Parenting Roundabout

On Second-Listen Saturday, we share moments from past episodes for your weekend listening pleasure. This discussion is from June 2019.​A few weeks back, we identified lots of parenting tasks we'd like to outsource. Now, we've come up with a host of parenting problems we think a ghostwriter could handle for us.

This winter-break week, we’re going back to our old Speed Round format to bring you some quick episodes to close out the year. Today, with 2023 looming, we cast our memories waaaaay back to recall what was going on in our lives at age 23.Happy new year, and thank you for listening to us in 2022!

Only one of us got a master's degree (and we are so proud of her!) but we all took on some new challenges in 2022, and we should give ourselves credit for that.

This winter-break week, we’re going back to our old Speed Round format to bring you some quick episodes to close out the year. Today, we're looking back at 2022 and shouting out some the lovely places we traveled.

This winter-break week, we’re going back to our old Speed Round format to bring you some quick episodes to close out the year. Today, we're reminiscing about some of the best meals we had in 2022, at Koutouki Greek Estiatorio, Chick-fil-A, and Whataburger (just listen, we'll explain).

Every week, we chat about what parents are talking, complaining, and obsessing about right now. But this winter-break week, we’re going back to our old Speed Round format to bring you some quick episodes to close out the year. First up: Our favorite books of 2022, which include The Lincoln Highway, The Storyteller (the audiobook, in particular) and Where the Crawdads Sing (via the movie).

On Speed-Round Sunday, we share a mini episode from our past for your weekend listening pleasure.We cop to those experiences that sound like a great idea, but kinda suck in reality.

On Second-Listen Saturday, we share moments from past episodes for your weekend listening pleasure. This discussion is from June 2019.​We revisit a past complaint target in a new way: First it was dental insurance. Now we complain about dentists themselves, as Nicole deals with a belittling one and Terri finally resolves to have her tooth pulled already (it's been six years).

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, Catherine suggests fun sock Advent calendars from Target, Nicole is enjoying a new card game called Deep Shinola, and Terri makes it meaningful by recommending the Liturgy of the Hours subscription from Word on Fire.Thanks as always to Jon Morin for our fun in-and-out music, which you hear on every episode.

After reading Grown & Flown's list of "nine things NOT to say to your teen when they're home from college," we obsessed about this tough transition time (for parents and kids!), as well as what our mothers may have said to us.

A Buzzfeed listicle on parenting trends did its job, getting us to talk about it by way of complaining about what's included and what's not. Join us for the gentle snark.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we flew to Bali for Ticket to Paradise, the George Clooney-Julia Roberts vehicle that was utterly enjoyable and also utterly forgettable.We also hit the Walker family ranch in Ojai, California, for a few more rounds of "people having sex in inappropriate places" and "extremely awkward dinner-table talk." No Round 2 next week, but on January 3, we'll discuss the next two episodes of Brothers and Sisters: "Mistakes Were Made," parts 1 and 2.

Today, we're talking about a Wall Street Journal article called Even university presidents lose their minds when their teens apply to college. It resonated with Catherine and Nicole, who may not be university presidents, but who are definitely losing their grip on their sanity as three of their kids apply to college and grad school.

During a series of "Would You Rather?" Speed Rounds, we take on WYR questions about how we approach life (and chocolate).

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.