Parenting Great Kids With Dr. Meg Meeker

Whether you are a new parent, about to be a parent “again”, or you have been a parent for more than a decade, there are fears that each of you face as you raise your kids. There’s always a voice in your head that says, “you were too harsh this morning,” or “you were way too lenient this afternoon.” With the increase of social media posts, these days are bombarded with comparisons and perfect photos of perfect families. All of those things add extra stress and play into fears that come up in everyone’s parenting journeys. Dr. Meg knows these fears first-hand, and she wants to help you avoid them or overcome them as much as possible. This episode of the Parenting Great Kids podcast deals with your fears surrounding parenting. She gives you practical advice and tips to not let those fears stop you in your tracks, but to make you a stronger more confident mom or dad. This entire episode is dedicated to Dr. Meeker talking about what it means to engage in fearless parenting. You don’t want to miss this one! If you

With societal pressures about body image, sexual activity, and inclusion in the “it crowds”, daughters have an increasingly difficult time staying strong these days. Even something as simple as an off-handed comment about you needing to lose weight can shift your daughter’s mindset toward an unhealthy body image. All these pressures can make it difficult for your daughters to stay safe, happy, and healthy. That’s why Dr. Meg wrote the book Raising A Strong Daughter: 11 Steps to Keep Her Safe, Happy and Healthy and is the “guest” in the interview in this episode. Our own Lisbeth Keen asks Dr. Meeker questions about her book that focuses in on the challenges, pressures, and dilemmas facing adolescent and teenage girls today. She also helps you answer the questions about how parents can help shepherd their daughters into womanhood while guarding against today's overwhelming social dangers. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg will give you her points to ponder that you can start using right away. If you have a question

When you are presented with a situation, big or small, where you can make a difference, immediately self-doubt and excuses as to why you shouldn’t even try come to the front of your mind. In this episode, Dr. Meg has a conversation with Rabbi Jen Krause and Dr. Jordan Kassalow about their book Dare To Matter. This is a book about how you can harness the desire to make a difference in the world by doing things in the here and now, in your own way. They explain how these small acts of kindness make a huge difference that you often don’t see the end results of. The main thing is, just do something! Dr. Jordan Kassalow is the founder of VisionSpring, the global phenomenon that has helped millions stay focused on a positive future, and he shares his own story of connecting his real life financial responsibilities with his true sense of calling, while also offering readers the tools to map out their own path. Dubbed “one of NYC’s Hippest Rabbis” and “the Jewish Katie Couric” by WNET’s MetroFocus, Rabbi Jennifer Kra

On the doorstep of New Years Day, resolutions, change, and fitness are always top of mind. As a parent, these things can easily go by the wayside as you just try and keep your head above water raising your kids. Lots of questions come to the forefront when learning how to balance fitness and family. That’s why in this episode Dr. Meg talks to fitness guru and television personality Heidi Powell. She has trained hundreds of people on how to get in shape and set attainable and sustainable goals all while being married and raising four children. Her and Dr. Meeker also talk about her and her husband’s hit television show Extreme Weight Loss and what it took from both of them to create such a successful show. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg will give you her points to ponder and answers a question from a father about his son that he suspects may be dealing with OCD issues. As always, if you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer in a future episode, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.com and listen to see if y

It’s the Christmas season, and in light of that, Dr. Meg wanted to do a special Christmas edition of the Parenting Great Kids podcast! If you can learn how to deal with the struggles, joys, and different aspects of Christmas that families deal with every holiday season, you really can make the best of the time with family and friends as Dr. Meg hopes for each of you. Because it’s such a special time of year, Dr. Meeker takes the entire episode to talk about Christmas and didn’t have time for a guest interview or listener questions. As always, if you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer in a future episode, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.com and listen to see if your question is featured next!   0:00 – AD – PINNA STREAMING SERVICE If you’ve been struggling to find a gift that balances fun with education – and something that will keep kids engaged WITHOUT screens – check out Pinna! Pinna combines the best podcasts, audiobooks, and music all in one place, specifically for kids 3-12 years old. Kids

Adopting children can be one of the greatest blessings that you experience. Some families choose to adopt to complete their family and some adopt to start theirs. In either case, adopting a child of a different race brings some baggage with it that you don’t necessarily know about until you’re in the thick of it. Sometimes people give you strange looks when you have an adopted child of a different race, or they may even call the police and report a kidnapping like in the case of Autumn Mile’s husband, Eddie. She tells this story as she talks with Dr. Meeker about what it has been like raising her African American adopted children Moses and Haven. As a dynamic speaker who produces regular inspirational content for her Facebook followers and for speaking engagements, she’s perfect for giving our listeners advice on how to handle a bi-racial family that you may encounter or how to better be a bi-racial family if you are in one already. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg will give you her points to ponder that you can

