Parents of the Year

Does your child cover their ears when music plays, refuse certain clothes, or become overwhelmed by everyday sounds and smells? You might wonder whether to accommodate their sensory sensitivities or encourage them to push through.
In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Dr. Caroline shares their experiences of living in a household with ADHD and sensory sensitivities. From Dr. Caroline's struggle with background noise to their daughters' reactions to food textures, smells, and physical touch, they explore how sensory overload affects everyday family life.
They discuss the difference between sensory discomfort and anxiety, when accommodations are helpful, and when children need support building coping skills. Andrew also shares how he's learned to adjust his own habits without expecting the entire household to change.
Discover practical ways to recognise sensory overload, reduce unnecessary stress, respect individual needs, and help children manage situations they can't always avoid.
Listen now to learn how your family can make room for sensory needs while building confidence and independence.

Homework Activities 

These activities are drawn from Andrew and Dr. Caroline's conversation, with practical prompts added so listeners can try them at home.
Activity 1: Create a Sensory Sensitivity Map
Spend a few days observing when your child becomes uncomfortable with sounds, smells, textures, clothing, or touch. Notice whether reactions are stronger after school, during busy activities, or when they're tired.
Try this: Ask your child, "Which part of your day feels the loudest, busiest, or most uncomfortable?"
Activity 2: Make a Sensory Coping Kit
Work together to choose tools that help. Dr. Caroline discusses headphones, distractions, and planning for recovery after demanding outings.
Try this: Before grocery shopping, ask, "Would headphones help today, or would you prefer a shorter trip?"
Activity 3: Practise Asking for Accommodations
Andrew explains that he's more willing to adjust the music when someone explains they're having a difficult day rather than demanding that everything change.
Try this: Practise saying, "The music feels too loud for me right now. Could we turn it down a little?"
Activity 4: Plan for Sensory Recovery
Dr. Caroline describes how a trip to the grocery store can use up a significant amount of a child's energy.
Try this: After a noisy outing, leave room for a quiet activity before expecting homework, chores, or social interaction.
Activity 5: Decide What Really Needs Practising
Some sensory issues can be managed through simple adjustments, like buying comfortable socks or avoiding an unpleasant spoon. Other situations, including wearing appropriate clothing in cold weather, need more deliberate support.
Try this: Choose one sensory difficulty and ask, "Does this affect safety or something my child needs to do regularly?"
For essential activities, use gradual, child-led practice rather than forcing a child through severe distress.

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Are You Preparing Your Kids for Life Without You?
Your child can get good grades, follow the rules, and still struggle with everyday responsibilities when they leave home. So, how do you prepare them for real life?
In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Dr. Caroline shares what they've learned watching their eldest daughter navigate her first weeks of independent living. From budgeting and meal planning to car maintenance, roommate conflicts, and difficult conversations, they're seeing which childhood lessons are paying off.
They discuss why emotional regulation, problem-solving, and healthy boundaries matter long before adulthood. You'll also hear how small opportunities to make decisions, handle discomfort, and take responsibility can build lasting confidence.
Whether your child is five or fifteen, this conversation offers practical ways to prepare them for greater independence without stepping in to solve every problem.
Listen to discover how everyday parenting moments can help your child become a capable, confident young adult.

Homework Ideas
These activities are drawn from the experiences and parenting strategies Andrew and Dr. Caroline discuss in the episode. They're adapted into exercises parents can try at home.
Activity 1: Let Your Child Solve One Problem
Choose an age-appropriate problem your child can take responsibility for, from a missing school item to booking an appointment.
Ask: "What's the problem? What options do you have? What do you think you should do?"
Goal: Build problem-solving confidence without immediately providing the answer.
Activity 2: Practise Speaking Up
Encourage your child to make a request or ask a question independently. Younger children can ask a restaurant server for a takeaway container. Teens can make a phone call to arrange an appointment.
Goal: Help children become comfortable communicating with adults and advocating for themselves.
Activity 3: Practise a Difficult Conversation
Choose a small disagreement and practise expressing different opinions respectfully. Encourage listening, acknowledging the other person's concerns, and looking for possible solutions.
Goal: Develop healthy communication and conflict-resolution skills.
Activity 4: Give Your Child One New Responsibility
Have your child plan a meal, manage a small budget, organize their weekly schedule, or learn a household task.
Give guidance when needed, but let them make manageable decisions.
Goal: Strengthen planning, time management, and everyday responsibility.
Activity 5: Make Room for Discomfort
When your child experiences frustration or disappointment, acknowledge their feelings before offering solutions.
Ask: "What might help you get through this?" Allow space for manageable discomfort while remaining available for support.
Goal: Help children practise emotional regulation and tolerate everyday setbacks.

