Voices of Your Village

You’re listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we’re talking about the kids who often get missed. The ones who look fine on the outside, hold it together at school, and then unravel at home. The kids whose feeding struggles, big reactions, sensory needs, or shutdowns can get mistaken for defiance when what’s really happening is so much more nuanced.

In this episode, I’m joined by Polina Shkadron, and we’re digging into what it looks like to truly support neurodivergent kids through the lens of relationship, regulation, and trust. We talk about feeding challenges, masking, sensory differences, executive functioning, and why believing the child’s experience changes everything.

This conversation hit home for me as a parent, because so much of this is about shifting out of “How do I make this behavior stop?” and into “What is this child telling me about their experience?” And that shift matters at home, in classrooms, and in every relationship we have with kids.

Alright folks, let’s dive in.

Connect with Polina:

Instagram: @playtolearnconsulting

Website: playtolearnconsulting.com

Newsletter: https://playtolearnconsulting.com/resources/

PESI webinars mentioned:

The “Not So Picky” Picky Eater 

Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents

Connect with us:

Instagram and TikTok: @seed.and.sew 

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Credits:

Host: Alyssa Blask Campbell

Co-host: Rachel Lounder

Production/Editing: Kristin Mork-McVeigh

Graphics: Kayla Kurland-Davis/ Beki Rohrig

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You’re listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we’re talking about one of the hardest family transitions to navigate with kids: divorce.

In this episode, I’m joined by Michelle Dempsey-Multack, and we’re digging into what it really looks like to take a child-first approach when parents separate. We talk about how to tell kids about divorce in a way that is honest, clear, and age-appropriate, what kids actually need in those early conversations, and how to support them without putting them in the middle.

We also get into the long game of co-parenting: how to stay grounded when emotions are high, how to avoid making kids the messengers or collateral, and what it means to build a childhood your kids won’t have to recover from later.

Alright folks, let’s dive in.

Connect with Michelle:

Instagram:@michelledempsey, @michellemultack

Website: https://michelledempsey.com/

Order the book: Moms Moving On: Real-Life Advice on Conquering Divorce, Co-Parenting Through Conflict, and Becoming Your Best Self

Podcast: The Moving On Podcast

Connect with us:

Instagram and TikTok: @seed.and.sew 

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Credits:

Host: Alyssa Blask Campbell

Co-host: Rachel Lounder

Production/Editing: Kristin Mork-McVeigh

Graphics: Kayla Kurland-Davis/ Beki Rohrig

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before we dive in: this episode includes discussion of childhood mental health struggles and discusses suicidal ideation and self harm. Please take care while listening.

You’re listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we’re talking about something that so many autism parents know in their bones but don’t always hear said out loud: sometimes what looks like defiance, aggression, or “too much” is actually overwhelm, burnout, anxiety, and a nervous system that cannot keep carrying what the world is asking of it.

In this episode, I’m joined by Lisa Candera of The Autism Mom Coach, and we talk honestly about parenting an autistic child through anxiety, OCD, burnout, and big behaviors. We get into the difference between can’t and won’t, what it looks like when the strategies that used to work stop working, how our own nervous systems shape what happens next, and why support for the parent matters just as much as support for the child.

This conversation felt especially powerful to me as the mom of an autistic child, because there is so much nuance here. There is grief, love, exhaustion, advocacy, and so much invisible labor. Lisa brings both lived experience and deep compassion to this conversation, and I think so many parents are going to feel less alone in it.

Alright folks, let’s dive in.

Connect with Lisa:

Instagram: @theautismmomcoach

Website: https://theautismmomcoach.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-candera-949b3175/ 

Podcast:  The Autism Mom Coach

Connect with us:

Instagram and TikTok: @seed.and.sew 

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Credits:

Host: Alyssa Blask Campbell

Co-host: Rachel Lounder

Production/Editing: Kristin Mork-McVeigh

Graphics: Kayla Kurland-Davis/ Beki Rohrig

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You’re listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we’re talking about screens, because my feed has been feeling so black-and-white lately. Screens are bad. Screens disconnect us. Avoid them at all costs. And I just don’t think that’s true, and I also don’t think it’s helpful.

So we’re having a real conversation about what it looks like to raise kids in the world we’re actually living in, not the one we miss from when we were growing up. Screens are morally neutral. The question is what we do with them, what our kids are getting from them, and how we can use them as a tool for connection, instead of a source of tension.

I’m joined by Ash Brandin, aka The Gamer Educator and author of Power On, and Brynn Putnam, the creator of Board, a face-to-face game console that blends the tactile pieces of board games with a digital screen so families can play together in a way that fuels connection. We talk about digital play being real play, why leisure doesn’t have to be productive, and how to build trust now so kids come to you later, when tech gets more complicated and has higher stakes.

Alright folks, let’s dive in.

Connect with Brynn:

Instagram: @board.fun

X: @brynnputnam

Website: https://board.fun/

Connect with Ash:

Instagram: @thegamereducator

Website: https://thegamereducator.com/

Order the book: Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family

Substack: https://thegamereducator.substack.com/

Connect with us:

Instagram and TikTok: @seed.and.sew 

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Credits:

Host: Alyssa Blask Campbell

Co-host: Rachel Lounder

Production/Editing: Kristin Mork-McVeigh

Graphics: Kayla Kurland-Davis/ Beki Rohrig

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You’re listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we’re talking about something most of us were never actually taught how to do: healthy conflict.

In this episode, I’m joined by Aly Bullock, a licensed marriage and family therapist, communication coach, and mom of three, and we’re getting honest about what happens when one partner leans into conflict and the other shuts down. We unpack why silence can feel just as loud as yelling, how to name tension in front of kids without making them responsible for it, and what real repair actually sounds like beyond a quick “sorry about yesterday.”

We also dig into “accountability” and why what we’re really asking for, from kids and from partners, is the ability to understand impact. That shift changes everything-- at home, and out in the world.

Alright folks, let’s dive in.

Connect with Aly:

Instagram: @relationshipswithaly, @pairedapp

Website: paired.com, relationshipswithaly.com

Free trial & 25% off paired app: paired.com/alypodcast

Aly's TALK Blueprint Course: https://www.relationshipswithaly.com/talk-blueprint

Connect with us:

Instagram and TikTok: @seed.and.sew 

Seed and Sew's NEW Regulation Questionnaire: Take the Quiz

Order Big Kids, Bigger Feelings now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Credits:

Host: Alyssa Blask Campbell

Co-host: Rachel Lounder

Production/Editing: Kristin Mork-McVeigh

Graphics: Kayla Kurland-Davis/ Beki Rohrig

Music by: Ruby Adams and  Bensound
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices