Hi, I’m Jen.

I never saw myself as a mother.  I don’t really ‘do’ nurturing – at least not of things that have a lot of needs and can’t be reasoned with.  And yet here we are – by choice, and not by accident – and I find myself trying to figure out how to parent a toddler.

I don’t have much in the way of parenting instinct but I make up for it with outstanding research skills.  I realized that there are a ton of parenting books out there, many with tactics that might be useful but all coming from a different philosophical background that requires me to consider how the tactics might fit with my overall parenting strategy.  And then there’s the scientific literature, which never seems to see the light of day unless it can be spun into a click bait-worthy headline, but which actually contains a lot of useful information if you have the time to see how it all fits together into the bigger picture.

I realized I really enjoy the research process and figured I might as well organize my thoughts by getting a Master’s in Psychology with a focus on Child Development while I’m at it – and share all the stuff I’m learning with you, of course.  After I finished the Psychology degree I decided to get another Master’s in Education – at some point I may stop learning, but it certainly won’t be today:-)

If you’re new around here, you might want to check out my podcast Episode 000, in which I explain my philosophy and approach to parenting (because I think too many folks who publish information on parenting don’t tell us what theirs is).

I publish a new episode every other Monday, so join the mailing list (link at the top of the home page) to get an email when these go out.  On the weeks when I don’t publish an episode, I send out a newsletter to people who subscribe through this site (if you’re subscribed on iTunes or another platform, I don’t get your email address…) that summarizes research I’ve read in the previous couple of weeks and locates it in the body of literature we’ve already discussed on the show.

If you’d like to drop me a line, you can do so on the Contact page – please don’t comment on individual episodes as I get overwhelmed by spam messages there.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey toward being a becoming a better parent.