Parenting Roundabout

In a kind of reverse retirement plan, Nicole went back to school to earn another degree. Terri's happy to work as long as she can see her computer screen, but Catherine's probably not going to follow in her mother's footsteps and work until she's 80. What about you?

We have our faves, sure, but it depends on whether we're at a restaurant or home; or it's morning or evening; or we're in the US or Canada.​

Inspired by this Offspring article [https://offspring.lifehacker.com/what-lies-have-you-told-your-kids-out-of-convenience-1829902088], we confess some of the lies, fibs, and distractions we have told our kids. Mentioned: This New York Times article about DNA testing and family secrets [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/magazine/dna-test-black-family.html].

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Much to Nicole's dismay, Terri tried sardines (to strengthen her bones) and described the experience in great detail. Plus, she learned that you can indeed scramble eggs in the microwave [https://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes/basic-microwave-scrambled-eggs/]. Nicole had to go to her happy place after that and recommended beautiful Whistler, British Columbia as a vacation destination [https://www.whistler.com/]. And Catherine discovered that her favorite hand-me-down jeans from Kut from the Kloth are not irreplaceable after all [https://kutfromthekloth.com/collections/work-from-home-1/products/kp0216mc9-amy-crop-straight-leg-bubbly?_pos=2&_sid=615614363&_ss=r].

Somehow ketchup chips did not even come up in this discussion of family food habits and obsessions. But you will find out who refuses leftovers, who eats whatever's put in front of her, and why Valley Popcorn [https://valleypopcorn.com/] is the superior brand.

With two of our daughters newly experiencing roommate life, we shared our stories of unwelcome boyfriends, unpalatable communal meals, and ungenerous toilet-paper monitors.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we kick off two new series watches. First, we finally get on the Ted Lasso train to see what all the fuss is about. And we check out Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as ... podcasters. Mentioned: Pop Culture Happy Hour on Only Murders in the Building [https://podcasts.apple.com/am/podcast/only-murders-in-the-building/id278974813?i=1000534652726] and the NBC Sports promos that inspired Ted Lasso [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KeG_i8CWE8&list=PLC-B4YCjP2F_hd_RbPw-Whp7h4W_2Vqbz].Next week, we'll watch season 1, episode 2 of both shows: "Who Is Tim Kono" (Only Murders in the Building) and "Biscuits" (Ted Lasso).

Thanks to an old article about Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard [https://people.com/parents/kristen-bell-tag-team-parenting-dax-shepard/] getting some new traction, we talked about tag-team parenting. Who was on our team (if anyone) and who was the MVP? Mentioned: Our recent discussion about school strategies, which included befriending other parents so you can recruit them onto your team [https://www.parentingroundaboutpodcast.com/blog/our-best-school-strategies].

Though it seems like we already have too many channels to watch, we can still think of a few we wish we could see — whether they don't exist yet or our cable companies limit us.

A Buzzfeed article [https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristatorres/this-chart-comparing-working-moms-vs-stay-at-home-moms-is?fbclid=IwAR0udm9e-t_kgUhyJSdRR9ia5rFLld_21T8bYmt7pzeRf9OsC8i0uDjapkQ] about a chart comparing stay-at-home and working moms prompted us to talk about all the different points on that spectrum that we've experienced. And to remind everyone to live and let live.

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Nicole shouts out Jackson Galaxy (on YouTube) for his excellent advice on caring for cats [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCatDaddy66]. Catherine's feeling very seen by Teenager Pro Tips on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/teenagerprotips], and Terri attended a live-streamed concert on a spiffy new platform called Flymachine [https://www.flymachine.com/].

When our kids were small, we fussed over their boo-boos and sniffles. Now that we're ... a little older, we're the ones with the owies, and we would like some of that sympathy returned to us, please and thank you.

We are relieved to have missed out on slime, but there are still plenty of kids' toys (and music, and buggy pets) that we can grumble about. Plus: this episode contains two pieces of useful advice for parents in the throes of the annoying-toy years.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we caught up with the movie The Station Agent (2003), which has been patiently waiting at the station known as Terri's DVR for a couple of years. It is delightful and quirky, if not "hilarious" as the New York Times review would have it.We also watched a filmed performance of the beautiful Broadway musical Come From Away. It's available on AppleTV+, and tells the story of what happened in Gander, Newfoundland, after American airspace was closed on September 11, 2001. It's nontraditional and inspiring, with a great message--but it's also fun. Next week: Instead of waiting years to get in on some popular pop culture properties, we're going to start now with Only Murders in the Building (on Hulu) and Ted Lasso (on AppleTV+). We'll watch the first episodes of the first seasons of both, and then continue with one episode of each per week going forward.

Today we're talking about child hacks, those little lies and maneuvers parents employ to make life easier, like "the Tooth Fairy doesn't come until you fall asleep!" and "I just have no idea where your pacifier is!" Some were quite deliberate, while others we lucked into (and ran with).

We talk about the video games we've played, the video games we've watched other people play, and the apps we'd like to call video games.

A Facebook post prompted a discussion of some of our parenting goals (and some of the ways we judge others and/or ourselves). Mentioned: A past episode about kids and conversation [https://www.spreaker.com/episode/18922646].

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Terri has another phone game to shout out: Flipflop Solitaire [http://www.flipflopsolitaire.com/]. Nicole's been binge-watching Young Sheldon (the prequel to The Big Bang Theory) [https://www.cbs.com/shows/young-sheldon/]. And Catherine found a spice rack that's perfect for anyone equipping a kitchen for the first time [https://oriikitchen.com/products/copy-of-orii-20-jar-spice-organizer-rack-in-dark-acacia-wood].

Yesterday we complained about kids' unwanted opinions, and today we're obsessing about family members' conflicting opinions about adding a furry friend to the mix. It all started because a kitten literally fell into Nicole's yard (and was far too cute to turn away).

As our kids get older, they seem to get more opinionated, particularly about topics that used to be exclusively the domain of the parents. Like parenting itself.