When you first have kids, it seems like they will never grow to the next stage, and you continually ask when will my child learn how to do certain things. It feels like parents are always trying to quickly move through their kids’ childhoods so quickly, but when you do that you miss out on some of the greatest joys in life. There are strong bonds and relationships that take work to form, and if you just look to speed past where you are and move on to the next thing, you really miss out on the opportunity to raise great kids! That’s why Dr. Meg sits down to talk with Dr. Carrie Quinn about different strategies and tips on being a positive parent and also building strong parent-child relationships. Dr. Quinn is Dr. Carrie Quinn is the Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, and she is a board-certified pediatrician and worked in private practice for six years prior to joining the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2012. This gives her the perfect backgroun

One of the biggest issues people in America face today is how the healthcare system hides pricing from its customers, the patients. In no other industry do you blindly hire someone for a service and agree to pay whatever price they deem appropriate after the service is completed. If you were to hire a person to build a fence, there’s no way to know how many nails or screws he or she will use or break, but what if there was a service fee for each one? This is how the healthcare system works. Surprises at every turn are ensuring that the only person that isn’t doing well financially in this process is the patent. This is where Dr. Marty Makary can help you become a much more savvy consumer of healthcare services. He and Dr. Meeker talk about how you as a patient, or parent of a patient, can be sure you aren’t being unnecessarily overcharged when you visit a hospital. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg will give you her points to ponder and answers a question from a parent about their 4-year-old son that sometimes li

One of the biggest issues people in America face today is how the healthcare system hides pricing from its customers, the patients. In no other industry do you blindly hire someone for a service and agree to pay whatever price they deem appropriate after the service is completed. If you were to hire a person to build a fence, there’s no way to know how many nails or screws he or she will use or break, but what if there was a service fee for each one? This is how the healthcare system works. Surprises at every turn are ensuring that the only person that isn’t doing well financially in this process is the patent. This is where Dr. Marty Makary can help you become a much more savvy consumer of healthcare services. He and Dr. Meeker talk about how you as a patient, or parent of a patient, can be sure you aren’t being unnecessarily overcharged when you visit a hospital. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg will give you her points to ponder and answers a question from a mother about how to help her four year old daughter

Keeping your brain sharp can seem like a tough task, and to add on top of it your kids’ brains sounds like an impossible task. Just trying to keep up with the day-to-day chaos is mentally challenging, is there a way to improve the function of the brain? Dr. Daniel Amen says, “you are not stuck with the brain you have, you can make it better,and I can prove it.” With all this in mind, Dr. Meeker sits down to talk with Dr. Amen about these things as well as his new book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Grades. Dr. Amen has helped millions of people change their brains and lives through his health clinics, best-selling books, products and public television programs, and that is why Dr. Meg sits down to talk with him about kids’ and parents’ brains in this episode. Also, if you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if your question is featured!   0:00 – AD – BETTER HELP TeenCounseling.comconnects your 13 to 19-year-old with a lice

The back to school season is always tough for kids as they get used to a different schedule when summer is over. It’s also tough on parents as they are transitioning into the new season and helping their kids deal with the changes as well. In this special episode, Dr. Meg answers your questions about helping kids deal with getting used to new schedules, learning how to make friends, and how much extracurricular activities are enough during the transition into a new school year. Whether you are just starting the school year or you are already a few weeks in, these tips will help you to parent your great kids! Also, if you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if your question is featured!   0:00 – AD – KIWI CO KiwiCo creates super cool, hands-on projects for kids that make learning about science, technology, engineering, art, and math fun! KiwiCo’s mission is to provide the next generation of innovators with the tools and foun

Balancing a really busy work schedule with the right amount of family time can be a struggle, and fathers tend to struggle with this the most. Often, fathers feel that they have to be the primary provider in a family and put too much energy and time into their jobs and don’t leave enough “in the tank” to build meaningful and lasting relationships with their children. No one knows this more than New England Patriots tight end, Benjamin Watson. Dr. Meg and Benjamin sit down to talk about his demanding career and how he ensures that his family doesn’t just get the leftovers when he’s not playing football. Finding balance between work and home is a must to be a parent to a great kid! Also, if you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if your question is featured!   0:00 – AD – BETTER HELP TeenCounseling.comconnects your 13 to 19-year-old with a licensed professional counselor right where they spend most of their time, on their sm

Even as an adult, finding what you are good at and what you are passionate about (and subsequently where those two things intersect) can be a seemingly unsurmountable task. It’s easy to lose confidence to help your kids find those things as well. There’s also the ever present temptation to push your kids too hard or force them to laser-focus on things that they just aren’t passionate about. This is where Dr. Meg’s conversation with career expert and author, Ken Coleman, can help the parents and the kids! Dr. Meeker and Ken talk about his book, The Proximity Principleand ways for moms and dads to help their kids as well as help themselves find that elusive “sweet-spot”. Ken Coleman is a Ramsey Personality and best-selling author, and he uses his life experiences to help people discover what they were born to do and provides practical steps to make their dream job a reality. Also, if you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if yo

As a parent, you goal is always to raise your kids and, eventually, become what is called empty nesters. That usually means that your kids can take care of themselves without you having to help all along the way. But what do you do if your kids need to come back home and live for a while? How do you handle that properly while preserving each of your separate lives? These are questions that get asked more frequently than you would think, and that’s why in this episode Dr. Meg talks with Jim Burns about how to live with adult children. Jim is the president of the non-profit ministry, HomeWord, and the author of the book Doing Life With Your Adult Children. Dr. Meeker and Dr. Burns talk about how to live under the same roof with your grown up adult children. Also, if you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if your question is featured!   0:00 – AD – PANAMA CITY BEACH CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU Dreaming of a beach vacation?

