Back To School: Dr. Hope Seidel on Tough Decisions in a Pandemic

Not all relationships work out. That's not a surprise. What may be a surprise is just how that is impacting our kids. With divorce rates going up during the pandemic, it's important we understand how any conflict with our partner, or former partner, is affecting our children.We talked with Dr. Karey O'Hara from Arizona State University on the mental and physical health challenges kids face when their parents are divorced, separated or struggling in their relationships.

Have you ever had a tough day – a super stressful one – and tried to hide it from the kids? After all, we don’t want them to worry, right? Turns out – they can tell. They know when something is up. And, lets’ face it, often times Dads could teach a MasterClass in hiding emotions. Turns out – hiding our emotions and suppressing our stress – is – well – stressing our kids out.The last year has been a challenging one. It was right around this time last year that COVID became a real and major issue in this country. Schools started to close, sporting events were cancelled, offices shut down. That brought a lot of uncertainty and stress to many families – stress on top of the traditional day-to-day issues the average family faces. Terri and I were certainly worried about what was ahead – could we stay safe… what was going to happen with by job that required weekly travel and speaking to groups of 100+ daily. As I reflect on this time last year… well, life was stressful. And I did everything I could to keep Naomi from knowing about it. Well – it seems like she knew something was up. A study from Washington State University says our kids can tell when we’re stressed and TRY to hide it which – in turn – can make them more stressed. Truth is – we can and should be more open with our kids on how we’re feeling – especially right now – in the middle of a global pandemic.That’s what we’ll talk about today with Dr. Sara Waters – our stress, our kids’ stress and how to help all of us work through our feelings.

As we celebrate two years of Positively Dad, we're also are close to another anniversary, a year of COVID in the United States. Our lives have been so different over the last 12 months and it comes with so many challenges.Justin Su'a is all about keeping focused in the face of adversity. He's the mental performance coach with the Tampa Bay Rays and a father of three. He shares his strategies that help elite athletes that can help you too.

Parents are faced with what feels like an impossible situation... sending kids back to school during a pandemic. It's been a tough choice for many families. Do you send the kids back to the school building, do some type of e-learning or even homeschool? There are many factors at play too... your work situation, the educational needs of your kids, mental health and more.Dr. Hope Seidel is a mom of two, a parent coach and a pediatrician in Cary, North Carolina. She has some great things for you to think about as we head back to school.

It’s back to school time – or is it? Coronavirus has the start of this school year up in the air. As COVID-19 cases rise in most of the country, administrators, teachers, parents and kids are being forced to make tough decisions.We'd like to help as you and your family consider this upcoming school year. We're kicking off this series with a conversation with Dr. William Haseltine. He's written the book A Family Guide to COVID and believes kids in most areas should stay home right now. He also says there are specific questions parents should ask schools before sending kids back. 

We’ve focused on race in America for our last several episodes. We talked about how we can talk with our kids about what we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks and how we can inspire change. Now it's time to move from inspiration to perspiration.Emerick Peace is a dad of two adult kids and he says now is the time to take action. Don't just talk - do something too. We'll talk about how all families can be part of the change and turn the moment into a movement.

Are you accepting to different perspectives? Be careful before you answer. Honestly ask yourself – are you really accepting to different perspectives? Dad of four, Josh Gossard, says that is one way we end racism in America.Josh is a white man, married to a black woman and with four biracial children and a grandson. He says our willingness to accept a different perspective is key to change.

We're continuing our series on Race in America with a conversation around inclusion and diversity with Derrick Slack. Derrick is a husband, father, social studies teacher and author. His latest book Orange teaches kids about the importance of being kind and connecting with those who aren't like you.We have a powerful conversation on the state of race in America and how we can turn this moment into a movement.

We’re focusing on race in America for the next several episodes. We began our conversation with our last episode. I talked with Andrew Grant-Thomas from EmbraceRace about where we are today and how we can move forward. We talked about how we can talk with our kids about what we've seen over the last 10+ days and the underlying racial injustice that's been part of America's history for 400+ years.We'll continue these conversations over the next several weeks as we talk with fathers from all backgrounds about raising kids today.This week, we’re talking with Eric Lindsey from Boston. Eric is the father of two boys – ages 3 and 11 – and he’ll share how this moment is impacting his oldest son and the conversations he’s having about being black in America.

America is in crisis. 40 million unemployed, 100,000+ dead from Coronavirus and US cities are burning. This is a moment in history unlike we’ve seen in my lifetime. How do you talk about this with your family? How can you use this moment to actually inspire hope and change?We're talking with Andrew Grant-Thomas from Embrace Race, an organization that helps parents raise children who can do just that - embrace all races.This is Andrew's second visit to Positively Dad. While this conversation is specific to what we're seeing in America at this moment, we had a more general conversation last year. It's called Learning to Embrace Race and would be a good one to hear after you listen to this episode.