Growing Pains

Some children walk into a room full of toys and say they don't know how to play.Lovleen Walia hears it more than you would think. She is a certified Play Therapist in Singapore, using figurines, clay, art, sand trays instead of questions. She gives no instructions. She doesn't interpret, yet children tell her things they have told no one else, which is why friends call her Mary Poppins. (She does not own an umbrella.)At home, her two girls get close to zero screen time. She calls herself a strict mom. Her friends tell her to let the kids enjoy the movie.We talk about what she sees when your child plays and you don't, the $200 problem nobody has solved, and a conversation with her own mother that left the studio tearing up.The next time your child says they are bored, you will want to have heard this first. Hit play.What You'll Take AwayWhat happens when a child walks into a room full of toys and asks what to doWhy Lovleen never asks a child a single questionWhat a child lining up toys in silence might be telling a play therapistWhat Lovleen's daughters say when the film ends (it is not what you would expect)The two rules behind a judgment-free play space at homeThe restaurant table game where anything can be anythingThe 10 minutes Lovleen asks every parent to hand over tonightIN THIS EPISODE:00:00 | Teaser: What Are Screens Taking Away From Our Kids?00:55 | Meet Lovleen Walia: The “Mary Poppins” of Play Therapy02:17 | From Reality TV to Mumbai at 2004:07 | Too Indian, Not Indian Enough: The Casting Struggle05:17 | The Moment She Realised Children Needed More06:35 | Play Therapy: When Toys Speak for Children09:38 | Inside a Play Therapy Room12:43 | Why Some Children No Longer Know How to Play13:54 | Stop Entertaining Your Kids19:31 | The Families Who Can’t Afford Therapy22:15 | When a Teacher Says Something Is Wrong25:16 | Strict Parenting Without Fear or Punishment28:13 | Why She Refuses to Hit or Use Silent Treatment30:55 | Raising Kids With Almost Zero Screen Time32:37 | When Your Child Becomes the “Therapist” Friend34:02 | Grandparents, Boundaries & Picking Your Battles36:20 | What We Lose When a Mother Tongue Disappears39:36 | Your Child Isn’t Giving You a Hard Time41:21 | Faz’s Top Three TakeawaysAbout the GuestLovleen Walia is a certified play therapist in Singapore, one of very few practising a method that uses toys, sand trays and figurines instead of questions. Before therapy, she won Singapore's spot on India's first reality TV show, acted in Mumbai and taught drama to hundreds of children. She is a mother of two girls, teaches Punjabi, and is pushing for play therapy to reach schools and hospitals.Website: https://northstartheraplay.com/Instagram: @northstar_theraplayConnect with Growing PainsGrowing Pains is HoneyKids Asia's podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed.YouTube: @growingpains.honeykidsInstagram: @honeykidsasiaWebsite: honeykidsasia.comHit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. If this one resonated, share it with a parent who needs it.Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore's podcast studio.

Every clinic in Singapore has a TikTok now. Every influencer has an opinion on your pores. But there is one aesthetic doctor known less for what she sells and more for what she refuses to do.Dr. Rachel Ho built her name talking women off the ledge, literally saying no to procedures they were sure they wanted. This week she sits down to talk about the treatments millennial women can't stop asking for, the ones she won't touch, and the uncomfortable math behind flying to Seoul for a deal.We get into what it means when a child asks why mummy's face is bruised, why teenagers in some countries get plastic surgery as a graduation gift, and whether the beauty industry needs the insecurities it claims to fix.It's a conversation about faces. But really, it's about something else: what we're teaching the next generation to see when they look in the mirror.Press play before you book anything.IN THIS EPISODE:00:00 | Teaser: Beauty, Aging & the Pressure to Keep Up00:44 | Meet Dr. Rachel Ho: The Doctor Behind Skin Longevity01:53 | Why She Left Surgery for Aesthetic Medicine02:39 | Does the Beauty Industry Manufacture Insecurity?04:38 | Sephora Kids, Teen Skincare & Plastic Surgery at 1608:06 | The Biggest Skincare Trend of 202609:31 | Skin Longevity vs Anti-Aging: Is There Really a Difference?12:02 | How Honest Content Built Trust in Aesthetic Medicine14:11 | Motherhood, Invisibility & Finding Yourself Again18:39 | Why She Opened a Clinic in a Saturated Market19:23 | Medical Tourism: Cheap Treatments & Hidden Red Flags21:46 | Skin Boosters & What’s Taking Off Across Asia24:12 | What Every Woman Should Know Before Getting a Treatment28:29 | Faz’s Top Three TakeawaysWhat You'll Take AwayWhy the doctor known for treating faces is the one who says noThe real cost of flying overseas for a "cheaper" treatmentWhat Gen Alpha's skincare obsession is really about, and who's paying for itThe line Dr. Ho won't cross with her own children, even at 16What "skin longevity" means once you strip away the marketingThe one thing a bruised face teaches a child, whether you explain it or notHow to spot the red flag doctors say most people miss when booking treatments abroadAbout the guestDr. Rachel Ho is an aesthetic doctor with more than 16 years of clinical experience and the founder of Skin Longevity Clinic. Originally trained in ENT and head and neck surgery, she brings a strong foundation in facial anatomy to an evidence based approach to skin longevity, facial harmony, and natural looking rejuvenation. She is also a long time skincare writer and content creator, known for making aesthetic medicine and skincare science easier to understand.Connect with Dr. Rachel Ho: Website: theskinlongevityclinic.comInstagram: @drrachelhoConnect with Growing PainsGrowing Pains is HoneyKids Asia's podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed.YouTube: @growingpains.honeykidsInstagram: @honeykidsasiaWebsite: honeykidsasia.comHit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. If this one resonated, share it with a parent who needs it.Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore's podcast studio.

