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Has your teenager completely stopped talking to you?! Do you feel that you no longer talk with each other? Does one parent have more of a conversational connection with the kids than the other? How do you keep talking with your kids if your absent parent? Todays podcast is all about how, why and if our teenagers talk with us, and what things prevent them from talking with us. Are we too protective - too nosy - or too judgemental? And should we necessarily talk about everything with our kids anyway?! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley

If Parenting was an official Job how would you describe it? What are the hours? The remuneration? The perks? Are there any perks? This week we discuss the responsibilities and expectations of what it means to be a Parent. Is it in the Job Description that we are essentially on call 24/7 ? In what ways do we sacrifice our own lives and lives in order to do the best job we can of being a parent. How do you see the responsibilities of the job? Is it about practicalities or about instilling values; is it about being emotionally available or simply being available to deliver on their every whim?! If parenting was written up as a job vacancy what would it include?! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley

Is your teenager ashamed or embarrassed about your excitement and preparations for Xmas? Is your teenager a moody bah humbug throughout the festive period? Could they make more of an effort? Are you missing the pitter patter of tiny feet and just wish your teens would enter into the party spirit?! Join us for a moan a groan and a bemoan of Christmases past when the kids loved the magic of it all!!! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

Is it a preferable option for our kids above smoking? Is it fun? OR … is it actually a gateway habit that will lead to nicotine addiction? Does it have an adverse effect on our children’s mental health? Are vapes and e-cigarettes actually dangerous? Are they simply another tool for secretly inhaling drugs?! We explore the pros and cons of vaping … and whether we should in fact be as concerned as we would be if our kids were smoking. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

Is CAMHS (children and adolescent mental health services) an effective service for helping children, teenagers & parents to resolve or help alleviate Mental Health Crises? We hear from listeners regarding their principally negative experiences. What can be done? How do we as a society need to change in order to reduce the number of youngsters seeking help. Is there only so much any NHS service can actually do given the size of the problem. This episode is all about YOUR experiences. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

Are we doing our kids a huge disservice by being too soft on them. Do we allow them to feel like they’re succeeding even when they’re failing. Should we be implementing a lot more TOUGH LOVE in our attempts to help our children prepare for adult life. Is being tough on our kids a threat to their mental health or could it in fact be the one thing that might save them. Are we over-indulging our kids or is being “soft” more about allowing our children to grow and mature in a more holistic fashion? Are YOU too SOFT or too HARD on your kids?

This week we grapple with a topic that is perhaps one of the most distressing for children and young adults alike - especially women and teenage girls. In recent weeks stories have emerged of a new trend to spike young women (and some young men) by injecting them with syringes. We discuss what on Earth can be done to protect our teenage and young adult children from this awful threat. We talk to the newly formed pressure group GIRLS NIGHT IN - who are campaigning for nightclubs and late night drinking venues to up their game when it comes to the safety of their female customers. Where is this hostile attitude to women coming from? How has spiking now become yet another occupational hazard of trying to go out and have a good time. WARNING - this podcast contains some distressing content. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

This episode we go to the heart of how Smart Phones have transformed family life. We aren’t looking at the obvious causes for concern such as cyber bullying - we are looking at the ways in which phones interrupt family time - disrupt relationships - cause stress for teenagers and are basically hard to put down. Our resident teens share some surprising philosophical observations about smart phones. Are YOU as bad as your teenagers? Are phones eroding family life? Or are they just a different distraction for this generation? Are YOU a worse phone addict than your kids? Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

Telling lies is always considered a bad thing. BUT - there are countless situations in which lying as a parent is often a NECESSITY - and there are often situations when it’s not as sinister as you might think when your child lies to you. There’s the seasonal characters who pop up in December and Easter - and there are white lies versus serious lies. What are the WORST lies we’ve told as parents - and do our kids lie to us? LYING is much more complex than you think … honestly … we aren’t lying!!! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

Nadia & Mark grapple with the best ways in which to help our teenagers through an Anxious World. All too often we hear about Anxious Teens as if the problem sits within THEM. But how doe we help them navigate a world that FEELS and PRESENTS itself to us as more and more anxious everyday. School, Climate, Covid, Social Media, 24 Hour rolling News & an older generation that more often villainises the young rather than applaud them. This is a deep dive into our Anxious World and how best we can hold our teenager's hands through it. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

FIRST week back and how are you feeling - end of the first week and already many of us are at the end of our tether. Who's more BURNT OUT? Us parents or our kids? After so many weeks and months living under the cloud of COVID - and now with relative "normality" coming back - is Back to School Burnout going to happen more quickly. As one of our kids returns to school we share our own experiences of the school run!!! Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.

How does the constant news flow regarding Climate Change leave our kids feeling? How does it leave us parents feeling? If we feel powerless in the face of such an enormous and seemingly impossible dilemma how on Earth can we help our kids through it. We hear from our teens who feel they don’t even have the right to protest against things let alone do anything about it. This is a tough subject BUT it is a crucially important subject. Find out answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Confessions of A Modern Parent. They take questions and suggestions from listeners on their experiences in parenting roles. If you have a parenting question or suggestion for Mark or Nadia, you can get in touch at: Twitter @mark_adderley.