Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast

Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is a show that’s for imperfect parents by imperfect parents. Hosted by humorist and imperfect parent of three Chris Cate, every episode breaks down a topic that causes parents to break down, such as putting kids to bed, potty training, the terrible twos, homework, family communication, clothing, discipline, cleaning up, cooking for kids, etc. The mission of the show is to help parents laugh when they want to cry. By the end of each topic breakdown, parents will hopefully realize they aren’t alone in their struggles and that the craziness all parents go through is actually quite funny when it’s looked at in the right light. Longtime listeners will know the show began as The ParentNormal Podcast. For nearly 100 episodes, it featured celebrity interviews, parenting fails and even a few skits. All of those episodes are still available, but the best is yet to come. Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast is diving deeper than ever into the crazy realities of parenthood with more stories and hilarious confessions from real parents all over the world.

Episodes

March 18, 2020 43 mins

Anna Macfarlane, a mom of four kids and an online marketing and branding expert, joins me to break down how to build a fanbase on Instagram and TikTok: family style. Anna manages the @kidsaretheworst parenting humor account on Instagram, which has more than 500,000 followers. She also manages several other successful accounts and teaches social media marketing courses for families, businesses and bloggers.

In our conversation, we t...

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Mike Julianelle, a dad of two who writes online as Dad and Buried, joins me this week to break down the cost of parenthood. In our conversation, we cover expenses every parent faces such as child care, transportation, vacation, food, medical expenses, diapers and more. We also cover the emotional cost of parenthood, such as stress and the loss of sanity.

Learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast at www.Parent...

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March 4, 2020 45 mins

Sara Buckley, a comedian, podcaster, social media pro and most importantly, a mom of 3, is this week’s guest. In our conversation, Sara opens up about her experience as a teenage mother and how it changed her life in high school and beyond.

Sara explains how she felt when she learned she was pregnant and how friends and family responded to the news. Sara also shares her strong opinion about MTV’s Teen Mom “reality” show and how we ...

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Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series, is this week’s guest. It’s an interview from the archive that took place a couple of years ago while Jeff was on the set of the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, which many of you have probably read or watched with your kids by now. We’ll be back with new interviews next week.

Learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast on www.parentnormal.co...

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February 19, 2020 8 mins

My guest this week is one of my favorite all-time comedians Nick Thune. Now this isn’t a typical Breaking Down Parenting interview because this interview dates back to 2015 when this podcast was called The ParentNormal Comedy Podcast.

I wanted to share it again not just because I’m a fan of Nick Thune and he tells a couple of funny stories, but because it was the very first podcast interview I ever did, which makes it perhaps the m...

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This week’s guest is James Breakwell, a father of four daughters and a comedy writer known to many as @XplodingUnicorn. In our conversation, we break down the parts of parenthood that send us into parent survival mode, how to survive with the stress and crazy parenting moments that James has had to survive however he can. We also talk about James’ new book How to Save Your Child from Ostrich Attacks, Accidental Time Travel, and Any...

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February 5, 2020 35 mins

This episode is a must-listen for parents of twins. My guest is Macgill Frutchey, a mom of three, including twins. She’s also the funny mom behind the social media account Macgyvering My Way Through Motherhood. In our conversation, we talk about how Macgill literally had dreams of having twins come true and the excitement that brought her family. We also cover recognizing different baby cries, how to tell baby twins apart, best bab...

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January 29, 2020 27 mins

This week’s guest is Jenna Kim Jones, a mom of two, comedian and co-host of the podcast Couple Friends. In our conversation, we break down parent friendships. Specifically, we talk about how to find friends when you're a parent, what to expect from parent friends, why parent friendships are important, what to do with parent friends and much more.

Find every episode of Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast on www.ParentNor...

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This week’s guest is Jennifer Douglas, a mom of two and the creative mind behind Goldfish and Chicken Nuggets (the website and social media accounts, not the foods). After reading Jen’s blog post on The Hot Mess Mom’s Guide to Throwing Your Kid A Solid Birthday Party, I knew she would be a great guest to help break down pro tips for birthday party planning.

In our conversation, we talk about when kids should start having birthday p...

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This week, Tara Clark, the mom behind the popular social media account Modern Mom Problems, joins me to break down modern parent problems. In our conversation, we talk about how parenting today is both harder and easier than it was for previous generations of parents. We discuss technology, safety, television, helicopter parents, evolving roles for moms and dads and much more.

 

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This week, Andy Herald, a father of three from How to Be a Dad, joins me to break down bath time. In our conversation, we talk about how kids hate to get in the bathtub as much as they hate to get out of a bathtub. We also talk about the floods kids make while in the bath, bath toys, how often most parents bathe kids and much more. You can even hear how Andy compares bathing a baby to mountain climbing.

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This week, Stephanie Jankowski, a teacher and mom of three, joins me to break down what teachers really think of their students. In our conversation, we talk about what parents might not realize about the job of a teacher, how teaching goes beyond what’s in a textbook, memorable stories from the classroom, parent/teacher conferences and much more.

Stephanie’s new book Schooled: A Love Letter to the Exhausting, Infuriating, Occasion...

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This week’s guest is Amanda Pacovsky, a mom of one, which is perfect because we break down one and done parenting in this episode. Specifically, we discuss the pros and cons of one and done parenting, how to know if being one and done is right for you, how to avoid spoiling an only child and much more.

To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.ParentNormal.com.

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December 4, 2019 32 mins

This week’s guest is Rachel Sobel, a mom of two and the writer of Whine and Cheez(its). She joins me to break down clingy kids. In our conversation, we talk about when kids are the clingiest, how to be patient with clingy kids and where parents can go (or not go) to escape clingy kids.

 

To learn more about Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, visit www.ParentNormal.com.

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This week’s guest is Clint Edwards, a father of three and author of the new book Silence is a Scary Sound: And Other Stories on Living Through the Terrible Twos and Threes. In our conversation, we break down Toddler Dangers: How to keep toddlers from injuring themselves and you.

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This week, my guest is Serena Dorman, a mom of two and the hilarious voice behind the Mommy Cusses social media accounts. She joins me to break down the WTF moments of parenthood.

In our conversation, we talk about memorable WTF moments, reactions to WTF moments and when the most WTF moments occur for parents. Serena also shares her advice for parents who may face a WTF moment today.

Serena also shares the stories behind some of he...

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This week, Lisa Munn, a mom of four boys known to hundreds of thousands of followers on social media as Sarcastic Mommy, joins me to talk about the art of raising teenage boys.

In our conversation, we discuss how to talk to teen boys about relationships, acceptable social media use for teens, teen driving, disciplining teen boys, searching for colleges and much more. Lisa also shares how she got her start on social media and built ...

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This week Simon Holland, who I consider the funniest dad on social media, joins me to break down dad stereotypes versus reality. In our conversation, we talk about rival dads, how the role of a dad has progressed since the 1950’s and what happens when dads try to be cool.

We also break down some of Simon’s (@simoncholland) most popular tweets, such as:

  • I accidentally said skrt when I meant to say yeet in front of my daughter’s...
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October 30, 2019 39 mins

This week we’re talking about (cough, cough) sick kids. Just when you think kids can’t be worse to clean up after, they start sneezing in your face and throwing up in you lap. Yet, somehow their sicknesses make us want to hold them closer.

Joining me to break down the topic of sick kids is Gila Pfeffer, a mom of four teenagers who has dealt with all kinds of sicknesses. In our conversation, we talk about daycare germs, kids vomitin...

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October 23, 2019 31 mins

This week, I’m joined by Adrian Kulp, to break down first year milestones. In our conversation, we talk about underrated baby milestones, favorite milestones, milestones for parents and how our perceptions of milestones change when we have more kids.

Adrian is a father of four and author of the new book We're Parents: The New Dad Book for Baby's First Year: Everything You Need to Know to Survive and Thrive Together. We're Parents i...

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