Middle Years with Bridget KerMorris
The middle school years can feel like the start of losing your child. One day they’re chatty and affectionate. The next they’re rolling their eyes, questioning everything, and leaving you wondering, “Am I doing this all wrong?” The truth is, middle school isn’t the end of your relationship. It’s the beginning of a new one. Each week, middle school therapist, coach, and creator of Steady + Connected Parenting™, Bridget KerMorris answers a real question from a real parent. Together, you’ll move beyond quick parenting tips to understand what’s really happening underneath your child’s behavior, what’s getting activated inside of you, and how to lead your family with steadiness, warmth, and confidence. Whether you’re navigating friendships, technology, ADHD, sibling conflict, identity, motivation, anxiety, or simply wondering how to stay connected to a child who suddenly seems impossible to reach, each episode offers practical tools, fresh perspective, and the kind of relational clarity™ that helps both parents and kids thrive. Bridget is a Stanford-trained lawyer with thousands of hours of education and experience as a marriage and family therapist specializing in family systems, neurodivergence, and relational trauma. She’s also a mom of seven, currently parenting her fourth middle schooler, and the creator behind @bridget.parentcoach, where more than 100,000 parents turn each day for grounded, compassionate support. Because your middle schooler isn’t asking for a perfect parent. They’re asking, “Do you like me?” “Will you come back for me?” This podcast will help you answer, “Yes.”
Episodes
When your middle schooler says, "I hate you," it hurts.
Whether they say it once in a moment of frustration or it has become a daily pattern, those words can leave you wondering:
Am I doing something wrong?
Should I ignore it?
How do I stop this without pushing my child further away?
In this episode, I'm answering one parent's heartfelt question about a middle schooler who tells her parents and younger sibling, "I hate you," eve...
Do you ever feel like you’re constantly defending your parenting?
Your middle schooler says, “That’s not fair!” and suddenly you’re explaining, justifying, presenting evidence, and reminding them what happened three months ago . . . only to realize you’re somehow arguing your case to a twelve-year-old.
If so, you’re not alone.
In this episode, we explore why middle schoolers and their siblings...
Have you ever looked at your middle schooler and quietly wondered:
"I love my child . . . why is it so hard to like them right now?"
If so, this episode is for you.
In one of the most honest conversations I've had on the podcast, I answer a vulnerable question from a mom who feels hurt, disconnected, and ashamed that she's struggling to like her 13-year-old son.
Together, we'll explore:
- Why these feelings are far more common than mo...
Content Note: This episode includes discussion of depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation in the context of supporting LGBTQIA+ youth. If you're listening with children in the car or this topic feels especially tender, you may want to skip this episode or listen on your own first.
Pride Month felt like the right time to have a conversation that so many parents are quietly wondering about:
What if I say the wrong thing?
In this ep...
Friendships can feel like the hardest part of parenting a middle schooler.
One day your daughter seems confident and grounded. The next, her mood, interests, or self-esteem seem completely tied to what her friends think.
In this episode, we're talking about what friendship drama is really about, why peer relationships suddenly carry so much emotional weight during adolescence, and how to help your child belong without losing themselv...
Your middle schooler is smart, capable, funny, and insightful . . . so why are they struggling with things that seem like they should be able to do?
In this episode, Bridget answers a parent question about a seventh grader who is capable but has stopped trying in a certain class at school. Along the way, she explores a question most parents never think to ask:
What is it costing this child to try?
Because if effort would solve the pro...
Technology might be one of the hardest parts of parenting middle schoolers because technology asks us to lead through uncertainty.
In this episode, Bridget answers two questions from parents who are struggling with phones, screen time, pornography exposure, social media, and the pressure to help their children belong in a digital world that often feels overwhelming.
Together, we'll explore why the tech battle isn't actually about tec...
In the very first episode of Middle Years, Bridget answers a question from a mom whose sixth-grade daughter was furious with her after a difficult parenting decision.
When her daughter skipped volleyball practice and asked her mom to send an email that wasn't truthful, the mom found herself wrestling with a question so many middle school parents face:
Should I step in and help, or should I let my child experience the outcome of their...
A mom discovers that her 12-year-old son may have his first crush, but he insists he's "too young to date."
So what do you do when you know something about your middle schooler that they haven't chosen to share with you?
In this episode, Bridget explores the difference between privacy and secrecy, why connection isn't measured by how much our children tell us, and how to become the kind of parent your child knows they can come to whe...
Most parents of middle schoolers are trying so hard to get it right. We want to stay connected without hovering, help without overreacting, and raise a kid who feels deeply loved and also capable in the world.
Even with the best intentions, these middle years can be tough and it can start to feel like everyone else got a parenting manual you somehow missed.
In Middle Years, Bridget KerMorris answers real parenting questions from pare...
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