Feeding The Mouth That Bites You: Parenting Teens Into Adulthood

Apr 08 2025 209 ep. 23 mins 350
Feeding The Mouth That Bites You: Parenting Teens Into Adulthood Podcast artwork

A weekly podcast on parenting teens and launching them into the world. Hosted by Jessica Pfeiffer with Dr. Ken Wilgus, author of the book "Feeding The Mouth That Bites You."

  Kids & Family  Education  Religion & Spirituality
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Episode 209: All About Addiction in Teenagers

Apr 08 2025 39 mins  
Today Dr. Ken and Jessica discuss all things addiction related. More parents worry about addiction in their kids. Is this awareness a good thing? What is the value in classifying certain problems as "an addiction"? What can parents do when they worry their teen is addicted to alcohol, drugs or anything else? What about adolescents who have a parent who is an addict? If you have a

Episode 208: Lying, Disrespect and Other, Common Issues in Limit-Setting with Teenagers

Apr 01 2025 32 mins  
Today we finish our series on limit-setting with teens by covering common, miscellaneous issues. These are the things that often come up like, what to do about lying, is there a maximum effective time limit to grounding, or how to best limit disrespect. What about those teenagers that continually harass parents until they give in? As usual Jessica and Dr. Ken focus on being effecti

Episode 207: When Parents Have Different Limits, They're Both Ineffective

Mar 25 2025 18 mins  
It's not uncommon for parents to have differences in what they prioritize and the ways they implement limits with their teenagers. It is essential however, that parents do all they can to overcome these differences and present a unified message to their teens. This is important not just for your marriage but for your effectiveness with your adolescents. When you as a parent have di

Episode 206: Anger and Yelling Make You Weaker as a Parent

Mar 18 2025 23 mins  
Today we continue with our series on effective limit-setting with adolescents. Some parents think when they lose their temper with teenagers they "hate to do it" but it "needed to happen." Jessica and Dr. Ken talk about how yelling only confirms a teenager's suspicion in the first place... that you're a bully not really a parent. Instead we talk about ways to avoid losing your temp

Episode 205: Speechmaking: Adolescents Learn From Experience, Not Words

Mar 11 2025 16 mins  
Today we continue with issues related to limit-setting with teenagers. As tempting as it is, making speeches is very ineffective in influencing adolescent behavior. Teenagers need to experience the consequences of their choices, either natural or through parent consequences. Jessica and Dr. Ken talk about both of their own struggles to avoid this trap and the situations that tempt

Episode 204: Limit-Setting with Adolescents - You're Not a Cop, You're a Judge

Mar 04 2025 21 mins  
Today is the first in a series on limit-setting with adolescents. Probably the most important change a parent can make in being more effective in setting limits with teenagers is to shift your job description from a "cop" to a judge. Understanding what you as a parent can and cannot control makes a huge difference in how and when you set limits for your teen. When your teen is bein

Episdode 203: Reviewing Planned Emancipation Part 2 - The Expectations and Consequences List

Feb 25 2025 29 mins  
This week we continue our review and clarifying the process known as "Planned Emancipation." Last week we talked about the "Freedoms List" and this week we take on a completely different list; the "Expectations and Consequences List." We review the purpose of having this list (i.e. to reduce conflict at home, the strengthen your effectiveness) as well as the critical factors in imp

Episode 202: Reviewing Planned Emancipation Part 1 - The Freedoms List

Feb 18 2025 30 mins  
Many of the questions that listeners send us ask for more details on the "Freedoms List" and the "Expectations and Consequences" list. How are they different? Can't we just put both of these on one, big list? Today we take on part one of these questions and clarify what the freedoms list is for and why it's different from the expectations and consequences list (which we'll talk abo

Episode 201: Teenagers, Jobs and Employability

Feb 11 2025 24 mins  
Does your teenager have a job? Should you make them get one? When? How? Today we talk about the challenges and importance of adolescent job experiences. How should parents balance adolescent work over the summer with important family vacation time? Should a college kid "follow their heart" or get a marketable degree? Today we discuss all things job related including Jessica and Dr.

Episode 200: Teenagers and Death

Feb 04 2025 28 mins  
Today we take on the issue of teenagers' relationship with death. Do they think much about it? Why are some teens so focused on death in movies, games etc.? What's the deal with zombies? Jessica and Dr. Ken advise best ways to talk about the subject of death and the need to talk about and not run away from such an important subject, especially Christian parents. In this episode we