With more and more kids getting into vaping - even in primary school - what can you do if your tween or teen is busted with a vape? And should you talk to younger kids about vaping? Paul Dillon from Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia joins parenting author Maggie Dent to talk about the risks of vaping and why a growing number of kids are doing it. Plus, what to do if your child gets hooked on these addictive, lolly-flavoured devices and how parents can help them quit.  The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.  Host: Maggie Dent  Producer: Josie Sargent  Consulting Producer: Carmen Myler  Executive Producer: Kim Lester  Sound design: Simon Branthwaite  Field recordings: Rebecca McLaren

Maggie Dent, the queen of common sense parenting, is back to tackle your modern family dilemmas, like vaping, starting high school, parental burnout and how to talk to kids about your family’s finances.   Plus a new bite-sized Help Me, Maggie episodes to answer your questions about your child’s toxic friend, if you should give a tween their own phone, or whether it’s okay for your kid to walk to school alone.   The first episode lands March 28, so subscribe or follow in the ABC listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.  Host: Maggie Dent  Producer: Josie Sargent  Consulting Producer: Carmen Myler  Executive Producer: Kim Lester  Sound design: Simon Branthwaite  Field recordings: Rebecca McLaren

Australia's best parenting podcast is back in 2023. Got a burning question about parenting that you need answered? Looking for some calm, common sense solutions? Maggie Dent is coming back to answer your sticky, tricky and everyday parenting dilemmas! Take a deep breath, find a quiet spot, and record a voice memo. Then email it to us: parentalasanything@abc.net.au

Remember family dinners growing up, sitting around the dinner table talking about your day while secretly feeding the dog pumpkin under the table? Eating together is an important family bonding experience, but what should you do when you can't even get your child off their device and to the dining table? Maggie Dent gives us a dinner-time reality check. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

Technology can be captivating, but what happens when the real world dulls in comparison? A mum is desperate to understand and connect with her tween who seems disinterested in anything outside of screens. Maggie Dent has some ideas on where to begin. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does no take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

Wild. Defiant. Intense. LOUD. Spirited kids are called lots of things and when you meet one, you know it. Their superhuman levels of perseverance and need to win every argument means parenting them can be exhausting. But handled the right way, these kids could well be tomorrow's leaders and change the world. Psychologist Angela Pruess has two spirited kids and she joins Maggie Dent to guide us through the intensity of these children, and how to parent these constantly challenging kids.

Staying up late, whispering secrets, and eating too much sugar with your best mates. What's not to love about sleepovers? But how do we protect our kids from potential threats, and how do you know who to trust? Maggie Dent talks this worried mum through the need-to-knows of sleepovers. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional. Child safety resources Maggie mentioned in this episode are the book Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept, by Jayneen Sanders and website Safe4Kids.

Losing your cool and yelling at your kids feels awful. Everyone feels awful, particularly you. And you swear you will never do it again. And then you do. A mum going through one of the most stressful times ever, separation, finds herself desperate to find another way. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does no take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

It's painful, difficult and one of the biggest things that will ever happen to your kids. But although Divorce and separation is tough, it doesn't have to damage our kids in the long term. Maggie Dent talks to child psychologist Vincent Papaleo about what divorcing parents must do — and not — if you want to shield your kids from the fallout.

Does your kid clam up and hide behind your legs when people try to talk to them? Is your teen too shy to socialize? Shyness can be really stressful and hard to understand if especially if you aren't shy! Maggie Dent tells how we can help our kids find their bravery in a gentle way. Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

How can you stop your kids fighting over every little thing and turn down the volume at home? Maggie Dent shares what to do when your kids are running amok and you just want to go hide in a quiet place. When do you step in and when do you step away, and how can you keep your cool in the process? Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

Is your house covered in reward charts for good behaviour? Are they working? While this quick-fix parenting hack can work for a while, it can actually cause more problems than it solves. And can make your child less, not more motivated to do the right thing. So if rewards (or on the flipside, punishments) are off the table, how can we motivate our kids to be better, act nicer, wee in the toilet, and clean up after themselves? Maggie Dent gets the hard truths from parenting and human behaviour expert Alfie Kohn, and practical advice from social psychologist Helen Street.

The day after childcare is politely known in parenting circles as an utter sh*tshow. There are tears, tantrums, and tearing up the house. A mother-of-three seeks out advice on how to help reset her children, and get the week back on track! Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

Resilience is a good attribute to encourage in our kids. But what if your child is a perfectionist who gives up at the slightest hint of failure? A laidback dad seeks out advice on his son's perfectionist tendencies. How can we teach our kids to fail, and fail often? Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

School refusal is a big issue, especially in the wake of the pandemic. While most kids will complain about school at some point along the way, what happens when it escalates into outright school refusal? Maggie Dent talks to education consultant and former Principal Adam Voight about how to tackle it head on. From the best ways to advocate for your child, to how to find support, plus the families who went through it and came out the other side. And we ask the big question; should you just change schools? For Rose's full story, listen on the ABC listen app.

All kids lie. At first, their tiny pre-school attempts at manipulation and dishonesty are amusing. So, when does it start to tip over into concerning? And what can you do about it? A concerned mum-of-three is searching for the truth and wondering if it's actually karma…. Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

There are many stereotypes around only children; that they're too adult, too spoilt, and lonely. One mother is on a mission to rail against it and raise a happy, well-adjusted child. The only question is: how? Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

Remember sleep? Long, uninterrupted sleep, in your own bed? If you ping-pong around from room to room, hear the pitter patter of toddler feet at night, or wake up with a toe up your nose, you're not alone. So, what can you do to save your sanity? And with so much conflicting advice, what is the best approach to get your little ones into their bed….and help them stay there? Because the knock-on effects can at this age can be huge; developmental, emotional, and mental. Maggie Dent talks to sleep whisperer Dr Chris Seton, sleep researcher Dr Fallon Cook, gets advice from Carly Grubb from The Beyond Sleep Training Project, and learns a trick or two from the formerly very sleep deprived actor Noni Hazlehurst. More info: Noni Hazlehurst reads Go the F*ck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach, 2011, Akashic Books. This episode contains some strong language.

When parenting styles clash, it's hard. Throw in a mother-in-law, and things get that little bit more complicated. With a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at her fingertips, today's caller is choosing to hand over a large part of parenting to her mother-in-law. Only, her parenting style is very different. Suggestions on how to parent differently have fallen on deaf ears, so what's next? Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.

Party, party, party! A desperate call for help about an out-of-control teenager. She's sneaking out, drinking, and disappearing from where she's meant to be. What's normal, what's not…and what's a parent to do? It's the first question in this new special series Help Me Maggie — where Maggie turns parenting agony aunt. (For great, balanced information to give to your teenager about drug and alcohol use, Maggie recommends DARTA, Reach Out, The Brave Program and headspace). Do you have a question for Maggie? Send a voice memo to parentalasanything@abc.net.au; and include your name and contact number. The advice provided in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. If you require further advice specific to your needs please consult a professional.