3 Things Your Strong-Willed Kid Needs to Hear

After Bedtime with Big Little Feelings

Dear Media and Big Little Feelings

Big Little Feelings, After Bedtime, Deena Margolin, After Bedtime With Big Little Feelings, Kids & Family, Parenting, 105161, Kristin Gallant

4.7 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you’re raising a strong-willed kid, this episode could change the trajectory of their entire life. Strong-willed kids get mislabeled as “bad” all the time. They push back. They melt down big. They leave you wondering if you’re failing - or if they’ll ever fit into the world. But here’s the truth: they’re not broken. They’re brilliant. And how you parent them determines whether that brilliance gets buried in shame or unleashed as their superpower.

In this episode, Kristin pulls back the curtain on what it was like to be that so-called “bad kid” herself - and shares the exact 3 messages every strong-willed child needs to hear on repeat. When you start saying these words, everything changes:

- Your child will begin to see themselves as worthy, not “bad.”

- You’ll stop parenting from fear and start parenting from belief.

- You’ll shift from daily power struggles to raising a child who knows they are loved, gifted, and celebrated exactly as they are.

These aren’t just words. They’re lifelines. And they can change the way your child shows up in the world - and how you show up as their parent. If you’ve ever thought, I don’t know if I can keep doing this, this episode is for you

https://biglittlefeelings.com/products/big-feelers?variant=46728248361216

Sources:

(Marion Spengler et al., 2015).

(Diana Baumrind’s work)

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
0:03.4	If you've got a driver's license, you've considered buying a minivan.
0:06.1	Be honest with me and be honest with yourself.
0:09.2	And as the number of kids you have to drive around grows,
0:11.8	along with the toys and bags and diapers and strollers and doodads,
0:15.4	so does that voice in your head.
0:17.4	And that voice is probably right.
0:18.8	It's van time, baby.
0:22.6	And what's the most impressive minivan? Well, it's the Chrysler Pacifica.
0:24.6	Of course, the most awarded minivan ever.
0:28.6	My family always says, safety comes first.
0:31.6	Well, the Pacifica has the most standard safety and security features in its class.
0:36.6	The Stoan go seating means that strollers and bags don't stand a chance.
0:41.2	And the second and third rows fold flat.
0:43.3	So why not go car camping while you're at it?
0:45.4	Do you love gizmos?
0:46.4	Of course you do.
0:46.9	Everybody loves gizmos.
0:48.1	Well, how about a fam cam with night vision?
0:53.0	A what?
0:53.5	Yeah.
0:57.8	A camera for the back so you can keep your eyes on the fam day or night. No more Muay Thai matches popping off without you knowing. Shut them down and shut them down
	...

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