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Can you remember the last time you did something simply because you loved it?
Parenthood can slowly become a cycle of practices, appointments, work, meals, driving, and making sure everyone else has what they need. Somewhere inside all that responsibility, your own interests can become harder to recognize.
In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Dr. Caroline talk with Amanda Alcorn, mother of seven and creator of The Embodied Mother, about what happens when parenting becomes a grind and your joy starts coming almost entirely through your children.
Amanda shares the moment she realized she had spent years caring for everyone else while losing touch with herself. The conversation explores why changing your surroundings may not change how you live, how to identify what no longer feels right, why small experiments can help you rediscover what you enjoy, and how quiet time, nature, movement, and less time online can create space to reconnect with yourself.
You do not need to move to Hawaii or completely reinvent your life. Sometimes the starting point is much smaller: noticing what drains you, remembering what once made you feel alive, and making room to try something different.
If you've ever thought, “I don't even know what I enjoy anymore,” this conversation is worth hearing.
About Amanda Alcorn
Amanda Alcorn is the founder of Wild Uhane and a mother of seven living on Oʻahu. She helps women reconnect with themselves and rediscover joy through intentional living, movement, nature, and spiritual connection.

Resources
Email: amanda@wilduhane.com
Website: www.wilduhane.com
Programs: The Embodied Mother | The Embodied Life
Book: Love & Manifestation for Your Wild Child – Available on Amazon
Substack: Available through Wild Uhane

Homework for Parents

The “What Doesn't Feel Good?” Audit

If you can't answer, “What brings me joy?” don't force it.
Start with the easier question:
What doesn't feel good anymore?
Write down three parts of your current routine that consistently leave you depleted, resentful, disconnected, or rushed.
Beside each one, ask:
Does this actually need to stay this way?
Choose one small adjustment to test this week.

Five Minutes Without Input
Amanda recommends beginning with just five minutes of quiet.
No scrolling.
No podcast.
No email.
No chores.
Sit somewhere comfortable, follow your breathing, and notice what is happening in your body and mind.
You don't need to accomplish anything during those five minutes.

Rediscover Joy Through Experiments
Don't wait until you suddenly remember your passion.
Experiment.
Write down five things you used to enjoy or have been curious about trying.
Choose one this week.
It could be riding a bike, gardening, painting, hiking, swimming, reading outside, dancing, baking, photography, woodworking, or something completely new.
Afterward, ask:
Did I want more of that?
That answer is useful information.

Put Your Phone Away for One Family Window

Choose one predictable period each day when your phone is physically out of reach.
Try dinner, the first 30 minutes after everyone gets home, a walk, or bedtime.
Notice what happens when your attention isn't split between the people in front of you and everyone online.

Ask the Question You've Been Avoiding
Complete these sentences privately:
I thought family life would feel like...
Right now, it feels like...
I wish we had more...
I wish we had less...
One thing I would change if I gave myself permission is...
You don't need to make a huge decision after answering them. The goal is to get honest about the life you're currently living.

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Why can a teen struggle with motivation in one school and suddenly thrive in another?
Andrew and Dr. Caroline are joined by their daughter Willow for a candid conversation about her new high school experience and the surprising difference that autonomy, flexibility, and trust have made.
After years of frustration with rigid schedules, sitting in classrooms for hours, being expected to learn one way, and waiting for everyone else to catch up, Willow is now learning at her own pace. She can choose where she works, seek help from teachers who explain things in ways that make sense to her, take breaks when she needs them, and move through coursework as quickly as she is able.
The result? A teenager with ADHD who Dr. Caroline worried might struggle with this much independence is working ahead, asking for help, managing her responsibilities, and actually enjoying school.
They also talk about why being trusted can change motivation, what happens when teenagers are given meaningful responsibility, finding the right learning environment, friendships without the usual school cliques, and Willow's experience navigating high school without social media.
If you've ever wondered whether a child's lack of motivation might have something to do with the environment they're being asked to learn in, this conversation offers plenty to think about.

