002: Travel Guilt, Playing Hooky, and Getting Judged as Parents

00:34 - Combating Burnout Mandy was on “vacation” and has to make an appearance at another conference. Her daughter doesn’t want her to go and Mandy feels really bad about it. She’s been on the road a lot the past six months and is feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. JC says it’s important to learn to say no and recharge by doing hobbies. Chris says it comes down to priorities. 06:12 - Playing Activity Hooky: AS A PARENT! Mandy also feels bad because she knowingly skipped her daughter’s gymnastics practice because after returning from her trip, she didn’t feel like going, her daughter didn’t bring it up, so they didn’t go! Revelation: Other people have been known to do it too! The panelists talk about how most of them grew up with their parent’s beliefs being drilled into them that if you sign up for a commitment, you do the commitment. Allison had the opposite upbringing when it came to that though. 16:45 - Feeling Judgement As well as feeling bad about all of the above, Mandy has people in her life that judge her parenting style -- namely nosy neighbors. The panel talks about the differences between mothers and fathers getting judged and possibly having different licenses in the gender department when it comes to being parents. They also discuss kids playing outside these days and that it is scary to let your child run free sometimes but come to the consensus that it’s generally necessary and healthy. 27:07 - Letting Kids Figure it Out by Themselves The panelists talk about how it’s important for kids to learn conflict resolution instead of solving all of their problems for them. Eventually, they WILL work it out! They also agree they like to let their kids be themselves and have some independence when it comes to dressing themselves. Genius/Fail Moments of the Week: Allison: Her son is afraid of smoke detectors! #FAIL Josh: Unknowingly let his daughter stay home from school for a snow day -- from the wrong school! #FAIL Chris: Played Survive: Escape From Atlantis all day to keep his kids busy during a snow day! #GENIUS Mandy: Signed up for the food delivery service, Plated. #GENIUS Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev on Twitter or email us at [email protected]. Support us via Patreon and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel: Allison McMillan Chris Sexton JC Avena Josh Puetz Mandy Moore