Middle Years with Bridget KerMorris

The middle school years can feel like the start of losing your child. One day they’re chatty and affectionate. The next they’re rolling their eyes, questioning everything, and leaving you wondering, “Am I doing this all wrong?” The truth is, middle school isn’t the end of your relationship. It’s the beginning of a new one. Each week, middle school therapist, coach, and creator of Steady + Connected Parenting™, Bridget KerMorris answers a real question from a real parent. Together, you’ll move beyond quick parenting tips to understand what’s really happening underneath your child’s behavior, what’s getting activated inside of you, and how to lead your family with steadiness, warmth, and confidence. Whether you’re navigating friendships, technology, ADHD, sibling conflict, identity, motivation, anxiety, or simply wondering how to stay connected to a child who suddenly seems impossib

Middle Years with Bridget KerMorris is a kids podcast hosted by Bridget KerMorris, JD, MA, with 13 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Bridget KerMorris, JD, MA hosts Middle Years with Bridget KerMorris, a kids show with 13 episodes published.

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  Episode #14

  How Do I Keep Everyone In The House Safe? (when one kid's big feelings fill the whole house)

  Aug 19, 202626 minS1

  How do you make home a safe haven for a middle schooler whose big feelings are loud, when that same loudness makes home feel less safe for everyone else? In this episode, I answer a mom whose 13-year-old is being evaluated for ADHD, has significant sensory sensitivities, and can become loud or aggressive when overwhelmed. We talk about: what sensory overwhelm can actually feel like why ADHD is not simply “an inability to focus” helping a child recognize overwhelm before someone else has to absorb it protecting siblings without shaming the child who is struggling REPAIR (both ways)™ after harm what additional professional support can help The goal isn’t a perfectly peaceful home. It’s a home where everybody’s experience matters, harm gets interrupted, and no one has to disappear to make room for someone else. This episode includes discussion of ADHD, sensory processing differences, and autism. It is coaching and education, not diagnosis or therapy. I hope you'll also click here to find me on Instagram. Click here to be the first to hear about upcoming workshops. Ready to build a relationship that can weather the middle school years and beyond? Check out my Unbreakable Bond resource ( click here ). It's designed to help you create the kind of connection that lasts through disagreements, growing independence, and all the beautiful, messy moments in between.

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  Episode #13

  I Genuinely Don’t Understand Why This Is a Crisis (when your middle schooler gets completely stuck on something small)

  Aug 14, 202622 minS1

  When your middle schooler is melting down over a stained sweatshirt, a messy room, or something that seems objectively small, it can be hard not to think: Why is this such a crisis? And then the parenting questions start. Is this anxiety? Am I making it worse if I help? Should I be teaching them to tolerate the discomfort? Could this be something like OCD? Or am I overreacting by even wondering? In this episode of Middle Years with Bridget KerMorris , Bridget walks through how to take your child’s distress seriously without rushing to explain, minimize, or diagnose it. You’ll learn: why behavior is information, but not yet an explanation how the Steady + Connected Parenting™ “filing cabinet” helps us understand the meaning kids may be making from an experience what happens when your child’s urgency becomes your urgency how to use the discernment dials to track intensity, flexibility, frequency, and interference over time what A.R.E. Parenting™ can look like in the actual hard moment how to get CURIOUS later, when your child is able to reflect how to REPAIR when the pattern turns into a fight what OCD actually is, how it differs from simply wanting things “just right,” and when it makes sense to seek professional support Most importantly, this episode offers a middle ground between dismissing your child’s distress and letting their distress run the whole family. The behavior is information. It is not yet an explanation. You don’t need certainty in order to stay connected while you figure out what the information is telling you. I hope you'll also click here to find me on Instagram. Click here to be the first to hear about upcoming workshops. Ready to build a relationship that can weather the middle school years and beyond? Check out my Unbreakable Bond resource ( click here ). It's designed to help you create the kind of connection that lasts through disagreements, growing independence, and all the beautiful, messy moments in between.

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  Middle Years with Bridget KerMorris

  I'm Just Trying to Help . . . Why Does Everything Turn Into a Fight?

  Aug 7, 202628 min

  You ask about homework --> Your middle schooler gets defensive. You offer a reminder. --> They hear criticism. And before you know it, both of you are caught in a conversation that feels much bigger than the missing assignment. In this episode, I’m answering a parent whose middle schooler becomes angry whenever help with school is offered. We’ll talk about why needing support can feel so exposing during these years, why anger often protects more vulnerable feelings, and how parents can respond without either pushing harder or quietly giving up. You’ll learn: Why middle schoolers can become unreliable narrators of themselves when emotion, incomplete information, and a still-developing brain collide How to notice what school struggles are bringing up in you before deciding what to say Why the best script in the world will not land without steadiness and self-compassion How to have one calm, curious conversation about what help has come to mean What to say when your child snaps, shuts down, or insists, “That’s just how I am” How to help your child separate struggle from identity At the heart of this episode is one idea I hope you carry with you: Help tells us what we need. It does not tell us who we are. This is bigger than homework. It is about helping your middle schooler build a healthier relationship with struggle, support, and themselves. Ready to build a relationship that can weather the middle school years and beyond? Check out my Unbreakable Bond resource ( click here ). It's designed to help you create the kind of connection that lasts through disagreements, growing independence, and all the beautiful, messy moments in between. I hope you'll also click here to find me on Instagram. Click here to be the first to hear about upcoming workshops.

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  Episode #11

  Middle School Friendships Are Practice (and that's actually good news)

  Jul 30, 202616 minS1

  What if your middle schooler's friendship struggles aren't a sign that something is wrong? What if they're exactly where they're supposed to be? In this special episode of Middle Years , I'm sharing one of the most important sections from my Social Lives of Middle Schoolers workshop. You'll hear the big reframe that changes how I think about middle school friendships: Friendships are where kids practice. Home is where they're safe. From there, we dive into the very first shift every parent needs to make before trying to help their child through friendship drama. Because when our child gets left out, ignored, or hurt by a friend, it doesn't just activate them . It activates us, too. In this episode, we'll talk about: Why middle school friendships are supposed to be messy. The difference between what happened and the meaning we make of it. How your own middle school experiences can quietly shape the way you respond to your child's. Why your steadiness helps keep one hard friendship moment from becoming your child's identity. This episode is an invitation to stop trying to fix every friendship problem and start tending to something even more important: your child's sense of belonging. Ready to build a relationship that can weather the middle school years and beyond? Check out my Unbreakable Bond resource ( click here ). It's designed to help you create the kind of connection that lasts through disagreements, growing independence, and all the beautiful, messy moments in between. I hope you'll also click here to find me on Instagram. Click here to be the first to hear about upcoming workshops.

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  Middle Years with Bridget KerMorris

  Am I Too Sensitive? (it hurts when your middle schooler argues with everything you say)

  Jul 24, 202628 min

  Am I too sensitive or is something else going on? Do you ever walk away from a conversation with your middle schooler feeling . . . dismissed and, well, kind of small? Maybe every casual comment turns into a debate. Maybe they correct you, play devil's advocate, or seem determined to prove you wrong. And somewhere in the middle of it all, you find yourself wondering: Am I just too sensitive? In this episode, we're unpacking what's really happening when your middle schooler argues with everything you say and why this dynamic can feel so hard. We'll talk about: Why middle schoolers often debate ideas more easily than they share their feelings What may be happening developmentally beneath the constant correcting Why your sensitivity isn't a flaw to fix How to have an honest conversation that builds connection instead of defensiveness Practical scripts to help your child learn to disagree without damaging the relationship This isn't about raising a child who always agrees with you. It's about raising a child who can think independently while still protecting the relationship. And it's about remembering that you are a human in a real relationship with your child. If you're longing for conversations that leave you feeling closer instead of farther apart, this episode is for you. Ready to build a relationship that can weather the middle school years and beyond? Check out my Unbreakable Bond resource ( click here ). It's designed to help you create the kind of connection that lasts through disagreements, growing independence, and all the beautiful, messy moments in between. I hope you'll also click here to find me on Instagram.

  ListenShow Notes

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