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PODCAST

Parents of the Year

Caroline & Andrew

We were never given a manual on how to parent. It is easy to get overwhelmed to know the right thing to do. There is so much contradictory information out there and everyone has their own advice. Parenting is a rewarding but messy, confusing, infuriating, guilt-inducing, and overwhelming journey. While it"s easy to get lost, Andrew Stewart, a real dad, and Dr. Caroline Buzanko, a real mom, child psychologist, and parenting expert (who also happens to be married to Andrew) will help you get back on

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

19:59

208 Who Is Your Child Actually Talking to Online?

Parents of the Year ·

2026/04/22

Roblox isn’t just a game—it’s one of the most active online spaces kids are spending time in right now. In this episode, Andrew and Caroline get real about what’s happening behind the screen. With over 150 million daily users—many under 13—this platform has become a digital playground where kids are interacting, spending money, and forming connections… sometimes with people they don’t actually know. They break down how features like chat and in-game currency (Robux) are being used to build tr...

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35:44

207. What If Everything You’ve Heard About...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/04/15

This episode pulls apart one of the biggest fears circulating among parents right now: plastics and microplastics. Andrew and Caroline sit down with scientist Dr. Chris DeArmitt, who has reviewed thousands of studies to separate what’s actually proven from what’s being repeated online. The conversation moves from social media backlash and parenting pressure to a deeper look at how fear spreads—and what the science actually says. You’ll hear why many widely shared claims about microplastics do...

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48:33

206. Are Screens Stealing Our Kids’ Motivation?

Parents of the Year ·

2026/04/08

What helps kids feel safe, motivated, proud, and ready to try hard things? In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline sit down with Matt Kaufman—camp director, author of The Campfire Effect, and lifelong summer camp leader—to talk about what camp gets so right about child development, belonging, and confidence. Matt breaks down five brain chemicals that shape how kids grow: oxytocin, dopamine, cortisol, serotonin, and endorphins. Andrew and Caroline explore how emotional safe...

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44:52

205. Are We Putting Too Much Pressure on Kids to...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/04/01

What helps kids learn, keep trying, and bounce back after a hard moment? In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline sit down with educator, author, speaker, and chess coach Kevin Cripe to talk about what truly helps children thrive at school, in sports, and at home. With more than 27 years in education, Kevin shares what he learned from teaching in high-mobility classrooms, building an after-school chess programme for students from low-income communities, and helping kids gro...

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27:06

204. Are you ready for the conversations kids are...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/03/25

When a child says, “This is who I am,” what does a supportive parent do next? In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline take on a topic many families are trying to understand with more care and less fear: gender identity, sexual orientation, pronouns, transition, and the language kids and teens may be using right now. This conversation starts the way real parenting conversations often do — with jokes, peanut butter confessions, hummingbirds, and everyday life — then moves in...

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22:02

203. How Do You Build a Village When You’re Raising...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/03/18

How do parents build a village when they’re raising kids far from family? In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline dig into one of the hardest parts of modern parenting: feeling alone while trying to raise connected, confident kids. From neighbours and school families to sports teams, gyms, dog parks, and simple daily routines, they talk about how community is built in real life — not through grand gestures, but through small repeated moments. A wave across the street. A f...

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31:20

202. Are screens speeding up adolescence and delaying...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/03/11

A jar of peanut butter almost ends a marriage… and somehow becomes the perfect opener for a conversation about what’s happening to adolescence right now. In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline unpack what ADHD expert Dr. Russell Barkley calls “early arrival, late departure”: kids hitting adult ideas sooner (thanks, screens) while independence shows up later (thanks, anxiety, money, and over-helping). They talk milestones that are fading (driving, first jobs, even babysitt...

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33:29

201. Do You Know Who Your Child Is Talking to in...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/03/04

In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline sit down with Mashood Ahmed, founder and CEO of GigabitIQ (the UK’s safest broadband provider) and a dad of five, to talk about what’s really happening online: strangers in game chats, disappearing messages, school-issued devices that come home unfiltered, and why a bedroom can be riskier than the park. Mashood breaks down where parents get stuck—too many devices, too many apps, too many settings—and shares a simpler way to think abo...

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34:48

200. Why are teens self-diagnosing on TikTok—and what...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/02/25

Peanut butter crumbs, a surprise lap dog, and a teen who’s meeting new people at bars… this episode starts like a sitcom and lands on a real parenting pressure point: when kids start wearing diagnoses like usernames. Andrew and Caroline talk about the “sick role” trend online—especially on short-form video—where teens self-diagnose, compare who has it worse, and sometimes copy symptoms they’ve seen on their feeds. They unpack what gets missed when labels become identity: loneliness, shaky sel...

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35:39

199. Are tracking apps making parents calmer—or more...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/02/18

Tracking your kids can feel like “good parenting”… until it turns your home into a control room. In this Parents of the Year episode, Andrew and Caroline talk about why location-sharing and constant check-ins often backfire—especially as kids become teens and young adults. They unpack the real driver underneath most tracking habits: adult discomfort with uncertainty. You’ll hear how “just nice to know” can quietly turn into stress, distrust, and sneaky workarounds (hello, leaving the phone so...

