You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and in this episode, Rach and I chatted all about when kids are saying like rude things to you, those hurtful phrases that really dig deep, things like, you're stupid and all that jazz, you're the worst mom in the world. We also have way more about this in our book, Big Kids, Bigger Feelings, publishing in the fall of 2025. Snag that bad boy wherever books are sold. It is going to be packed full of stuff for navigating the elementary years that like kindergarten to fifth grade range, where we know a lot of these phrases. You're like, where did my sweet little human go? And why are they saying these rude things now? We've got your back. All right, folks, let's dive in. 

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Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

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Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I get to share a friend of mine with you. Dr. Patrick Makokoro is a social entrepreneur, an early childhood development practitioner, an educational researcher with extensive experience working in community and international development. I got to meet Patrick when we were both presenting at the World Forum for Early Childhood Education. I met him in Panama, and then we both bound up seeing each other again. We were selected as experts for UNESCO, for United Nations Education Congress, and there were nine experts selected globally, and he and I were each there and just ran into each other. He is a human who I love learning from and just being in conversation with. He's done such incredible work. I'm so jazzed to get to share about it with y 'all today and chat about what it looks like to navigate community and identity and how to engage children in conversation around this. The work that he's carried out includes early child education development program implementation in Africa and the US. He is the principal consultant at the HuUbuntu Consulting. It's a specialized consulting firm bringing strength -based philosophies to business and not -for -profits to manage strategic planning, influence grant making and philanthropy, team wellness, culture development, and building accountability. He's published various books, including a memoir called Nhaka Yenyu: Your Inheritance, a children's book series called Hu- Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are, and some academic books. Y'all, soak this human up. enjoy this conversation as much as I did. All right, let's dive in. 

Connect with Dr. Patrick Makokoro:

X:@patrickmakokoro

Website: huubuntuconsulting.com

Order the books: Nhaka Yenyu, Hu-Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are

Podcast: Voices Less Heard

Nhaka Foundation is a registered charity organization whose mission is to educate, feed, and improve the health of orphans and vulnerable children of Southern Africa. Please visit our website Nhaka Foundation 

Connect with us:

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Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

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Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village and today I got to hang out with Pepper Stetler. She is the author of A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test. She writes extensively on issues facing people with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Slate, the Progressive. Pepper is a professor of art history at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and daughter, Louisa. I love this conversation because it is not just about folks with intellectual disabilities. We talked about school systems and how they are not set up systemically to support all of our children. And this is not at the fault of teachers. Teachers are incredible and slaying, and we need to shift the systems in which they work in order to better serve the classroom as a whole, and we got to dive into what that looks like and talk about some of those things. I shared my biggest dreams for what tests look like and how we're utilizing them. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Come on over to Instagram @seed.and.sew and share your thoughts with us. We'll have a post up about this episode, and I want to hear your takeaways and your thoughts and feedback and whether or not your kid might benefit from some of the things that we toss up in this episode. And if you're a teacher, come share your challenges and grievances and what you would love to see change as well. I want to hear from all of you. I want to continue this conversation. All right, folks, let's dive in. 

Connect with Pepper:

X/Twitter: https://x.com/pepperstetler

Website: https://www.pepperstetler.com/about

Order the book: A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village and today I got a little fired up on this episode. We get to talk about the crucial missing component to fixing child care systems. I got to hang out with Jamee Herbert. She's the CEO and co -founder of BridgeCare, which is a woman -led software company that helps government agencies and nonprofit organizations manage their early care and education ecosystems. BridgeCare is driven by the mission to make high quality early childhood education accessible and affordable for everyone, especially low -income families and communities of color who often face the most barriers to access. Jamee is a member of the United WE National Commission on Child Care and Women's Entrepreneurship, an organization advancing research and policy solutions to reduce red tape in child care licensing and address the childcare crisis for women entrepreneurs. She holds a certificate in early education leadership from Harvard Graduate School, and when she isn't working, you can find her parenting alongside her husband in the Berkshires. Jamee and I got into this bad boy, and this is not just for you if you work in childcare, if you're a part of the early ed system. It's for you if you want to see a boost in the economy, if you want women to have access to the workforce, if you want sustainable solutions for childcare so that we can support kids' development now in these early years, which means down the road, we end up paying so much less for people. So from a financial perspective, it is for everyone and buckle up because I got a little fired up in this bad boy. All right, let's Let's dive in. 

