Ep 75 Friendship, Sleepovers & Scaffolding Safety with Michelle Mitchell

In this powerful return to Conversations with Kristi, Kristi sits down with parenting author and speaker Michelle Mitchell to explore one of the most important parts of growing up: friendship.

Together, Kristi and Michelle unpack the questions parents often find themselves asking when their children begin navigating sleepovers, friendships, different family rules, technology, boundaries and social situations without them.

Rather than approaching these experiences from a place of fear, Michelle encourages parents to think about how they can scaffold safety while still protecting the fun, connection and memories that make childhood meaningful.

This conversation goes beyond simply asking whether something is "safe". Kristi and Michelle explore how parents can ask better questions, recognise when a response gives them useful information, help children develop self-advocacy skills, and gradually prepare them to navigate relationships independently.

Michelle also introduces the framework at the heart of her new book, Friendship Smart: safety, chemistry and effort. Together, they look at friendship as a set of skills children can learn and practise - skills that will support them not just through primary school and the tween years, but throughout their lives.

Content Covered in This Episode

Scaffolding Safety Around Sleepovers: Moving beyond simply deciding whether sleepovers are "safe" and instead thinking about the practical questions parents can ask before their child attends one.

Asking the Right Questions: Understanding why parents should feel comfortable asking who will be supervising, who else will be in the house, how technology will be managed and where children will be sleeping.

When Parents Get a Defensive Response: Exploring why a safe parent should be able to understand reasonable questions about their child's safety - and why defensiveness can provide useful information to parents.

Protecting Friendship Experiences: Recognising that safety and fun are not opposites. The goal is not to remove children from experiences, but to create the conditions where they can enjoy friendship safely.

Different Families, Different Rules: Navigating situations where children encounter family environments with different expectations, boundaries and approaches to technology, supervision and independence.

Teaching Children to Speak Up: Helping children develop the confidence to communicate when something doesn't feel right and understand that their voice ma