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Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, family communication, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, etc. The mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry. By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. Longtime listeners will know the show began as The ParentNormal Podcast. For nearly 100 episodes, it featured celebrity interviews, parenting fails and even a few skits. All of those episodes are still available, but the best is yet to come. Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is diving deeper than ever into the crazy realities of parenthood with more stories and hilarious confessions from real parents all over the world.
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Now displaying: Page 3
Mar 2, 2017

Josh Temple, host of the popular HGTV show House Crashers, is this week's featured guest. In recent years, Josh has also hosted America’s Toughest Jobs on NBC, Ultimate Treehouse on the Discovery Channel and Backyard Nation for TLC.

What makes Josh a great host of House Crashers is that he’s not only entertaining, he is also a real licensed contractor. But since this host, me, doesn’t know much about home improvement, in our conversation I made sure to ask him for easy home improvement tips. We also talked about how he got into doing home improvement projects and how to get kids interested in architecture and engineering.

Behind the Scenes: When I interviewed Josh, we were both at the Dad 2.0 Conference in San Diego, so there is a little bit more noise in the background than usual.

Feb 22, 2017

Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians Trilogy, which is now a TV series in its second season on SyFy is the featured guest this week. Lev is also the book critic and lead technology writer for Time, but I think he would be most proud to tell you that he is a father of three kids.

In our conversation, we talk about why the fantasy genre and books like Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia have such a wide appeal to audiences young and old. We also talk about what it’s been like to see his characters from The Magicians reimagined for TV on SyFy, what books he has enjoyed introducing to his kids and what we can expect from his next book about King Arthur’s knights after the collapse of Camelot.

Feb 13, 2017

Heather Armstrong, known by her fans simply as Dooce, is this week's featured guest. She is not only one of the most successful bloggers of all time, she is a mother of two, a New York Times bestselling author and she has even been the subject of a question on Jeopardy that went like this:

Rhyming with “Juiced”, it’s "to lose one’s job because of one’s blog", coined by blogger Heather Armstrong

The correct answer was, "What is Dooced?" - because, as you might infer, Heather famously lost her job because of her blogging about it.

In an article by the New York Times that called her the Queen of Mommy Bloggers, it said she had 100,000 visitors to her site daily. So I think blogging has worked out pretty well for her.

In our conversation, we’ll talk about how blogging has changed since the early days, how bloggers can use their platform to promote positive messages, how Heather helped influence the creation of Twitter and how her readers helped her with her postpartum depression.

Feb 6, 2017

Here are the top ten parenting fails shared on the podcast so far! Two weeks ago, we started the countdown at number 30 and counted down to 21. In last week’s episode, we counted down from 20 to 11. And while all of those stories were great, and I hope you go back and listen to them if you haven’t already, this episode features the best of the best parenting fails shared on the podcast.

I realize that “best” is not really the best word when you’re talking about parenting fails, because one parenting fail isn’t better than another one - which made ranking these stories quite difficult. But I really think you will get something more than just comic relief by listening to these top 10 stories.

The takeaway I hope you get isn’t that mistakes are no big deal. It’s that we all make mistakes, and that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent. And that being the case, it’s much healthier to be able to laugh at yourself than beat yourself up - not to mention much more entertaining.

I'll continue to ask guests to share parenting fails, but here are the storytellers of the best fails shared on the podcast so far.

10. Kristen Chase, half of the duo from Cool Mom Picks, who were interviewed in episode 45 of the podcast.

9. Greg Pembroke, author of Reasons My Kid is Crying, who was interviewed in episode 4 of the podcast.

8. Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and author of more than 30 books, who was interviewed in episode 51of the podcast.

7. Hillary Frank, host of the Longest Shortest Time podcast, who was interviewed in episode 18 of the podcast.

6. Deva Dalporto, the YouTube sensation whose videos about parenthood have been downloaded millions of times, who was interviewed in episode 15 of the podcast.

5. Jill Smokler, the mom who created the Scary Mommy website, who was interviewed in episode 21 of the podcast.

4. Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, who was interviewed in episode 53 of the podcast.

3. Adam Mansbach, author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Go the F**k to Sleep and the book You Have to F**king Eat,who was interviewed in episode 33 of the podcast.

2. Jeannie Gaffigan, comedian Jim Gaffigan’s writing partner who also happens to be his wife and was his co-writer on the Jim Gaffigan Show, who was interviewed in episode 38 of the podcast.

1. Michele Lepe, best known as Nina on the Good Night Show on Sprout. It’s not easy to rank parenting fails, but I knew this story would be number one as soon as I decided to do a countdown. I was so grateful when Michele agreed to be my first guest ever on the podcast. It helped launch the show with a great interview and she knocked it out of the park when she shared her parenting fail.

