Parenting Roundabout

Terri's still obsessing over a years-old situation, while Nicole and Catherine have more recent experience: What do you do when you're in a position to bust a kid for bad behavior? Do you tattle, or no? And if so, how?

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Terri recommends another Dancing with the Stars side-hustle project: online workouts and dance classes with lots of the DWTS pros at Dance & Co. [https://www.danceand.co/]. Nicole has a trusty new Lapacker backpack so she can comfortably travel with her laptop [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B595K1KS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details]. And Catherine's eyeing Hugimals weighted stuffed animals as a weighted-blanket alternative [https://www.hugimalsworld.com/].

Terri's at her wit's end with minor family bickering, and trying to come up with a way to either stop it, or at least make it more fun for her to referee. So we obsessed about ways to gamify frequent family fights.

In response to a Scary Mommy post called "9 Toys I Can Unequivocally Say Were a Total Waste of Money" [https://www.scarymommy.com/parenting/9-toys-i-can-unequivocally-say-were-a-total-waste-of-money], we complained about toys our kids had that didn't stand the test of time (and mentioned some that actually did).

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we checked in on Love Actually, the Christmas movie that's celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Take or leave the anniversary special (it's on Hulu), but do revisit the movie for a little Christmas cheer.We also continued with our Brothers and Sisters watch, with season 1's "For the Children." The Walker siblings don't stand a chance against Nora's powerful guilt trip, so they all have to attend her annual benefit. Next: S1E8, "Northern Exposure." Plus, we'll check out the new George Clooney-Julia Roberts movie, Ticket to Paradise​, which you can stream on Peacock.

In response to a Grown & Flown article [https://grownandflown.com/christmas-is-for-mothers-also/] (which is a response to this SNL skit from 2021 [https://youtu.be/FOVCtUdaMCU]), we talked about all the holiday obligations society places on moms, plus the ones we place on ourselves--and how to just opt out.

If you peek in our closets, will you find quality or quantity? Flats or heels? Navy or black? Mentioned: Sherry from Young House Love and her minimalist wardrobe [https://www.younghouselove.com/minimal-closet-wardrobe/].

It's another paperwork complaint: Choosing an emergency contact person to list on various and sundry forms. Turns out it's even harder to select that person when they'd have to be responsible for our pets. Mentioned: Petego Pet Tube Kennel [https://amzn.to/2WiokmF].

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Nicole's shouting out a new-to-her airline, American, after a smooth and as-comfortable-as-possible cross-country flight [https://www.aa.com/]. Catherine discovered a handy hair-care product: Garnier Fructis Curl Refresher Spray [https://www.garnierusa.com/about-our-brands/fructis/curl-nourish/curl-refresher-spray]. And Terri discovered Coach Lisle, a handy source of dad jokes [https://www.instagram.com/coachlisle/].

Last week, Catherine told a story [https://www.parentingroundaboutpodcast.com/blog/teaching-conversation-skills] about her son asking a group of her husband's colleagues what their dream job would be, which prompted us today to obsess about what our aspirations once were [https://www.parentingroundaboutpodcast.com/blog/speed-round-what-did-you-want-to-be-when-you-grew-up], and how our current careers stack up against the ideal.

A complaint session on bad habits quickly became a discussion about how to handle flatulence in public (specifically, in church): Hold it in, or let it rip? But there's also more to this episode than toot talk, so stick with it.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we caved to the relentless promotion of the movie The People We Hate at the Wedding (Amazon Prime), mostly because we have a big soft spot for Allison Janney, Kristen Bell, and even Dustin Milligan (known to us mostly as Rutherford Falls Podcast Guy). And while we enjoyed seeing them all, we wouldn't RSVP yes to a second viewing.In Brothers and Sisters, another dysfunctional family comedy, many Walkers go on many disastrous dates (and one that turns out OK in the end), and for once Justin is the most competent sibling around. Next: S1 E6, "For the Children."Also next week, we'll celebrate the 20th anniversary of Love Actually by re-watching that film and the Diane Sawyer special devoted to it (Hulu).

We're not taking credit, but sometimes our kids really impress us with their skills and strengths, from book smarts to memory and recall to coordination and creativity.

Our discussion of sundae toppings leads Terri on a walk down SoCal memory lane.

​Our kids aren't obsessed with the K-pop boy band BTS, but Terri went to the concert anyway—twice! And that got us talking about our kids' concert experiences, and our own.

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Terri's Walker Hayes Minute returns with a recommendation for Hayes's new song "Face in the Crowd" (and its video [https://youtu.be/SZ523NEhnhM]). Nicole is embracing the practicality of a sturdy rolling crate [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0798J37V7?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details], and Catherine appreciates the reassuring messages from @bigtimeadulting on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/bigtimeadulting/].

Watching Dancing with the Stars has brought Terri and Catherine into the world of pro dancers who also work as influencers. That led us to obsess about all the ways that we could try to influence our vast audience. Mentioned: Dancing Pizza [https://dancing-pizza.com/], Nicole's son's TikTok-famous cat [https://www.tiktok.com/@speaking_of_cats], and our Amazon shop [https://www.amazon.com/shop/mamatude].

An article in the Wall Street Journal about a trend in playdates [https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-parents-live-text-the-playdate-endearing-or-annoying-11668205916?st=8zr8ah02k3i8dyb&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink&fbclid=IwAR3TiY0fiui0JmRRZXW3o9NZ8O0yVGrmPv1thY4Ej8IIacOTyXZn4ZKRSek] got us complaining about the expectation to document every moment of kids' lives, including when they're visiting another child's home.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we stepped into the holiday season with the Apple TV+ original movie, Spirited, starring Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Octavia Spencer, and many other familiar faces. While most of the songs let us down, everyone seemed to be having a grand time and we can appreciate that.On Brothers and Sisters, no one has a grand time, of course; they're dealing with chronic illness in a kid, their passive-aggressive mother, and other drama. Next: S1 E5, "Date Night." We'll also watch another movie: The People We Hate at the Wedding [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9071456/], streaming on Amazon Prime and featuring some of the stars of our past series watches: Kristen Bell (The Good Place), Allison Janney (The West Wing), and Dustin Milligan (Rutherford Falls).

An Instagram post from the University of British Columbia [https://www.instagram.com/p/ClBsgVMtxrw/] got us talking about social and conversation skills, and how necessary it is to really teach kids how to have both polite and meaningful conversations with friends, family, colleagues, and strangers.