Today we talk with listener Seanna Mallon about her struggles to be mindful when responding to her two spirited young sons (and I can confirm from direct experience that they are indeed spirited – we actually had to re-record the episode after we simply couldn’t continue the first interview due to her children’s continual interruptions!).

I share some basic tools for staying calm in difficult moments; for a deeper dive on this topic, do join the Tame Your Triggers workshop!

https://yourparentingmojo.com/tameyourtriggers/ (Click here to join the Tame Your Triggers workshop)

Also, I wanted to let you know that the Finding Your Parenting Mojo membership (which hasn’t been open to new members since October 2018 and likely won’t reopen for at least six months) is now accepting new members!  If you love the ideas you hear about in the podcast but struggle to apply them in your real life with your real family, then this group is for you.

We start by reducing the incidence of tantrums at your house, and once we’ve created a bit of breathing room for you we take a step back and get super clear on your parenting goals.  Then we learn how to Parent as a Team by getting on the same page with your co-parent on the topics that are really important – and learning when to just ‘let it go.’

https://yourparentingmojo.com/membership/ (Click here to learn more about the Finding Your Parenting Mojo membership)

I’m looking forward to meeting you in the group!



Read Full Transcript

Jen: 02:00 Hello and welcome to the Sharing Your Parenting Mojo series of episodes where we turn the tables and talk with listeners about things that they have learned from the show and also things they're struggling with in their parenting and ways that they might be able to move forward. Today, we’re here with Seanna Mallon. Welcome Seanna.
Seanna: 02:17 Hi, how are you?
Jen: 02:18 Good, thank you. Thanks so much for being on the show. Can you tell us a little bit about you and your family?
Seanna: 02:23 Yes. So me and my husband, we live in Long Island, New York. We have two boys. My older son is almost five and a half and my younger son is almost two. My husband has two jobs, a regular day job, 9-5 and he also owns his own business. So, he's gone 7 days a week working. Sometimes he doesn't get back until 8:30 or 9 and completely misses bedtime. So a lot of the parenting stuff has been left to me and I'm also working on my Ph.D. I have to finish writing my dissertation and that has kind of taken a back seat to all the parenting things. So, I'm hoping to get back into that.
Jen: 03:14 So, you're not super busy then?
Seanna: 03:18 No. Not at all.
Jen: 03:19 What is this the subject of your dissertation?
Seanna: 03:21 So my degree is in Atmospheric Science. I have a Bachelor's in Chemistry. So my focus is on air pollution and the interactions of particles in the atmosphere with the gas phase.
Jen: 03:35 Oh, I understood everything until you said gas phase and then you lost me.
Seanna: 03:43 It's technical.
Jen: 03:44 Okay. Yes, I understand. So, I think you have spirited children in your home, is that right?
Seanna: 03:50 I do. I have two spirited children and my husband and myself are also, we were spirited children and are still spirited adults.
Jen: 04:01 And have you listened to the episode on Raising Your Spirited Child?
Seanna: 04:05 I have. I've listened to it twice and I've also read the book and I love it. It was one of the most helpful books I have ever read. I've read a bunch of parenting books and I think this one is probably one of my favorites.
Jen: 04:19 Yeah. It's really powerful, isn't it? To understand that there are tools that you can use to help you better empathize with and support children who need that little bit of extra support. Is there one tool that either that we discussed during the interview that you learned from the book that was particularly useful to you?