Parenting Roundabout

Nicole gave up her landline phones, which got us talking about what tech our households are hanging on to and what we're giving up (and which one of us was a teen princess with her own phone line).

What time do your kids turn into pumpkins, and who makes the rules? (Turns out, it's not always the parents.)

After reading an article about tasks parents are paying others to do [https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/05/10/outsourcing-parenting-rituals-to-pros/3643343002/], we came up with many more jobs we commonly complain about. We're prepared to offload them all to a hired hand, or to Big Data. We're not picky.

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Terri suggests cacao tea (she gets hers from Gold River Trading Co. [https://goldriverco.com/collections/cacao]) for when you want the idea of chocolate without the calories and sugar. Nicole's Instagram Minute returns with Cats of San Bernardino [https://www.instagram.com/catsofsanbernardino/], and Catherine's singing the gospel of rolling up your clothes to fit them in your drawers [https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/organizing-tips/a25908506/why-you-should-roll-your-clothes/].

Today we're obsessing about all those occasions where (mostly) moms have to step in and crush dreams, just because they are living in the real world. Is that fair?

Today we're complaining about little things that refuse to work and trip us up, from mayonnaise packets to electrical outlets to tiny plastic doodads in the dishwasher.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, the common thread is "we hated the ending." On Dancing with the Stars, the judges saved the annoying star and sent the cheerful good sport home, and on Rutherford Falls, the writers introduced highly unnecessary, 11th-hour plot twists that will now never get resolved because the show hasn't been renewed. Quit while you're ahead, people!Next week, the DWTS theme is '90s Night. And we'll kick off a new series watch: Brothers and Sisters, a soapy drama that premiered in 2006 on ABC and is now available on Hulu [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758737/].

While Catherine says her son is not allowed to have senioritis, apparently she can have it for him. But when a kid can't coast through his senior year, his parents really can't either.

Summer offers delicious food and drink, but then again, so does fall. Don't make us choose!

A post on the Today show site [https://community.today.com/post/5-easy-ways-to-build-your-relationship-with-your-teenager] got us talking today. It's about "easy" (red flag!) ways to build your relationship with your teenager. Despite its quick-and-easy promise, we did find some good advice within, and shared our own too. Mentioned: Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured-Heart Approach by Howard Glasser [https://amzn.to/2HnjdbH].

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Nicole treated herself to a cozy fleece from Columbia [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MV8MPH8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details], but the plant-based snacks that Catherine recommended, Mustache Munchies Cheddarish crackers [https://www.getgreenmustache.com/products/mustache-munchies-cheddarish-crackers], do not sound like a treat to Nicole. Terri's just happy that Taylor Swift dropped a new album [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLINj2JJM1jxP5aYiX47uBCRu9g8JItDWp].

An Instagram post from the Just Girl Project [https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjst166rqn0/] got us obsessing about self-care, the 5 love languages, and what happens when you mash them up together. Let's just say that some of us love ourselves, and self-care [https://www.parentingroundaboutpodcast.com/blog/the-self-care-struggle], a lot more than others.

The fill-in-the-blank (helicopter, tiger, lawnmower) parent genre [https://www.parentingroundaboutpodcast.com/blog/episode-235-beyond-tiger-moms-and-helicopter-parents] is rich for revisiting, and complaining about, which we are doing today after reading the latest list of suggestions at the New Yorker [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/17/helicopter-parents-are-last-years-model].

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, foxtrots abounded on Dancing with the Stars, Michael Bublé proved to be a charming judge, and Vinny climbed up out of the bottom two (no doubt thanks to Terri's votes). Next week: Halloween! and the return of team dances.On Rutherford Falls, election day draws nearer (in fiction as in real life) and Bobbie and Feather battle for votes and public goodwill at a pancake breakfast. Mmmmm, pancakes. Next: The season—and series—finale, "Election."

When Nicole got the chance to be her son's guest for Christmas instead of hosting the holiday herself, she jumped on it (maybe too quickly?). That got us talking about how we feel about reversing the roles on holiday traditions and other family routines.

On Speed-Round Sunday, we share a mini episode from our past (in this case, September 2018) for your weekend listening pleasure.​Since Nicole doesn't usually join in on the Round 2 fun, we each give a little report on what's on our TVs these days.

On today's episode, we obsess about online travel booking. Instead of being convenient, we find it's usually far more trouble than it's worth. Cross your fingers that Terri's family isn't sleeping in the car on their next trip.

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Terri's rocking out to HARDY's latest, The Mockingbird and the Crow [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmoOJX8ck0EMFbYRj21_GAi4i6Vcik5kF]. Nicole's gearing up for some trips to the Northeast with Blundstone boots [https://www.blundstone.com/stout-brown-premium-leather-v-cut-boots-womens-style-500], and Catherine's showing her loyalty to both Delta Airlines and Starbucks [https://www.deltastarbucks.com/content/starbucks/en/overview.html].

Terri doesn't go out much, and it might be because she keeps getting invitations filled with befuddling suggestions for gift-giving.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we're coming to you a day late because Dancing with the Stars felt we needed double the amount of dancing this week: First, Most Memorable Year, capped off by the sad departure of Selma Blair, who is unable to continue with the show for medical reasons; and then, a prom night/dance marathon mash-up with a very unsatisfying outcome: Joseph sent home while Heidi stayed. Next: Michael Bublé Night.Then, on Rutherford Falls, we had an enjoyable, but sitcom-101 Halloween episode featuring a cast of condiment costumes (mentioned: Chicago-style hot dogs [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/kitchen-notes/the-unbreakable-rules-of-the-chicago-dog-and-when-to-bend-them]). Next: "Firefighters Pancake Breakfast."