Jan 30, 2017

This is Part Two in the three part series of the best parenting fails shared on the podcast so far. I realize that "best" is not really the best word to use when you’re talking about parenting fails, because one parenting fail isn’t better than another one, but it is fun to do “best of” countdowns. So, the takeaway I hope you get from listening to this series isn’t that mistakes are no big deal. It’s simply that we all make mistakes, and that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent.

Make sure you subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts, so you don't miss the Top 10 Parenting Fails next week. As for parenting fails 11 through 20, here are the parents who made the list:

20. Amy McCready, the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions and author of The Me, Me, Me Epidemic, who was interviwed in episode 47 of the podcast.

19. Nick Thune, the actor and stand up comedian who has a Netflix special titled Folk Hero and a Seeso special titled Good Guy, who was interviewed in episode 6 of the podcast.

18. Sarah Maizes, Vice President of Children's Programming for The Jim Henson Company author of Got Milf?: The Modern Mom’s Guide to Feeling Fabulous, Looking Great, and Rocking A Minivan, who was interviewed in episode 41 of the podcast.

17. James Breakwell, the father of four daughters known by his 700,000 followers on Twitter as @xplodingunicorn, who was interviewed in episode 12 of the podcast.

16. Ilana Wiles, the mom behind the Mommy Shorts website and author of The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting, who was interviewed in episode 54 of the podcast.

15. Greg Page, the founding member of the Wiggles also known as the Yellow Wiggle, who was interviewed in episode 8of the podcast.

14. Nate Bargatze, a comedian who has mutliple stand up comedy specials and has appeared on Conan and the Tonight Show multiple times, who was interviwed in episode 3 of the podcast.

13. Liz Gumbinner, half of the two moms who started Cool Mom Picks and host the Spawned Podcast, who were interviewed in episode 45 of the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast.

12. Jen Mann, author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat, who was interviewed in episode 5 of the podcast.

11. Sarah Turner, author of The Unmumsy Mum, who was interviwed in episode 25 of the podcast.

Jan 22, 2017

Parenting fails are a such a big part of this podcast, I thought it would be fun to create a countdown of the best parenting fails shared on the show. Because who doesn’t love a countdown?

Now, obviously, it is really strange to say one parenting fail is better than another. That’s obviously not the case. But there have been some really entertaining stories shared on the show. Of course, like any countdown, there are probably some stories that should have made the list but didn’t. And there are probably some stories ranked too high or too low.

The reality is that all of these stories are great for parents to hear, and the takeaway I hope you get from listening is that we all make mistakes, but it’s better to laugh than get stressed out to the point of crying.

So this is part 1 of 3 episodes counting down the "best" parenting fails shared on the podcast. Parents in Part 1 of the countdown include:

30. Norine Dworkin-McDaniel, one of moms behind the Science of Parenthood book and website, who was interviewed in episode 9 of the podcast.

29. Karen Alpert, the New York Times bestselling author of I Heart My Little A-Holes and I Want My Epidural Back, who was interviewed in episode 31 of the podcast.

28. Rosie Pope, who starred in the Bravo Network's Reality Show Pregnant in Heels, who was interviewed in episode 30 of the podcast.

27. Mary Elizabeth Williams, author of A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science and Cancer, who was interviewed in episode 35 of the podcast.

26. Brian Gordon, creator of the Fowl Language webcomic, who was interviewed in episode 29 of the podcast.

25. Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post, who was interviewed in episode 34 of the podcast.

24. Asha Dornfest, author of Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids, who was interviewed in episode 56 of the podcast.

23. Clint Edwards, author of This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, who was inteviewed in episode 10 of the podcast.

22. Amy Bellgardt, the mom who runs Mom Spark, who was interviewed in episode 57 of the podcast.

21. Mike Spohr, editor of BuzzFeed Parents, who was interviewed in episode 36 of the podcast.

Jan 12, 2017

Jennifer Lehr, author of ParentSpeak: What's Wrong with How We Talk to Our Children--and What to Say Instead is the featured guest this week. In our conversation, Jennifer will explain what "parentspeak" is and why we should change some of the common phrases we use with our kids.

Many of the common phrases Jennifer says not to use are phrases I say to my kids all the time, including "You're so cute," "Be careful," and "Can you say thank you?" These are phrases I'll probably continue to use, for better or worse, but I do think Jennifer makes some good points about how they have the potential to send a different message than what was intended.

Listen to the episode and you be the judge of whether "parentspeak" is a problem, too politically correct or somewhere in between.

Dec 30, 2016

This seventh edition of parenting fails shared on show reveal even the most talented parents aren't immune to parenting fails. Enjoy this episode knowing you aren't alone in your failures, so you might as well laugh at your circumstances rather than get stressed out to the point of crying.

Parents featured in this episode include:

Dec 28, 2016

For every parenting victory, there is a parenting fail - perhaps several. But rather than get stressed out to the point of tears, it's usually better to laugh about the madness of parenthood.

This episode is the sixth edition of parenting fails featuring parents who have appeared on the podcast to share their stories.

Parents featured in this episode include:

Dec 21, 2016

Amy Bellgardt of MomSpark.net is this week's featured guest. If you're a blogger or have any aspirations to be a blogger, whether it’s a blog about parenting or anything else, you’re really going to enjoy this interview.

A couple of months ago, Amy wrote a post on her blog titled How to Make Six Figures a Year Blogging. I thought the idea of making six figures a year writing about one of your passions was incredible, so I invited Amy to be on the show to talk about creating a successful blog, building an audience, how social media can help you, how to connect with brands to monetize your site and about her own success story.

Dec 16, 2016

Asha Dornfest, author of Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids, is this week's featured guest. In our conversation, we talk about her favorite hacks, how she got started learning new hacks and where she has had the most success discovering new parenting hacks.

Dec 6, 2016

It's here! My new book, The ParentNormal Crash Course: Everything Traditional Parenting Books Are Afraid to Tell You About Close Encounters of the Baby, Toddler and Third-Year Kind, is now available on Amazon.com!

Usually, I interview another parent on the show. But this week, my daughter Ava interviews me about my new book. Naturally, she asks some hard-hitting questions like, "Can I have a snack?" She eventually asks about the book, probably because she wants permission to have a snack. But whatever her motivation, she leads a great interview.

I hope you'll get the book for yourself or for a friend. It will make a great Christmas present or baby shower gift. Best of all, it will make you laugh on those days parenting makes you want to cry.

Nov 15, 2016

Ilana Wiles, the mom behind the Mommy Shorts website and the author of The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting, is this week's featured guest.

In our conversation, we talk about how the Mommy Shorts website began and evolved over the years, what advice she would give to someone starting a blog and her favorite parenting topics to write about, which happens to be great advice for all parents. And of course, we talk about The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting and what Ilana hopes parents take away from reading it.

Nov 1, 2016

Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series, is this week's featured podcast guest! Thanks to the success of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff is a #1 New York Times Bestseller, a 6-time Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award winner and one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

The post Ep. 53 Interview with Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, NYT Bestseller & 6-time Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award winner appeared first on The ParentNormal.

Oct 27, 2016

New York Times bestselling author Carl Hiaasen is this week’s featured guest. Carl’s many bestsellers include the Newberry Award-winning book Hoot, which was adapted into a movie starring Luke Wilson, Logan Lerman and Brie Larson.

In my conversation with Carl, we talk about how his newspaper background influences his writing, why he began writing young-adult books after a successful career writing books for adults and how responsive kids are to stories about the environment.

The post Ep. 52 Interview with Carl Hiaasen, author of many NYT bestsellers including the Newberry Award-winning book Hoot appeared first on The ParentNormal.

Oct 18, 2016

Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and author Dave Barry, who happens to be one of the funniest writers alive, is my featured guest this week. Dave has written more than 30 books and even had a CBS sitcom called Dave’s World based on his books. But if you ask him, his most enduring achievement is that one of his columns is largely responsible for the movement to observe International Talk Like a Pirate Day every year.

Oct 15, 2016

It's episode 50 of the podcast! In this milestone episode, I return to the ParentNormal Mailbag that I used to answer questions from on a regular basis when the show debuted. Since the school year is back in full swing, I answer your school-related questions.

Oct 7, 2016

Scholastic Classroom Magazines Editor Stephanie Smith is this week's featured guest. On occasion, I report the ParentNormal News, but I’ve never talked about real news on the show…until now.

Stephanie and I talk about what kinds of news kids are actually interested in reading about and how Scholastic writes their news differently based on their readers’ ages. And if you talk about the news now, you have to talk about the election. So we also discuss how to talk to kids about the election without leading them into a political argument with their friends. And finally, we talk about how Scholastic chooses their kid reporters.

Sep 23, 2016

Richard Rende, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist, researcher and educator is the featured guest this week. In our conversation, we talk about his new book Raising Can-Do Kids: Giving Children the Tools to Thrive in a Fast-Changing World.

We also talk about how much structure is too much for kids and about the advantages of a child with street smarts. We also discuss how lessons for entrepreneurs can be excellent lessons for kids too.

Sep 8, 2016

Amy McCready, the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions and the author of The Me, Me, Me Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World, is the featured guest this week.

Amy is a frequent guest on the TODAY Show. She has also appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and many other stations. But now she is on the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast to talk about how to know if your child is too entitled and what you can do about it. We also talk about positive parenting techniques, even when it comes to discipline.

Aug 30, 2016

Leslie Patricelli, children's author and illustrator of popular books such as Potty, Yummy Yucky, No No Yes Yes, Huggy Kissy and Big Little, is my guest this week. At the repeated request of my kids, I've read her books again and again and again - often in the same night.

In our conversation, we talk about how she got her start writing children’s books, how she’s able to get so much story out of so few words in her books and what advice she has for anyone who wants to write children’s books.

Aug 24, 2016

Two very cool moms are on the show this week - Kristen Chase and Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks. Since their Cool Mom Picks website was launched in 2006, it has grown into one of the best gear, style and design sites on the web for parents. Parents Magazine even called their site "The online arbiter of cool for the swingset crowd."

Kristen and Liz also host their own podcast called Spawned, which I definitely recommend. They are both reallyentertaining and enjoyable to listen to, which you’ll hear in this episode.

In our conversation, we talk about how Cool Mom Picks started, why it’s important for parents to share lessons and ideas with each other and some of the favorite things Kristen and Liz have reviewed on their site. They'll even offer advice for anyone thinking about starting their own website.

Aug 19, 2016

This week we’re wrapping up our summer series of parenting fails. I hope it’s been helpful for you to hear other parents share their fails, not only because the stories are often entertaining, but because I think it’s helpful to hear that no parent is perfect.

No matter how hard we try or how much we love our kids, parenting fails are inevitable. The best thing we can do for our kids is just say sorry and try not to make the same mistakes again. Parenting is stressful enough without beating yourself up for past mistakes.

Parents featured in this episode include:

Mary Elizabeth Williams from Episode 35. Mary Elizabeth is the author of A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science and Cancer.

Mike Spohr from Episode 36. Mike is the editor of BuzzFeed Parents.

Christopher Monks from Episode 37. Chris is the editor of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.

Jeannie Gaffigan from Episode 38. Jeannie is comedian Jim Gaffigan’s writing partner. She also happens to be his wife and co-writer on the Jim Gaffigan Show, which I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it yet.

Sarah Maizes from Episode 41. Sarah is the author of Got Milf?: The Modern Mom’s Guide to Feeling Fabulous, Looking Great, and Rocking A Minivan.

Aug 10, 2016

Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, a pioneering researcher on the physiology of consciousness, is the featured guest this week. He and renowned scientist Dr. Frederick Travis recently published Dharma Parenting: Understand Your Child’s Brilliant Brain for Greater Happiness Health, Success and Fulfillment.

In our discussion, we talk about the different brain types of children, modern science, ancient Ayurveda and how to meet the needs of children based on their personality. We also talk about how early you can detect the personality of your child and how foods can make a difference in your child’s behavior.

Jul 29, 2016

If you think you're the only parent who has parenting fails, you're very wrong. This is fourth episode of the podcast dedicated strictly to parenting fails, which every parent has on a regular basis.

The featured storytellers in this episode include:

Rosie Pope from episode 30: Rosie Pope starred in Bravo's Pregnant in Heels, a reality show on which she guided soon-to-be mothers and fathers through the joys and perils of preparing for parenthood. Rosie is also the author of Mommy IQ: The Complete Guide to Pregnancy and she is a contributing editor at Parents Magazine. Rosie is also the creative force behind MomPrep, her prenatal, postpardum and parenting education studio and Rosie Pope Maternity and Rosie Pope Baby, her maternity and baby clothing and accessories lines.

Karen Alpert from episode 31: Karen Alpert is the New York Times bestselling author of I Heart My Little A-Holes: A bunch of holy-crap moments no one ever told you about parenting. Her new book is I Want My Epidural Back: Adventures in Mediocre Parenting and it’s already getting rave reviews.

Mike Sacks from episode 32: Mike Sacks is a comedy writer, podcaster and editor at Vanity Fair. He has also published two books I consider to be required reading for anyone who loves great comedy writing:

Adam Mansbach from episode 33: Adam Mansbach is the author of #1 New York Times Bestseller Go the F**k to Sleep and You Have to F**king Eat.

Arianna Huffington from episode 34: Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post. She is also a mom who has been on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world and Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. Arianna has just released a new book called The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time.

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