Raising Boys & Girls

Sissy Goff and David Thomas explore the powerful, research-backed role of play in reducing anxiety, building resilience, and strengthening family connection. They unpack why unstructured play has declined, how play shapes kids’ brains and emotional health, and why adults need play just as much as kids do. The conversation offers five practical ways to bring play back into everyday family life—without pressure or perfection—and culminates in a joyful interview with Alex and Whitney Kimerling of Hootenanny Games, who share how screen-free games foster connection, confidence, and core memories across generations. . . . . . .  Sign up to receive the⁠ bi-⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠monthly newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to keep up to date with where David and Sissy are speaking, where they are taco'ing, PLUS conversation starters for you and your family to share! Access Raising Boys and Girls courses here! Connect with David, Sissy, and Melissa at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠raisingboysandgirls.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Owen Learns He Has What it Takes: A Lesson in Resilience⁠ ⁠Lucy Learns to Be Brave: A Lesson in Courage⁠⁠ . . . . . .  If you would like to partner with Raising Boys and Girls as a podcast sponsor, fill out our⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Advertise With Us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ form. QUINCE: Go to ⁠Quince.com/rbg⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. BOLL & BRANCH: Get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at Bollandbranch.com/rbg⁠. Exclusions apply. ATHLETIC GREENS: Go to DRINKAG1.com/RBG to get their best offer… For a limited time only, get a FREE AG1 duffel bag and FREE AG1 Welcome Kit with your first subscription order! Only while supplies last. COOK UNITY: Go to cookunity.com/RBG or enter code RBG before checkout to get 50% off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sissy Goff and David Thomas sit down with journalist and author Leland Vittert to talk about his memoir Born Lucky and the profound impact his father had on his life growing up with autism. Leland shares candid stories of adversity, resilience, and learning to navigate a world that wasn’t built for him—highlighting how character, hard work, and perseverance are formed not by removing hardship, but by walking through it with steady support. With honesty and hope, this conversation encourages parents that while they can’t erase their child’s challenges, their presence, belief, and commitment to helping their child do hard things can make a life-changing difference. . . . . . .  Sign up to receive the⁠ bi-⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠monthly newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to keep up to date with where David and Sissy are speaking, where they are taco'ing, PLUS conversation starters for you and your family to share! Access Raising Boys and Girls courses here! Connect with David, Sissy, and Melissa at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠raisingboysandgirls.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Owen Learns He Has What it Takes: A Lesson in Resilience⁠ ⁠Lucy Learns to Be Brave: A Lesson in Courage⁠⁠ . . . . . .  If you would like to partner with Raising Boys and Girls as a podcast sponsor, fill out our⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Advertise With Us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ form. QUINCE: Go to ⁠Quince.com/rbg⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. BOLL & BRANCH: Get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at Bollandbranch.com/rbg⁠. Exclusions apply. ATHLETIC GREENS: Go to DRINKAG1.com/RBG to get their best offer… For a limited time only, get a FREE AG1 duffel bag and FREE AG1 Welcome Kit with your first subscription order! Only while supplies last. COOK UNITY: Go to cookunity.com/RBG or enter code RBG before checkout to get 50% off your first order WAYFAIR: Get organized, refreshed, and ready for the holidays for way less. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. OUR PLACE: Stop cooking with toxic cookware, and upgrade to Our Place today. Visit fromourplace.com/RBG and use code RBG for 10% off sitewide. HIYA: Visit hiyahealth.com/RBG to get 50% off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sissy Goff and David Thomas kick off a new series by exploring five things kids need most socially right now. Drawing from decades of counseling experience and current research, they unpack why today’s kids are struggling with civility, empathy, reciprocity, belonging, and real-time social practice. They discuss how screens, cultural tone, and isolation are shaping kids’ relationships—and offer practical, doable ways parents can help at home, from modeling kind disagreement to creating opportunities for face-to-face connection. This hopeful, practical conversation reminds parents that social skills are built through practice, and that small, intentional shifts can make a meaningful difference in kids’ lives. Resources mentioned: Wonder by R.J. Palacio Raising Emotionally Strong Boys: Tools Your Son Can Build On for Life by David Thomas Are My Kids on Track?: The 12 Emotional, Social, and Spiritual Milestones Your Child Needs to Reach by Sissy Goff, David Thomas, and Melissa Trevathan . . . . . .  Sign up to receive the⁠ bi-⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠monthly newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to keep up to date with where David and Sissy are speaking, where they are taco'ing, PLUS conversation starters for you and your family to share! Access Raising Boys and Girls courses here! Connect with David, Sissy, and Melissa at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠raisingboysandgirls.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Owen Learns He Has What it Takes: A Lesson in Resilience⁠ ⁠Lucy Learns to Be Brave: A Lesson in Courage⁠⁠ . . . . . .  If you would like to partner with Raising Boys and Girls as a podcast sponsor, fill out our⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Advertise With Us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ form. QUINCE: Go to ⁠Quince.com/rbg⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. BOLL & BRANCH: Get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at Bollandbranch.com/rbg⁠. Exclusions apply. ATHLETIC GREENS: Go to DRINKAG1.com/RBG to get their best offer… For a limited time only, get a FREE AG1 duffel bag and FREE AG1 Welcome Kit with your first subscription order! Only while supplies last. COOK UNITY: Go to cookunity.com/RBG or enter code RBG before checkout to get 50% off your first order Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Dr. Gary Chapman joins Sissy Goff and David Thomas to explore what kids need most right now: feeling deeply and consistently loved. Drawing from decades of counseling families and his work with the Five Love Languages, Dr. Chapman explains how children uniquely receive love, how parents can identify a child’s primary love language, and why behavior is often a signal that a child’s “love tank” is running low. The conversation offers practical, hope-filled guidance for adapting love languages as kids grow, navigating different personalities within one family, and building daily rhythms—like shared meals and one-on-one time—that foster connection, resilience, and lasting emotional security. Resources mentioned: The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman The 5 Love Languages of Children by Dr. Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers by Dr. Gary Chapman What’s your Love Language? free quiz . . . . . .  Sign up to receive the⁠ bi-⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠monthly newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to keep up to date with where David and Sissy are speaking, where they are taco'ing, PLUS conversation starters for you and your family to share! Access Raising Boys and Girls courses here! Connect with David, Sissy, and Melissa at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠raisingboysandgirls.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Owen Learns He Has What it Takes: A Lesson in Resilience⁠ ⁠Lucy Learns to Be Brave: A Lesson in Courage⁠⁠ . . . . . .  If you would like to partner with Raising Boys and Girls as a podcast sponsor, fill out our⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Advertise With Us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ form. QUINCE: Go to ⁠Quince.com/rbg⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. BOLL & BRANCH: Get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at Bollandbranch.com/rbg⁠. Exclusions apply. ATHLETIC GREENS: Go to DRINKAG1.com/RBG to get their best offer… For a limited time only, get a FREE AG1 duffel bag and FREE AG1 Welcome Kit with your first subscription order! Only while supplies last. COOK UNITY: Go to cookunity.com/RBG or enter code RBG before checkout to get 50% off your first order Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sissy Goff and David Thomas talk with Justin Whitmel Earley about his new book The Body Teaches the Soul and how our everyday physical habits—like breathing, sleep, movement, and technology use—quietly shape our spiritual lives and parenting. Justin shares how burnout and anxiety led him to discover that lasting change comes not from trying harder, but from practicing small, embodied habits that help us respond with patience, presence, and grace. With practical encouragement for overwhelmed parents, he reminds us that habit change is about responding to God’s love, not earning it, and that starting small can lead to meaningful transformation. Resources mentioned: The Body Teaches the Soul by Justin Whitmel Earley The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley Made for People by Justin Whitmel Earley  Atomic Habits by James Clear . . . . . .  Sign up to receive the⁠ bi-⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠monthly newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to keep up to date with where David and Sissy are speaking, where they are taco'ing, PLUS conversation starters for you and your family to share! Access Raising Boys and Girls courses here! Connect with David, Sissy, and Melissa at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠raisingboysandgirls.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Owen Learns He Has What it Takes: A Lesson in Resilience⁠ ⁠Lucy Learns to Be Brave: A Lesson in Courage⁠⁠ . . . . . .  If you would like to partner with Raising Boys and Girls as a podcast sponsor, fill out our⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Advertise With Us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ form. A special thank you to our sponsors: QUINCE: Go to ⁠Quince.com/rbg⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. THRIVE MARKET: Head over to ⁠ThriveMarket.com/rbg⁠ to get 30% off your first order and a FREE $60 gift.  NIV APPLICATION BIBLE: Save an additional 10% on any NIV Application Bible and NIV Application Commentary Resources by visiting faithgateway.com/nivab and using promo code RBG. MERCY SHIPS: Please donate today at MercyShips.org/podcast. OMAHA STEAKS: Visit OmahaSteaks.com for 50% off sitewide during their Sizzle All the Way Sale. And for an extra $35 off, use promo code FUN at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices