What if the biggest threat to your child's development isn't screen time, social media, or even the dangers we're constantly trying to protect them from? What if it's the fact that we're not letting them do anything on their own?

Today, I'm joined by Lenore Skenazy, founder of the Free-Range Kids movement, president of Let Grow, and the woman once labeled "America's Worst Mom" for letting her nine-year-old ride the New York City subway alone.

We're raising what might be the most supervised generation of children in history. Kids are expected to perform academically at younger and younger ages, yet we're increasingly reluctant to let them walk down the street, play outside without an adult, or solve their own problems.

And Lenore believes we're paying a serious price for it.

In this conversation, we explore how parental fear has transformed childhood, why independence is essential for developing confidence and resilience, and why simply taking away our kids' phones won't solve the problem.

We also talk about the surprising research on what kids actually want to do with their free time, how our obsession with safety can create entirely different risks, and what parents can do TODAY to start raising more capable, confident, independent kids.

Because our job isn't to eliminate every possible risk from childhood. It's to raise children who can navigate the world without us.

Resources mentioned:

Let Grow: https://letgrow.org — Free resources and programs to help families and schools give kids more independence.

Lenore's Book: Free Range Kids

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

If parenting has felt hard lately… you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Inside The Parent Lab, I’ll help you understand what’s actually going on underneath your child’s behavior — and give you simple, in-the-moment tools that actually work in real life.

You’ll get access to my full course library, live coaching calls with me, practical workshops, and our 21-Day Sibling Challenge designed to help reduce the fighting and build better relationships between your kids.

If you want support, tools, and a clear plan instead of just guessing your way through parenting… come join us inside The Parent Lab.

CLICK HERE to Try the Parent Lab Today

Other Links to help you and me:

• Get Jon’s Book Punishment-Free Parenting
• Preorder Jon’s Children’s Book Set My Feelings Free
• Follow Whole Parent on
  • Instagram,
  • Tiktok,
  • Facebook,...

“You know how to do this, so why can’t you just do it?” That sentence haunts a lot of ADHD kids and the parents who are trying their best. I sit down with Kim and Penn Holderness, award-winning creators and bestselling authors, to name what’s actually missing: executive function, working memory, and the brutal reality that starting can be the hardest step.

We get practical fast. We talk why chores and hygiene can feel harder than creative work, how boredom can feel like physical pain, and how shame builds when adults moralize mess or assume disrespect. Kim and Penn share the thinking behind their playful picture book, Get It Done And Have Fun: ADHD Hacks For Awesome Kids, including how their character Squeaky McGee helps kids feel less alone while learning real strategies.

We also go deeper into the emotional side of ADHD that rarely gets airtime: emotional dysregulation, “flooding,” and how school experiences can shape identity for years. We hold the nuance of “explanation, not excuse,” and why connection before correction changes everything when big feelings hit. Along the way, you’ll hear doable ADHD parenting tools like body doubling, timers, music, reducing friction in the home, and knowing when medication versus behavioral interventions makes sense.

If you’re raising an ADHD child (or realizing you might have ADHD too), this conversation will help you trade blame for understanding and build systems that actually work. Subscribe, share this with a parent who needs it, and leave a review with the one ADHD “stuck point” you want help solving.

Get "Get It Done And Have Fun" HERE

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

If parenting has felt hard lately… you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Inside The Parent Lab, I’ll help you understand what’s actually going on underneath your child’s behavior — and give you simple, in-the-moment tools that actually work in real life.

You’ll get access to my full course library, live coaching calls with me, practical workshops, and our 21-Day Sibling Challenge designed to help reduce the fighting and build better relationships between your kids.

If you want support, tools, and a clear plan instead of just guessing your way through parenting… come join us inside The Parent Lab.

CLICK HERE to Try the Parent Lab Today

Other Links to help you and me:

• Get Jon’s Book Punishment-Free Parenting
• Preorder Jon’s Children’s Book Set My Feelings Free
• Follow Whole Parent on
  • Instagram,
  • Tiktok,
  • Facebook,...