The ParentNormal

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Ep. 39 Parenting Fails Vol. II – featuring James Breakwell, Heather Brooker, Deva Dalporto, Hillary Frank and Jill Smokler

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Parent Fail 2

No matter how much we love our kids or how hard we try to be perfect, parenting fails are inevitable, which is why it’s important to tell our stories – so nobody gets fooled into thinking any parent is as perfect as they pretend to be on Facebook.

This is the second time I’ve done an episode dedicated to parenting fails. You can go back and listen to episode 11 of the podcast, which features the parenting fails from the first 10 guests on the show. Now, for this episode, I’ve compiled the parenting fails from guests 11 through 15.

Parenting Fail Storytellers in this Episode:

James Breakwell from episode 12: James is a father of four daughters under five, and if you’re one of the nearly 600,000 people who follow him on Twitter, you know him best as @xplodingunicorn.

Heather Brooker from episode 13: Heather hosts the Motherhood in Hollywood podcast and has appeared in shows such as The Office, The Mindy Project, Grey’s Anatomy and Cougar Town.

Deva Dalporto from episode 15: Deva is an author, actor, blogger and mom of two kids whose videos on YouTube have been downloaded millions of times, leading NBC to call her the “Weird Al of YouTube Moms.”

Hillary Frank from episode 18. Hillary is the host of The Longest Shortest Time podcast, which is the top parenting podcast on iTunes, and every other podcast platform for that matter.

Jill Smokler from episode 21. Jill is the mom who created the Scary Mommy website, which has really evolved into an entire community of parents.

Share Your Parenting Fail on the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast

I’m gathering the stories of parenting fails from listeners to share in future episodes. If you have a parenting fail to share, check out how easy it is to share your story on the show.

About Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Since this episode was originally released, the show has evolved into Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast. It’s a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, and so on….

By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. After all, the mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry.

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

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Links to popular episodes of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Ep. 37 Interview with McSweeney’s Internet Tendency Editor Christopher Monks

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chrismonks

Christopher Monks, editor of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, is the featured guest this week.

If you aren’t familiar with McSweeney’s, it features some of the smartest and most original humor online. It’s not a parenting website by any means, but one of the many things I appreciate about the site is that it doesn’t shy away from good parenting humor. As long as an essay is original and funny, no topic is off limits on McSweeney’s and I think that is a credit to Chris as the editor.

In our conversation, Chris and I will talk about what separates good parenting humor from tacky parenting jokes, how often he gets submissions about parenthood and what topics he’s tired of reading about. (Can you guess what topic everyone is writing about right now?)

Chris works out of his home, so we also talk about being a work-at-home dad and how he stays on schedule. And finally, I’ll ask him about working with some of the celebrity authors who contribute to McSweeney’s.

Also Mentioned in this Episode:

In this episode, I also announced that I’m inviting listeners to share their parenting fails on the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast. Every guest on the show has shared parenting fails that they can laugh about now, and now I want to hear your stories.

If you have a parenting fail that you can share in less than four minutes, use the record button below to let me hear it and share it on the podcast. Feel free to leave your name and hometown in the recording. If you’re a blogger and want to share the name of your website, feel free to do that too. I can’t wait to hear your stories.

About Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Since this episode was originally released, the show has evolved into Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast. It’s a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, and so on….

By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. After all, the mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry.

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

Connect with The ParentNormal on Social Media

Connect with all things ParentNormal on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Links to popular episodes of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Ep. 36 Interview with BuzzFeed Parents Editor Mike Spohr

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MikeSpohr

Mike Spohr, editor of BuzzFeed Parents, is this week’s featured guest. If you’re a writer or even if you’re just an aspiring writer, you are really going to enjoy this conversation.

Mike and I talk about the characteristics of a viral article and what it means to go viral. We talk about some of Mike’s favorite articles for BuzzFeed Parents and what kind of articles parents tend to gravitate towards. We also discuss Mike’s own family blog and what it takes to build an online fan base of readers.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

About Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Since this episode was originally released, the show has evolved into Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast. It’s a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, and so on….

By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. After all, the mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry.

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

Connect with The ParentNormal on Social Media

Connect with all things ParentNormal on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Links to popular episodes of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Ep. 35 Interview with author Mary Elizabeth Williams about the challenges of parenting through cancer

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a-series-of-catastrophes-miracles

Mary Elizabeth Williams was diagnosed with a rapidly fatal form of cancer while her kids were only 6 and 10 years old. In this episode, we talk about how she responded to her diagnosis and how she told her kids. We also talk about new treatments and what advice she has for parents struggling with a terminal illness.

Mary Elizabeth’s story has a happy ending. She is healthy and has a new book that tells her complete story titled A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science and Cancer. But there are many parents with young children who still don’t know how their story will end. If you want to help them in some way, Mary Elizabeth suggests donating to Gilda’s Club, which provided tremendous support to her and her family. As Mary Elizabeth puts it, cancer is not a one person disease. It impacts everyone in your life.

About Gilda’s Club

Gilda’s Club is a free nonprofit emotional and social support community for people living with cancer and their families and friends. It is named in memory of Gilda Radner, best known for her work on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, who succumbed to ovarian cancer in 1989.

In 2009, The Wellness Community and Gilda’s Club Worldwide merged, becoming a united organization under the name Cancer Support Community. As a result of this union, the Cancer Support Community is now one of the largest providers of cancer support worldwide, with Gilda’s Club and Cancer Support Community Affiliate locations across the country.

So if you are living with cancer or you know a friend who is, Mary Elizabeth definitely suggests you check out this organization for support.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

About Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Since this episode was originally released, the show has evolved into Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast. It’s a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, and so on….

By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. After all, the mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry.

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

Connect with The ParentNormal on Social Media

Connect with all things ParentNormal on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Links to popular episodes of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Ep. 34 Interview with Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post and author of The Sleep Revolution

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arianna-huffington

Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post, is my featured guest this week. Arianna is a mom who has been on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world and Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 most powerful women.

Arianna has just released a new book called The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time. In the book, she describes the crucial role that sleep plays in our every waking moment—and how we can harness its power to improve every aspect of our lives.

One of my favorite subjects happens to be sleep, even though I’m usually talking about how little sleep I get, so it was great to talk to Arianna and learn what advice she has for parents who struggle to find the time to sleep.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

About Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Since this episode was originally released, the show has evolved into Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast. It’s a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, and so on….

By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. After all, the mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry.

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

Connect with The ParentNormal on Social Media

Connect with all things ParentNormal on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Links to popular episodes of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

2 ParentNormal Books Now Available!

The ParentNormal Crash Course is three crash courses of parenting humor in one that feature hilarious parenting warnings about the daily grind of parenthood. Get it now on Amazon.

Perfect Parenting is the parenting book with the fewest words but most important lesson: You aren’t going to be a perfect parent. Get it now on Amazon.

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