Yard Sign Celebrations
A yard sign installation celebrating a child's first day of third grade (!) prompted us to complain about where this ends (billboards? fireworks?) and why we don't get signs celebrating our achievements.

A yard sign installation celebrating a child's first day of third grade (!) prompted us to complain about where this ends (billboards? fireworks?) and why we don't get signs celebrating our achievements.
On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we made it to the end of Making It. We congratulate the winner for his very happy-looking shed [ https://www.instagram.com/p/CTILC_UlBwb/ ], and would love to see a season 4 of the show--with a few tweaks. Speaking of beautiful things, we also watched the movie CODA on AppleTV+ [ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10366460/?ref_=nm_knf_i4 ]. It is a lovely look at a the ordinary life of a teenage girl, played by Emilia Jones, whose parents and brother happe...
Nicole's ready to rethink it all, Terri wouldn't change a thing (not even the bridesmaids' dresses), and Catherine's somewhere in the middle. If you had a wedding, is there anything you wish you could re-do?
Whether you're into hifalutin rhymes, delightful children's verse, or stuff that will make Terri have to dig out the bleep sound effect again, we've got some poetry for you. (The childhood-wall-hanging text Nicole couldn't remember, BTW, isn't really a poem, but maybe a topic for a future episode on parenting judgy-ness: "Children Learn What They Live" [ https://www.thelearningweb.net/chapter02/page104.html ].)
While Terri has lived in New Jersey for many years, she grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, which was hit with two tragedies in one week back in 2018 when we originally recorded this episode. We discussed how connected we are to our hometowns, and how that looks for our kids too.
On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Nicole shouts out The Hat restaurant [ https://www.thehat.com/ ], which helped her time-travel back to her teenage days. Terri discovered a handy new iPhone trick, thanks to Macworld magazine [ https://www.macworld.com/article/353078/spotlight-iphone-ios-15.html ]. And Catherine's enjoying "You Shine," a sweet love song from Carrie the musical (yes, it is based on the horror movie [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BreR8sxaNCA ])....
We heard a stat saying that two-thirds of people have unofficial assigned seats in their cars, on their couches, and at their dining tables. We thought everyone did this!
Yes, we're aware that there's no such thing as privacy online. But how does Facebook know our bra size? And could TikTok be eavesdropping on our family dinners?
On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, we've reached the semi-finals of Making It, and also discovered the makers' post-show Instagram Live events... which are possibly more fun than the show itself?! Mentioned: Blake's recently completed bear sculpture; all the makers on Instagram [visit https://parentingroundabout.com for all links]. We also returned (reluctantly) to Veronica Mars season 4, with the wrap-up episode from the Veronica Mars Investigations podcast. It didn't convince us to h...
Now that our kids' generation is starting to get married, we did a little comparing and contrasting. We're pretty glad we never felt the pressure to come up with a wedding hashtag.
Whether for an advanced degree, motivation to finish a project, or a chance for random people to destroy our will to create, we contemplate returning to school. Or, you know, not.
Time for a career check-in: Nicole is embarking on a new career, Catherine is pondering a switch from freelance to staff work, and Terri just works all. the. time.
On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Catherine shouts out Just Add Ice orchids, because she's been able to keep hers alive (and blooming) for six months now. Nicole welcomes the addition of peanut M&Ms to her family's favorite Costco trail mix. And Terri gives a happy two thumbs' up to Dan + Shay's new album, "Good Things." Mentioned: Interview with Bobby Bones; performing at Bobby's wedding. Visit https://parentingroundabout.com for links.
'Tis the season--are you ready? We're here with some hard-earned advice that goes beyond "Don't forget to buy enough pencils." Have you nagged the special-ed office yet? Checked to see if last year's lunchbox still has last year's lunch in it? Signed up for a school photo? We're here with your to-do list.
We are nothing if not predictable. If you bugged our homes, here's what you'd hear--over, and over, and over again. The major topics: Pets and meals.
On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, Making It is back with its usual contrived stories about why these projects are happening. Let's just let the makers make stuff! We also checked out Kevin Can F Himself, starring Annie Murphy (late of Schitt's Creek) as a sitcom housewife who's also living in a bleak drama. It's a high concept that's well done, but requires the viewer to live with a lot of unpleasantness. Mentioned: Pop Culture Happy Hour's discussion of the show [ https://www.npr.org...
On this week's Round 1, a Tiktok (of course!) prompted us to look back nostalgically at our university years, in the time before Internet, cell phones, and laptops. You know, back when we used a quill and an inkwell to write our papers.
Here's a this or that for you: delicious ice-cream-rich beverage, or something people use to hide spinach and worse? Yeah, Nicole and Terri are all-in for milkshakes. Catherine ... well, we'll stay her friend, we guess, but we're not going to drink anything she gives us.
Some childhood fears we've gotten over. Others have stayed with us. You just never know when Jaws is going to come up through the drain of a swimming pool! Mentioned: This 2016 episode on what was scaring us at the time [ https://www.spreaker.com/episode/18923142 ].
On this week’s Roundabout Roundup: Terri recommends the cheerful "Fancy Like" fan video from Walker Hayes [ https://youtu.be/E08puACaHfY ], which he kindly posted on YouTube for those of us who can't handle TikTok. Nicole's Instagram Minute returns with geoscan.show [ https://www.instagram.com/geoscan.show/ ], a business that puts on drone light shows (so if you liked the one at the Olympics, you might enjoy this account). Catherine's singing the praises of a Knox Rose summer dress from Target [...
Last year, we fretted about Nicole's impending empty nest [ https://www.parentingroundaboutpodcast.com/blog/the-emptying-nest ]. And then, she got a one-year reprieve as her daughter stayed home and took her classes online. Now she's leaving, for real, and Nicole's still not ready. Mentioned: You Need a Budget [ https://www.youneedabudget.com/ ].
Nicole's getting ready for her first Covid-era airplane flight, so Terri thoughtfully helps her figure out everything that could go wrong so she can prepare with plenty of pre-emptive worry.
On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2: Terri tried Schitt's Creek, a show Catherine has watched in its entirety but Terri had never seen. We selected 5 episodes recommended by IMDB [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvGQh9lwYY8 ]: Season 1/episode 6, “Wine & Roses”; season 2/episode 5, “Bob's Bagels”; season 4/episode 2, “Pregnancy Test”; season 4/episode 6, “Open Mic” (recently inducted into the Extra Hot Great canon [ https://www.extrahotgreat.com/364/ ]); and season 6/episode 5, “The...
Once we're released from parenting obligations like homework supervision, chauffeuring, and attending concerts and games. we find ourselves at loose ends. Is it time to take up knitting?
We've got our piles of past concert souvenirs, sure, but the cost of doing memorabilia business has gotten to us in recent years.
Do you still have your high school yearbook? We compare and contrast the yearbooks of our day with those of our kids.
This week’s Roundabout Roundup is a very tasty one. Nicole's shouting out her favorite Greek restaurant in Los Angeles, Papa Cristo's [ https://papacristos.com/ ]. Catherine's also going Greek, with a recommendation for Yasso Greek yogurt bars [ https://yasso.com/products/bars/ ]. And Terri's recommending a breakfast that might look like cat food, and sound like baby food, but tastes pretty darn good: Mush ready-to-eat oats [ https://eatmush.com/products/mush ]....
On today's episode, we're obsessing about whether we're superstitious, whether it's something we learned from our parents, and whether we might be passing it on to our kids. Because really, why tempt fate when it's just as easy not to open that umbrella inside the house?
We complain about what it takes to be a team player (and how that works when combined with our rule-following natures) and also about how it's hard to go it alone. You see our dilemma.
On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2: We failed to realize that Making It would be pre-empted by a little event called the Olympic Games. So we dipped back into season 1 to compare its "All of the Holidays at Once" episode to this season's similarly themed ep. Turns out the reason there's more making and less emoting in season 1 is: There are fewer people. This throws a wrench in our "Don't send anyone home ever!!" proposal. Mentioned: The makers on Instagram; they're all linked on this p...