Parenting

Parenting

I expected the empty nest to be a lonely and sad place. Instead, I learned that motherhood doesn't end; it evolves. When my youngest of four left for college, I cried for days. Someone said to me that they thought I would get used to it. That having four kids makes it easier in some strange way. It is not easier. The silence that came from the last kiddo leaving felt almost shocking.

You know that saying about how we should never judge someone because we have no idea what's going on in their lives? I honestly feel like that advice should be used every single time we interact with another mom. Not because we need to excuse them being rude or justify them being snappy at preschool pickup, but because we need to give every mom some grace, no matter the situation.

While waiting for a delayed flight to take off, the couple was determined to be able to sit together on the flight. Natalie and her daughter, River, were a couple of rows ahead of Nick. Both Nick and Natalie were in middle seats. Presumably, River was on Natalie's lap. Natalie explains that she asked the man in the window seat next to her to switch seats with Nick. He declined.

Birthdays are usually depicted as happy celebrations with loved ones gathered, a cake, gifts, laughter, and, if it's a child's birthday, games and balloons. Even when resources are low, as they are for many people these days, something-no matter how minimal-is often done. If you look on social media, you see all the photos of these eventsl, with everyone smiling and close.

On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen take a listener question about how to be there for a fellow parent who is going through a hard time. The listener's friend's kid is acting out and causing lots of stress. They toss around ideas about ways friends have shown up for them, ideas for support without smothering, and more.

I say, 'The E.L.F.' And he says, 'Got it.' And then he sneaks out of the room and suddenly Emmy Nemi's in a new place,

While having them 12 months apart wasn't the plan, it's what it is. What I'm finding is that my boys aren't close. They love each other and are excited to see one another when they've been apart, but often when it comes to empathy for one another, they're a bit....lacking. They have to be coached to hug one another and say "sorry" for hurts or slights.

One of the biggest adjustments newly minted single parents must make following a separation or divorce is adjusting to holidays without their children present, or present for only part of the time. Whether the kids are babies, teens, or young adults, the result can be an unfamiliar silence that can take some getting used to. As a family law attorney and divorced single mom (of four adult children) who remarried a divorced single dad of two more than a decade ago, my husband and I have walked (and are still walking) this road, just like you may be this holiday.

"I see so many posts about how parents have to line up for the school pickup line 1-2 hours before school is even out due to the line just taking forever,"

We are still financially supporting her, including her health insurance

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"Everyone says it's different when it's your own kid. Everyone says the first time you hold your baby, you have an instant bond. Everyone says it's the most amazing and important thing a woman will ever do. None of that was true for me. I always knew from a young age that I didn't want children. My family is religious and strict, and pressured me into"

I am very happy to be the mom of one child and don't want another. My labor and recovery was very difficult. I struggled with postpartum depression, and the first four months of her life were basically hell for me. Things have improved. But, as much as I love my daughter, parenting is still quite challenging, stressful, and boring for me.

"Have fun, we'll be home by 11. Help yourself to anything in the fridge," I said to the babysitter as I sauntered out the door for a rare, long-awaited date night. An hour later, I clinked glasses with my husband and sipped Prosecco before the Philharmonic. I'd left my 16-month-old baby with another woman for the first time and was overcome with emotion. "Are you OK?" My husband asked. "No -" I started, as I ate a French fry soaked in ketchup. "I'm...great!"

My father was, in every sense, a gentle giant. He never raised his voice and never came home empty-handed. From the farm, he brought mangoes, sugar cane, guava, mandarins, and more. These were gifts from his labor carried in the same worn bag and offered with quiet joy. There was also a family ritual that revealed his character. No matter how small the portion, he always cut a piece of meat from his own plate and gave it to the youngest child.

Maybe 10 years ago, I bought permanent Advent calendars for the kids: Scandi-looking Christmas houses with 24 tiny drawers, from Sainsbury's. I think my original plan was that some of the draws could contain something other than chocolate, not because I'm the kind of almond mum who won't let anyone eat sweets before breakfast, but because their dad and I are separated and have them half the time each,

When do you break the news to your kids that Santa isn't real? Do you let them realize on their own? Leave it up to other kids to fill them in? How do you approach the topic? Some parents don't do "Santa" at all, while some do but then sit their kids down to break the bad news (which seems like overkill). At some point, kids do need to learn the truth about Santa (unless you're Buddy the Elf), but how do you do it?