At twenty-something, she promised her mother a private jet by the time she turned fifty. Instead, she walked away from a safe accounting career in Malaysia and got on a plane to London with no job, no plan, and a rattling old house by the sea to show for it.What came next took her through years of IVF, a husband who carried his own grief in silence, and a phone call on Valentine's Day that changed everything overnight.This week, we sit down with a community builder and COO of Every Child.sg, Aarathi, who has spent almost two decades in Singapore proving that belonging isn't something you're handed. It's something you fight for, cry over, and sometimes build from a single yes.She talks about the question people ask about her adopted son that she wishes she could ban forever, the one her husband never got asked, and what it actually took to stop feeling like an outsider in a place she now calls home.If you've ever wondered what it costs to build a family and a life from scratch, twice, this is the conversation.IN THIS EPISODE:00:00 | Teaser00:55 | Meet Arathi Arumugam03:05 | Leaving the Safe Path: From Malaysia to London08:11 | Finding Purpose and Community Through AWARE11:48 | When Does a Place Become Home?15:26 | The IVF Reality: Loss, Control and the Struggle Nobody Saw26:51 | Choosing Adoption38:22 | Every Child SG: Rethinking How We Educate and Raise Children45:23 | The Questions Adoptive Parents Wish People Would Stop AskingWhat You’ll Take AwayThe private jet she promised her mother by fifty, and the corporate ladder she walked away from insteadWhat it actually felt like to realize her "expat" circle could never really be her peopleThe single IVF round that produced an unheard-of number of eggs, done the very week of her 35th birthdayThe moment she finally understood what her husband had been carrying in silence the whole timeWhy one phone call to a stranger, "just find me a baby," led somewhere months later, on Valentine's DayThe black box exhibition asking parents to confront the exact words they use on their kidsThe one question about adoption she wishes people would stop asking, and the one they never doAbout the guestAarathi Arumugam is a chartered accountant turned community builder, currently leading EveryChild.sg and serving as president of AWARE. She has lived and worked in Malaysia, the UK, and Singapore, and is the mother of two: a daughter born after multiple rounds of IVF and a son adopted from Malaysia.Connect with Aarathi:https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarathiarumugam/Every Child SG: Website, InstagramConnect with Growing PainsGrowing Pains is HoneyKids Asia's podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed.YouTube: @growingpains.honeykidsInstagram: @honeykidsasiaWebsite: honeykidsasia.comHit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. If this one resonated, share it with a parent who needs it.Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore's podcast studio.

Too Strict? Too Soft? Which Parenting Style Actually Works?Three parenting philosophies just went head to head, live, in front of an audience, and nobody left the stage unscathed.Gentle parenting says emotions come first. Tiger parenting says the world is hard, so prepare your kid for it. Authoritative parenting says it is the golden mean. But when three experts actually had to defend their corner out loud, the debate went somewhere none of them expected.Then the characters came off. What these three actually do when a child melts down in public, when a bad morning starts before 7am, or when grief shows up uninvited, looks nothing like their opening statements.One of them cried in front of her daughter and let her watch. One of them agreed to cane her kids before she had any. One of them has been told by her own mother that she's failing her grandkids.So which style actually works? Stick around for the answer that surprised even the people debating it.About the GuestsMarissa Nasution is a psychotherapist, conscious parenting specialist, and school counselor with over a million followers on Instagram. A former TV presenter and mother of two, she champions gentle parenting and works with families on emotional intelligence and co-regulation.Keep up with Marissa:Instagram: @marissalnWebsite: https://www.marissanasution.com/aboutDr. Amrit Kaur is a clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience across Michigan, New Zealand, and Singapore. She specializes in trauma therapy and advocates for Every Child SG, championing children's wellbeing and protection.Keep up with Dr. Amrit:LinkedIn: @dramritkaurWebsite: https://dramrit.org/Anabel Chew is co-founder of a Singapore barre studio and of Tiger Moms Club, a former professional musician, and a mother of two who now homeschools her children.Keep up with Anabel:Instagram: @tigermomsclub, @anabel.chewIN THIS EPISODE:00:00 | The Great Discipline Debate: Finding the Parenting Sweet Spot01:16 | Meet the Champions: Introducing Our Parenting Panel04:13 | The Showdown: Defending Gentle, Tiger, and Authoritative Parenting13:57 | The Final Word: Closing Statements16:44 | The Verdict: Audience Poll & Dropping the Personas17:33 | Marissa’s Reality: Co-Regulation and Humanizing the Parent19:54 | Annabel’s Journey: Intuitive Motherhood Beyond the "Tiger" Label23:57 | Amrit’s Approach: Parenting the Child in Front of You27:20 | Peeling the Onion: Equipping Kids With Emotional Vocabulary30:42 | What the Data Says: Managing Anxiety and Modeling Vulnerability42:04 | Live Q&A: Opening the Floor to Real Parents42:23 | Fostering Self-Knowledge and Empowering Kids45:39 | Bridging the Gap: Navigating Cross-Cultural Clashes49:42 | Honesty Without the Heavy Lifting: Setting Emotional Boundaries56:14 | Holding the Line: Natural Consequences and the "Conditional Yes"57:58 | Loosening the Pressure Cooker: Embracing the "Good Enough" ParentWhat You'll Take AwayWhy the "sweet spot" between two extremes might not be as simple as it soundsWhat actually happens in the body of a tiger parent raised by parents who didn't push hard enoughThe one phrase from a Singapore anti-abuse campaign that makes people cry when they hear it backWhy one guest says gentle parenting is the harder path, not the easier oneThe real reason kids misbehave, according to a school counselor who has heard it from hundreds of themA German phrase about dirt that changed how one host thinks about her own upbringingWhat happens when a parent lets a child watch them grieve, and where the line is before it becomes too muchConnect with Growing PainsGrowing Pains is HoneyKids Asia's podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed.YouTube: @growingpains.honeykidsInstagram: @honeykidsasiaWebsite: honeykidsasia.comHit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. If this one resonated, share it with a parent who needs it.Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore's podcast studio

Something Crystal Lim-Lange said about why Singaporeans don't speak up went viral, then landed her a cover story in The Straits Times. It touched a nerve because it wasn't really about confidence. It was about what happens to people who take a risk in a room where risk isn't safe.She says the same idea shows up at home, in a much smaller room, every time a child throws a tantrum and a parent loses it right back. Crystal has trained over 100,000 professionals, but the work she talks about most now isn't the kind you can put on a resume.Before any of that, she was a student who got caught stealing food at a recruitment event, and the recruiter who caught her offered her a job on the spot. That accident of a start led to a decade in investment banking, then to a vineyard in rural Australia rebuilding a marriage and a sense of self, then to heading a multimillion dollar initiative at NUS.In this episode, she gets into what actually happens in the moment a child triggers a parent, and why so much of parenting comes down to a version of ourselves we never fully dealt with. Click play.About the Crystal Lim-LangeCrystal Lim-Lange is a bestselling author, LinkedIn Top Voice, and former head of NUS's Centre for Future-Ready Graduates, where she led a multimillion dollar initiative training thousands of students for the future of work. A former investment banker turned personal growth facilitator, she now runs two companies with her husband Greg, delivering leadership and communication training to organisations including Pfizer, Airbus, and LVMH.Guest links:Instagram: @crystallimlangeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/crystal-lim-langeYouTube: @comfortandgrowthWebsite: https://www.crystallimlange.comIN THIS EPISODE:00:00 | The Conflict Blueprints We Hand Down00:40 | Welcome to Growing Pains with Crystal Lim-Lange02:31 | How a Stolen Sausage Roll Launched a Career07:47 | The Betrayal That Shattered "Having It All"09:37 | Why a Picture-Perfect Farm Life Felt Empty12:53 | The Pitch That Transformed University Education19:42 | The Real Reason You Won't Speak Up at Work22:36 | The Lonely Reality of Growing Up Gifted27:34 | Decoding Society's Unspoken Rules29:01 | Why New Skills Can't Fix Core Wounds31:57 | The Ghost Kid: Parenting Your Inner Child35:22 | The 4 Ways We Inherit Family Trauma38:39 | 7 Years of Therapy in 7 Days43:12 | The Ultimate Antidote to Paranoid Parenting44:36 | Takeaways: Stop Rushing the JourneyWhat You'll Take AwayWhy something Crystal said about Singaporeans staying silent went viral, and ended up in The Straits TimesWhat's really happening in the split second your own kid triggers youThe "little ghost kid" theory Crystal uses to explain why some parenting moments feel so much bigger than they shouldThe four categories of reasons anyone stops speaking up, and which one is hardest to fixThe recruitment-event scam that accidentally launched a career in finance, while she was still a studentWhy a vineyard in rural Australia taught her more about community than a decade in banking didWhy healing your own patterns might matter more for your kids than anything you actively teach themConnect with Growing PainsGrowing Pains is HoneyKids Asia's podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed.YouTube: @growingpains.honeykidsInstagram: @honeykidsasiaWebsite: honeykidsasia.comHit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. If this one resonated, share it with a parent who needs it.Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore's podcast studio