Navigating Mean Humor & Clingy Friendships | CP199

Welcome back, Connected Parents, to another episode of the Connected Parenting Podcast! Today, we're diving into another installment of our Q&A series, where I answer real parenting questions from our listeners.

In this episode, I’ll be tackling two important questions:

• Rob’s Question: His 14-year-old son has developed a mean-spirited sense of humor and is acting like a bit of a jerk. How can Rob guide him toward kindness without shutting him down completely?

• Lily’s Question: Her 12-year-old daughter is struggling with a new school friendship. She initially bonded with a classmate who seemed nice but has now become overly clingy, sending constant text messages and guilt-tripping her. How can Lily help her daughter set boundaries while maintaining kindness?

Join me as we explore strategies for fostering emotional intelligence, setting healthy boundaries, and helping kids navigate social dynamics in a way that strengthens their confidence and relationships.

Tune in now! And don’t forget to send in your parenting questions for future episodes.

Meet Jennifer Kolari



Jennifer Kolari is the host of the “Connected Parenting” weekly podcast and the co-host of “The Mental Health Comedy” podcast. Kolari is a frequent guest on Nationwide morning shows and podcasts in th US and Canada. Her advice can also be found in many Canadian and US magazines such as; Today’s Parent, Parents Magazine and Canadian Family.

Kolari’s powerful parenting model is based on the neurobiology of love, teaching parents how to use compassion and empathy as powerful medicine to transform challenging behavior and build children’s emotional resilience and emotional shock absorbers.

Jennifer’s wisdom, quick wit and down to earth style help parents navigate modern-day parenting problems, offering real-life examples as well as practical and effective tools and strategies.

Her highly entertaining, inspiring workshops are shared with warmth and humour, making her a crowd-pleasing speaker with schools, medical professionals, corporations and agencies throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

One of the nation’s leading parenting experts, Jennifer Kolari, is a highly sought- after international speaker and the founder of Connected Parenting. A child and family therapist with a busy practice based in San Diego and Toronto, Kolari is also the author of Connected Parenting: How to Raise A Great Kid (Penguin Group USA and Penguin Canada, 2009) and You’re Ruining My Life! (But Not Really): Surviving the Teenage Years with Connected Parenting (Penguin Canada, 2011).