Loving Teenagers Can Be Hard, How to Make It Fun Instead

More About This is Going to Be FUN!

Jen Tate is the host and she describes the show like this: Enjoy being a mom of teens without worrying you are doing it all wrong. Cultivate confidence, connection, and fun, and be the example you want your kids to be. This podcast will teach you practical tools and tips for loving teenagers that will help you stop surviving motherhood and start enjoying it. The length of each episode is about 10 minutes. It’s an ongoing series with new episodes available on Tuesdays.

Kid Podcast Guide

Before we learn more about the vibe of the show, we’re going to take a quick break to talk about my Guide to Kid podcasts. One of my favorite parenting tools is Kid podcasts. I use them when I’m running errands with the kiddos to keep them from complaining the whole time or when I need a mom break, I’ll just grab an easy activity like coloring pages or a sensory bin. Turn on a kid podcast and the kids will be entertained for at least half an hour. I know that Kid Podcast would help you in your life too, which is why I made a Guide to Kid podcast.

There are eight different categories ranging from science to mindfulness to audio drama with at least three podcasts in each category. There are 27 different podcasts in total on the guide. I’ve listened to each of the podcasts on this guide, so I can attest to them being kid friendly, and I put my email at the bottom of the guide so that if you try a couple with your kids and none of them are a good fit, you can email me and I will personally help you find a kid podcast that works for your littles and you. You can grab this guide at the link in the show notes.

Introduction to Jen & This is Going to Be FUN!

I am Jen. I live in Tucson, Arizona with my family. My husband and I have been married going on 20 years, which is a little crazy. And we have six kids. So I have three boys and three girls, my oldest is a boy, and then my youngest are identical twin boys. And my oldest had just turned eight right as my twins were born. So I have done the chaos of motherhood , like I have been in the trenches for many, many years and now my oldest is a senior in high school and I have a house full of teens and tweens and it is so much fun.

I really am just loving this phase so much. I’m also a certified life coach. I am certified through the life coach school and in my coaching practice I do what I love, which is helping moms enjoy the teen years instead of just surviving them. I think a lot of times we grit our teeth and say we’re gonna make it through, but I want you to really enjoy your teens and have so much fun during this phase of life.

I think as we approach the teen years, kind of those tween years, we start panicking a little bit about what is about to come. And so I feel like the work that I do is helpful, especially if you’re in the teen years, but even if you’re coming up on them, and even sometimes I have moms of young kids who are like, I wanna learn this now, so I’m ready when I get there.  

Why Jen Started Making This is Going to Be FUN! 

So as my oldest kind of approached the teen years, the tween years were rough for us. Like they did not go great. But somewhere in those tween years, I discovered life coaching. And I didn’t think I’d ever get certified as a coach, but I kind of discovered the tools. I hired a coach and it totally changed the way I approached parenting. And so then when we got to the teen years, I was like, oh! This is actually the best. This is so much fun and it’s nothing like what I thought it was gonna be.

And so I just wanna share that hope that the teen years are not actually as miserable as everyone makes them seem. They can be fun. And it’s actually my favorite part of parenting so far. Like we’ve done a lot of parenting and this is the most fun stage. Even with all the challenges, there are challenges for sure, but it is so much fun and I wanna share that hope with other moms.

What to Expect from This is Going to Be FUN!

I do want parents to walk away with hope. I think when I had this little brood of six little kids that I would take with me to the grocery store when they were little, people would stop me all the time. And there were a couple of phrases that they’ve used, but one of them was, oh, just wait till they’re teenagers. And honestly that, Caused me to be live in fear quite a bit, because I was like, yeah, what is that gonna be like? I grew up with two little brothers and we’re all pretty spread apart. So the fact that all my kids are really close together, and then I have three girls in the middle, so I was like, what is it gonna be like to have these three girls at the same time when they’re teenagers?

I was afraid that loving teenagers was going to be hard. Now that I’m in that phase, there is so much hope because it honestly is great. My teens are fantastic, but also they struggle and even with the struggles, it still can be so much fun and I just want all the parents to know like it is going to be okay. The teen years can be amazing, just like all the other phases of parenting.

The Vibe of This is Going to Be FUN!

So if I had to describe the podcast in one word, I would say encouraging. If you invest 10 minutes listening to an episode, I want you to leave feeling encouraged and hopeful. So I try and keep the episodes short, sweet, and just packed with helpful ideas.

So all of my episodes are right around 10 minutes long. And that was by design because I know that moms of teens are in the car a lot. So you’ve got some time, as you’re commuting and usually you’re driving to pick up a carpool or to drop someone off. And what moms of teens have that’s a little bit different than other moms is once your teen is in the car with you, you don’t wanna be listening to a podcast because that’s your only time to connect with them.

So you’ve only got one direction  to be listening. So if you speed me up to 2x I always feel like I sound a little smarter on 2x . And then you can get through in five minutes if that’s all it takes. But I designed it that way so that you can listen on route to go pick up the carpool and then you can spend the time connecting with your teen on the way.

Where to Find Jen & This is Going to Be FUN!

Yeah, so you can find me over on Instagram at @JenBellTate, and I love to connect with you there. I also have a website where I have some free parenting resources, and you can check that out at jenbelltate.com.

If you wanna work with me, I have a one-on-one coaching practice where I work with people private, one-on-one coaching, but I also have a membership community where I support parents long term. One of the things that’s challenging about teens is that it could be all smooth sailing right now and then you know that there are challenges that are gonna come. That’s just part of parenting teens. Like they’re dealing with challenges, they’re dealing with hard things, and so are you. And so what my goal is with that community is that I provide you the tools and training and ideas that you need inside of that community so that you’re ready for the hard stuff and you have access to the support whenever it comes. So that is where you can get the most help from me. Is there in that community.

Jen’s Favorite Episodes

It’s like choosing a favorite child and I just can’t do that…I mean, day by day maybe , but overall never. So I’ll give you a couple. If you were only gonna listen to one episode of my podcast, I would recommend episode. It’s called Don’t Do It Alone. And the reason I recommend that one is sometimes motherhood feels exhausting and overwhelming and that episode is like the mom pep talk you need when you’re in that stage, when you’re feeling just like overwhelmed by motherhood, that is the episode to listen to so that you can feel stronger, lighter, and just full of hope. So if you’re only gonna listen to one, that’s the one I’d recommend.

Another one just turned into like a total parenting mind shift.  in the episode is episode number 14. It’s called Fear in Parenting. And I thought it was gonna be this fun little episode, I recorded it right before October, so I was like, fear in parenting tie in with Halloween. And it turned into this episode that really, if you listen to it, it can give you a completely different way to look at parenting, like a new perspective on loving teenagers and parenting in general.

And then the last one,  the fan favorite. I asked a few people, what’s your favorite? And they said episode number 11, and that is called Your New Best Friend. And that one’s all about being your own best friend. So it’s not really parenting focused as much as like how you can show up as your best self.

This is Going to Be FUN! & Little Ears

My podcast is definitely okay for little Ears. I have teenagers myself and so they listen to my podcast and I wanna make sure it’s appropriate for them. , I also hear from their friends and they listen to my podcast. So I wanna make sure everything I share is appropriate for my kids’ friends. If there’s ever anything that I’m gonna share that maybe you should be aware is not appropriate for little ears, I’ll always let you know at the beginning of the episode.