Positive education, time out… 4 podcasts to help you cope (and feel guilty)

I admit it: as a mother of two children aged 6 and a half and 3, I have already sent the eldest to his room to calm him down. Obviously not an hour, rather 5 minutes, so that the pressure goes down, especially when he argues with his little sister and that the volume of the screaming sound in my living room rivals that of a sound system on a music festival night.

So when I read The world the various forums on the virtues of “time out” or, conversely, on the indelible traumas that this educational method would inflict on children, I was completely lost. Was I one of those mothers who unknowingly committed ordinary child abuse (VEO)? Or on the contrary was I showing common sense by preferring my son to calm down for a moment alone in his room (and me too, at the same time) rather than yelling at him?

These doubts assail me almost every day since I have children, and even more since I started reading books that extol the merits of so-called “positive” (or benevolent) education. You too must have already seen them soaring to the top of the “family” or “education” shelves of your library, and maybe even have the famous bestsellers of Isabelle Filliozat or Catherine Gueguen at home.

Except, although I have perused these books (and even taken notes) to try to apply their precepts on a daily basis, I regularly fail miserably. Despite all my good will, when I’m tired or stressed, I can also get angry. And then I feel guilty for not being able to “welcome the emotions at the top of my lungs” of my screaming daughter in the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket.

So how do we do? Rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater (don’t, please), we might as well take a step back. Luckily, there are great resources for this among recent podcasts. Here are four that should help you see things more clearly and most importantly, feeling guilty when you don’t do everything right.

Shock Meta – Positive Education, Really? (4 episodes)

Let’s start with consistency. Hosted for 5 seasons by Elisabeth Feytit, “Meta de Choc” is a critical thinking podcast that questions our beliefs. Basically, try to understand “why we think what we think”. In these four episodes of almost an hour each, Elisabeth Feytit interviews Béatrice Kammerer at length, scientific journalist specializing in educational issues, author of Truly positive education (edited by Larousse). Together they return to the scientific foundations of positive and caring educationbut don’t forget to ask contradictory and culpable injunctions which also leads to parents seeking to apply its principles. Dense but liberating, this four-part series is perfect for those who want to better understand where positive education draws its precepts and how, as a parent, to find own educational solutions.

You can listen to all four episodes here.

Let’s Live Happily Before the End of the World – How to Give Up on Being a Perfect Parent

“Let’s live happily before the end of the world” is a podcast produced by Delphine Saltel for Arte radio and which aims to be an anti-crisis manual for rethinking our lifestyles, from what we put on our plate to our relationship with technology, passing through how we love and break up in the 21st^And century. In this guilt-free episode, the journalist – among other things the mother of two daughters – wonders why it is so difficult, on a daily basis, to apply the precepts of benevolent education, even if we unreservedly adhere to what it promises, which is to ensure that our children grow up to be happy, solid and fulfilled adults. Where is it stuck? What are we doing wrong? Interviewing specialists and analyzing for listeners his own family life, he comes to one observation: we may very well be the best parent you can be for your children while giving up being a perfect parent.

The episode is available here.

Make kids – Positive education: why don’t you understand anything anymore? and the bullet drop test

A podcast that wants to uninhibit parents: it was enough for me to throw myself, as soon as it was launched, on “Make kids”. Produced by Louie Media, this podcast hosted by Marine Revol offers a step aside to better analyze parenting. From the fear of passing her traumas on to their children to the thorny (and exhausting) issue of little ones’ sleep, she tackles every week a problem that many parents encounter without ever daring to address it in public. .

In this double part dedicated to positive education, the journalist also wonders if these principles are applicable in everyday life, when her son screams as he comes out of the nursery or throws his plate of gruyere pasta shells on the ground. Is positive education lax, as its detractors accuse? Or is it, on the contrary, the only education able to ensure the maximum development of the child ? To find out, face the arguments of Catherine Gueguen, pediatrician and author of the stellar book For a happy childhood (ed. Pocket) and those of Marie Chetrit, immunologist and author of Positive education, a question of balance? (Solar ed.).

Both episodes of “Make Kids” are available here.

Cool parents make kids happy – sorry for yelling

If your kids (like mine) have had a “terrible two,” chances are you’re familiar with positive education specialist Charlotte Ducharme and “Great Parents Make Kids Happy,” the name given to her book is which at the parenting coaching program has developed.

Again as part of the podcast, every week he answers questions from desperate parents in a ten-minute format, for once hyper-focused on everyday problems and the concrete application of his methods. In this short 9-minute episode, Charlotte Ducharme responds to a mother who feels guilty because she sometimes loses her temper in the face of her daughter’s monstrous anger. In addition to relieving feelings of guilt, the coach gives him advice to apply on a daily basis, but also keys to better control his emotions. She feels good.

You can find this episode here.