Parenting

Parenting

On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are celebrating a global triumph. Bad Bunny's Superbowl halftime show was transcendent. Zak's mom even messaged Lucy during the halftime show. Lucy breaks down all of the meanings you may have missed, explains why it was so special to have Ricky Martin perform, and so much more! Then, the 'Rents answer a listener question about a babysitting co-op.

The first time I used the Snoo, it freaked me out. My wife and I placed our baby into the high-tech bassinet on her fifth day on this earth, praying the machine would help her sleep, and thus aid us in fighting back the hallucinations brought on by new-parent sleep deprivation. We wrapped her in the approved organic cotton swaddle, clipped her into the sleek oval bed and pressed the glowing button on the side.

A Melissa & Doug ice cream counter for fueling their sessions of make-believe with tons of sweet, stackable flavors, a menu, and - yes - even fake money, because even pretend ice cream comes at a price they simply loovveee charging you. The wooden ice cream counter comes with eight ice cream scoops, six toppings, two cones, a cup, a scooper, tongs, a wooden spoon, a reusable menu card, and six pretend dollar bills.

It sounds like you're trying to avoid potentially awkward or difficult conversations with friends and family. And sometimes that path works out just fine! But as you're learning with your sister, avoidance doesn't work every time. Granted, your niece could simply grow out of her bullying behavior. But it could also become a pattern when your kids are together. Which is a bummer for them, makes the time you all spend with your sister's family a lot more fraught,

Talita Pruett, a California mom of three children ages 14, 13, and 5, is doing everything she can to be a present, involved parent. But one issue weighs on her more than anything else: guilt over media use. She has tried it all: screen-time limits, content filters, charging phones in her bedroom at night, and regular conversations about healthy media habits. Still, she says, guilt lingers, both about her children's media use and her own.

My grandchildren live 3000 miles away, so I don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like. Recently, I took a three-week break from my regularly scheduled life to help take care of them while their nanny was away. My son and daughter-in-law both work full-time, and I was eager to pitch in and help with school runs, meal prep, baths, and bedtime.

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), like hair pulling, skin picking, and nail biting, can take up a lot of space in a family's life. Not just in bathrooms and bedrooms, but in conversations, emotions, and worries about the future. Parents want to help, kids want relief, and everyone is exhausted by the cycle of noticing, reminding, trying harder, and feeling discouraged.

What makes me even crazier is that I know they can listen. I know this because they do all the time, mostly when they aren't supposed to. I can't tell you how many times I've been having an adult conversation with my husband and/or friends and my two children-who haven't listened to a word I've said all day-suddenly have very thoughtful and detailed questions

My sister-in-law "Jane" is the divorced mom of a 7-year-old son, "Derek," and a 5-year-old daughter, "Talia." Child care is insanely expensive in our area, and reliable sitters are rare. Because I work from home, I offered to watch Jane's kids after they get out of school while she's at work. It seemed like the perfect solution at first. Dear Used, Within the past few months, however, my SIL has been increasingly late in picking up Derek and Talia.

Don't let them push you around, my youngest son said halfway through the Camino de Santiago. You don't have to get up early if you don't want to. I didn't know that was an option, replied his brother from his bunk. This subversive banter is what our family sounds like now. The old hierarchy has loosened. We are four adults negotiating the day.

There are dramatic proposals on airplanes happening just in the nick of time, and love that blossoms in the face of terminal illness, and seemingly impossible relationships thriving against all odds. But while I enjoy a good love story as much as the next mom, my work as a pediatric emergency medicine physician informs my perspective on the myriad ways romantic relationships have the potential to cause young people harm.

Kids may say the darndest things, but parents post about them in the funniest ways. Every week, we round up the most hilarious quips from parents across social media platforms like X, Threads and Bluesky to spread the joy. Scroll down to read the latest batch. Realness delivered to your inbox. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners.

Honestly, there's no one I love shopping for than my two toddlers. Plus a theme like Valentine's Day? Consider me a dog with a bone. If you *too* have a tiny Valentine in your life, you might just fall in love with one of these little gift ideas. From a nostalgic Polly Pocket ring and a K-Pop Demon Hunters sensory jar to crayon-shiped Lip Smackers and dazzling Minnie Mouse stud earrings, your darling Valentine is going to look like the heart-eye emoji when they're done opening their gift.

Classic and once-popular baby names are falling out of favor, with some at risk of disappearing entirely. A new report from BabyCenter, which tracks the names parents consider and choose for their newborns, analyzed the top 1,000 names to identify which have seen the steepest declines since 2024. Among girls, Charleigh, Mckinley, Prisha, Ezra, Sasha, Mía, Kenna, Kori, Dior and Shaikha are all slipping down the rankings, with Charleigh and Shaikha taking the hardest hits.

Kids have been telling their parents they're bored for as long as there have been parents. Nothing new there. But lately, it seems different. Many 21st-century kids, especially bright or neurodivergent kids, report being bored a lot. They're bored at school. They're bored on short car trips. They're bored when they're home and stuck inside without a friend. They're bored outside if there's nobody nearby to play with.

You can't do it all. And early on as a parent, I found that out by burning out completely while trying to be the perfect mother. One of the first things I abandoned to reestablish my sanity? Not trying to cook three from-scratch meals for my family every day while also trying to parent, work, and clean. Let's face it: if you're in the parenting business, you better have a few incredibly easy go-to meals up your sleeve

As summer school breaks stretch longer and childcare becomes harder to secure, some families are turning to an unexpected solution: hotels offering full-day, structured kids' camps that allow parents to travel, work and keep routines intact.

My mom died when I was young, so I grew up spending summers with her mom in South Dakota. I loved that time with her, but I often only saw her that one time of year. I lived back in Florida with my dad for the rest of the year. When my grandma was older, she embraced the snowbird lifestyle and spent half the year in Florida to escape the Midwest winters.

For many women in the U.S. and around the world, motherhood comes with career costs. Raising children tends to lead to lower wages and fewer work hours for mothers - but not fathers - in the United States and around the world. As a sociologist, I study how family relationships can shape your economic circumstances. In the past, I've studied how motherhood tends to depress women's wages, something social scientists call the " motherhood penalty."

There are always Valentine's Day date ideas for parents and kids. From free dessert walk around Lower Manhattan to Broadway experiences, we have you covered no matter your children's age or budget. Whether you're sharing tea, exploring the city, pampering yourselves, or stepping into an immersive world together, the real magic is the time you spend together, talking to your kids while making memories.

I grew up skiing. As in, we lived in the mountains and skied every weekend of winter, kind of thing. At one point, early in our relationship, my husband looked at me, semi-astonished: "I think you're better on skis than feet." So it was reaaaally important to me that, first, my then fiancé (now husband) and I could share this amazing sport together,

I don't think worrying and letting him do his thing are your two alternatives. I imagine that you're going to continue to (kind of) worry-as parents tend to do when their teenage and young adult (and sometimes even older adult) children become involved in something they find weird or don't understand or that just gives them the ick.

As a parent myself, I know what I'm mostly looking for when buying another toy is that it'll ACTUALLY keep my kids engaged long enough to bring a sliver of peace to my home (a tough task, to say the least!). From Magna-Tiles and the new Toniebox 2 to colorful sensory tubes and a LeapFrog Touch and Learn eReader, my kids have tried out enough of these items to lead you in the right shopping direction!

Start with being completely honest with yourself: You do want to meddle. I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong to, despite the word's negative connotation. So let's call it, instead, "get involved," which is a bit more neutral. To get involved, begin the conversation at the first rung on the school ladder: with his classroom teacher. (If a regularly scheduled parent/teacher conference is coming up soon, save it for then; if there's nothing on the horizon, contact the teacher and ask for a private meeting.)