That college is not always the 'path.' Some people don't need to go to college immediately after high school. Sometimes a gap year is not enough. I have met lots of people from the various jobs I had who tried to go to college and found out it wasn't for them. Our generation is told to go to college or university or else it's the end of the world for us. There are so many paths you can take after high school like being in an apprenticeship, taking a basic full-time job, and so on.

Every family gathering began the same way when I was a kid. I would open my grandparents' front door, and the smell of tamales, turkey, rice, and the best of our Mexican-American world would welcome me at the doorstep. I loved the laughs, food, and family, but before I could settle in, I had to brace myself for the greeting ritual.

I just told my partner (we've been discussing this in therapy for a year, so it does not feel out of the blue, at least not to me) that I knew having a second child was the right choice for me, and thus I would be pursuing it. If he couldn't get on board, I said, it would be best if we split up.

Our 18-year-old daughter has been a Taylor Swift fan since she was a toddler. We didn't really have a problem with it as it was harmless music and seemed to be a little empowering. But now with Swift's sexy new look, she wants to emulate that. I am getting constant demands now for clothes which are, let's face it, lingerie. I know I can disagree to the demands but, with the internet and everything, there isn't really much I can do.

Savage shared several photos taken inside the hospital, captioning them, "Welcome little one." The actor's gallery included a sweet pic of his baby girl wearing a pink and gray striped beanie while lying in her mother's arms. In another shot, the actor is seen pushing the newborn in a bassinet while wearing a "Girl Dad" shirt. In the final image, Savage's daughter rests in his arms while swaddled in a pink blanket.

But what I didn't do, it turned out, was something that my daughter really wanted, and far more important (as is often the case) than everything I did do. This one missing piece symbolized how much I valued her efforts. And not only that, it turned out to be the gauge for how selfish or loving I am-how willing to inconvenience myself for her or anyone.

Am I the most amazing mom on planet Earth?Far from it. But I may be the luckiest - because my mother-in-law lives with me. Yesterday, I ate three healthy meals, came to work fully prepared, went to the gym, read a chapter aloud to my daughters before bed, and fell asleep before 10 p.m., knowing the pets were fed, the plants were watered, the laundry was put away, and the dishwasher was loaded.

My daughter "Kayla" started sixth grade this year. She almost immediately complained about her English teacher, whom she said hated her for no reason and was grading her intentionally poorly. She was getting lower grades on her assignments than she was in other classes, but I had thought this was more projection than anything else and didn't do much except encourage her to work harder on this class if she was behind on it.

We did not, however, come up with a comprehensive child care plan. This may seem like an oversight, but I didn't know what I wanted. My husband has a full-time job, and I'm a freelancer who works from home; my schedule changes often. It was hard to know how much child care I would be able to do when I didn't quite know what a day with a baby entailed. We decided we'd get started on our own, and then hire part-time help to fill in the gaps.

Because of time's arrow, my daughter, who was once a toddler, is now a preteen. A new question thus arises: When should I let her get a smartphone? This problem isn't new to me. I have two older kids, now in their 20s. Back in the day, I bought each of them an iPod Touch-essentially, a smartphone without the phone-when they were about her age, and then the full device at around the start of high school.

Consistently, for the last 10 years, my catchphrase has been "next week it'll all calm down". Usually by the Wednesday of any given week, I'll have uttered it with palpable desperation at least four times. And my goal for this elusive calm week isn't even that ambitious, all I want is to finally feel caught up with myself. To feel, even if only for a fleeting moment, like I am on top of things.

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In the past few years, governments across the world have rolled out different digital identification options, and now there are efforts encouraging online companies to implement identity and age verification requirements with digital ID in mind. This blog is the third in a short series that explains digital ID and the pending use case of age verification. Here, we cover alternative frameworks on age controls, updates on parental controls, and the importance of digital privacy in an increasingly hostile climate politically.

Still, commenters acknowledged that every child is different. Some vividly recalled gifts from years past. "My kid is 6 and he definitely remembers gifts he got when he was 4 and 5," one parent observed. Added another, "They might not remember the gifts, but they remember how the gifts made them feel, excited, grateful, happy. THAT feeling is what they remember."