After listening to today's podcast, you're going to want to go check out the cry playlist we set up a while back, because we're all about the blues. Nicole in particular is lamenting her partially empty nest and resenting all the mom friends who never told her she was going to feel like this when her son moved out. We consider some other things that never seemed to have made it into the parenting manual -- could we have had a heads up about the way sending kids off to school doesn't mean you get your life back, maybe? -- and go on to formulate some advice of our own about motherhood, like "You're going to want sleep more than you'll want anything else" and "It is perfectly acceptable to ignore your mother's advice."

Finally, we made our weekly recommendations of things worth checking out: Catherine liked a Cool Mom Tech list of organizational apps for back-to-school; Amanda appreciated Ellen Seidman's post on people staring at your child; Nicole thought the book Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood by Naomi Wolf tells it like it is; and Terri sugggested reading Robert Rummel-Hudson's post on the R Word, even though it's sad that we're still even talking about that.

Thanks as always to Jon Morin for editing our episodes, and to Kristin Eredics for our happy in-and-out music (and for still living at home, so Nicole doesn't come completely unhinged). If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.

Video games are specifically designed to keep kids engaged and working at the peak of their ability, something that classroom learning often seems to very much not be. Kathy Ceceri -- who writes about homeschooling on the All About Homeschooling Facebook page and her site Crafts for Learning, and has a new book coming out about how kids can design their own video games -- chats with Terri about a recent Games in Education Symposium she attended and what's going on in the field of learning games. Among the topics they touched on were using video games to differentiate instruction, make classroom reports more interesting (with Twitch-like videos), and encourage kids to dive into literature instead of just reading it. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

Our weeks for talking about So You Think You Can Dance are running out, with the cast whittled down to six this time around. We wished they'd stop calling attention to Jim's (alleged) lack of "connection" and Virgil's (undeniable) lack of height; felt sorry for Megz being dumped on by the judges; did not feel particularly sad to lose Derek and Neptune; and wondered how the few remaining episodes will pair or pare away our favorites. We also looked ahead to Dancing With the Stars, which Terri will be making Catherine watch with her this season. Then, turning to more literary topics, Catherine gave a book report on Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee's controversial sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. Spoiler warning! She totally ruins the ending. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

When's the last time you went to a wedding? Did you get a paper invitation or an Evite? And did you notice whether the bride and groom were collecting gifts in a cash box, a satin bag, or a dirty shoe? We talked about these and other wedding trends, with a detour into bar and bat mitzvahs, and noticed that we're all in the stage of life where we're sitting back and waiting for our friends' kids (and our own kids?!) to get married.

That led us into a discussion of the swiftness of time, especially in the summer. Ironically, it's our Canadian Nicole who has no sorries at all to offer about her fun summer, which included a visit to the Motherland. Catherine's looking wistfully at blank chore charts and unsent barbecue invitations, while Terri plans to squeeze all her summer fun into her family's upcoming vacation. Amanda moved her entire household this summer so we're giving her a pass on accomplishing anything else.

Finally, we shared our weekly recommendations: Catherine mentioned her new article on adding more vegetables to your family's diet (which is actually a plea for new cucumber recipes); Amanda recommended a piece by our colleague Lexi Walters Wright on the summer movies of 2015; Nicole noted that we would all feel better about our summer accomplishments after we read this list of 50 summer activities; and Terri suggested her resources for family events -- Family Gathering Survival Kit, Family Gathering Bingo, Safe Things to Say to Parents of Kids With Special Needs at Family Gatherings, and the All-Purpose Apology Template.

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

For a special Round 4 this month, Amanda got together with our audio engineer, Jon, to talk about the experience of being a stay-at-home father to children with special needs. Oh, and did we mention Amanda and Jon are married? (To each other.) They chatted about how hard it is to have two working parents when you have kids with special needs and how that led to their decision to have a stay-at-home parent. Amanda talked about a study she’d read about the connection between poverty and disabilities. Jon spoke of the assumptions people make of dads, particularly when it comes to managing appointments, therapies, medications and so forth. And he had sage advice for dads who are trying to break down stereotypes. Listen in for banter, chatter and more. You can also visit Jon's site My Happy SAHD Life. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

Susan Adcox, who writes about grandparenting for About.com, joins us on the third Wednesday of every month to chat with Catherine about grandparenting issues. This time, they talk about whether grandparents are really making kids fat, or summer is, and what families can do about that. Check out these articles from Catherine's and Susan's sites for info that might help:
+ Why Susan recommends retro toys for Easter baskets
+ Healthy snack ideas from Catherine and superfood suggestions from Susan
+ Beach ball and balloon games and healthy board games
(If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

This week on So You Think You Can Dance, Terri and Catherine enjoyed the absence of sexy fish and the presence of brief solos from the top 10, as well as some winning routines by our favorite dancers and their All-Star partners. Like the commenters on the Previously.tv forums, we questioned how a professional Broadway dancer ended up on the street team, and we also wondered about the cultural appropriation of Jaja's Bollywood routine and Gaby's geisha-vs.-ninja duel. Then we moved on to other TV talent showcases, like America's Got Talent. We think the Professional Regurgitator would have fit right in on David Letterman’s Stupid Human Tricks segment. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

Along with all the shiny new school supplies and stylish new school clothes, every new school year involves a mysterious new teacher, who will either be The Best Thing That Ever Happened for Your Child or The Thing That Dooms Your Child to Academic Failure Forever. So no stress. We chatted about our new-teacher anxiety for this year, remember some wonderful/horrible teachers of the past, and reflect on how good Canadian teachers have it with extra-polite parents.

As much as you hope that your kid gets a teacher that brings out his or her absolute best, we have to confess it's kind of awful when the teacher seems to see a much better version of your child than you ever get to. An article on the parody site Mom News Daily caught our eye this week, and if it had been on Catherine's quiz last week, we don't think we would have guessed that a headline saying "Children Are 800 Percent Worse When Their Mothers Are in the Room" was the fake one. It's funny 'cause it's true, right? We compare notes on our children's annoying-for-mom behaviors and tussle over whether it's okay for teachers to judge parents for such misbehaviors when us moms do a fair amount of teacher-judging ourselves (see: first half of episode).

Finally, we shared our weekly recommendations: Catherine mentioned her new article on "10 Ways to Fix Youth Sports"; Amanda pointed us toward an article titled "Can I Request a Specific Teacher for My Child With Learning and Attention Issues?"; Nicole liked an article on "When to Stand Up for Your Child"; and Terri suggested her series of articles on preparing the school for your child's specific disability.

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

From finding enough options for varied lunches to dealing with kids who only eat one lunch to collecting fairy dewdrops to adorn our Bento Box lunches, Lexi and Amanda are ready to start packing. Packing lunches, that is. Moving from daycare to preschool this year has Lexi in a panic. She talks about the pressure of being the follow-up act to her son's daycare provider's delicious, nutritious hot meals. Amanda's advice is simple: Stop caring. She shares that her daughter ate from the "olive cart" (actually the "a la carte") menu in middle school and is sure the experience of eating only chocolate-chip cookies and churros for three years was good preparation for college life. If you're wondering what to do when your kid only eats sandwich-size pepperoni and superhero CheezIts, we've got advice for you! And, to be fair, we also shared some sound, easy-to-manage recipes from a great Kveller article, "23 Back-to-School Lunch Ideas Your Kids Will Actually Eat." (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

They are fish. But they're sexy fish. Dancers, if you hear those words, you can be pretty sure that your time on So You Think You Can Dance is over. The most ... notable choreography on this week's show was the one seemingly designed to prevent two dancers from getting a Twitter save (see video), but as Catherine and Terri discuss, the whole episode seemed to be more about the business of getting rid of four dancers than the art of, you know, showcasing good dancing. On to the top 10! In other pop-culture discussion, Catherine's review of Into the Woods (Meryl Streep version) moved into a look at other Meryl Streep singing movies, including the new Ricki and the Flash and the older Mamma Mia, and a list that ranks all of her film performances. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

Now that you’re all transitioned into and adjusted to the summer routine, surprise! Time to transition back to school. We started our group chat by lamenting all the disruption ahead of us -- kids moving out, kids refusing to enter uninviting middle-school buildings, parents jostling for backpacks, the need to call and harrass special-education administrators daily, and our desire for a more comprehensive Amazon Prime service that would eliminate that kind of hassle from our lives.

After such a stressful topic, we took it easy with a fun parenting quiz devised by Catherine to stump the rest of us. We were asked to identify whether a particular parenting quote was from an actual parenting "expert" or a humor site, and later to identify which title in a list of parenting books came out of Catherine's head. Congratulations to Nicole for getting a perfect score in our first test period. Terri and Amanda look forward to getting our revenge in future contests.

Finally, we shared our recommendations. Nicole pointed us toward a post on her website on "10 Ways to Teach Social Skills in Your Classroom"; Amanda also touted her own work, an Understood.org post on "How to Avoid Being Overprotective of Your Child"; Catherine passed on the names of her sources for the humorous selections of her quiz, Los Feliz Daycare, the Onion's After Birth section, and McSweeney's Internet Tendency; and Terri suggested following her list of entertainment Tweeters so you too can follow television critics at the TCAs.

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

This week on Round 4, Nicole chatted with Robert Rummel-Hudson about his exciting new business partnership. What started out as bit of an experiment has become a life-changing moment. Rob tells us that recently he was invited to speak at a conference about his book, Schuyler’s Monster, a story about his daughter’s nonverbal world. While Rob has spoken at dozens of conferences before, this time he decided to try something different and ask Schuyler, now a tenth-grader, to participate in the presentation. After Rob spoke, Schuyler came on stage to answer several audience questions using her AAC device. Well, apparently, Schuyler stole the show! Rob was thrilled to watch her confidently engage and interact with audience members and soon realized he had become overshadowed by his own daughter. He tells Nicole that he sees Schuyler’s potential as a self-advocate and is excited about her future. Nicole thinks that Rob could soon be out of job! To follow Rob’s new adventures in public speaking go to www.rummelhudson.com, and to read some of Schuyler's answers, go to her dad's blog. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://www.parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

Each month Meghan Corridan, a pediatric occupational therapist, joins Catherine to talk about activities that are both fun and therapeutic for kids (and often their adults too). This time she gives us the lowdown on all the benefits kids get from cooking and baking—everything from fine motor skills to self-esteem and confidence. Meghan also gives us her thoughts on whether kiddie cooking products are worth our time (and our kitchen storage space). Visit Meghan’s blog, MAC&Toys, for more reasons to whip up some cookies with your kids. And if you want your child to surprise you with a homemade Sunday brunch, Catherine suggests letting him watch a show called Man vs. Child: Chef Showdown for inspiration. (If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, go to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience).

Last week, Terri made a wish for a Broadway number and some tap-dancing from Gaby on So You Think You Can Dance, and voila! her wish was granted. Gaby and Virgil's adorable number was enough to get her through all manner of contemporary thrashing, though both Terri and Catherine wondered what was up with all the mental-illness-themed choreography and whether those "Here's what America needs to know about me!" bits had to be quite so all over the place. Of one thing there was no doubt: It was time for Asaf to go home, no matter how good he looks with his shirt off. Also up for brief discussion was Apple Music, the new subscription service that gives you access to pretty much all the songs that Terri has found particular benefit in for parents. (If you're watching this without hyperlinks or access to the video of That Dance, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)