Headaches are tough to deal with regardless of age, but the migraine headache is probably the most feared one of them all. As a parent, you want to prevent pain in your children as much as possible, but sometimes with headaches you feel like there’s nothing that you can do. That’s why in this episode Dr. Meg talks with Keith DiMarino and Dr. Donna Stephenson about Keith’s daughter that struggled with a migraine headache for over 100 days in a row. Dr. Meeker gets great information from Keith about what it’s like to be a parent of a child with migraine headaches and has informational discussions with Dr. Donna Stephenson about what to look for and how she treats patients with migraine headaches. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg gives you her points to ponder that you can start using right away! Dr. Meeker also answers a question from a mom about her 17 year old daughter who she feels wants nothing to do with her. If you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen

There’s a lot of people that just don’t read the Bible because it’s hard to understand or they do not think it applies to their lives. In this episode, Dr. Meeker talks with Dennis Prager, best selling author, columnist, and nationally syndicated radio show host about his newest book The Rational Bible: Genesis. They take the practical information that he wrote about and apply it specifically to kids, parenting, and families. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg gives you her points to ponder that you can start using right away! Dr. Meeker also answers a question from a mom about her 15 year old daughter’s struggle with anxiety and depression. If you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if your question is featured!   0:00 – AD – KIWI CO KiwiCo creates super cool, hands-on projects for kids that make learning about science, technology, engineering, art, and math fun! KiwiCo’s mission is to provide the next generation of innovators

Dealing with a child that has cancer is an extremely difficult situation no matter what the circumstances are in your family. The difficulty is multiplied when one parent is a member of the military. Continuing the conversation from last episode, Dr. Meg talks with Bo and Nicole White, an “average” military couple, about how they balanced Bo’s deployments while they dealt with their son’s battle with cancer. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg gives you her points to ponder that you can start using right away! Dr. Meeker also answers a question from a mom about her teenage son’s frustration about limited screen time. If you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if your question is featured!   0:00 – AD – BETTER HELP TeenCounseling.comconnects your 13 to 19-year-old with a licensed professional counselor right where they spend most of their time, on their smartphone. Simply complete a short questionnaire and you'll be matched with a

Normal life for a military couple appears anything but ordinary. There’s long stretches of not hearing from your spouse, worries about their safety, and hopes that your family will be reunited after the tour of duty. How do you cope with being home without your partner? How do you deal with parenting together once he or she gets home? These are all normal questions, and that’s why Dr. Meg talks with Bo and Nicole White, an “average” military couple that has figured out how to make it work despite the hardships. After about a decade of military life, Bo and Nicole are settling down in Traverse City, MI, and trying to re-establish what “normal” looks like for them. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg gives you her points to ponder that you can start using right away! Dr. Meeker also answers a question from a mom about how to introduce her kids to her estranged father as they have begun asking questions about him recently. If you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand li

A hot button issue in the parenting arena is whether or not to get your kid vaccinated. There is a lot of information floating around on blogs, social media, and parenting groups, but how accurate is the latest rumor? This group says vaccinate and that group says don’t. That’s why in this episode, Dr. Meg talks with Dr. Candice Robinson from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Robinson is a workgroup lead for the child/adolescent immunization schedule for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices group at the CDC. She’s an expert on the safety and recommendations for vaccinations for kids, and gives scientific information about the importance of vaccines for your kids. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg gives you her points to ponder that you can start using right away! Dr. Meeker also answers a question from a mom about excessive phone usage by her college age kids living at home during the summer. If you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand

As a parent, anxiety, depression, and ADHD are all things with which you worry your kids are struggling. Since anxiety disorders affect one in eight children, it’s important to know what to look for and how to help. In this episode, Dr. Meg talks with Erica Komisar, a psychoanalyst, parent coach, and author, and her main goal is to relieve pain from individuals that suffer from a multitude of issues including anxiety and depression. On her website, Erica says her main goal is to “teach parents how to raise emotionally healthy children by being as present emotionally and physically as possible from infancy through adolescence,” and in her talk with Dr. Meeker, she gives a lot of practical information on how to recognize and help your kids with these issues. Also in this episode, Dr. Meg gives you her points to ponder that you can start using right away! If you have a question you want Dr. Meeker to answer, email them to askmeg@megmeekermd.comand listen to future episodes to see if your question is featured!