Teenage Kicks – not just a really cool punk song
As a mum of teenagers I get asked lots of questions from parents of younger children. And the one emotion that comes through is always the same – FEAR. Have you ever tried to find parenting advice on the internet for the teenage years? Seriously, Google teenage parenting and all you get is gloom. Phone addiction, social media grooming, cyberbullying and County Lines. It’s all bad news. And the answers come from police websites, BSc experts in psychology and drug addiction, or charities who support teenagers. There’s literally nothing anecdotal from parents, nothing to say “Ooh yes! That’s totally me – what did you do?!”
And yet teenagers can be the most amazing people. My own are frustrating as hell, obviously, but they’re also incredibly good company, very funny, and have a fantastic outlook on the world. I am SO optimistic for our futures when I talk to them and their friends. I don’t want people to fear all that! So I started a podcast.
Teenage Kicks the podcast – everything you need to know about parenting a teenager
Back in 2011 I started this blog to talk about the funny little anecdotes of parenting a toddler and a schoolgirl. Lots of people joined in, sharing their own humorous take on the sometimes stressful days involved in raising a child, and Mummy Blogging became a thing. We read each other’s blogs, shared them, and left comments. It was a community of parents, all saying “Yes! Me Too!” and “If you think that’s bad, you should see what mine did!” It was glorious! It was such a big thing, I made a linky out of it – if you’re not a blogger you won’t know what that is, but picture a load of people leaving their own funny parenting stories underneath yours, so you could all share the love. It was like a virtual playgroup, where you got on with everyone, including that mum who let her kid take biscuits off the other children, because we were all in it together.
Why does the parenting advice dry up when they’re teenagers?
Then suddenly it all stopped. I racked my brains for about 4 years trying to conjure up funny, cute anecdotes about my older kids, like a jilted lover desperate to find a reason why her ex should stay with her. But it was no good. They weren’t funny, and what’s more, they didn’t want me to write about them. I had to ask permission, and most of what I proffered got vetoed. Why? Because they could now read my blog – and SO COULD THEIR FRIENDS!
I needed the anecdotes. Because if I couldn’t read about how another parent was dealing with the wailing hysteria of age 12, how on earth would I ever cope.
The Teenage Kicks podcast
And then I found survivors. Actual people who went through hard things as teenagers – but here’s the good thing! They’re now older, legally allowed to tell their stories, and have the benefit of hindsight to help them give ideas of things that might help.
And so I made a podcast. I went out and talked to all these massively inspirational individuals about what happened to them, and recorded everything so you could hear. I’m calling it the Teenage Kicks podcast, where we talk about real life issues teenagers are facing today, and how these people dealt with them. There’s a massive focus on teenage mental health, as you’d imagine, so in every single episode, no matter what the story, we chat about strategies to help with things like confidence, resilience, and self-esteem in the face of difficult experiences. I absolutely loved all of these chats, and I really hope you will too.
Where to listen
I’d love it so much if you’d have a listen. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss one, and if you like it, I’d love it if you’d rate and review the podcast on iTunes too – it would really help other people to find it. You can also find more from me on parenting teenagers on Instagram and Twitter @iamhelenwills. If you don’t have a podcast app (erm get one – podcasts are brilliant!) you can also listen here.
Ohhh and comment please! I’d love, love, love to know what you think. And if you have any suggestions for future episodes contact me here.
Thank you. Helen x
Join me in the Teenage Kicks Facebook group!
If you’re a parent of teens it can be difficult to know where to go for advice, to vent, or just to talk. So I’ve made the Teenage Kicks Facebook group, for all parents of teenagers to chat in a safe space. It’s a private group and everyone in there is a parent of teenagers.
This is utterly fantastic and such a great idea Helen. If you would ever like talk to me about being the eldest of 7 and why I ran away from home as a teen then do let me know!
Gosh Vic that does sound like a good story worth telling!
Brilliant well done. Yes two teens here and wow it’s a whole new skill set. Will listen for sure.
Ahh thank you. It really is – parenting never quite lets up on you does it?! Let me know what you think when you’ve listened xx
Excellent idea ! It’s so much easier when a teenager tells their story and ours can learn from it! Somehow it never works the same when a parent does that! Sigh!
I see a lot of teenagers who are relatively doing well but are lacking a drive, motivation and inspiration for their life. Would be a great idea to have some survivors to talk about how they hated learning, studying and managed to find their vision, and how they did it.
Greatly appreciated!
XX
So happy you like it Iwona! There will be lots more stories coming up soon to cover all the things teenagers are going through.
Hi Helen just listened to your Podcast with Julia Langenspie about ADHD in teenagers.
Our son was diagnosed about 6 months ago.
Sine lockdown he was suffering with depression and social anxiety which then lead to other issues & his diagnosis. He has just turned 18 last week he is studying for his A levels
Every day is an uphill struggle, is hard parenting and trying to hold back when you are faced with same issues & challenges on a daily basis and you child is constantly at loggerheads with you. You try to help but just leads to tension & arguments
If you want to interview Bailey we live in Welwyn so you can get a male/teenage prospective
Hi Jas, thank you for commenting – and for listening to the podcast. That sounds really tough for you and your son – I hope the diagnosis can help in some small way. It would be great to explore talking to Bailey if he’d like to do that. Feel free to email me here and we can discuss it further.