Bare Naked Moms

Becoming a Mother When No One Taught You How (Sarah Vacchiano)

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:00:11 +0000

Sarah Vacchiano, General Council at United Artists and mom to three-year-old Gus, just published a novel. Soft Launch is a coming-of-adulthood tale based on Sarah’s 30-year-old self: freshly divorced, just graduated from law school, and working round the clock as a first year associate at a big NYC law firm.

All 40-something moms now, Alanna, Milano, and Sarah get into the idea of our past selves and reinvention. Is it possible to change course as a parent—or a professional after a certain age?

Sarah and Milano, who both had Bipolar mothers, talk about the illusion of being “ready” for motherhood and squaring their own rocky upbringings with the childhoods they want for their kids.

This conversation reminds us that who we are when we’re 30 isn’t who we at 40 or 50. And that constant movement forward confirms we’re doing something right—in parenting and in life. Fun fact: Sarah’s also launching a podcast called Civic EQ which is all about incorporating civics into everyday family life.

In This Episode:

👉 Becoming a mom when your own mom was mentally-ill.

👉 Raising civics-minded kids.

👉 Modeling vulnerability and reinvention for our kids.

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📩 Follow Sarah Vacchiano on Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahvacchiano

📱Follow us:

Instagram: @barenakedmoms

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BareNakedMoms

Raising Champions: One Mom, Three Lacrosse Legends (Sarah Humphrey)

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 10:00:36 +0000

Behind every standout athlete (or artist or musician) is a parent cheering from the sidelines—snacks in hand, heart in throat. But what’s it like to raise three daughters who went on to make sports history together?

Meet Sarah Humphrey, mom to Nicole, Ashley, and Chloe—the trio who united at UNC to win the 2025 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship. She shares the winding roads that led them there, how she found her calm at home amid flying lacrosse balls, and yes… some heated family moments leading up to the big game.

In This Episode:

👉 Talent vs. hustle (and why grit always wins)

👉 Why being “great at everything” is overrated

👉 The question their little brother never wants to hear again

👉 What Sarah wishes she’d known when the girls were just starting out

📱Follow Nicole, Ashley, Chloe & Chloe Humphrey Lacrosse

Follow us:

📱 Instagram: @barenakedmoms

▶️ YouTube: @barenakedmoms

Parenting Through Grief: A Widow’s Guide to Surviving the Unthinkable (Candace Hewit)

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:00:28 +0000

In June 2020, my oldest friend, Candace, lost her husband (and father of their three young kids). Rusty went to the ER thinking he had COVID, and he never left. He died in the hospital three days later—not from COVID, but from Acute Myeloid Leukemia, which had hijacked his body in the mere six months since his last wellness checkup.

Candace talks to us about chugging along as a mother of three young children (ages 6, 4, and 2 at the time) amidst this hellish trauma of tragic, sudden loss. The amazing yet simple things people did for her in the early days (coffee fairies, Costco fairies, laundry fairies), the resources that really moved the needle for her and her kids, the advice she’d give to someone new to grief, how this experience has changed her as a mother—Candace shares all of this (and more) with Alanna and Milano.

In This Episode:

👉 Three things someone who loses their spouse and parenting partner needs to know

👉 Social Media is an amazing resource for people in grief

👉 What to do and say to someone experiencing loss and grief

👉 How grief changes you as a parent

👉 Grieving fully leads to living fully

📱 Follow us on Instagram

Have We Been Thinking About ADHD All Wrong? (Paul Tough)

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:00:06 +0000

Paul Tough’s New York Times Magazine article “Have We Been Thinking About ADHD All Wrong?” really stirred the ADHD pot by calling BS on so much of the collective reasoning around what ADHD is and how to treat it. Is it nature (biology)? Is it nurture (environment)? What does “having it” really mean? And how do you go about “having it” less, or not at all?

Milano, who, along with two of her three kids (so far!) “has” ADHD, came away from Tough’s article with a strong thoughts and feelings—a response made all the more complicated by the fact that she’s a big fan of Tough’s work, including his bestselling books How Children Succeed and Helping Children Succeed. Milano had so many questions and counterpoints scribbled in the margins of the article, she asked him to come on the show and get into all of it.

Paul and Milano (Alanna is just a producer on this one) unpack so many layers of this incredibly slippery subject. And they offer each other different ways of looking at each one of those layers. Trust - you do NOT want to miss this rich, fascinating conversation that deepens the bigger ADHD conversation and helps explain why the topic—and the response to Tough’s article— is so heated.

In This Episode:

👉 The symptoms and causes of ADHD

👉 Hotly debated treatments for ADHD: biology, environment, or both?

👉 Why the glasses metaphor doesn’t work

👉 When medication is the right path

👉 Links between ADHD and Trauma

🔗 Learn more about Paul

📱 Follow us on Instagram @barenakedmoms

Eating Disorders in Kids: A Psychiatrist’s Guide to Early Signs and Intervention (Dr. Lauren Ozbolt)

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:00:30 +0000

Most of us are doing our absolute best when it comes to feeding our kids. But are our well-intentioned choices helping build a healthy relationship with food… or quietly making things harder?

In this episode, eating disorder specialist and mom of two Dr. Lauren Ozbolt unpacks the “perfect storm” of factors that can lead to disordered eating in kids and teens. She also explains how family dynamics and cultural messages play a powerful role and what actually makes a difference in everyday life. The result is a grounded, hopeful conversation that replaces fear with clarity—and gives parents concrete tools they can use right away.

In This Episode:

👉 Why high-achieving, perfection-prone kids can be especially vulnerable

👉 How our food histories and past generations shape kids’ eating relationships

👉 Why regular family meals matter more than you think

👉 Why labeling foods as “good” or “bad” can backfire

👉 The most reassuring truth of all: When eating disorders are identified early and treated aggressively, recovery is very possible.

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📱Learn more about Dr. Ozbolt

📱Follow us: @barenakedmoms

Family Travel Secrets from the Editor-in-Chief of Travel + Leisure (Jacqui Gifford)

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 10:00:41 +0000

Ever plan a family vacation for months only to come home thinking, we could’ve done that better? Between the money, the logistics, and the kids, traveling as a fam can be A LOT.

That’s why we sat down with Jacqui Gifford, Editor-in-Chief of Travel + Leisure, to get her smartest, most practical tips for globetrotting with kids. A lifelong traveler—born in Japan and raised in Saudi Arabia and Qatar—Jacqui now lives in New York City and travels the world with her husband and 10-year-old son whenever she can. You may have seen her sharing her expert advice on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNBC, and MSNBC.

So listen up and come home with happier kids, great stories, and way fewer “never doing this again” moments.

In This Episode:

👉 When it comes to vacations with your kids, why Jacqui believes you should go big or stay home (and plan a great staycation).

👉 Last-minute family travel: possible or impossible?

👉 The surprising family travel hack involving European cities.

👉 The best way to use frequent flier miles when traveling with your family.

👉 What this intimidatingly well-traveled mom packs in her suitcase.

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📱Travel + Leisure Website

📱Follow Jacqui Gifford: @jacquigiff

📱Follow us: @barenakedmoms

Why Community Service Matters and How to Get It on the Family Calendar (Adrienne Harper)

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 10:00:33 +0000

After having her first child nine years ago, Adrienne Harper started Bundles of Joy, an incredible organization that provides critical items to families living in poverty throughout New York City and Westchester County.

There’s a gap in social services that you don’t know or think about unless you’re caught in it: Even families who receive the benefits of free shelter and public assistance still lack essentials like clothing, diapers, shoes, school supplies, and so on. Bundles of Joy is the leading provider of such essentials—thanks to Adrienne’s vision, passion, and dogged commitment.

Adrienne takes us back to how it all started for her, why social work is so important for kids and families to engage in, and actual ways to make it happen for YOUR family.

In This Episode:

👉 Asking for help takes courage.

👉 Rich or poor, motherhood is the great equalizer.

👉 The major impact of diapers.

👉 What families in need really need.

👉 What volunteering kids and families gain from helping less fortunate families.

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🎁 Donate to Bundles of Joy

📱 Follow Bundles of Joy: @bundlesofjoyny

📱 Follow us: @barenakedmoms

The Myth of Having It All — And the Power of Having It Almost (Corinne Low, PhD)

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 10:00:42 +0000

What happens when a brilliant Wharton professor who studies household and gender economics looks you in the eye and says, “Hey… you’re not the problem—the system is”? You get one of our favorite conversations with Dr. Corinne Low about her new book, Having It All: What Data Tells Us About Women’s Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours. Consider it your permission slip to set better boundaries, reclaim your time, and finally correct the imbalances at home and at work.

In This Episode:

👉 Why women literally can’t have it all—and why the feeling of “I’m failing” is baked right into the myth.

👉 The train-station-bathroom meltdown that catapulted Dr. Low into a whole new life: ending her marriage to a man, marrying a woman, and creating a family with two kids that is thriving.

👉 How using the rules of economics on your home and career can bring more joy than any self-help hack you’ve ever tried.

👉 Plus: Official permission to abandon the herb garden you bought during a moment of pure delusion. Consider it… compost.

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Learn more about Corinne Low and her book.

Strategies for Staying Calm-ish Throughout the Holidays (Niro Feliciano)

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 10:00:36 +0000

Psychotherapist and bestselling author of ALL IS CALMish, Niro Feliciano helps us understand the nuts and bolts of holiday anxiety - why we have it, why it’s so harmful, and how to stop it in its tracks before it hijacks the all season’s good stuff.

Some anxiety is inevitable, but Niro gives us simple, practical, insanely doable strategies to manage it and be less surprised by it. Preparing for anxiety and creating a game plan is the first line of defense. But there are so many things we can do to help ourselves during actual moments of intense stress.

Niro takes the cumbaya out of practices like meditation, giving, and gratitude as she explains why they’re so effective at reducing stress: they keep us in the present—not in the past or the future, where anxiety likes to hang out. Suffice it to say, the timing of this nourishing conversation—on the eve of Thanksgiving—couldn’t be more perfect.

In This Episode:

👉 Understanding holiday anxiety

👉 Things you can actually do to disrupt anxiety.

👉 Positive loops are just as easy to create as negative loops.

👉 Saying No can be just as valuable as saying Yes.

Follow Niro: @niro_feliciano

How to Recognize Anxiety in Your Kids... And What Actually Helps (Dr. Kathy Cosgrove)

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 10:00:28 +0000

It’s the main concern parents hear about today: rising anxiety in kids. We asked an expert, Dr. Kathy Cosgrove, who is on the frontlines, how to recognize it and how to help. Here’s the twist: Sometimes, the most effective thing you can do is simply listen.

In This Episode:

👉 What’s a normal level of anxiety in kids and when to worry?

👉 How a seasoned psychologist handles anxious responses in her own kids.

👉 Anxiety in girls vs. anxiety in boys.

👉 Moms get anxious, too; the anxieties we’re feeling these days.

Learn more about Dr. Kathy Cosgrove and The Counseling Center

Parenting Tips from the Basketball Court with Princeton's Head Coach (Mitch Henderson)

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 10:00:27 +0000

All the stuff Mitch Henderson has figured out on the job—as a Division 1 basketball coach—has made him a better dad to his three school-age children. He shares his tips for connecting with his tech-native Gen Z players (spoiler alert: it takes more work) and talks about the value in meeting both his players and his kids where they are, not where he thinks they should be. Of course, we also ask him how he approaches sports for his own children, being a college coach and former superstar athlete himself. What he said surprised and inspired us!

In This Episode:

👉 The parallels between coaching and parenting.

👉 How a college coach thinks about sports for his own children.

👉 The life-changing power of meditation.

👉 Leadership is about connection more than authority.

Watch us now on YouTube

The Argument for Sleepaway Camp (Doug Knight)

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 08:00:49 +0000

Alanna and Milano wrap up Season 2—and the school year—with some straight talk about sleepaway camp: Is your child right for sleepaway? How do you know if a certain camp will be a good fit? Can parents trust that their kids will be kept safe? How do counselors handle homesickness, bullying, and other challenges? And what if camp interferes with travel sports schedules?

Doug Knight, Director of Camp Tecumseh in New Hampshire, breaks it all down for us. He shares his observations of what happens within (and between) kids when they leave screens, plumbing, electricity, and families behind: self-awareness, self-reliance, collaboration, conflict resolution, and resilience. In other words, GROWTH.

A former lacrosse legend in his own right and father of three boy athletes, Doug also lends a unique perspective on the ongoing battle between sleepaway camps and youth sports training camps—and how sleepaway, in his opinion, is a much bigger bang for everyone’s buck.

In This Episode:

👉 How to determine whether the sleepaway experience is right for your child

👉 Questions and concerns unpacked: homesickness, picky eating, and camper safety

👉 Cost-benefit analysis of sleepaway camp vs. sports training camps

👉 What it means to “make good boys better”

Learn more about Doug and Camp Tecumseh

The Skinny on Screens & Social Media (Max Stossel)

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 08:00:00 +0000

What’s the difference between your middle-schooler making a dance video and posting it on TikTok? And is an hour of video games the same as an hour-long movie or an hour on Instagram? How does a five-minute work break scrolling Instagram always turn into an hour?

In this week’s episode, Alanna and Milano sit down with social media whistleblower, Max Stossel, who explains why smartphones and social media are so powerful and dangerous for kids. He gives us compelling intel about all the strategy that goes into designing these social media apps—because, a decade ago, he used to be one of the people designing them! (Spoiler alert: We might think we’re using the apps and smartphone, but really they’re using us).

As Max helps us to understand, addiction to smartphones and social media is as real as any other addition. He shares great tips for undoing the addiction in ourselves and our kids—and seeing every engagement with our phone and social media as a trade.

In This Episode:

👉 Understanding the trade-offs with smartphones and social media.

👉 Learning how and why social media apps are designed.

👉 Why kids below certain ages aren’t ready to handle smartphones and social media.

👉 An arsenal of tips for fighting tough battles with smartphones and social media.

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Follow Max: Social Awakening and Center for Humane Technology

From Homeless to Princeton: A Special Borrowed Episode from Princeton Alumni Weekly

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Ever wonder about the winding roads that lead us to where we are, especially to the wild, beautiful, and often chaotic journey of motherhood? This week, we're peeling back another layer, but this time, it’s from one of our very own. Milano steps into the guest seat on a different podcast, and we knew we had to share this special conversation with you, our Bare Naked Moms community.

In this borrowed episode from "The Pawcast" (Princeton Alumni Weekly), Milano opens up about her remarkable path to and through Princeton University. She gets real with host Liz Daugherty about what it was truly like navigating an Ivy League world with a profoundly unique background: a childhood marked by her mother's mental illness and intermittent homelessness, and being taken in by a true village of good samaritans. It’s a story of resilience, the kindness of strangers (and campus security!), the devotion of family (like her aunt and uncle) and how these formative experiences shaped the mom and podcaster she is today.

In This Episode:

👉 Milano’s account of her "wild journey" to Princeton against great odds.

👉 A candid view of student life, unlike her peers.

👉 A story of compassion by Princeton campus security during a vulnerable time.

👉 The unexpected chapters after Princeton that led to Bare Naked Moms.

👉 Embracing our past, even if unconventional, can positively impact the present.

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Check out the Princeton Alumni Weekly Podcast

Navigating Menopause as a Busy Mom (Gillian Goddard, MD)

Wed, 28 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Not everyone affected by it is a mother, but all mothers are affected by it: Menopause. What’s more bare and naked than pulling back the curtain on this inevitable, charged event that’s both personal and universal—and usually takes hold of moms right when their children are undergoing their own huge hormonal shifts (a.k.a Puberty)? After all, if Mama’s not happy, nobody’s happy!

In this week’s episode, Alanna and Milano sit down with endocrinologist and mom of four Dr. Gillian Goddard. Also the author of “Hot Flash” from ParentData and the upcoming book The Hormone Loop, Gillian breaks it all down for us: what’s happening, when it’s happening, who we should turn to for guidance, and what we can do to soften the landing. Together, we form a menopause framework and plan, so it doesn’t disrupt our own wellness, or the balance of our family ecosystems.

In This Episode:

👉 Defining and redefining menopause: the big picture and the smaller pictures.

👉 Clarifying confusion and misinformation from social media soundbites.

👉 A plan of attack: symptoms to look for and how to treat them.

👉 Assembling the right health team for this chapter of motherhood.

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Follow Gillian: @gillianmgoddard

Read: Gillian’s articles

Faith and Parenting (Ainsley Earhardt)

Wed, 21 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Conventional wisdom tells us to keep our politics and religion to ourselves. But Ainsley Earhardt, Co-host of Fox and Friends, bestselling author, and single mother to nine-year-old Hayden, couldn’t be more bare and naked—and public—about both. In this week’s episode, Ainsley walks us through her journey with God and how faith has helped her in work, love, life, and parenting. She also opens up about the pros and cons of her transparency and some of the consequences that it has had in her life as a mom.

In This Episode:

👉 The power of faith, judgment, and curiosity.

👉 The danger of certainty.

👉 Fitting faith into modern family life.

👉 Are all faiths created equal?

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Follow Ainsley: @foxandfriends and foxandfriends.com

Read: Ainsley’s books

A Pacific Palisades Mom on Navigating Crisis, Survival, Grief, and Recovery

Wed, 14 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

What if you and your children found yourselves in the middle of a disaster that was captivating the nation? How would you overcome your own despair to support your kids if their home–and their entire community–burned to the ground? Mom-of-two Emily Debevoise faced those questions when she and her husband lost their home in the Palisades Fire this past January.

In this week’s episode, Alanna and Milano talk with an everyday mom in the midst of rebuilding her family’s lives after evacuating their beloved neighborhood with nothing but a few garbage bags full of stuff. She shares how she’s finding ways (both big and small) to be there for her 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son and how she sees them processing their trauma differently. Emily also opens up about the acts of kindness that are helping them to move forward and what we should all know should we ever face a similar crisis–or have a loved one in crisis.

In This Episode:

👉 How siblings may process crisis differently

👉 Small acts that make all the difference to kids in crisis

👉 What to grab for the kids if you have a few minutes to evacuate your home

👉 How to reach out if a family you know is in crisis

Milano’s Story, Continued: The Search for Her Dad [Bonus Episode]

Tue, 13 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Bare Naked Moms co-host Milano Buckley had a wild and woolly childhood as the daughter of a mother who suffered from severe mental illness. She only survived thanks to a motley crew of amazing characters who stepped up and took her in–from a family who lived around the corner to her third grade teacher–but her own father was never around.

In this bonus episode, Alanna and Milano try to unravel the mystery of who Milano’s father is. As she and her mentally-ill mom struggled to find their way through the world, where was Milano’s dad, what steps did she take to find him, and how has she come much closer to solving the mystery once and for all?

In This Episode:

👉 What Milano’s mom told her about her dad

👉 Her efforts to reach out to him over the years

👉 What she now knows thanks to 23andMe

👉 Her next step towards solving the mystery

How to Raise Resilient Kids (Tovah Klein)

Wed, 07 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Do you ever worry that your kids have it too good to be resilient? Do you try to protect them from hard stuff because you want them to be happy? Do you wonder how some kids who experience trauma end up being just fine, while others with placid, uneventful childhoods are hot messes? As parents, it’s so hard to know when to protect our kids from pain or anxiety and when to let them experience it.

In this week’s episode, Alanna and Milano have a fascinating discussion with childhood development expert Dr. Tovah Klein about the importance of not shielding our kids from their mistakes, our mistakes, or the unsavory feelings and events of everyday life. Dr. Klein shares what she’s observed in her 30 years as Director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development and what she outlines in her recently published bestseller, Raising Resilience: How to Help Our Children Thrive in Times of Uncertainty: that the key ingredient of success in a child (and human) is resilience—knowing that we can feel and do and see hard things and ultimately be OK.

In This Episode:

👉 How to protect kids without paralyzing them

👉 The importance of giving children the freedom to fall

👉 Parents as containers and anchors

👉 How to talk to our kids about scary things

👉 Why “potential” and perfection are nice ideas that totally backfire

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Buy Tovah Klein’s book here

Follow Tovah: @tovahklein

Children’s Author on the Value of Boredom, Curiosity & Racial Representation (Chris Van Dusen)

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 09:00:00 +0000

What does the bestselling author-illustrator of The Circus Ship, Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee, Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit and If I Built a House know about childhood and parenting? A lot, it turns out! For one, that kids should not be talked down to—in literature or in life—because they’re so much smarter than we give them credit for. And that kids make great writing collaborators because their brains and imaginations are far less cluttered than ours.

In this week’s episode, kid lit powerhouse Chris Van Dusen shares wisdom from his own childhood and parenting his two sons—as well as the humbling realization that there was something important he was falling short of as a storyteller: representing and including people of all cultures and backgrounds.

In This Episode:

👉 Nurturing boredom and curiosity in kids

👉 Creating stories that appeal to all ages and minds

👉 Children’s ability to handle darkness

👉 The costs and benefits of DEI in stories

👉 Reinventing yourself at any age or professional chapter

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Learn more about Chris: https://www.chrisvandusen.com

Buy Chris’s books here

Follow Chris: @chrisvandusenbooks

NBC’s Vicky Nguyen on Her Journey from Refugee to Reporter and Mom of Three

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Milano and Alanna welcome NBC News anchor and correspondent Vicky Nguyen to talk about her recently published memoir Boat Baby. The New York Times bestseller chronicles her family’s escape from communist Vietnam to America, the rollercoaster ride of growing up with immigrant parents, and her experiences as a mother of three daughters. How is Vicky following her parents’ lead as a mom, and what is she handling differently? For one, she’s an only child who decided to have three kids. Her parents’ hard work and love of travel are qualities that she admires and emulates. The open communication that she enjoys with her own daughters, though, is not something she experienced growing up.

In This Episode:

👉 The difference between “woman with children” and “mother”

👉 An immigrant family’s survival and commitment to the American Dream

👉 Different generations and cultures living together under one roof

👉 Grandparents as caretakers for their grandchildren

👉 It takes a village: a working mother’s ecosystem

Buy Boat Baby here

Follow Vicky: @vickynguyentv

Calm Parenting Podcast’s Kirk Martin on How to Parent Strong-Willed Kids

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Have a child who lacks motivation, talks back, lies and steals, and fights you over everything? Given the chance, strong-willed kids would suck the calm and patient right out of Mother Theresa, let alone their actual mother. In this week’s episode, Calm Parenting Podcast host Kirk Martin teaches Alanna and Milano the power of reframing. Shifting the way we think and act with our strong-willed kids—and examining what we as parents bring to the dynamic—can turn the job of parenting them from burden to blessing. He shares brilliantly simple and practical reframing techniques that establish boundaries and expectations without damaging the all-important parent-child connection.

In This Episode:

👉 How the brains of strong-willed kids are wired.

👉 Helping strong-willed kids create new neural pathways and behavioral patterns.

👉 Understanding the role parents can play in struggles with strong-willed kids.

👉 The power of language and tone with strong-willed kids.

👉 Tips for navigating strong-willed kids without losing your cool or connection.

Links:

Learn more about Kirk here.

Listen to Kirk’s podcast.

Follow Kirk: @calmparentingpodcast

Puberty Expert Vanessa Kroll Bennett on How We Should Think and Talk About Modern Puberty

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Did you know the new average age for girls to begin puberty is 9?! Or that if you don’t talk to your kids about porn by the age of 12, it might be too late? In this week’s episode, Alanna and Milano are joined by puberty expert Vanessa Kroll Bennett, co-host of the chart-topping podcast This is So Awkward and co-author of the newly released book by the same title. Vanessa, who is known for flipping puberty positive, level sets our expectations of what we should be talking about with our kids, the ages we should be having these conversations and how they should sound (spoiler alert: it’s not a five-hour kumbaya sesh). Vanessa also helps us understand how different puberty is for kids today than it was for us—and how important it is, because of that, to not project our experience onto theirs.

In This Episode:

👉 Understanding how modern puberty is different from our puberty.

👉 Knowing the conversations you must have with your kids—and when/how to have them.

👉 Practical tips for removing the “icky” and “tricky” from puberty talks and moments.

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Learn more about Vanessa here.

Listen to Vanessa’s podcast.

Follow Vanessa: @less.awkward

Actress Jordana Brewster on Humility, Perseverance, and the Importance of Feeling Uncomfortable

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000

When actress Jordana Brewster rocketed to fame in The Fast and the Furious franchise in her 20s, she says she second-guessed every move she made. Over the years, as she continued to land major roles in movies and on TV, she became a mom to two sons, and these days, she finally knows what she values – as a person and a parent.

On the show, Jordana opens up about her Mom wins and woes: unexpected insecurities that bubbled up from having kids through surrogacy, pushing back on today’s insane expectations for kids to pick a lane early on and the freedom that comes from ditching perfection.

Jordana is currently starring in the psychological thriller Cellar Door as a woman who struggles with infertility.

In This Episode:

Navigating modern pressures for kids to find their passion early on.
Negotiating insecurities that can emerge after becoming a parent through surrogacy.
Processing failure.