Homework for Parents

The Motivation Audit

Think about one area where your teen repeatedly procrastinates, resists or needs reminders.
Instead of starting with "How do I make them do it?", look at the conditions surrounding the task.
Ask yourself:
Where do they have choice?
 Can they choose when, where or how they complete it?
Where might the environment be getting in the way?
 Are they hungry, restless, overwhelmed, bored or struggling with the way information is being presented?
Are they being given responsibility or being closely managed?
 Notice how often you remind, check, correct or direct.
Then experiment with giving them ownership over one part of the task this week.

Ask Your Teen What Helps Their Brain Learn

Willow describes needing concepts explained in several different ways before they click. She also values being able to seek out teachers who communicate in a way that works for her.
Try asking:
"When something is hard to learn, what makes it easier for your brain to understand it?"
Listen before suggesting solutions.

Try One Week With Less Nagging

Choose one responsibility your teen already knows how to complete.
Agree on the expectation and deadline, then reduce the reminders.
Watch what happens.
This connects directly with Willow's story about cleaning the entire house, including her sister's chores, when nobody was around directing or nagging her.

Make a "When Things Get Hard" Plan

Don't wait until your teen is overwhelmed.
Ask:
"If school starts getting harder, what could you do?"
Willow already identified her own options: attend more seminars, use subject resource centres, find a quiet study pod, ask more questions, study more before tests and ask her parents for help.

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Are You Helping Your Kids Too Much?
Watching your child struggle can make every parenting instinct scream, “Help them!”
But sometimes the most useful thing a parent can do is wait.
In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Dr. Caroline talk candidly about watching their daughters become increasingly independent and how surprisingly difficult it can be to resist jumping in and fixing things.
From overflowing sinks and flat tires to bank cards, student loans, schoolwork and household chores, they share what happens when parents give kids room to solve problems themselves.
Dr. Caroline explains why independence can start much earlier than the teenage years. A toddler reaching for a toy, a child learning to make their bed or a teen dealing with a problem at school can all practise figuring out what to do before an adult steps in.
You’ll also hear why independence still needs boundaries, how scaffolding can make responsibilities easier without doing them for your child, and why constant nagging can work against the autonomy parents are trying to build.
If you’ve ever caught yourself fixing something your child could probably handle, this conversation may make you reconsider when to help, when to guide and when to simply get out of the way.

Homework for Parents

These exercises closely reflect what Andrew and Dr. Caroline discuss throughout the episode, particularly their emphasis on stepping back, boundaries, scaffolding and reducing friction.
The Three Things Rule
Before solving a manageable problem for your child, ask: “What are three things you’ve tried first?”
Don’t immediately suggest the three things. Give your child time to generate possible solutions.
Your homework: Try this once this week with a problem you would normally solve for them.

The 10 Second Pause
Notice what happens inside you when your child struggles.
Before stepping in, wait ten seconds.
Ask yourself: Are they unsafe, or am I uncomfortable watching them struggle?
If they’re safe, give them another moment.

Hand Over the Tools
Look for one task you normally complete for your child that they could attempt themselves. Instead of doing it, provide what they need. The episode gives a great real-life version of this: Andrew’s daughter needed help, so he dropped off the tools and left her to handle the job.

Reduce Friction Without Removing Responsibility
Choose one responsibility your child regularly struggles to start. Make starting easier without completing the job.
Dr. Caroline describes having the dog waste bags ready when Willow already had her jacket and shoes on. The responsibility remained Willow’s, but one barrier to getting started disappeared.

Set the Boundary, Then Stop Nagging
Pick one recurring responsibility.
State:
What needs to happen.
What choice your child has.
What happens if it isn’t completed.
Then resist repeated reminders.
Andrew and Dr. Caroline describe using this approach with dishwasher duties, where Willow has choice within a clear household boundary.

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