This Is So Awkward

Getting a driver’s license was a rite of passage for generations. Now, though, fewer kids are opting in. This episode looks at the reasons why so many teens are skipping over this life skill. And for the ones who do still get behind the wheel, we get into all of the hilarious missteps and critical learnings for their parents.There’s beauty in all the unvarnished failures, useful guidance, and heartfelt realizations we experience during this symbolic – and very real – step towards adulthood.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALSGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first orderVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipDownload the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to TalkOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Choices about sex education, information, and communication can be deeply affected by trauma, especially sexual trauma. And vice versa. This episode explores why the two are connected, and how to break the cycle. We’re in conversation with Melissa Kilbride, an LCSW and certified sex therapist who works with adults and couples to address their own trauma and advocates for sexual health education for kids.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALSGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first orderVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipMelissa L. Kilbride & Associates@askable_mama on InstagramDownload the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to TalkOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everything you ever needed to know about testicular emergencies in one episode! Beyond the basics about how they grow and change, it’s important to know when a lump, bump, or complaint warrants a visit to the doctor. We cover it all, from the benign to the worrisome, like cancer. Learn about scrotal rashes, hernias, epididymitis, torsion, and more. Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALSGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to phyla.com and use code PUBERTY for 25% off your first orderVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipDownload the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to TalkOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s easy to connect a headache with a hard day or stomach pain after a fight with a friend. But it is more complicated to grasp the relationship between chronic pain and our reservoir of repressed emotions and traumas. Licensed Clinical Social Worker and author of Mind the Body, Nicole Sachs, joins us to make sense of the connections between physical and emotional pain. Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD ESSENTIALSGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipDownload the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to TalkOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Judging ourselves, judging other parents, judging our partners and judging our kids… none of these feels good, and all clog lines of communication. But this is a really tough habit to kick. The first step is owning our judgment, so in this episode we share a bunch of our own parenting fails and then (try to) forgive ourselves.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Middle school and middle schoolers get a really bad rap and their educators are looked upon with sympathy. But what if we flip that narrative on its head and view this stage with excitement? Here to shift the perspective on this transformational age into one of opportunity and wonder is school founder, middle school principal, and author Chris Balme.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The study of microplastics is a rapidly expanding field because they are literally ubiquitous – in our bodies, our oceans, our food. Found everywhere from brains to testicles, from tap water to sea salt, this episode unpacks what we know and what we don’t yet know about the impact of microplastics on the human body. Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipYour Brain is Full of Microplastics: Are They Harming You?Order our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When kids misbehave or act out, it’s natural for adults to react with anger, disappointment, punishment, or even disconnection. But struggling kids actually need the opposite – their behavior improves when they feel connection and belonging. Psychologist and lifelong educator Doug Bolton translates decades of experience into actionable, empathic ways forward. His book, Untethered, offers a beautiful path to change the way we all think about dysregulation, community, and raising kids.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipUntethered by Doug BoltonOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adults are baffled, bemused, and slightly horrified by what they hear about teen dating. Our 16-year-old guest, Elle Kristine, helps set the record straight on today’s teen relationships. She uses decidedly modern methods to offer teens relationship advice, like her @AskElle account on TikTok and her AI-based teen dating app. Ultimately, Elle believes that today’s teens are looking for the same things they have always sought in relationships: connection and love. Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The language of teen relationships is literally foreign: the glossary-requiring terms they use to describe their romantic lives vary from kid to kid, with little agreement. What do words like “situationship,” “talking” (which isn’t actually talking), and “hook-up” mean? Now layer on the virtual world in general – and social media in particular – and you can feel like you need to get a PhD in the language of young love. Journalist Lisa Phillips, author of First Love, defines it all, ultimately creating a playbook of the realities of youth romance.  Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipFirst Love by Lisa PhillipsOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices