After Bedtime with Big Little Feelings

Would you let your 10-year-old walk to the store alone? Have a sleepover at someone else's house? Bring a phone to school at nine? Fail a test you KNOW they didn't study for? Tell you they don't like the way you've been parenting them?

By bestie demand, we're BACK with Part 2 of “Would You Let Your Kid...?” and somehow, the questions are even more controversial this time. Deena came prepared with a whole new list of parenting dilemmas that Kristin had absolutely ZERO warning about. Which is great, except apparently she made a list of every single parenting decision that keeps Kristin up at night. We get into some of the super tricky stuff in parenting like:
- Sleepovers: Why we went from a HARD no to changing our minds (and the very specific circumstances that made us reconsider).
- Phones at nine: Why we're holding off, the pressure parents are facing, and the complicated reasons some families make a different choice
- Letting kids fail: Would we let our kids bomb a test they didn't study for? And when is there something deeper going on than simply not trying?
- Independence vs. safety: Would we let our 10-year-olds walk to a store alone? This one sent us into a full-blown spiral.
- The friend you secretly can't stand: What to do when your kid has THAT friend, and why telling them how you really feel might backfire.
- Letting your kids call YOU out: Why we actually invite our kids to tell us when we've hurt their feelings, even when we think we've done nothing wrong.

And because apparently we hadn't debated enough, we finish with a rapid-fire round involving a $400 LEGO set, a pet snake, face tattoos, and whether we'd legally let our child change their name to Chicken Nugget. Yes, seriously. We're sharing what we actually do in our own homes, where we disagree, and the parenting decisions we're STILL figuring out ourselves. Come for the hot takes. Stay for Kristin's existential crisis.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

Boll & Branch - Get 15% off your first set of sheets plus free shipping at bollandbranch.com/BLF with code BLF.

Cash App - Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/vqk5yo8w #CashAppPod
- Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank
partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards
issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A.
Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card at cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement, for
the Sutton debit flex card at cash.app/legal/us/en-us/debit-flex-card-agreement-sutton and for the
Bancorp debit flex card at cash.app/legal/us/en-us/debit-flex-card-agreement-bancorp. Savings and Offers
provided by Cash App, a Block Inc. brand. Offers may not be affiliated with third party merchants.
- Parents and legal guardians can open a managed account for kids 6-12.
- Cash App will pass through a portion of the interest paid on your savings balance held in an account for
the benefit of Cash App customers at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. To earn interest on your Cash
App savings balance, you need to have sponsor approval. Exceptions may apply. Savings yield rate is
subject to change. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.

Ivy City - Find your family's holiday favorites at ivycityco.com with code BLF for 30% off everything.

Nutrafol - Head to nutrafol.com and enter the promo code FEELINGS for $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping.
Our Place - Stop cooking with toxic cookware and upgrade to Our Place today! Visit fromourplace.com/BLF and use code BLF for 10% off sitewide.

Peloton - Explore the new Peloton Tread Flex at onepeloton.com

Quince - Go to quince.com/BLF for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Tonies Toys - Go to tonies.com to learn all about Tonies Toys!

Produced by Dear Media
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why does your kid only listen when you FINALLY lose it and yell? Are you accidentally making meltdowns worse? And how the hell are you supposed to raise a confident, resilient kid when every day feels like one giant power struggle??

If you’ve ever asked your kid to put their shoes on 12 times, felt judged for accommodating their needs, or watched your kid get rejected by friends and wanted to march straight onto that playground yourself, this episode is for YOU.

Today, child therapist Deena is tackling the real-life parenting problems - sent in by the besties - that leave us exhausted, second-guessing ourselves, and wondering, “Am I handling any of this right?”

And she’s sharing the practical, research-backed shifts that can completely change how you handle them. We’re getting into:

Why yelling actually WORKS (and why that’s a problem): The surprising reason your kids ignore the first 14 requests, but magically listen when you explode - and how to break that cycle.
The Halloween candy trap: The common mistake that can make your kid even MORE obsessed with sugar, and how to end the candy battles for good.
Meltdowns, fears, and big feelings: What to do when your child is completely overwhelmed, and the simple preparation trick that can prevent a whole buncha meltdowns before they start in the first place.
Sensory struggles vs. “giving in”: Is accommodating your child’s needs making them less resilient?? Deena gets personal about what she’s learned raising an autistic child.
When your kid is excluded by friends: How to protect their confidence, know when to step in, and teach them to handle rejection without believing something is wrong with them.

Here’s the thing: You can be doing everything you THINK you’re supposed to do as a parent and still be making your life harder than it needs to be. Let’s take the pressure off and calm the chaos. Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from changing one small thing in how you respond.

This episode is packed with those moments - the kind that make you go, “WAIT. Why has nobody explained it to me like that before?!” And translate into real life results - less yelling, fewer power struggles, and more confidence in yourself AND your kids.

Press play. You’re going to want these tools in your back pocket.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

Fabletics - Shop now at Fabletics.com/BLF to get 70 to 80% off everything when you sign up as a new VIP.

Freestyle - Head to freestyle.world/biglittlefeelings and use code biglittlefeelings to get 30% off your first three months of a Freestyle Diapers subscription.

Hiya Health - Receive 50% off your first order of Hiya’s best selling children’s vitamin. Head to hiyahealth.com/BLF.

Peloton - Explore the new Peloton Tread Flex at onepeloton.com

Tonies Toys - Go to tonies.com to learn all about Tonies Toys!

Toothpillow - Head to toothpillow.com/bedtime and use code bedtime to unlock your free video assessment.

Tumble - MachineWashableRugs, MadeBetter. For a limited time only, our listeners get 10% off + free shipping at Tumbleliving.com/BLF

Wedderspoon - Get your own taste of Manuka wellness by visiting wedderspoon.com and use code BLF at checkout for 20% off your order, or shop nationwide at Whole Foods Market and Amazon.

Produced by Dear Media
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A listener favorite, back by popular demand! This conversation feels more relevant than ever. We're revisiting one of our most important episodes about raising boys and the small, science-backed things we can do today to shape the men they'll become. Because how we raise our boys today matters for the world they'll help shape tomorrow.

If you’re raising a boy, this episode will light a fire in you - in the best, most empowering way. Because here’s the truth: The kind of men our boys become is not random - it’s not just personality, or fate. It’s shaped - day by day - in childhood. In how we respond to their anger, their tears, their mistakes.

Parents are not just witnessing who their sons become; we are actively building the men they will be - through parenting. And the most hopeful part? There are concrete, science-backed things you can start doing today that measurably shift your child’s emotional trajectory - and the kind of partner, friend, and human he will one day be.

In this bold, honest, sometimes funny-so-you-don’t-cry episode, Deena goes straight at the stuff that feels big and scary to say out loud: male entitlement, emotional shutdown, aggression, consent failures, unequal partnership, and why “boys will be boys” has quietly lowered the bar for generations. Then, she flips the script - with science, real stories, and concrete parenting tools you can start literally today - so you walk away knowing exactly how to raise a boy who feels deeply, respects boundaries, takes accountability, and is safe to love.

Here are the 10 daily actions that turn little boys into great men - starting TODAY:
• Why emotional skills in men are built - or blocked - in early childhood
• The critical difference between allowing anger vs. allowing harm
• How to teach consent and bodily autonomy starting in toddlerhood
• Why boys receive less emotional coaching (and how to change that)
• Rough play, wrestling, and what it’s actually doing in the brain
• Teaching boys about periods, care work, and partnership early
• How to build empathy and perspective-taking in daily moments
• Accountability and repair: the skill many men never learned
• Why punishment and shame backfire - especially for boys
• The core message boys need about love, power, and safety

You’ll leave this episode feeling seen in the weight of raising boys today, and radically empowered in how much influence you actually have. Because you’re not just raising a child; you’re shaping the kind of man the world will one day meet. And once you hear this, you’ll parent your son differently tomorrow morning.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

Ladder -  If you have an iPhone, head to ladder.fit/blf and take a quiz to find your perfect Ladder plan. Get a free seven-day trial with no credit card and ten dollars off your first month if you do join.

Knix - Head to knix.com/ACOTAR to shop the new ACOTAR Nyx collection, and use code BIGLITTLEFEELINGS to save 15%

Nutrafol - Head to nutrafol.com and enter the promo code FEELINGS for $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping.

Osea - Get 10% off your order sitewide with code BLF at oseamalibu.com.

Quince - Go to quince.com/BLF for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Tin Can - Go to tincan.com/blf to get $10 off your first order, exclusive for our listeners.

Wayfair - Head to wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.

Produced by Dear Media
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Have you ever spent your entire life feeling like you're too much, too sensitive, too scattered, too difficult, or just somehow failing at things that seem SO easy for everyone else? Or maybe you're raising a child who hears those exact same things. This episode will completely change the way you see yourself AND your child.

Today, fan favorite, my husband Tyler (VP Hype Squad) is joining me for one of our most personal conversations yet. We were both diagnosed with neurodivergence at 37. I have ADHD, Tyler has autism and ADHD, and as it turns out, we're raising a whole lot of neurospicy kids ourselves. We're sharing what we wish we'd known about our brains decades ago, and the things we've learned that have completely changed how we live and parent.

In this episode, you'll learn:
•The hidden cost of masking: What actually happens when you spend your entire life forcing yourself to appear "normal," and how that constant effort to fit in can lead to exhaustion, burnout, and losing your sense of who you really are.
•Why ADHD and autism are so often missed, especially in women: And why you might have spent decades calling yourself lazy, dramatic, difficult, or a failure when there was a completely different explanation.
•How to stop fighting against your own brain: The life-changing shifts we've made since our diagnoses that have helped us let go of shame, work WITH our brains, and finally give ourselves some damn grace.
•Exactly how we're parenting our neurodivergent kids differently: The questions we ask instead of assuming our kids are being difficult, how we're helping them build skills that actually work for their brains, and what we're doing to make sure they don't grow up believing there's something wrong with them.
•How to break the cycle of shame: Because we know firsthand what it feels like to spend your childhood trying desperately to be someone else, and we want something radically different for our kids.
Whether you have ADHD or autism, suspect you might, love someone who does, or are raising a child who experiences the world a little differently, this is an episode you need to hear. Because imagine what could change if you finally understood why certain things have always been so hard for you. And imagine what could change for your child if they never had to spend 37 years figuring that out.

Plus, Tyler shares his deeply passionate ranking of public bathrooms around the world. Because apparently that's where this conversation needed to go.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

Aquaphor Baby - Find the new Aquaphor Baby Sensitive Lotion now at Walmart, Amazon andTarget. Visit aquaphorus.com to learn more

Hiya Health - Receive 50% off your first order of Hiya’s best selling children’s vitamin. Head to hiyahealth.com/BLF.

Quince - Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to quince.com/BLF for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Zocdoc - Head to zocdoc.com/BLF to get started and check that appointment off your to-do list!

Produced by Dear Media
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everyone’s Bravo husband is in the house: CRAIG CONOVER. We can’t believe AND we get into ALL. OF. IT. Southern Charm. Austen. Shep. The breakup. Growing up on reality TV. Because we’ve basically watched Craig grow up in real time.

We watched him party, get dragged for sewing, navigate ADHD, build a business, fall in love, go through a VERY public breakup, change his relationship with alcohol, and eventually realize… wait, maybe I actually LIKE staying home, going to the gym, sewing pillows, and not waking up hungover? But underneath that evolution is a much bigger story about what happens when you stop trying to be who everyone else expects you to be. Craig gets incredibly open with Kristin about ADHD, bullying, alcohol, loneliness, self-trust, and learning to build a life that actually feels like him.

A little sneak peek of what we get into:
* The ADHD hacks Craig actually uses to get shit done, including one we’re stealing immediately
* Why changing his relationship with alcohol changed way more than his mornings
* The moment he realized some of the people closest to him wanted the “old” Craig back
* What his breakup taught him about loneliness, codependency, and being alone
* What ADHD looked like as a kid, in law school, on reality TV, and now as an entrepreneur
* The bullying he never told his parents about — and how being “different” shaped him
* Austen. Shep. Madison. And where those relationships stand now
* And the ultimate full-circle moment: how sewing went from the thing everyone made fun of to a business, a life, and now a children’s book

Because maybe the thing people told you was weird about you isn’t something you need to get rid of. Maybe it’s the thing that makes you YOU.

Turns out: we should have just let Craig sew.

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

Aquaphor Baby - Find the new Aquaphor Baby Sensitive Lotion now at Walmart, Amazon andTarget. Visit aquaphorus.com to learn more

Boll & Branch - Get 15% off your first set of sheets plus free shipping at bollandbranch.com/BLF with code BLF.

Cash App - Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/vqk5yo8w #CashAppPod

- Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank
partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards
issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A.
Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card at cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement, for
the Sutton debit flex card at cash.app/legal/us/en-us/debit-flex-card-agreement-sutton and for the
Bancorp debit flex card at cash.app/legal/us/en-us/debit-flex-card-agreement-bancorp. Savings and Offers
provided by Cash App, a Block Inc. brand. Offers may not be affiliated with third party merchants.
- Parents and legal guardians can open a managed account for kids 6-12.
- Cash App will pass through a portion of the interest paid on your savings balance held in an account for
the benefit of Cash App customers at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. To earn interest on your Cash
App savings balance, you need to have sponsor approval. Exceptions may apply. Savings yield rate is
subject to change. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.

Momcozy - Go to momcozy.com and use code BIGLITTLEFEELINGS for 10% off.

Nutrafol - Head to nutrafol.com and enter the promo code FEELINGS for $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping.

Our Place - Stop cooking with toxic cookware and upgrade to Our Place today! Visit fromourplace.com/BLF and use code BLF for 10% off sitewide.

Produced by Dear Media
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.