Parenting Roundabout

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.

Inspired by a post at Go Fug Yourself [https://www.gofugyourself.com/unclaimed-baggage-by-jen-doll-09-2018], we tell our tales of finding weird (sometimes disturbing!) items.

Today's episode is not for the weak of stomach. Skip this one if you don't want to join us in recalling and complaining about all the disgusting ways we've had to show love and care for our dogs.

Today, to finish up our Thanksgiving Leftovers week, we’re forking over an episode from last December on holiday shopping in a time of supply-chain challenges. No stress, though. We’re sure you’ll be able to find everything you’re looking for!

Today we’re filling your plate with an episode from July 2019 that, well, starts with the 4th of July, but it gets to today’s holiday too. Wait for it. And as we so often do, we have a business idea for someone else to execute.

Today, for our Thanksgiving leftovers week, we are serving up an episode from December 2020 about holiday traditions we were … surprisingly not upset to lose in the time of COVID. Two years later, we're still happy to skip out on mall Santas, office parties, and so much more.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, Dancing with the Stars gave us the winner who'd seemed inevitable from day 1, but who still managed to win us over in the end: Charli D'Amelio. Overall, the move to Disney+ has been a positive one, and this was a fun season.Over on Brothers and Sisters, there's a much less fun pool party. Watching the Walkers is a good way to kick off your Thanksgiving week, so you can be grateful that there's a little less drama (we hope) around your table. Next week: S1 E4, "Family Portrait." We'll also get into the Christmas spirit with the new AppleTV+ movie, Spirited, starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, and Octavia Spencer [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10999120/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt].

This week, we’re serving up some delicious holiday leftovers for your enjoyment. In this episode from November 2019, we kicked off a week of gratitude by extending thanks and shout-outs to all of those people who have helped make our parenting journey just a little easier, from spouses and grandparents to pediatricians and carpool buddies.

Which of us are the losers in our households, and which the finders?

After Nicole encountered a room-service delivery robot in Las Vegas, we talked about the many handy household uses we would have for robot technology.