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Jordana: @jordanabrewster

Big Time Adulting’s Caitlin Murray on Boozing, Becoming Famous and the Serious Business of Being Funny

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Big Time Adulting’s Caitlin Murray is the Nora Ephron slash Larry David of today’s mom culture. The not-to-be-messed-with mom of three (whose oldest is a cancer survivor) points out the nonsense in everything from Daylight Savings to palate expanders. The only thing missing from her side-splitting insights on the absurdities of modern mom life are flying f*cks.

In addition to her ninja kitchen dances and daily pearls of witty wisdom on Instagram, Caitlin recently started a weekly newsletter called Soul Snacks. And she’s currently writing her first book. On the show, she opens up about her evolving relationship with alcohol and being sober-curious these days. We get into the slippery slopes of tween girl fashion. She talks about how she’s navigating her newfound fame and how having a child who survived cancer changed everything about her as a mom.

In This Episode:

Our relationships with alcohol and being sober curious
Drawing boundaries around tween girl fashion
Being a normal mom who suddenly becomes super famous
What good days and bad days look like after your child has survived cancer

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Caitlin on Big Time Adulting: @bigtimeadulting

Check out her Soul Snacks newsletter: https://bigtimeadulting.beehiiv.com/

Auctioneer Lydia Fenet on Building Confidence in Moms & Kids

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Lydia Fenet is one of the world’s top auctioneers, having raised over one billion dollars for charity organizations. Her success is fueled by an abundance of confidence. She joins us to talk about how she’s now trying to build confidence in her three kids and how she maintains her confidence as a mom despite all the demands of her career.

Lydia is the author of two bestselling books, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You and Claim Your Confidence, and hosts a podcast. She and her husband are raising their family in New York City.

In This Episode:

Lydia vs. Mom Guilt
How letting kids fail allows them to become confident

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Lydia Fenet: @lydiafenet

Predators Lacrosse Owner Mike McCall on the Runaway Train of Youth Sports

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 16:35:00 +0000

What the hell happened to Youth Sports? What happened to the days of a couple practices a week and one game on the weekends? These days, it feels like sports have become careers for our kids—and full time jobs for us parents to manage those careers. When and how did it get: so serious, so nonstop, so expensive?

We get into the nitty gritty with Predators Lacrosse founder, Mike McCall. McCall breaks down the bigger game here—who the players are, and how to know if you’re a winner or a loser in it.

In This Episode:

How to assess the value of travel sports at every age
What the end game is in this bankrupting rat race
How to think about allocating a family’s resources when it comes to sports

Links:

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Follow Predators Lacrosse: @predatorslacrosse and https://predatorslacrosse.com/

Raised by Others: Milano’s Story [Bonus Episode]

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 10:00:00 +0000

If you’ve been listening, you may have heard Milano talk a little about her complicated childhood. But in this episode, she takes the mic to tell much more of her story. Born to a mentally ill woman who was living in her car, Milano was raised throughout Manhattan by a motley crew of amazing parent figures and family units—including her biological mom, a family from Ghana from the neighborhood, her third grade teacher, her aunt and uncle, and her former school principal. Somehow she patched together enough love, support and guidance to land at an elite boarding school and university.

Cut to: Milano’s now 45 years old and living in a leafy suburb with her husband and three kids. But just when you think the credits of this would-be Hollywood tale might start rolling is when the real nail-biter begins: a whole new survival story of navigating marriage and motherhood without any maps and loads of childhood trauma.

In This Episode:

The unique charms of Milano’s bipolar mother that inspired everyday people to step in and save Milano.
How marriage and parenthood activated Milano’s childhood trauma responses.
How Milano’s search for answers in the parenting world led her back to her childhood, her mom, and to Bare Naked Moms.

Please follow us: @barenakedmoms

Milano wrote about her story on Oprah Daily

Milano also told her story on the Big Time Adulting podcast

Actress Melissa Errico on Parenting Prodigy Kids

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Kids on professional paths….How did they get those paths? How much is the parent and how much is the child? How do you know if they’ve got the goods? And, if they do, where do you go from there?

In this episode, we talk to Broadway star Melissa Errico and gentle parenting coach Susan Nason about raising “prodigies.” Melissa and her husband, former tennis champ Patrick McEnroe, have three teenage daughters who are serious talents—one in tennis, two in dance. Together, we explore our burning questions about kids who have already picked a lane: Nature vs. nurture? Who’s driving the train? As a parent, when to push and when to retreat? (Sidenote: Patrick makes a cameo!)

In This Episode:

How to help competitive children navigate high-stake wins and losses.
Identifying a child’s talent as just one part of her whole self.
The differences between pushing and teaching perseverance.
The importance of modeling imperfection and being comfortable with the mess of life.

Follow Melissa on Instagram: @melissa_errico_fairymom

Check Melissa out on her website: https://melissaerrico.com

Follow Susan Nason on her website: www.theparentwhispererny.com

Check Susan out in this article: Town & Country Magazine

Influencers Penn & Kim Holderness on Parenting with ADHD

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 09:30:00 +0000

Are you a parent with ADHD? Or are you married to one? Do you struggle with the executive function that raising kids and running a household requires? We hear so much these days about kids with ADHD, but in our conversation with social media stars and bestselling authors, Penn and Kim Holderness, we get a real sense of what it means to be a parent with ADHD. Penn was diagnosed back in high school, and he and Kim bring their signature honesty, humor and insight to their new book, ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD, which landed on The New York Times Best Sellers list and has gone on to become one of the most popular books ever published on the subject. We talked to them about:

Why managing a family and household is so much more difficult for a parent with ADHD.
The challenges of marriage and parenting when your partner has ADHD.
How some ADHD traits can really work in your favor as a parent.

Joining the conversation is Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, a clinical psychologist, parenting coach, and author of The Tantrum Survival Guide. Dr. Hershberg has shared her wisdom on CNN, The Today Show, and The New York Times.

Follow Penn and Kim Holderness: @theholdernessfamily

Follow Dr. Rebecca Hershberg: @rebeccahershbergphd

TV Journalist Deborah Norville on Resilience, Gratitude and “Pack Power”

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Deborah Norville is a TV legend, the longest serving anchor on American television. She’s also the proud mom of two sons and one daughter, and she’s so transparent about what she’s learned along the road of parenting them from infants to adults. We asked her to be our fortune teller mom from the future - to give us pearls of wisdom on the chapter we’re in right now—call it Chapter 5: Chaos Reigns:

How she navigated some dark times in her career and in motherhood.
What she regrets not doing with her own kids when they were young.
Why she thinks gratitude is the best inoculation for struggles with mental health.

Deborah Norville was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2016. She’s been the host of Inside Edition, TV’s top-rated syndicated newsmagazine, since 1995. She joined the show from CBS News, where she was an anchor and correspondent. Deborah is also the former co-host of NBC’s Today Show and the former host of Deborah Norville Tonight on MSNBC.

Deborah is a bestselling author and lecturer. Among her books is Thank You Power: Making the SCIENCE of Gratitude Work for You, which details the connection between gratitude and enhanced cognitive function and energy.

🔗 Follow us on Instagram: @barenakedmoms

Financial Journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin on Money & Family

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000

We – just like you – have known from print and TV who Andrew Ross Sorkin the financial journalist and storyteller is. But today we get to know who Andrew Ross Sorkin the Dad is:

What he wants to replicate from his own childhood and what he hopes to do differently
His thoughts on tooth fairy inflation and the challenges of giving his kids an allowance in the age of Apple Pay
Andrew’s “dad portfolio” – how on the family and homefront he is spending his precious resources of time and money and where he’s seeing highest returns on that investment
The idea of failure – when he’d feel ok allowing the kids to fail, how insecurity can be healthy but also debilitating, and when or how to know the difference

Andrew Ross Sorkin is a columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box. He’s also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times. He wrote the bestseller Too Big to Fail and co-produced the movie of the same name. He is a co-creator of the Showtime series Billions.

Welcome to Bare Naked Moms

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 18:56:59 +0000

As a parent, do you ever feel bare and naked? Totally unsure of what’s right or wrong, loaded up with experts’ tips and tricks yet still feeling lost, misunderstood, and (worst of all) alone? We do. Let’s talk.

We are Milano Buckley and Alanna Leavell, hosts of Bare Naked Moms, a weekly parenting roundtable where celebs, influencers, experts, and everyday parents discuss the uncomfortable moments of modern family life. Parenting is tough and no matter who you are, you'll get stuck in some thorny, tick-infested parenting weeds. Each week, we have an honest and respectful conversation about sticky stories and questions, hoping to bring relief and clarity on how to find more peace, joy, connection, and humor in your lives as parents.