The Parent Pivot Podcast

How Do We Get Through a Holiday Without Our Kids?

Whether it's Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas or the 4th of July - pivoting parents can be left alone on the holiday. How do we navigate that when we yearn to be with our kids and grandkids?
On today's Parent Pivot Podcast - Julia openly walks through her recent 4th of July weekend and how she and Steve were able to manage the loneliness of being away from their kids with authenticity and vulnerability.
Resources mentioned on this podcast:
1. "13 Principles for Building Healthy Relationships with Your Adult Children" by Steve & Julia Cummings 
2. If you love Fellowship of Christian Athletes - you're invited to make a monthly donation to our son in Reno, NV, Campbell Cummings.

Pivoting Well Requires Short Memories, Giving Grace & Believing the Best

Doing life with your adult children can bring up issues from the past that now affect your relationship as a pivoting parent to partner. Left unaware of how to take the necessary steps toward healthy relationships will make life with your adult kids more difficult. 
On today's Parent Pivot Podcast, Julia and Steve openly share their own struggles they experienced and how they used those mistakes to move to a place of healthy relationship with their four adult kids.
 
Technical note: We apologize for the low audio (Turn your volume up). We record in our sunroom and had to turn on the floor AC unit.
Resources mentioned on today's podcast:
1. "Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better"           by Brant Hansen
2. "The Parent Pivot: 13 Principles for Building Healthy Relationships with Your Adult Child" by Steve and Julia Cummings
3. IdentityExchange.com

"Therefore . . . "

According to AI: "'Therefore'" is an adverb that means 'for that reason' or 'consequently.' It indicates a logical conclusion based on a preceding statement or situation. In essence, it signals a cause-and-effect relationship."
Parents of adult children: There is a "cause-and-effect relationship you have with your adult kids.
On today's Parent Pivot Podcast, Steve and Julia provide the biggest "Therefore" there is to pivot well to becoming a loving "Partner" to your adult children.
WARNING: It will require a humble heart, a short memory, and a constant willingness to forgive.
Resources mentioned on today's podcast:
1.  "Doing Life with Your Adult Children" by Jim Burns
2,  "Empty Nest, Full Life." by Jill Savage
3. "13 Principles for Building Stronger Relationships with Your Adult Children" by Steve and Julia Cummings

Best of The Parent Pivot Podcast - "Pivoting with Your In-Law Kids: Interview with Ashleigh Cummings

Your son or daughter has just gotten married, or is about to.  What does it look like to pivot from parent to partner with your new in-law kids?
On this episode of The Parent Pivot Podcast, Steve and Julia sit down with their daughter-in-law, Ashleigh Cummings, for a transparent and insightful interview from her perspective on marrying into a different family than the one she was raised in. 
You'll hear from her heart as she shares about what she needs from her in-laws, especially around having kids, and how we can become healthy partners for our adult in-law kids.  

What a Week with Our Kids and Grandkids Taught Us

Summer is here and family vacations are in full swing!
On this edition of The Parent Pivot Podcast, Steve and Julia reflect on their week hosting their oldest son and his family of 3 kids and what they learned about themselves during those 7 days.
Resources mentioned on this podcast:
1. Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer.
2. The One Minute Pause App
 3. "13 Principles for Building Healthy Relationships with Your Adult Children" by Steve and Julia Cummings 

Best of The Parent Pivot Podcast: "Having Hard Conversations with Your Adult Child"

The pivot from Parent to Partner goes more smoothly when we "keep our mouths shut and the welcome mat out" - the main theme of Jim Burns' book and The Parent Pivot Podcast.
Okay - but what is the balance between keeping our mouths shut - and dealing with our own emotions and resentment that pops up with our adult kids?  
On this "Best of" podcast, Steve and Julia Cummings help you navigate what this looks like to help strengthen your communication and ultimately your relationship(s) with your adult child(ren).
 
Resources mentioned in today's podcast:
For a FREE copy of Randy Alcorn's book, "The Treasure Principle" - send your name and address to: parentpivotpodcast@gmail.com 
Order a copy of "How We Love" by Milan and Kay Yerkovich here.
Get your free copy of Soul Words.
For a copy of "The Parent Pivot: 13 Principles for Building Stronger Relationships with Your Adult Children."

"Generosity and Our Adult Kids"

Helping our adult kids out when they are struggling financially "can" bring up additional issues, especially with their siblings. 
What is fair when maybe not all of your adult kids have the same struggles?  What can you do if your generosity is being taken advantaged of?
On today's Parent Pivot Podcast, Steve and Julia reflect on this and what they went through as kids, how they managed it when raising their own family, and how they practice generosity in their family as one way to get the conversation going with your spouse.
 
Resources mentioned on today's podcast:
Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer

"Me? Offensive? Are You Joking?"

We all love family get-togethers where there is laughter and everyone is having a good time remembering stories from the past, right? Nothing wrong with that . . . or is there?
On today's Parent Pivot Podcast, Steve and Julia use their EQ to let us in on something we may be missing that can be a downer with our adult kids. It's an "awareness check" that we all need to file away and remember to pull it out and use it when the family jokes start flying around.
Resources mentioned of this podcast:
Get a copy of Steve and Julia's new book, "The Parent Pivot: 13 Principles for Building Stronger Relationships with Your Adult Children." 

How Birthday Celebrations "Can" Impact Your Pivot to Partner

As we grew up as kids ourselves, we may or may not have good memories of how we were celebrated on our birthday.  Then we get married and our spouse's experience plays into how we choose to celebrate our own kids birthday.
Now they are adults.  Whether you realize it or not, there "could be" some underlying issues your adult child is facing that aren't known when it comes to their birthday.
On this edition of The Parent Pivot Podcast, Steve and Julia look at their own upbringing - how they did birthdays in their family - and provide some insightful wisdom for navigating this path of the parent pivot you don't want to miss!
Resources mentioned on this podcast:
1. "The Parent Pivot: 13 Principles for Building Stronger Relationships with Your Adult Children"
 
 

Best of the Parent Pivot Podcast: Navigating This New Season of Empty Nesting

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens."  Often the season of the empty nest can leave us dealing with a number of issues.  How can you make sense of it all?
On this re-air episode of The Parent Pivot Podcast, Steve and Julia share some raw and vulnerable feelings about their relatively new journey as empty nesters and provide some hope for you to navigate this new season you're facing.