What do you do when your child doesn’t have the words to express what they’re feeling?

In this episode of the Don’t Screw Up Your Kids Podcast, Kaleesha sits down with recording artist and nonprofit founder Lisa McClendon to talk about how children develop emotional intelligence, confidence, and resilience—and why struggle is a necessary part of that process.

Lisa shares how her organization, Yeye’s Village Expressive Arts Community, uses the arts to help young people build self-awareness, self-expression, and self-regulation through activities like music, drama, visual arts, and more.

This conversation challenges a common parenting instinct: making things easier for kids.

Because according to both experience and neuroscience, learning happens through friction, frustration, and doing things that feel hard.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why kids need challenge in order to grow
• How children mirror adult behavior
• The connection between the arts and brain development
• How to help kids manage emotions in healthy ways
• Why confidence is built by doing things scared
• The importance of parents taking care of themselves first

🎯 Free Resource for Parents:
20 Questions That Spark Real Conversations With Your Kids
👉 https://live.dsuyk.com/20-questions

🎤 Connect with Lisa McClendon:
https://yeyesvillage.org/
https://www.instagram.com/iamlisamcclendon
https://linktr.ee/lisamcclendon

🎬 Documentary: The Other Side of the Spotlight
Global Release: May 29

What does it really take to raise a Black son when you’re not Black?

In this episode, I sit down with Annie—a former educator and mother raising her 17-year-old son in a predominantly white community.

We talk about the parts of parenting most people don’t say out loud:
– preparing your child for how they’ll be perceived
– navigating racism in real time
– building a village that can support what you can’t teach alone
– and having honest conversations about identity, safety, and the world they’re growing up in

This isn’t a theoretical conversation.
It’s real, it’s honest, and it’s necessary.

If you’re a parent—or plan to be—this is one you need to hear.

In this episode of the Don’t Screw Up Your Kids Podcast, Kaleesha Washington sits down with her former student, Veronica Requejo, for an honest conversation about relationships, parenting, and the difficult decisions many parents face when a marriage becomes unhealthy.

Many people believe staying together “for the kids” is the right thing to do.

But what happens when the relationship itself becomes toxic?

Veronica shares her personal journey through marriage, recognizing patterns of narcissistic behavior, and the emotional conflict that comes with wanting to keep a family together while also protecting your children’s well-being.

In this conversation we discuss:

• Why many parents stay in unhappy relationships longer than they should
• What narcissistic behavior can look like inside a marriage
• The emotional toll of living in a toxic relationship
• The moment Veronica realized staying might not be best for her children
• What it takes to rebuild life as a single parent

This episode explores a powerful question many parents struggle with:

Are we protecting our kids by staying… or teaching them something we never intended?