Overcompensating After Work? How Working Mum Guilt Turns Into Over-Parenting, with Family Therapist Jenny Brown

Have you ever walked in the door after work and gone into overdrive? Extra cuddles, extra stories, saying yes to everything, because you feel like you need to make up for the hours you weren't there?

You're not alone. And according to family therapist Jenny Brown, it might be part of what's making parenting feel so hard.

Jenny has worked in family therapy and child mental health since the 1980s. Her new book, The Parenting Paradox, looks at why parents today have more information than ever but feel more anxious and overwhelmed. In this episode, she isn't offering a list of parenting hacks. Instead, she invites us to look at our own part in the patterns we fall into with our kids and our partners, and to take some of the pressure off.

In this episode, we talk about:

Why parenting feels so intense right now, and how it became a "project"Why hearing other parents' stories can help more than expert adviceHow working mum guilt can lead to over-parenting, and what that does to our kids' confidenceThe difference between relating to our children and reacting to themWhat to say when your child says "I don't want to go to daycare" (or school)The over/under responsibility pattern in families and relationships, and how to share the load without taking overHow to spot a pattern that isn't working and start to change itWhy kids need both limits and connection, not a perfect parenting style

Connect with Jenny

Check out her new book The Parenting ParadoxFind out more Parent Hope Project

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