Connect with Jamee:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameeherbert/

Website: https://getbridgecare.com/

Their Family Inn, Wilder House Berkshires: https://www.wilderhouseberkshires.com

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village and today I got to hang out with two pediatricians to chat about why time in nature matters for kids and how do you overcome those barriers to outdoor time. I hung out with Pooja Tandon and Danette Glassy, both doctors who work with children and have done research in this space. Dr. Tandon is a general pediatrician and researcher at the Seattle Children's Hospital, an Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and the Director of Health at the Trust for Public Land. She has published widely on the importance of physical activity, outdoor time, and nature contact for health. And she lives in the Seattle area with her husband and two kids. And Dr. Glassy is a Primary Care Pediatrician and Child Advocate. She's the Co -Founder and Board President of the nonprofit Best Start Washington and leads its Project Nature initiative, a program to support pediatric medical professionals as they encourage children to spend time in nature. She is the co -editor of Caring for Our Children. Dr. Glassy lives in the Seattle area and enjoys exploring nature in the Pacific Northwest with her two grandchildren. And what was so relieving about this episode is that, you know, I am not, I would not call myself one with nature. I like to be outside, like that's fun, but I'm like more outsidey than outdoorsy. And I feel like they make this so accessible, whether you're living in a city or you're living in a rural space, whether you love to hike a mountain or you want to like chill in your backyard with your kids. It just felt so much more accessible for me than a lot of the messaging around like getting outside or the 1000 hours outside or whatever can feel so overwhelming. So thank you to Dr. Tandon and Dr. Glassy for this and let's dive in. 

Connect with Dr. Tandon and Dr. Glassy:

Dr. Tandon LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pooja-s-tandon-md-mph-672040299/

Dr. Glassy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danette-glassy-12b00067/

Website: https://www.projectnaturewa.com/naturebooks/

Order the book: Digging Into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I get to share an episode that I love. I think it's just really timely right now. This is a rebroadcast of our episode with Julia Ieslin on sensory regulation for high energy kids. We're going to round to this bad boy and run it back because we're getting so many questions on this topic. It feels like it could be really helpful right now, especially in the like colder months when it's like, oh my gosh, what do we do? How do we support our high energy kids? I got you. Julia is an occupational therapist and is awesome. And then Rachel and I have a breakdown at the end of this episode as well. All right, folks, let's dive in. 

Connect with Julia:

Instagram: @ot_mama_of_twins

Website: https://playmoveexplore.com/

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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Welcome back to Voices of Your Village and today is a rebroadcast of an episode with Larissa Geleris and we got to dive into when your nervous system is overwhelmed by your child's sensory needs. I, for one, have this at my household. I have a sensory mismatch with one of my children and my husband has a sensory mismatch with our other child and so we're constantly navigating this in real life. And at the end of this episode, Rach and I came together for a breakdown of what this looks like in real life in our households. I hope this one is hitting you at a good time, y 'all. It's a reminder I think we all need. All right, let's dive in. 

Connect with Larissa:

Instagram: @steadyparents

Website: https://www.steadyparents.com/

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

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Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village. And today I got to hang out with Dr. Taylor Day to chat about masking in autism. We dove into what high masking is and how it shows up outside of the autistic community as well. Oh man, it is such a bonkers idea to me that we are still so focused on eliciting certain behaviors when we know that behavior is the communication of a need. We get to dive into all that jazz in this episode. And whether you have a child who is autistic, you're autistic, or you know somebody or not, this episode's for you because you have a nervous system.  Every human has a nervous system, and there's so much packed into this conversation that will apply for you and your kids as well. Dr. Taylor Day is a licensed psychologist specializing in neuroaffirming care for autistic children and their families, including very early diagnosis and early intervention. She has a PhD in clinical psychology and is the CEO and founder of Dr. Tay Concierge Clinical Care. Her practice integrates the whole family approach, a process she created utilizing evidence -informed principles after seeing a gap in autism care. Her passion for child psychology and her focus on autism is in many ways tied to her own personal experience growing up with a brother who was diagnosed at 23 months of age. Y 'all, this episode is full of goodness. I am so jazzed for you to dive in. And at the end of the episode, Rach and I break down what masking looks like for our sensory sensitive kiddos, and go into more detail about neurotypical vs neurodivergent masking and its impacts. All right, without further ado, let's dive in. 

