I kind of learn all my lessons through my, my sons in a way that's like you should probably have known this before you became a parent, but I had started telling stories on the stage.

I'd gone to the math and started sharing and so my sons I had told them many stories that had been telling them stories from even a very young age about my life wanting to like change the way that, you know, we kind of handled truths and so my kids knew quite a few of my stories.

Hi, this is Dene. I'm the founder of Simple Families. Simple Families is an online community for parents who are seeking a simpler, more intentional life.

In this show, we focus on minimalism with kids, positive parenting, family wellness, and decreasing the mental load.

My perspectives are based in my first-hand experience raising kids, but also rooted in my PhD in child development.

So you're going to hear conversations that are based in research, but more importantly real life. Thanks for joining us.

Hi there. Thanks so much for tuning in, Dene here. That voice that you heard in the intro is Devon Sandeford.

Devon is a writer, a storyteller, the founder of Unreeling Storytelling, and also a professional storyteller with the Gates Foundation.

His stories have been featured in the Washington Post, the Moth podcast, NPR, and many more.

Today, Devon joins me to talk about the importance of storytelling, especially as a parent. He's sharing a few very meaningful stories with us.

Devon and I are also talking about how, when and if we should share some of our most difficult, important and heartfelt stories with our own kids.

And the impact it might have on our relationship and connection. Thanks so much for tuning in. I hope you enjoy my chat with Devon.

Hi, Devon. How are you?

I'm doing great. Thank you for asking and thank you for having me on.

I'm so glad to have you. So tell us a little bit about yourself. That's always the hardest question. I always lead with the hardest.

Yeah, it's where it is the hardest question. And I think the reason it tends to be so hard is because I feel like I'm constantly changing, like I honestly just started a new job maybe four weeks ago.

So much changing. I'm a, in general, I'm a storyteller. I'm a writer. I recently accepted that position to be a senior communications officer at the Gates Foundation, doing some story development and writing there as well.

But I think at the heart of me, I'm like somebody who wants to have deeply honest conversations with people and to like allow them the space to like share things that they don't necessarily share other places.

And I try and allow that to be to show up in like everywhere that I am and to, yeah, to connect with people deeply.

I love that. I'm a therapist. So that sounds like a lot of what I do day in and day out with my clients, right?

And it's funny that I often find I did therapy for many years and then I did more parent work and I've moved back into therapy now.

But when I wasn't doing therapy, I found that I was always kind of prying deeper into people's stories and that that's something that is my tendency, but it's, it's makes people uncomfortable sometimes. Have you seen that?

...