This week Georgia Jones sits down with Aaron Dale, co-parenting advisor, author of The Co-Parent, and the man behind Raising Boys 2 Men, for an honest chat about co-parenting, blended families and unlearning the patterns we're handed.

Aaron gets real about being raised by a single mum, an absent father he last saw in a Sainsbury's twelve years ago, and the moment at a funfair when, aged 18, he had to be the one to tell his younger sister they shared a dad.

Then it goes deeper: two sons from two relationships, the fear of "becoming my dad," learning to co-parent without letting ego lead, and the hard truth that money and access can both become tools of control if you let them.

Plus the useful stuff: the 90-second emotion rule, why you should go to therapy before you have kids, the "backpack" of trauma we hand our children, and why a dad who does the cuddles is every bit as vital as the one who does the rough and tumble.

Grab a cuppa and get comfy.

A Create Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Georgia Jones sits down with Trish Abreu, Head of Early Years at Alleyn's Hampstead, for an honest chat about the early years: nursery, reception, and those all-important first steps into school life.

Trish gets real about what "school readiness" actually means (spoiler: it's not knowing your alphabet at two), why so much of a child's anxiety is really the parent's, and the settling-in truth nobody tells you: that there's no such thing as a perfect one, and it can take far longer than a couple of weeks.

Then it gets practical: the flashcards-versus-real-world debate, using London as your classroom, why bombarding your child with "how was your day?" makes them shut down, and the little girl who didn't speak for a whole year and what was really going on.

Plus your listener questions answered: quiet at nursery but chatty at home, tears and fussy eating at drop-off, the questions nobody thinks to ask on a nursery tour, and how the conversation goes if the school spots something you haven't.

Grab a cuppa and get comfy.

A Create Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Kelsey Parker sits down with two remarkable dads, Jack Taylor and Matt Whitehouse from the Lily Mae Foundation, for an honest, tender conversation about losing a baby and the life and grief that follows.

Jack takes us back to Oscar: two miscarriages before him, an enlarged bladder spotted at 20 weeks, and the Trisomy 13 diagnosis that meant he wasn't compatible with life. Jack and Ellen made the hardest decision any parent could face, to protect their son from more suffering, and Oscar was born sleeping. Ten years on this December, Jack speaks about how time both stands still and races away.

Then Matt shares Callie's story: a textbook pregnancy right up to 38 weeks, a daughter kicking away at 8am, and by 9.29 she was gone. Matt talks about the 27 minutes they had with her, the false hope, and the moment a doctor walked in with the news no parent should hear, why he says the mind simply can't compute the speed of baby loss.

Together they open up about the grief dads are so often expected to carry in silence, the space to talk about their babies, and how the Lily Mae Foundation helped them find their way through. Plus the "unhinged" challenges that keep them going, from seven marathons in seven days and 110 miles in 24 hours for Oscar's 10th birthday, to Matt running 10k every single day of 2026 (karaoke and all).

Grab a cuppa and get comfy.

A Create Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.