energy thinking about pregnancy, and so much time preparing for birth, that we often forget to prepare ourselves for the hardest part: bringing baby home!

Emily and Tully come head to head again as they discover their differences when it comes to how they use boundaries. Emily says no to physical follow through, but Tully says RIE is the greatest tool she’s ever found.

We introduce ourselves with a short Q&A, something that highlights our major differences as both people and as parents.

In this episode we chat with Maori mum Alma about her experience with bringing tribal parenting to the modern world. We talk about how different her setup is from Emily & Tully, and the affect this has on her parenting experience. Some areas discussed are: going to Festivals with baby, how to rest & recharge, the downsides of having so many adults around, and how do we find the balance between Western world and Tribal biological values.