Today I'm talking to Brooke. Brooke's story kept unfolding with surprising wonders.

She's just finished training for a super cool top secret government job where she finds bad guys.

Well, it was top secret until her super proud seven-year-old daughter told the cashier at Target the

news, which led us to talk about the winds and wise of entrusting children with privileged

information. Brooke is divorced and her ex has a terrific new girlfriend who has terrific kids

the same age as Brooke's kids. This set of circumstances led us to have a heart to heart with

Brooke's touchy inner child and solve the riddle of why kids give a beloved parent the cold shoulder.

Other topics we skated to, accepting the bitter sweet without trying to change it,

appreciating a partner with an inborn reflex for goofiness and how singing to or with your child

can be more valuable than an earnest conversation. I also got to picture four generations of female

ice skaters ready to show their moves. In the wrap up, I'll share a perspective for dealing with

blended families that sociobiologists learned from elephant mothers. I'll explain how music

embeds experience in memory and you'll learn an untranslatable and swoon worthy word in Arabic.

First, a disclaimer. What you are about to listen to is not a professional counseling session.

Each episode is a one-time conversation and the advice I offer does not constitute psychological

treatment or services substitute for professional diagnosis intervention or behavioral health care.

In order to protect their privacy, our guests have been given pseudonyms and some personal

details have been changed. If you have concerns about your child's well-being or your own,

seek out guidance from a medical or mental health professional, good places to start,

your child's pediatrician, the counseling staff at your child's school, and the American Psychological

Association's Comprehensive Guide to Finding Resources in your State. And now, onto the fun.

In the meantime, we got this. We got this. We got this. Hey, Brooke.

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