Your Kids Don’t Suck: Cultivating Closeness with your Kids through Non-Coercive, Conscious Parenting

• Re-Release: You Asked Us: Should I Confront My Dysfunctional Parents? And How do I Apologize to my Child?

  Episode re-release: In this episode, we dive into a Q&A format, addressing two thought-provoking questions from our listeners.Question one comes from a non-parent who comes to terms with the ways in which their own parents hurt them. Many of us grapple with the realization that our parents may have unintentionally or intentionally hurt us in the past, but the decision to confront them as an adult is a complex one. We share our insights on whether it's the right time for one listener to tackle this emotionally charged issue. Drawing from our experience as therapists, we discuss the potential benefits and risks of such a conversation.Question two, we discuss another listener’s question around effective ways to apologize and reconnect with your child after moments of rupture where we feel we’ve acted out of alignment with our values. We provide practical tips for repairing the parent-child relationship and explore what a sincere, relationship-focused, and deeply meaningful apology looks and sounds like. Stay tuned for more Q&A episodes in Season 4, and write us your questions at [email protected] Topics:Confronting parents about past harm: timing, risks, and potential benefitsNavigating the complexity of deciding whether or not to bring up a painful history with your parentsTherapist insights on healing past wounds without re-traumatizing yourselfRepairing connection with your child after ruptureWhat a meaningful, values-aligned apology to your child sounds like in practicePractical strategies for rebuilding trust and modeling accountability between parent and childSupport YKDS https://buymeacoffee.com/yourkidsdontsuckBook a mentor session with Rythea https://calendly.com/rytheaConnect with Cara https://www.caratedstonetherapy.com/We (Rythea and Cara) are white, cis-gender, straight, middle-class women living with financial and societal privilege. Our perspectives are limited. We are committed to featuring guests from diverse lived experiences to reflect the realities of a broader parenting community. 25% of proceeds from this podcast go to creators of color who have shaped our work.Rate & Review: Your feedback helps us reach more families who are parenting with presence, resistance, and love. Let us know what this episode stirred in you.

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• Re-release: What About Our Partners?

  Episode re-release: In this episode of Your Kids Don't Suck, hosts Rythea Lee and Cara Tedstone dive deep into the world of non-coercive parenting within the framework of coparenting relationships. Joined by Rythea's partner Will and Cara's husband Sanjay, the conversation unfolds into a heartfelt exploration of parenting dynamics and philosophies.Sanjay and Will offer unique perspectives on parenting, bringing diverse backgrounds and value systems to the table. Together, they share their personal journeys into the realm of non-coercive parenting, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs encountered along the way. Listeners gain insight into the reasons behind Will and Sanjay's embrace of non-coercive parenting as a guiding philosophy. Drawing from their own experiences and upbringing, they reflect on how traditional parenting models shaped their worldview and the pivotal moments that led them to explore alternative approaches. You'll hear about the nuances of non-coercive parenting, with Will and Sanjay candidly discussing the toughest aspects of adopting this mindset.From confronting societal norms to reconciling with their own upbringing, they offer a raw and honest portrayal of the obstacles faced on their journey. Tune in to this heartfelt and illuminating episode of YKDS to discover what it's like for non-mothers to parent in a way that challenges convention and nurtures connection!Key Topics:What non-coercive parenting looks like within co-parenting relationshipsHow traditional parenting models shape current parenting choicesThe pivotal moments that led Will and Sanjay to embrace non-coercive parentingChallenges of practicing non-coercive parenting in a society built on controlHonest reflections on reconciling past experiences with new parenting philosophiesBuilding connection and collaboration in parenting while resisting conventionSupport YKDS https://buymeacoffee.com/yourkidsdontsuckBook a mentor session with Rythea https://calendly.com/rytheaConnect with Cara https://www.caratedstonetherapy.com/We (Rythea and Cara) are white, cis-gender, straight, middle-class women living with financial and societal privilege. Our perspectives are limited. We are committed to featuring guests from diverse lived experiences to reflect the realities of a broader parenting community. 25% of proceeds from this podcast go to creators of color who have shaped our work.Rate & Review: Your feedback helps us reach more families who are parenting with presence, resistance, and love. Let us know what this episode stirred in you.

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• Fighting Facism & Finding Your Village with Yolanda Williams of Parenting Decolonized

  Many parents who reject authoritarian parenting don’t have a clear model to follow. It can feel isolating, overwhelming, and exhausting—especially in a society that prioritizes punishment, control, and individualism over connection and collaboration.In this confronting and compassion-filled episode, Rythea speaks with Yolanda Williams, an activist and single parent raising her neurodivergent child with intention, autonomy, and resistance at the core. Rythea asks about the connection between facism and childism during this moment in history, and Yolanda expertly breaks this down. How is our parenting directly related to fighting against or participating in fascist patterns?Yolanda expands on the need for building a village—a local community that supports her child while also inviting her child to actively participate in building that community. She speaks about the moment she refused to let survival mode sever her bond with her child, how she is intentionally shaping her physical environments to support her values and her family’s needs, and how community-building has become part of her parenting practice. Yolanda’s insightful vision weaves its way through this conversation as she talks about parenting an autistic and developmentally delayed child—and how conscious parenting looks different when collaboration cues are not available. She brings voice to the reality of being a Black, disabled, solo parent, and the ongoing work of balancing self-responsibility with survival, in an unsupportive social and political system.Key Topics:Building intentional community as a parenting practiceParenting while disabled, solo, and under-resourcedRefusing to let survival disconnect you from your childCreating physical spaces that reflect anti-oppressive valuesConscious parenting with neurodivergent childrenRedefining the “village” as real, local, and reciprocalYolanda Williams is the founder of Parenting Decolonized, and is currently documenting her journey of building a farm. Follow along Yolanda's farming journey https://www.youtube.com/@WildandFreeFamilyFarmListen to Parenting Decolonized podcast https://parentingdecolonized.com/podcast/Support YKDS https://buymeacoffee.com/yourkidsdontsuckBook a mentor session with Rythea https://calendly.com/rytheaConnect with Cara https://www.caratedstonetherapy.com/We (Rythea and Cara) are white, cis-gender, straight, middle-class women living with financial and societal privilege. Our perspectives are limited. We are committed to featuring guests from diverse lived experiences to reflect the realities of a broader parenting community. 25% of proceeds from this podcast go to creators of color who have shaped our work.Rate & Review: Your feedback helps us reach more families who are parenting with presence, resistance, and love. Let us know what this episode stirred in you.

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• Repressed Memories and Childhood Sexual Abuse with Abigail Gunn

  Disclaimer: This episode includes discussion of sensitive topics, including abuse, sexual abuse, and childhood sexual abuse. Although there are no explicit descriptions of child sexual abuse during the episode, please take care of yourself as you listen. If this content feels overwhelming or triggering, we encourage you to pause or take a break. Your safety and well-being matter more than anything we share here.In this potent and deeply personal episode, Cara and Rythea sit down with Abigail Gunn, MsEd, LMHC, LPC, licensed therapist and founder of People Make Sense. Abigail is changing the way we talk about childhood trauma, dissociation, and recovery—with compassion, sharp clarity, and a commitment to truth.This conversation explores how parenting can become a powerful catalyst for facing your trauma. Abigail shares how having children of her own helped surface repressed memories, and how her time in Al-Anon played a key role in awakening her from long-standing dissociation.Rythea also shares her experience of retrieving her own repressed memories through dreams, writing, and reenactment in therapy. Together, Cara, Rythea, and Abby explore what happens when a child is forced to choose between their own humanity and the perceived humanity of the adults around them. They discuss how trauma shapes the developing brain, and how dissociation becomes a survival strategy that can last long into adulthood.Key Topics:Childhood trauma as a profound and formative experienceThe myth of “false memory syndrome” and its negative impact on survivorsTrauma as neurodiversity—and what it teaches us about the brainHow trauma interrupts development and distorts the crucial stage of reality testingThe weaponization of attachment, care, pleasure, and love performed by perpetratorsParenting as a trigger and pathway to memory retrievalReclaiming self-worth by placing responsibility on abusersThe body’s role in healing and bringing forth memoriesAbigail shares how recovering memories of her own childhood sexual abuse led her to challenge dominant narratives in psychology, including the myth of “False Memory Syndrome.” She brings a fierce softness to the conversation—grounded in lived experience—and reminds us that trauma is not a disorder, but a normal response to harm.Get to know Abigail Gunn and People Make Sense https://peoplemakesense.comFollow Abigail Gunn on Instagram & TikTok @people.make.senseSupport YKDS https://buymeacoffee.com/yourkidsdontsuckSupport the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/yourkidsdontsuckWe (Rythea and Cara) are white, cis-gender, straight, middle-class women living with financial and societal privilege. Our perspectives are limited and do not reflect the realities of all our listeners. We’re committed to featuring guests who differ in gender, race, class, ability, sexuality, and lived experience in order to broaden this conversation and reflect more voices. 25% of proceeds from this podcast go to creators of color who have shaped our growth and healing.Rate & Review: Moved by this episode? Leave a review and help us reach more parents and survivors walking this path. Healing is possible—and no, your kids don’t suck.

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• We Are Frauds: How These Parenting Experts Fall on Their Faces Again and Again

  Cara and Rythea dig into how hypocritical they feel as parent advocates when they fall so short on their own commitment to staying loving. They have a good laugh and some deep process about how childhood wounds and unconscious aspects of self show up when they least expect it.They explore specific situations where they have worked hard to be different, but keep getting triggered into the same kind of reactivity. They brainstorm (and unravel) how the umbrella of non-coercive, collaborative philosophy keeps them grounded and afloat, even as they make constant mistakes.Cara comes clean about the bedtime triggers she faces with her daughter and how demoralizing her trauma responses make her feel. Rythea exposes how a mother-wound with her own parent blocks her from allowing her child to individuate gracefully. Together, they ask: how does the parenting approach we use bring us back to our hearts and playful connection with our children through the long haul? What does it mean to model a process for our children when we’re the ones unraveling? Key Topics:Feeling powerless or threatened by your child’s autonomyParenting from your wounded partsModeling emotional processing in real timeCreating micro-moments of connection, even in ruptureHonoring your child’s developing identity and valuesThe tension between belief and behavior in parentingIf you’ve ever wondered, Am I even doing this right?, this episode is for you. Cara and Rythea remind us that real parenting is messy—and that returning to connection, especially after rupture, is where the healing begins.Tools & Resources Mentioned:The EARS acronym: Empathize, Affirm, Relate, Support/SolveParts Work (Internal Family Systems)Co-counseling techniques for emotional processingBook a parent mentor session with Rythea: https://rythea.com/for-parents Check out Cara’s Relationship Toolkit: https://www.caratedstonetherapy.com/your-relationship-toolkit Support YKDS https://buymeacoffee.com/yourkidsdontsuck It’s important and essential to put our voices (Rythea and Cara) in a context. We are two white, cis-gender, straight, middle-class women living with financial and societal privilege. Because of this, our perspectives are limited and do not reflect the realities of all our listeners. This podcast will feature guests with expertise around conscious parenting who differ in gender, race, class, abilities, sexual orientation, and histories from us, to broaden the conversation and reflect the lives of as many people as possible. 25% of the proceeds of this podcast will go to creators of color who have been mentors and influences on our work and in our growth as parents.Rate & Review Share your thoughts! Your feedback helps us reach more parents looking to embrace collaborative, non-coercive parenting.

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