Parenting Roundabout

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we wrapped up season 1 of both of the series we've been catching up on. Ted Lasso's "The Hope That Kills You" was every bit as bittersweet and heartwarming as the rest of the season, and we're looking forward to season 2.On Only Murders in the Building, "Open and Shut" finally brought a resolution to the mystery, along with two classic TV/movie tropes [http://quarterbacks.org/Roger_Ebert_Glossary_of_Movie_Terms/]: the law of economy of characters (ah, so that's whodunit) and the fallacy of the talking killer (ah, that's how they done it). For this one, we may not be back in for season 2.Next week: Before diving into season 2 of Ted Lasso, we'll take a detour to New York City of the late 1980s and watch Tick... Tick... BOOM, the autobiographical musical from Rent's Jonathan Larson, on Netflix [https://www.netflix.com/title/81149184].

This Thanksgiving week, we're checking in on our discussions from past years to see how our objects of gratitude have changed, or not. Today, we're flashing back just one year, to the first Covid Thanksgiving.

Nicole's questioning of her husband's movie taste led us to a chat about works of entertainment we just can't get on the bandwagon with, from Harry Potter (gasp!) to This Is Us (no!).

Happy birthday to Nicole's daughter, who just turned 18! Who know that meant she was supposed to be a fully functioning, 100% independent adult overnight?

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup, something to watch, to listen to, and to read: Nicole's excited for the return of Dexter in Dexter: New Blood on Showtime. Terri's listening to Red (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift's latest, on repeat (and watching this short film). And Catherine's reading Blair Braverman, on Twitter and in her books Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube and Dogs on the Trail. Head to https://parentingroundabout.com for all the links.

Last week, we talked about parenting costs that are worth paying. Today, the flip side: Prices we paid very grudgingly or not at all. Mentioned: "People Are Sharing Things They Think Are Way Overpriced" at Buzzfeed [https://www.buzzfeed.com/mellohy/people-shared-12-things-they-think-are-way-too-ove-zzeztpw0b].

If you already have your home decorated for Christmas, complete with wrapped gifts under the tree, this episode may not be for you. Or maybe it is, so you can tell us how exactly you found time to do all that. Because if we found that time, we'd probably sleep through it. Mentioned: Nicole's former podcast, The Inclusive Class [http://www.theinclusiveclass.com/2019/05/the-inclusive-class-podcast.html].

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we're at the penultimate episode of season one for both series, so these episodes were all about putting the pieces in place. On Ted Lasso, that meant forgiveness and apologies and learning and growing (mentioned: the Extra Hot Great podcast's recent discussion of the show [https://www.extrahotgreat.com/380]). On Only Murders in the Building, it meant pointing us toward the final suspect, whom no one suspected up to this point.Next week: We're serving delicious Thanksgiving leftovers for all our other episodes, but Round 2 will be new because we want to watch the finales of both shows: "The Hope That Kills You" (Ted Lasso) and "Open and Shut."

After Roxy (grrfeisty on Instagram) posted about her "mom flex" [https://www.instagram.com/p/CWFLMz2tN5z/], we got over our fear of parenting jinxes to talk about our own flexes. We're not taking credit for these accomplishments, of course, but we're happy they happened.

Covers flinging, pillow stealing, preferred bed size, dog bed hogs, and more bedtime issues have our attention today.

The latest study on screen time and its evils [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190109114811.htm] left us sighing and justifying our lack of limits. Since we can't seem to cut back on our own use, it's hardly fair to make our kids go screen-free, is it? (Mentioned: teen calls police when dad takes away cell phone [https://bobbybones.iheart.com/content/2019-01-15-teenager-calls-police-on-her-father-after-he-took-away-her-cell-phone/].)

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Catherine shouts out the travel site and shop Uncommon Caribbean [https://www.uncommoncaribbean.com/], for a beautiful look at that part of the world. Terri's enjoying Facebook groups [https://www.facebook.com/groups/] for making her feed more fun. And Nicole's feeling (a tiny bit) better about doing dishes with her new anti-fatigue comfort floor mat [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KT4MH2R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1].

We obsess about the parenting purchases, big and small, that were worth every penny. It's hard to put a price tag on cozy family time (or more freedom for Mom).

When you have adult children, and they have significant others, holiday planning gets complicated. It was easier with little kids, who didn't have commitments--or opinions.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, Ted Lasso gave us a rollicking episode starring the Diamond Dogs (the advice-giving posse of Coach Beard, Nate, and Higgins) and Ted hustling Rebecca's reptilian ex, Rupert. Next: "All Apologies."On Only Murders in the Building, the podcasters bring in their loyal fans to help them crack the case--except they get it all wrong, and the poisoner in the building strikes again. Next: "Double Time."

Have you had your body engraved with a permanent piece of art? Would you ever? What about us, and our kids? We're talking about it all on this episode.

It's that time of day that goes by really slow. Or that time of day that goes by way too fast. And maybe, depending on who you're talking to, those are the same time of day.

What are parents obsessing about right now? At Nicole's house, it's everything about the going-to-college process, from applying to deciding to (of course) paying for it.

On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Terri suggests revisiting the hits of the '70s with her Apple Music playlist, "Sounds Like Old Times" [https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/sounds-like-old-times/pl.u-11GGyUo8A0r]. Nicole's shouting out a snack care package that she sent to her son, a busy medical student [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BPJYFBV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1]. And Catherine's listening to the Invisibilia podcast's friendship season [https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510307/invisibilia]. Mentioned: "Nun of Us Are Friends" [https://www.npr.org/2021/09/16/1037902699/nun-of-us-are-friends] and "A Friendly Ghost Story" [https://www.npr.org/2021/09/13/1036637594/a-friendly-ghost-story].

Inspired by a recent episode of Only Murders in the Building, we're obsessing about how far might go to fix things for our kids. While we wouldn't send someone else to prison in their place, sometimes there's a fine line between advocacy and interference.