It's natural to want our kids to be socially successful. We want them to have friends and to feel a sense of belonging. We might feel pressure for them to act a certain way in public and find ourselves stepping in whenever we sense conflict. The problem is that when we swoop in and take over, this can actually stop kids from building their own social skills. We get to be there to scaffold these skills, but it requires us to give our kids space to reflect, think, and problem solve on their own.

Picture this scenario: Leo is approaching the table where Nina is already playing. Nina yells “No Leo! I’m using ALL the playdough and ALL the tools. These are MINE.”

Now what? 

Sometimes kids have ...

 00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I get to bring you such an incredible guest. I got to hang out with Congresswoman Becca Balint to chat about improving mental health outcomes through government funding. Representative Balint is a mom, a teacher, a progressive leader who comes to Washington ready to fight for working families. Becca's the first woman and openly LGBTQ plus person to represent her home state of Vermont. She's the daughter of a working class mother and immigrant father, and Becca is deeply committed to defending American democracy and protecting vulnerable communities. While the majority leader of the Vermont State Senate, Becca led t...

00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village. And today, I got to hang out with Maria Davis-Pierre to chat about Black families who are navigating autism diagnoses and what that Black side of autism looks like, both within the Black community and outside of the Black community. Maria graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor's of Science in Sociology and went on to obtain a Master's of Science in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. As a licensed mental health therapist, Maria primarily works with Black parents to provide support through education and advocacy training. Her passion for working in the field stems from her personal j...

 00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village and, boy, do I have an episode for you today. I have not stopped talking about this or thinking about it, to be honest. I've had so many conversations with people in my real life after having recorded this episode. I got to hang out with Dr. Steve Hodges. He's a professor of pediatric urology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He's a leading authority on childhood toileting issues, and he's dedicated to debunking common myths surrounding daytime and bedtime wetting and poop accidents. He emphasizes that these issues are never a child's fault. Dr. Hodges, residing in Winston -Salem, North Carolina, with his family, ...

00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village. Today I get to share a conversation with you about why mental and emotional labor is exhausting modern moms. I got to hang out with my friend Erica Djossa. She's the CEO and founder of Momwell and a registered psychotherapist specializing in maternal mental health with over a decade of experience. As a mom of three rambunctious young boys, Erica understands first -hand the challenges of motherhood. Perfectionism, pressure, and loss of identity fueled her battle with postpartum depression, and she realized how difficult it is to seek care. She founded Momwell to set a standard of care for providers and has ensured mom -cent...

00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village and today I get to hang out with Dr. Mona Amin. She is a board -certified general pediatrician, a lactation educator, parenting coach, and a mom. She's been featured on Parents .com, Good Morning America, ABC Nightly News, Romper, Condé Nast Traveler, Very Well Family, and NBC News. We got to chat on the impact of focusing focusing on children's weight. She works in private practice, and her passions include early childhood development, focusing on the impact of healthy sleep, a healthy relationship with food, and healthy coping skills in the first seven years of a child's life. She has parenting and how -to courses to guid...

“I want her to know how to get angry without hitting,” my friend said to me as she loaded her 2-year-old into the car. 

It had been a challenging moment, complete with a full tantrum and hitting because her daughter was frustrated about leaving the park.

When kids don’t know how to handle difficult emotions, they might hit, bite, kick, or scream. Often, we respond to the behavior: we block the hitting and make sure they know it’s not okay to hit. But then, the next time they’re frustrated, they hit again. 

Kids can’t make a different choice if they don’t know how. If they don’t know what to do when their body feels out of control from a rush of anger, they’re going to continue hitting, k...

 00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village. And in this episode, I got to dive in with Lori Sugarman -Li about how to raise kids who participate in taking care of the home. You'll hear about it in this episode, like it's something that's been a challenge for me is really looking at taking care of the home, doing dishes, all that jazz versus playing with Sage and just hanging out and not doing all of those things when he's asleep. And I think I really just feel this pull to not have all of our time be spent on household things when I'm out of work and when he's awake. We got to have a real honest conversation about it. Lori believes deeply in the power of families. She...

00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I have such a special guest for you. I got to hang out with Dr. Stephen Nowicki. He is a professor of psychology at Emory University, and he has served as the director of clinical training, head of the psychological center, and head of the counseling center. Dr. Nowicki remains in active clinical practice as a diplomat in psychology, and let me tell you, he is a gem. His latest book, Raising a Socially Successful Child: Teaching Kids the Nonverbal Language They Need to Communicate, Connect, and Thrive, is so good, and we had such a rich discussion. Honestly, the only thing I wish I had was more time. I could have...

 00:00:00    Alyssa

You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I got to hang out with Lisa Myers. She's the inventor and founding mama of Ceres Chill, a breast milk storage company that replaces the 1970s bulky cooler technology that had been holding people back for decades. In just the last few years, she became a mother of two, was promoted to equity partner, and created a company, all while enduring universal breastfeeding challenges. She looked for ways to make work-life pumping more manageable, but came up empty -handed or disappointed with cumbersome, icky, short -lived, tell -tale milk storage options. Being incredibly stubborn and a resourceful mom, she got down to ...