The Secret of Half-Arsed Parenting

With special guest:

• Dr Susie O’Brien
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

There is a toasted sandwich in the cover picture of her book and that leads our guest Dr Susie O’Brien to tell us that a toasted sandwich is a quite acceptable dinner alternative. This is the world of Susie O’Brien where parents can escape all that guilt about not being the best parent in the world and just start enjoying their children.

In Susie O’Brien’s new book The Secret of Half-Arsed Parenting we get an insight that is fun. It is also comforting to know that the conclusions are drawn from research all around the world. And most parents will find sections where they have to say to themselves ‘No doubt about it, that resembles me.’

We all have some idea of the message conveyed in the title but it does not mean doing a bad job. It really means protecting our offspring from bullies and head lice but not from boredom and hunger between meals.

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Ten things I wish you knew about your child’s mental health

With special guest:

• Dr Billy Garvey
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Our guest today is Dr Billy Garvey who is an expert in a field where you do not get provided with a guide book. All parents know the feeling when following the birth of your child you are set free expecting to know how to raise this very complex small version of ourselves.

One of the first things Dr Billy tells us that it is quite normal not to immediately develop the bonding and attachment that we sometimes hear about. Using his own example with his two children we hear that it took some time for this to develop.

Ten things I wish you knew about your child’s mental health is there to help all of us who encounter difficulties with children of any age. This extends from having a baby that cries at night too much, right through to sullen teenagers. That includes most of us. Whatever the problem is it is most likely that it has been seen before in Dr Billy’s 20 years of practice and the advantage here is that you do not have to go into a long waiting line, sometimes years long, to get advice from the doctor.

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Eat, Sleep, Play, Love

With special guest:

• Dr Preeya Alexander
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Eat, Sleep, Play, Love sounds pretty good to all of us. But sometimes our very young children do not stick to the recipe and can distress both themselves and those caring for them.

Today we go on a journey with our celebrity guest Dr Preeya Alexander who distils for us in her new book what we should be doing to have an easier life. We are happy to say that Preeya’s book does not start out with rigid rules on parenting accompanied by a prescription for lots of guilt if we do not follow precisely.

Some parents get strong advice from their relatives, neighbours, influencers and even well-wishers but sometimes this amounts to what used to be called old wives’ tales. Preeya examines some of these familiar stories such as how you can expect a baby to cry when teething. Is that true?

Preeya is a wonderful communicator as she demonstrates in her television appearances and in her surgery. People feel free to ask her questions on a wide range of topics knowing there will be no judgment. For us it is like we are sitting in the surgery as she provides her professional advice.

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High Adventure

With special guest:

• Mike Allsop
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Mike Allsop was worried that marriage would spell the end of the adventurous life he had been living. He also had experienced a difficult family upbringing himself. So when he met the love of his life he certainly did not rush into that long walk down the aisle. But these days he has the “full disaster” with his wife Wendy and three beautiful children. And there are lessons to be learned from Mike’s progress that we can all appreciate.

Talking to Mike makes you feel like you were there with him when he reached the summit of Mt Everest with nobody in front of him. We learn about the setbacks when he was getting ready to run 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents starting with his belief that he wasn’t really a marathon runner.

This love of setting and reaching goals started when he was a child and he saw an Air New Zealand jet passing overhead. He had the goal of becoming a pilot and finished up getting his pilot’s licence before he had his motor vehicle licence. By gaining the confidence of some airline pilots he went on to achieve his dream.

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An Awesome Ride: Through a father’s eyes

With special guest:

• Cameron Miller
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

In 2012 Shaun Miller made a YouTube video in his bedroom called MY FINAL GOODBYE. In this video Shaun managed in only 2 minutes and 54 seconds to get out some important messages before it was too late.

Shaun was only 17 years of age but he knew that he had at most a few weeks to live because of his heart condition. He said that he had no regrets and that we should live life to the fullest. We should express our love to the people around us. Importantly he said to make sure that his dad Cameron was OK.

Overnight there were 30,000 hits and a week later that number had gone to over 1 million. Now it is over 7 million. Clearly this is an extraordinary person.

Although Shaun said he preferred talking to writing he also managed to write a book before he made the video and gave it the title An Awesome Ride. Now seven years after Shaun’s death his father Cameron has taken that work and included his own thoughts and emotions in following Shaun’s all too short life. In the new book An Awesome Ride: Through a father’s eyes we get to follow that roller coaster of a life and put Shaun’s life in context. We get to see Shaun’s effect on others in the community.

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Anxious Kids

With special guest:

• Michael Grose
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Michael Grose and his co-author Dr Jodi Richardson are often asked when making parenting presentations if there is an epidemic of anxiety among our young people. If you were asked the same question you might immediately say yes but before he answers that question for us in today’s program, we ask our guest what it is exactly that we are talking about. Is anxiety the same as depression? Is anxiety built into us? When does it become harmful? What can we do about it?

In his book Anxious Kids: How children can turn their anxiety into resilience, Michael Grose speaks from his own first-hand knowledge as well as his professional qualifications and wide experience. Michael tells us that parents can learn how to recognise anxiety in their children. Recognition is a first and necessary step and parents are best placed to do so although that closeness brings with it responsibility because anxiety runs in families.

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Fathers Reaching Out

With special guest:

• Mark Williams
  … in conversation with Bill Kable
  

Our guest in today’s program is Mark Williams who has been awarded “Inspirational Father of the Year” at the Pride of Britain awards. This is impressive enough but it also shows how far he has come since the birth of his son Ethan in 2004.

Both Mark and his wife Michelle suffered crippling anxiety after the birth and Mark hit rock bottom when he began to experience suicidal thoughts. And yet the reason for the torrent of negative emotions and spiralling depression had less to do with their son than the mental health issues that were confronting them. In hindsight Mark recognises that he had experienced a condition long recognised in mothers, that of post-natal depression.

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Dads and their Babies

With special guest:

• Dr Dawson Cooke
  … in conversation with Bill Kable and Ken Thompson

We will all readily make the assumption that the bond between mothers and their babies is important for the health of the family but what about the dad-baby bond? Our guest today is Dr Dawson Cooke who is able to discuss that relationship based on the findings in his study published in Infant Mental Health. Dr Cooke has been working with parents and particularly fathers for the last 20 years both in his practice and as a researcher at Curtin University in WA. In his study which involved 451 families he has made some findings that have caught the attention of the media.

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Mothering Our Boys

With special guest:

• Maggie Dent
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

It is ten years since we last spoke to Maggie Dent and in that time the pressure on our boys has only got worse.

Now more than ever we need a consistent voice, a sensible voice backed by extensive research, in fact a boy champion. Fortunately this is recognised in the huge reaction given to Maggie’s new book Mothering Our Boys: A guide for mums of sons and in public forums that Maggie delivers around the nation. It is a privilege for us to be able to share Maggie’s thoughts in this special program.

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Eat, Sleep, Play, Love

With special guest:

• Dr Preeya Alexander
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Eat, Sleep, Play, Love sounds pretty good to all of us. But sometimes our very young children do not stick to the recipe and can distress both themselves and those caring for them.

Today we go on a journey with our celebrity guest Dr Preeya Alexander who distils for us in her new book what we should be doing to have an easier life. We are happy to say that Preeya’s book does not start out with rigid rules on parenting accompanied by a prescription for lots of guilt if we do not follow precisely.

Podcast (mp3)

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The Secret of Half-Arsed Parenting

With special guest:

• Dr Susie O’Brien
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

There is a toasted sandwich in the cover picture of her book and that leads our guest Dr Susie O’Brien to tell us that a toasted sandwich is a quite acceptable dinner alternative. This is the world of Susie O’Brien where parents can escape all that guilt about not being the best parent in the world and just start enjoying their children.

In Susie O’Brien’s new book The Secret of Half-Arsed Parenting we get an insight that is fun. It is also comforting to know that the conclusions are drawn from research all around the world. And most parents will find sections where they have to say to themselves ‘No doubt about it, that resembles me.’

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Beer + Bubs

With special guest:

• Carrina Hampton
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Our guest today is Carrina Hampton who has many qualifications that include being a qualified social worker, a family therapist, a clinical hypnotherapist and a doula.

All of this expertise is put to good use when Carrina takes her Beer + Bubs program to the pub in locations right across Australia. Beer + Bubs is a one-night session at the pub where expectant dads learn how to best support their partner up to and following the birth of their child. The combination of the location, the one or two glasses of amber fluid and being surrounded by other men in similar circumstances has proven to be a winner for the program.

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Reflective Parenting

With special guest:

• Dr Alistair Cooper
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

“She has a mind of her own” is something we hear often enough when parents are talking about the challenges they face in trying to relate with their children. Yet if parents accepted this as fact and tried to find out what was going on inside this other mind the world would become a lot less complicated for both parent and child. With co-author Dr Sheila Redfern our guest today Dr Alistair Cooper has written a new book Reflective Parenting: A Guide to Understanding What’s Going on in Your Child’s Mind showing how to read your child’s mind and use this knowledge to improve your relationship. If you follow the principles of reflective parenting in everyday interactions it will help your child achieve her full potential and save your sanity.

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SMS4dads

With special guest:

• Dr Chris May
  … in conversation with Bill Kable
  

Who ya gonna call?

Our guest today is Dr Chris May from the University of Newcastle and he has a simple message for new Dads with mobile phones. Sign up for SMS4 dads and you will get the advice you need to deal with the new challenges we face as a Dad. This is not limited to young Dads. The age range of Dads already accessing the service extends to the over 50 year olds.

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Flesh Wounds

With special guest:

• Richard Glover
  …in conversation with Bill Kable and Ken Thompson
  

Our guest today is famous.

Richard Glover is the host of the top rating Drive show on 702 ABC Sydney, and the weekly podcast of Thank God It’s Friday. He is the author of twelve books including the bestseller In Bed with Jocasta. His new book Flesh Wounds is in a similar humorous vein but the big difference this time is that it is the real story of his unusual, to say the least, upbringing.

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Ugly: A beaut story about one very ugly kid

With special guest: 

• Robert Hoge
  …in conversation with Bill Kable and Ken Thompson

Robert Hoge has a daughter Imogen who sums it up best. She said about Robert’s book Ugly “It’s important to tell your story especially when you’re different.” 

As one of the many roles that our guest today has filled with distinction he is an advocate for those with a disability and today we hear what it is like to grow up in a special club. 

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The Parental Alienation Syndrome

With special guest:

• Linda Gottlieb Kase
  … in conversation with Bill Kable
  

In today’s program we go to New York to find out the latest on the way Parental Alienation is treated by the Courts and by therapists internationally. While Parental Alienation Syndrome (or PAS) still appears to be a controversial topic in Australia there is no difficulty in recognising this evil for what it is in the USA.

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SuperDad SpeedBible: The toolbox for men with young kids

With special guest:

• Ryan Heffernan
  … in conversation with Bill Kable
  

Ever thought about how when you leave the hospital with your new baby you do not receive an instruction manual? Our guest this week Ryan Heffernan has addressed this issue. In his entertaining and informative book Ryan provides a welcome toolbox for any Dad left with the responsibility of caring for a young child in the age range of 0-6. In fact any parent will welcome this no-nonsense source book for handling the challenges of parenting where you get the benefit of learning from a single Dad’s experience. What’s more with Ryan Heffernan giving us the lesson there is a lot of fun to be had which everyone can enjoy.

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Reservoir Dad

With special guest:

• Clint Greagen
  …in conversation with Bill Kable
  

Our guest today provides us with an entertaining peek into what is still an unusual career in our society. Clint Greagen is a stay-at-home Dad with the skills of an award-winning blogger who tells us about his life in suburban Melbourne with four boy-children and a loving working wife.

There is nothing un-masculine about Clint’s struggles as he is assigned to buy breast pads for his wife and to do the cooking / washing / cleaning for the family. He has to juggle these responsibilities and apply some logic in the middle of the chaos and craziness.

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The Healthy Baby Gut Guide

With special guest:

• Dr Vincent Ho
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

This has been going on for a long time and until now people have been unsure as to what should be done. We are talking about allergic reactions which range from coughing and sneezing through to anaphylactic shock and even death.

In his new book The Healthy Baby Gut Guide, Dr Vincent Ho shows us a way to turn back the booming allergy outbreak. At the moment almost one in five Australian children have allergies which take the form of eczema, asthma, hay fever and severe responses to certain types of foods, think peanuts.

Dr Ho tells us his passion for doing something about allergies arose when his own daughter became a patient. A parent feels scared and powerless when a child has an allergic reaction. And there is no shortage of advice, sometimes dubious about what should be done. At last there is some clear and authoritative guidance allowing a confident decision to be made about the good health of our children.

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