Connect with Dr. Taylor Day:

Instagram: @the.dr.tay

Website: drtaylorday.com

Podcast: EVOLVE with Dr. Tay | the podcast for parents of autistic kids

Alyssa’s episode on Evolve: Building inclusive and sensory-friendly classrooms to promote regulation and learning

Connect with us:

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Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

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Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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Welcome back to Voices of Your Village, and today we get to chat about teaching our kids how to bounce back from bullying with Dr. Michele Borba. Dr. Michele Borba is an internationally -renowned educator, award -winning author, and parenting, child and bullying expert recognized for her solution -based strategies to strengthen children's empathy, character, and reduce bullying. She's an NBC contributor who has appeared over 150 times on the Today Show and featured on countless shows, including Dr. Phil, Dateline, The View, and CNN. Her 24 books have been translated in 20 languages, including End Peer Cruelty: Build Empathy, Building Moral Intelligence, Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed and Are All About Me World, and her latest book is Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and others shine. She offers realistic, research -based advice culled from a career of working with over 1 million parents and educators worldwide. I got to dive into this topic with her, and then Rach and I also went deeper into what this looks like as a parent and on that personal note in the breakdown. All right, folks, let's dive in. 

Connect with Dr. Michele Borba:

Instagram: @drmicheleborba

Website: https://micheleborba.com/

Order the book: I Got This: I Have Bounce Back Superpowers, Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

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Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today we are sharing one of my favorite episodes that I've done that just feels so appropriate in this season, where we get to talk about decluttering your holiday shoulds. We aired this last year with Rachel Nielsen from 3 and 30 Takeaways for Moms podcast. I have been on her podcast before as well, if you wanna check that out. This episode, she joined me and we are re -airing it today and adding in the breakdown with Rach and I at the end. We have heard from so many of you that you're loving the breakdowns. They're so fun for us too, to take these conversations with experts and really look at what does it look like in day -to -day? I love getting to hang out with Rach and do those as well. So thank you for that feedback and I hope you enjoy our breakdown of this episode at the end. Alright, folks, let's dive in. 

Connect with Rachel:

Instagram: @3in30podcast

Website: https://3in30podcast.com/

Order the book: Flecks of Gold: A Three-Year Journal for Mothers

Podcast: 3 in 30 Takeaways for Moms

Alyssa's episode on 3 in 30: #271: Why your kids meltdown after school and what to do about it

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

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You're listening to Voices of Your Village, and today I got to hang out with Dr. Deborah MacNamara. She is a dynamic speaker and best -selling author sought after for her expertise on human development, speaking at the United Nations and Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. She's the author of Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers and Nourished: Connection, Food, and Caring for Our Kids. Deborah is on the faculty at the Neufeld Institute and works alongside Gordon Neufeld to make sense of kids to the adults responsible for them. You might remember when we had Gordon on before and got to hang out and chat with him about connection and relationship and attachment. Dr. Deborah MacNamara's passion is to translate development through science and story, making it transferable to the home, classroom, and everyday experiences. She and I got to chat about why relationship is so key for picky eaters and how food is so much more than nutrients. Honestly, I left this conversation feeling restored and seen and like I was doing enough. You know, those conversations are so life -giving. Remember to stay tuned for the breakdown at the end with Rach where she and I dive into what this looks like in our real lives, taking the science and nerdiness and looking at practical application with a couple of parents in everyday life. Alright folks, let's dive in. 

Connect with Dr. Deborah MacNamara:

Instagram: @drdeborahmacnamara

Website: https://macnamara.ca/

Order the book: Nourished: Connection, Food, and Caring for Our Kids (And Everyone Else We Love)

Connect with us:

Instagram: @seed.and.sew 

Podcast page: Voices of Your Village

Seed and Sew's Regulation Quiz: Take the Quiz

Order Tiny Humans, Big Emotions now! 

Website: seedandsew.org

Music by: Ruby Adams and Bensound

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices