Parenting Roundabout

Gas line work in Terri's neighborhood and the need for a young fellow to come in the house and turn stuff off and on led her to wonder: Is it good manners to chat in a friendly way with workfolk in your home, or should you just shut up and leave them to do their thing? So of course, she checked in with Catherine and Nicole for a consensus.

If kids can sue their parents just for being born [https://news.iheart.com/featured/coast-to-coast-am/content/2019-02-04-indian-man-wants-to-sue-his-parents-for-giving-birth-to-him/], do we need to be prepared to defend our every parenting decision in a court of law? If you'll all be on our jury, we'd feel better about it.​

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Terri tried a tasty new Pop-Tart (the Lemon Creme Pie flavor [https://www.poptarts.com/en_US/products/favorites/pop-tarts-lemon-creme-pie.html]). Nicole's daughter found a helpful Facebook resource: Interior Design: Ask Everything [https://www.facebook.com/groups/205442120227387]. And Catherine's following Jackie Wong, @RockerSkating on Twitter [https://twitter.com/rockerskating], for tons of Olympic figure-skating news. Mentioned: the men's individual event, especially Nathan Chen, Yuma Kagiyama, and Jason Brown.

A Character Lab tip about honesty, and how stress makes it hard to practice [https://characterlab.org/tips-of-the-week/honest-people/], got us obsessing about times when we've been honest, or tried to teach our kids honesty, with mixed results.

Nicole finished her last course in her master's program (yay Nicole!!), which got us complaining about how finishing a big project or meeting a challenge just leads to needing another challenge. Mentioned: National Novel-Writing Month (NaNoWriMo [https://nanowrimo.org/]).

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we returned to As We See It with episode 2, "I Apologize for My Words and Actions." We continue to be most interested in the lives and challenges of the three roommates, and less so in their caregivers (except you, Joe Mantegna). Next: "When Violet Met Douglas" (episode 3).We also pivoted from Abbott Elementary to The Gilded Age (quite a 180) with episode 1, "Never the New." It's an escapist joy to watch beautiful people in beautiful rooms wearing beautiful clothes scoff about New Money. Mentioned: The Fug Girls' coverage [https://www.gofugyourself.com/the-gilded-age-recap-01-2022}; actor Simon Jones as an audiobook narrator (he has over 100 credits on Audible, but Catherine heard him read the middle-grade novel Lionboy). Next: "Money Isn't Everything" (episode 2).

Happy Valentine's Day, lovely listeners! As the calendar demands, on today's episode we talk about how we observe this day with our spouses and kids. We've all been married for a long time, so things have ... evolved.

Like folks didn't already have enough to disagree about these days, top sheets have become a hot topic on the Internet. (Or they were when we recorded this. Given the lifespan of Internet hot topics, people have probably moved on to some other ridiculous triviality by now.) We give our opinion on this vital issue, and though we do not agree, we remain civil. It can be done, people.​

Marie Kondo and her KonMari method are all over our social media feeds, thanks to her Netflix show [https://www.netflix.com/title/80209379]. So today, we discuss our tidying-up takeaways. In a nutshell: We're #KonMaybe. Also mentioned: Minimalist Joshua Becker on Young House Love Has a Podcast [https://www.younghouselove.com/podcast-128/].

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Catherine shouts out IHG Rewards [https://www.ihg.com/rewardsclub/content/us/en/home], a loyalty program that actually delivered for her. Nicole also found a product that delivered on its promise: Nature Fresh charcoal bags for absorbing (not covering) odors [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QRX9CQT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1]. And Terri's got some comfy new made-in-the-USA undies from BodyForce [https://bodyforcebrands.com/].

A fascinating BBC article [https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220104-how-parenting-changes-you] got us obsessing about how our kids have changed us, and how much power we really have, as parents, to change them.

On today's episode, we're talking and complaining about gifts that come with a side of worry and confusion--those occasions where other people give our children gifts, and we can't quite figure out why they did. Do they think we are neglecting our kids' needs?

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we checked out two new TV series and enjoyed them both--but will only continue watching one of them: As We See It, which resolves around three neurodivergent characters who live together as roommates. It can be painful to see the cruelty they experience, but it's also funny and warm and very well-acted. Mentioned: A sibling caregiver story on Once and Again, discussed on the Extra Hot Great podcast [https://www.extrahotgreat.com/392]; actor Rick Glassman (who plays Jack on As We See It) on Undateable [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiuWDWbDu_E]; discussion forum about the show on Wrong Planet [https://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=400783]; the Parks and Recollection podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parks-and-recollection/id1583327243].We also watched the new sitcom Abbott Elementary, which is cute and funny and sweet and not something Catherine can ever watch again, because the handheld camera work gave her a migraine. Instead, we'll check o

Banks are now promoting debit cards for kids, and in an increasingly cashless society, we can certainly see the benefits. They gotta learn somehow! Mentioned: Mint for budgeting [https://mint.intuit.com/].

On Speed-Round Sunday, we share a mini episode from our past for your weekend listening pleasure. This one is from February 2018, the last time the Winter Olympic Games were held.Upside: No constant blather from NBC commentators. Downside: Below-zero temps. Though we like watching the Winter Olympics just fine, we're not so sure what we'd want tickets for.

Today we're talking about talking on the phone—more specifically, helping our kids make their own calls to employers and insurance companies and other fun places. Why can't we do everything online, please?

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Nicole took the Wordle ball and ran with it, finding an app called Wordus that allows you to play Wordle all day long [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wordus/id1602940346]. Terri enjoyed an in-home delivery from Enjoy [https://www.enjoy.com/]. And Catherine's happy that The Amazing Race [https://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/] is back after a Covid-imposed hiatus. Also mentioned: Amazing Race coverage at Rob Has a Podcast [https://robhasawebsite.com/shows/amazing-race-2/].

After Nicole heard about a Ring cam capturing footage of a mountain-lion fight, we obsessed over what wildlife we might encounter near our homes. We don't feel too threatened by deer and lake sturgeon, but we all agree that Canada geese have an attitude.

A Wall Street Journal column titled "Moms in Middle Age: Rarely Alone, Often Online, and Increasingly Lonely" [https://www.wsj.com/articles/moms-in-middle-age-rarely-alone-often-online-and-increasingly-lonely-11642860003] resonated with the Gen-X members of our trio (the Boomer is cool with just being left alone, although she does join the others in considering podcast recording sessions a big part of her social life).

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we took a week off from TV and watched two movies: The Tender Bar (2021) and Up in the Air (2009). Both were enjoyable character studies, even if they were also very "Man has Man Problems." And speaking of enjoyable characters, George Clooney stars in Up in the Air and directed The Tender Bar. Next week, we're going to check out the pilots of two new TV series and consider whether to continue with one or both: As We See It (on Amazon Prime) and Abbott Elementary (on ABC/Hulu). If you have strong feelings about either, let us know!