The end of the NBC series Parenthood — and with it perhaps the end of all emotional family dramas until the pendulum swings back from its current spot in dark and violent and edgy fare — got us talking about why we never took to the Braverman family saga the way we should have; an article by Linda Holmes on NPR's Monkey See blog on why such shows may have fallen out of favor; the family dramas we fell for in the past (and Terri apologizes here for talking and talking and talking about those shows — seriously, don't get her started — but if you want to join her in swooning over that Once and Again plotline with Eric Stoltz as Mr. Dimitri, start right here); and the shows we're paying attention to now. Amanda expressed appreciation for Jane the Virgin, Catherine digs a little British family drama called Downton Abbey, Nicole confessed to going to the dark side with violent programming after OD'ing on sunny '80s comedies in her youth, and we all hoped that The Secret Life of the American Teenager is not as realistic as we fear.

Next, we turned our attention to a couple of recent news stories: one about parents suing a kid who hurt their kid on the lacrosse field, and another about parents sending an invoice for a birthday-party no-show. While it was fun to think of all the things we could sue over and invoice for if that became a thing — read this post from the blog Scary Mommy for some ideas — we decided that perhaps there are better coping skills to model for your kid than "You're gonna pay!"

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week: Catherine shared an article on the benefits of being a sports parent; Amanda suggested a book called The Resilience Formula; Nicole added an endorsement of the work of Gordon Neufeld; and Terri mentioned an interview with the parent-owner of KidCompanions Chewelry, which gives kids who need to chew on something a better option than collars and cuffs.

Thanks as always to Jon Morin for producing our episode and Kristin Eredics for our happy in-and-out music. (If you're reading this description somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

In the first of our "Round 3" mini-podcasts on specific parenting topics, Katherine Lee, who writes about parenting school-age children at childparenting.about.com, joined Terri for a discussion of restaurants that ban kids -- and the kind of kid behavior that makes bans look like a good idea. If you are That Mom who comes unprepared and doesn't at least appear to be trying to calm your child, we're looking at you (although Terri is doing so with a little bit of sympathy and guilt). But we also offer some suggestions on how to handle restaurant (and airplane) outings without driving your fellow patrons to distraction, even if it's simply knowing how to make a quick getaway. Do you have opinions on restaurant bans, or great tips for restaurant survival? Share them in the comments. And for more child-wrangling ideas, read these articles from Katherine and Terri:

• Don't Be THAT Family - 7 Restaurant Manners Your Kids Should Know
• Going Somewhere? 12 Things to Put in an Activity Bag for Kids
• 10 Tips for Flying with Children
• How to Reduce Child Turbulence on Plane Flights
• 10 Tips for Dining Out with a Child with Special Needs
• "Staging" Your Child for Success

(If you're reading this description somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

In this week's entertainment-themed "Round 2" mini-podcast, Catherine and Terri started out talking about the impending Snowpocalypse aimed at the northeast (and hyperbolic Weather Channel stormcasting in general) and moved on to the Super Bowl and who should be providing halftime-show color commentary; Downton vs. Oscar; Cougar Town's effortless defusing of a potentially show-love-killing issue; a Twitter account that tweeks former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg; and two books that didn't quite work for us: The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls and the audio version of Neil Patrick Harris's Choose Your Own Autobiography. Agree? Disagree? Got some other pop-culture rants or raves to share? Join the conversation in the comments.

(If you're reading this description somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

Judging from articles like "Why Cafeteria Food Is Best" -- in which nutritionist Jane Brody shares with NY Times readers the studies saying parent-packed lunches are full of unhealthy cookies and chips and other stuff kids enjoy eating -- and the comments for said article -- in which parents declare that so-called "healthy" cafeteria food is unattractive, unpalatable, and uneaten -- there’s a war going on in America’s lunchrooms. We discussed our different views on the subject and whether what kids eat for lunch is even that big of a deal; mentioned programs in which parents try to make that cafeteria food more appealing; laughed over the idea that schools would let IEP-advocatin' parents like Terri and Amanda through the doors with knives, even if it was to cut fruit; and worried about what Wellness Committees would think of what we feed our kids.

Then we moved on to one of the reasons parents might not pack a delicious nutritiuos lunch -- it's hard enough to find time to toss some Ho-Hos in a sack, y'all. We talked about juggling activities, homework, cars, and business obligations, and looked back at how our own parents did or maybe didn't do it.

Finally, we shared some articles of interest. Catherine offered a quartet of lunch-related links: "How to Improve Kids' School Lunches," "How to Pack Healthy School Lunches," "How to Start a School Wellness Committee," and a review of the book Lunch Wars: How to Start a School Food Revolution. Amanda recommended the cookbook The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine, with ideas for hiding vegetables so your kids will never recognize them. Nicole had some homework resources to recommend, and Terri also offered up some "Homework Help for Kids with Special Needs" and precautions to take "Before You Help with Homework" to make sure you're not giving all the wrong answers.

Thanks as always to Jon Morin for producing our episode and Kristin Eredics for our happy in-and-out music. (If you're reading this description somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

Talking about parenting all the time gets a little tiring, you know? For a between-podcast break, Terri and Catherine are bringing you a weekly "Round 2," dedicated to movies, TV, books, and all that entertainment we'd be consuming if we could just stop podcasting and catch up on our work. In this week's mini-podcast, we discussed Oscar nominations (and the total of 1 Best Picture nominee we've seen between us); the January return of Downton Abbey and Parks & Recreation (sniff); the treadmill as a vehicle for guilt-free TV binging; and an unfortunate recent football outcome. Do you share our viewing interests? Got some other pop-culture topics you'd like to discuss? Join us in the comments.

Seems like once a month or so, our Facebook feeds fill up with links to an article on Why Parenting Is in Crisis and Parents Today Are the Worst. Are they really the worst? Or just parenting in a time when there are more parenting experts trying to produce more content than ever? We talked about the ways different parenting styles, life experiences, and types of kids make it hard both to parent and to judge parenting; how there's still no judging like in-person judging to make you feel awful; the likelihood that the audience for heck-in-a-handbasket articles is parents who want to feel superior to bad parents rather than the bad parents themselves; and the way that Pinterest is in fact the most judgey feel-bad-about-yourself spot on the Internet. 

Then we looked at a place where parents are, perhaps, not judged harshly enough: online support groups, with their dedication to being a safe place where anyone can say anything, and their protected environment for saying things that maybe should not be said. As we discussed our personal experiences, it appeared that in-person support groups were less likely to go bad, maybe because you have to actually put on clothes and face people to participate in them. Amanda and Terri attested to the way that online groups can turn into minefields the longer you participate and the more you care about expressing your opinion.

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week. Catherine pointed folks toward two articles on sports parents: "9 Signs of a Sports Mom (or Dad)" and "Are You a Crazy Sports Parent?" (no judging, you understand); Amanda mentioned an article she wrote for Understood.org on using praise to build your child's self-esteem; Nicole invited listeners to a webinar she hosted; and Terri offered help in deciding if your support group is toxic.

Thanks as always to Jon Morin for producing our episode and Kristin Eredics for our happy in-and-out music.

This week on Parenting Roundabout, we talked about our New Year's Resolutions -- and whether resolutions are a good way to get yourself going toward a goal or just to make yourself feel like a failure right from the start of the year. Then we looked at some highlights of 2014, including birthday and school milestones for our kids, trips and injuries, and catching a pop-culture wave. For more on New Year's resolutions, follow these links:

• New Year's Resolutions for Family Fitness and Health,
• Little Goals Can Be Better Than Big New Year’s Resolutions,
• Realistic Resolutions,
• Mini-Resolutions for Every Day,
• Use New Year's Resolutions to Motivate Your Child, and
• Make a New Year's Resolution ... for Someone Else.
  

For other stories mentioned, read about gluten-free Girl Scout cookies on the Mashable blog, follow Terri's dog on Twitter, and meet Catherine's black dogs on Instagram.

This podcast also marks our last recording on BlogTalk Radio, and the first with Nicole Eredics, who joins our new weekly team along with Terri Mauro, Catherine Holecko, and Amanda Morin. We'll be coming at you every week with parenting chatter from our new home at Libsyn. You can look forward to two topics a week, a little longer conversation, timelier topics, more fun and reflection and less advice-giving (though we'll still link to our articles on the topics if advice is what you're looking for), and visits from our other About.com podcasters.

Please note that if you've been an iTunes subscriber to the podcast (thanks!), you'll have to resubscribe now that we've moved. We promise to make it worth your inconvenience with a podcast you can look forward to every week.

Happy 2015!