Indi and Tali Gaal, being. with Lael Stone | Family Dynamics ♥︎

The question I get asked the most by parents is, "Does this work?" So this week I sat down with two of the people most qualified to answer it. For the better part of two decades, I have been teaching parents to parent differently. To skip the punishments and the rewards. To look behind the behaviour. To make space for big feelings instead of shutting them down. And the whole time, in the back of my mind, has been the quiet question every parent asks themselves... am I getting this right? My answer was always going to come from my kids. So this episode, I'm joined by two of them, Indi (22) and Tali (18), and we are talking honestly about what it was like growing up in our house. The mistakes I made. The chocolate I tried to bribe Tali with when I was tapped out. The 4am phone call that taught all of us what safe really means. The big feelings that were always welcome, even when I had nothing left. This is not a polished retrospective. It's messy and tender, the way our family is. We talk about staying true to yourself in a world that wants you to conform, what social media is doing to young people, why the friends pushing the boat hardest are the ones hurting most, and the little life skills that come from a house where no topic is off limits. It's also a love letter from a mum to her children who turned up, told the truth, and did not throw me too far under the bus. We explore: - Why looking behind the behaviour beats grounding every time - What it actually looks like to repair when you have lost it as a parent - Staying true to yourself when society and social media are pulling the other way - Therapy, aunties, and the village every kid needs around them - Looking at the so-called "bad kid" and asking what is hurting \[Recorded January 2026] **About Indi and Tali Gaal:** Indi is 22, and Tali is 18. They are Lael and Mike's kids, siblings to Ky (25), and the people Lael calls her best work. Both have spent time working with young children and bring that lens, plus their own lived experience of being raised the way they were, into this conversation. — **Connect with Humans, *being***™**:** - Web: humansbeing.au - Instagram: @humansbeingwithlaelstone - Facebook: @humansbeingwithlaelstone - TikTok: @humansbeingwithlaelstone - YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone **Australia’s Kindest Person:** Australia’s Kindest Person is a national campaign created to help shine a light on the people whose kindness has made a real difference in the lives of others. To nominate someone, please visit: australiaskindestperson.com.au **Humans, *being*™** is produced on the lands of the Bunurong and Wadawurrung people. We pay respect to their unique and diverse cultures and to elders past, present and future.