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29:21

198. How Do We Help Kids Feel Seen When Their Needs...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/02/11

What happens when a child feels invisible—and how can adults respond in a way that builds confidence, connection, and kindness? In this episode of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline sit down with Mark Perloe, a retired infertility physician turned children’s book author and grandfather, to talk about modern parenting through a grandparent’s lens. Mark shares the real family moments that inspired Milo’s Superpower, including sibling dynamics, screen struggles, emotional outbursts, and th...

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27:13

197. Are you using ChatGPT for parenting… and is it...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/02/04

Andrew and Caroline start this episode the same way many parents start a “normal” day: northern lights, a bank visit that ate two hours, and a reminder that adulting is its own full-time job. Then they try something parents are doing more and more—asking AI for parenting advice. They put a “nice British voice” to the test on real-life sticking points: kids refusing chores, screen-time blowups, bedtime anxiety, and the constant tug-of-war between boundaries and burnout. The advice isn’t wild… ...

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29:51

195. Why does work-life balance feel impossible when...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/01/21

Working from home with kids in the mix can feel like you’re failing at two jobs at once. Andrew and Caroline get real about why “balance” is a trap, and why clear boundaries work better—at home and at work. They share what actually helped in their house (the red/green door system, kid-friendly “emergency rules,” and setting kids up with non-screen activities—yes, including the legendary cardboard pirate ship that took over an entire archway). You’ll also hear how Caroline plans wo...

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54:18

194. What actually works when your child won’t get...

Parents of the Year ·

2026/01/14

Phones aren’t optional anymore—and that’s exactly why families feel stuck. In this Parents of the Year episode, Andrew and Caroline sit down with MJ Murray Vachon, a licensed clinical social worker with 40 years of practice to talk about what screen overuse is doing to stress, sleep, mood, and family connection. MJ shares a practical way to reset family phone habits that starts with adult leadership, not kid willpower. You’ll hear why “phone-free time” must be truly phone-free (no...

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28:53

194. How do you set goals kids actually want to work on?

Parents of the Year ·

2025/12/31

Stealing from a popular replay of Parents of the Year, Andrew and Caroline discuss goal setting with kids. Rather than assigning goals or correcting what isn’t working, this episode focuses on working with children to help them identify goals that actually feel meaningful to them. When kids have a say, they are far more likely to stay engaged and follow through. The discussion covers how parents can use what they already know about their children — their temperament, strengths, and challenges...

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15:38

193. What Should You Say When Kids Ask About Santa?

Parents of the Year ·

2025/12/24

Should parents “tell the truth” about Santa… or keep the story going? In this Parents of the Year holiday episode, Andrew and Caroline unpack what kids actually need when they start questioning Santa, how to respond without shame or panic, and how to turn the moment into something that builds kindness, generosity, and family connection. They talk about following your child’s lead, keeping your tone warm and honest, and shifting the story from “Is Santa real?” to “What does Santa s...

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35:56

192. Overstimulated, Overwhelmed, and Over It:...

Parents of the Year ·

2025/12/17

The holidays are supposed to be joyful—but for many families, they quietly amplify stress, overwhelm, and emotional reactivity. In this special crossover episode with Parents of the Year podcast, Dr. Caroline and her husband Andrew step away from “perfect holiday” pressure and take a psychologically grounded look at why emotions run hotter during the holidays, for both kids and adults. They explore how disrupted routines, sensory overload, social comparison, family dynamics, and unrealistic e...

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41:10

191. Are smartphones quietly rewiring our kids’ brains?

Parents of the Year ·

2025/12/10

Phones were supposed to make life easier. Instead, many parents feel like they’re raising kids alongside a slot machine that lives in everyone’s pocket. In this powerful Parents of the Year episode, Andrew and Caroline sit down with MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW to talk about phones, dopamine, porn, AI, and what realistic boundaries look like in 2025. MJ shares what she’s seen across four decades in the therapy room—before and after smartphones—and why today’s kids’ brains are simply not built for t...

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21:44

190. How do we help kids tolerate boredom in a...

Parents of the Year ·

2025/12/03

Boredom gets a bad reputation in modern parenting. Kids hate it, adults avoid it, and screens are always within reach to fill the quiet. In this Parents of the Year episode, Andrew and Caroline pull back the curtain on what boredom really does for kids’ brains—and for ours as adults. They talk honestly about ADHD, distress tolerance, screen overload, and why we don’t need to be our kids’ entertainment directors. You’ll hear: How boredom can feel physically painful for many k...

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25:56

189. Does parental self-awareness matter more than...

Parents of the Year ·

2025/11/26

Andrew and Caroline discuss how much our own self-awareness as parents shape the way our kids turn out? From yelling regrets and chore battles this episode blends humour with honest reflection. They explore how everyday reactions, no matter how big or small, shape connection, resilience, and emotional safety. Listeners hear real examples of repair, frustration, boundaries, and the awkward but important skill of owning our mistakes. The message running through the conversation: parenting isn’t...

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209 results

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