Ep. 279: "Dad, I’ve Got This”: Raising Independent Kids

Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker

Dr. Meg Meeker

Kids & Family, Education, Parenting, Self-improvement

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special Father’s Day episode, Dr. Meg Meeker talks with Rob Finlay, author of Hey Dad, Everything You Should Have Learned About Life but Didn’t. They dive into how parents—especially dads—can raise kids who are prepared for real-world responsibilities. In this episode: The life skills every teen needs before leaving home Why failure builds independence and confidence Communication, budgeting, and decision-making in everyday life The crucial role fathers play in raising self-sufficient kids Timestamps: 00:00 – Father’s Day message 00:32 – Meet Rob Finlay 01:30 – Why young adults feel unprepared 03:12 – Life skills your kids really need 07:45 – Letting them fail 12:10 – How to talk to adults 17:23 – Financial literacy basics 23:38 – Building independence through responsibility 29:15 – Support vs. overparenting 33:42 – Final thoughts Resources: Rob Finlay’s book → Simon & Schuster Try Dr. Meg's PGK community for free → https://meekerparenting.com/ About Our Guest Rob Finlay is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, entrepreneur, speaker, and father of four. He has built and sold multiple companies, with deep experience in commercial real estate, finance, and leadership. His latest book, Hey Dad: Everything You Should’ve Learned About Life (But Didn’t) (released April 29, 2025), offers practical life-skills guidance for young adults—covering topics like budgeting, job hunting, home maintenance, and communication—with real-world insights and expert interviews. You can learn more about Rob, his work, and his books at his official website: robfinlay.com Sponsors: DeepCozy – 15% off at deepcozy.com with code DRMEGAmazfit Active 2 – 10% off at amazfit.com/DRMEGHungryroot – 40% off plus a free item at hungryroot.com/drmeg with code DRMEGAcorns – Start saving at acorns.com/drmegAcorns Early – Teach kids about money at acornsearly.com/drmegHeat Holders® – 15% off at heatholders.com with code DRMEGEquip Health – Virtual eating disorder care at equip.health.com/drmeg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:27.9	On today's episode of Parenting Great Kids.
0:31.0	One of the biggest crimes as a parent we could commit is not allowing our kids to fail.
0:37.1	They need to embrace failure because if they're
0:39.1	not failing, they're not trying. And if you look at great success from business to sports,
0:45.2	you have to fail. This is Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker. You spend 18 years teaching
0:53.5	your kids how to tie their shoes, eat vegetables,
0:56.4	and hopefully not microwave all their meals. And then they move out. And the late night,
1:02.1	Hey Dad, how do I blank calls begin? Rob Finley knows this phase well. He is the author of,
1:10.6	Hey Dad, Everything You Should Have Learned About Life,
1:13.7	But Didn't. Thanks so much for joining me today, Rob. This is great because my kids have been
1:19.8	through that stage too, and I got a lot of calls. And my husband got a lot of calls. And it made me
1:26.3	realize sometimes I did too much for my kids. And I thought,
1:29.9	why didn't I? So by the time, you know, we had three daughters and a son. By the time my son came
1:35.2	around, this guy started doing laundry at 14. You started doing this. He took. And I think he,
1:40.9	he did, you know, pretty well with that. But you wrote this book after years of the
1:45.5	classic, Hey, Dad Calls. What finally made you say, all right, I need to put all of this in one place?
	...

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