Parents We've Met

When their feelings are in the drivers’ seat, family life can feel tough! Parent Coach Sheridan Eketone joins us on the couch this week to unpack high sensitivity in kids and offer some hot tips and encouragement for parents on that journey. 

Together with Jenny and Dayna, she explores what’s going on for sensitive kids and why a simple reframe can turn sensitivity into a gift - a trait to work with, not against. She offers simple strategies for building buffer time and downtime into weekly rhythms, pre-empting and preparing for overwhelming situations, using simple emotional check-ins – and helping to raise them into resilient adults. 

Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠.   

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This week we're joined by Helen Manson – a mum-of-four, humanitarian photographer and storyteller, whose work has taken her into some of the most vulnerable communities in the world.  

Together with her husband Tim, Helen has created a beautiful ‘stretchy' family made up of adopted, biological and fostered kids and a picture of life that’s curious, outward-focused and ‘bigger than their own backyard’.  Moving back to New Zealand from Uganda in 2020, they have navigated through the challenges that come with transitioning into a new way of life, while staying connected to the old one.

Generous with her knowledge, Helen talks to Jenny and Dayna about raising kids with grit who are aware of the wider world (while also protected from the weight of it), and who have the building blocks to develop deep empathy and compassion for others. 

She shares openly about the challenges of foster care, and the need for intentional rhythms and dreams to anchor the logistics of a very busy family life. 

You can see more of Helen’s humanitarian photography and storytelling work here https://www.helenmanson.com/ and more about the International Justice Mission here https://www.ijm.org/. 

Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠HERE⁠.  

Find us on:⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠/⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ 
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Parent Coach Kristin Ward is back on the Coaches’ Couch with Jenny and Dayna this week to chat about the vast benefits of emotion coaching - teaching kids to understand and manage their emotions (both the tiny and the mighty ones!) well.

Together, they explore why allowing and validating big emotions matters, how your choice of words can dismiss or override emotions (usually unintentionally!), and practical ways to teach ‘healthy’ expressions of everyday feelings.

Plus, Kristin shares some hot tips for managing meltdowns, modelling emotional coping, naming feelings, and supporting children in dealing well with challenging feelings like disappointment, frustration, and anger.

Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠.  

Find us on:⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠⁠/⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ 
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Dave Mackay is the founder of Sideline Advisor, a counselling and mentoring service for young athletes.

In this episode he chats with Dayna and Jenny about how parents can help kids to thrive in, and enjoy sports, navigate performance-related anxiety and achieve long-term success in their chosen sports. Dave shares why effort matters more than outcomes, why he doesn’t believe in ‘player of the day’ - and why parents should ‘let the coach be the coach’.

He also tackles some of your burning questions like: 

What happens when kids are pushed too hard in sports?  

How can you create memories around sports that go beyond the loss or win? 

What should you do – and not do – on the sideline? 

What are the traits of young people who succeed in sports in the long term? 

What are some myths about high performance sport? 

Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas ⁠HERE⁠.  

Find us on:⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠Tik Tok ⁠⁠/⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ 
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We're back for 2026 and leaning straight into the good stuff! Dayna and Jenny are joined by Parent Coach Sheridan Eketone for a timely chat on the (often) tricky transition from summer holidays to the start of the school year. 

We tackle back-to-school anxiety, big feelings, friendships, after-school meltdowns and the bevy of emotions around school and pre-school.

Sheridan shares handy tips for parents on making school transitions easier, including rehearsals, ‘bridges to separation’ and ‘leaving and receiving’ rituals, along with ideas for some simple things you can do daily to support confidence and independence.

For our TEENS, we talk re-establishing healthy school-week routines, especially when it comes to sleep and phones, and structuring daily and weekly schedules to reduce worry and anxiety. 

Check out some of the resources mentioned in this episode: 

Untangling Anxiety: Supporting kids through worry and fear – an online self-guided course for parents and caregivers: https://hub.parentingplace.nz/courses/untangling-anxiety

The Red Plate: https://parentingplace.nz/shop/red-plate-ceramic

The power of rehearsals: https://parentingplace.nz/resources/lets-rehearse-how-to-make-a-hard-thing-easier 

Time to spare and why it matters in parenting: https://parentingplace.nz/resources/time-to-spare-and-why-it-matters-in-parenting 

Parents We’ve Met is brought to you by Parenting Place – a charity with a heart for New Zealand families. Explore our self-guided online courses and hundreds of free parenting articles and ideas HERE. 

Find us on:⁠ YouTube⁠ / ⁠Instagram⁠ / ⁠Facebook⁠ / ⁠Tik Tok ⁠/⁠LinkedIn 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices