If you notice that we seem to be talking VERY LOUDLY in today's podcast, it may be that we're all just sittin' too close to our mics, or it may be that today's topics bring out the rant in us. In real life, we cringe silently; in podcast life, we get our yell on. Here's a road map to what's riling us up this week.

00:48: Intros and What's New With You -- It doesn't help that most of us need a nap. Yet we soldier on, podcasting through our hacking coughs, headaches, neck aches, Daylight Saving jet lag, epic carpool hangover, sleep deprivation, and deadline stress. Would have maybe been a good week for some nice, quiet, friendly topics.

03:20: Being Embarrassed by Other Parents — Instead, we start out talking about those parents, the ones who ruin it for everyone, the ones who are the reason we can't have nice things, the ones that make us want to wear a T-shirt that says, "The opinions of other parents are not shared by me," or maybe, "I'm not with stupid." What can we do, besides passive-aggressively snark and eyeroll?

14:39: Nude Selfies? Yikes! — And speaking of mortifying things we feel powerless against, we now have to worry about our kids sending out naked pictures of themselves, or seeing naked pictures of their friends (or Kim Kardashian), or finding naked pictures on their teacher's phone, or having such a bad body image that they feel unfit to take naked pictures ... could people stop making parenting teen girls even MORE complicated, please?

27:57: Interview of the Week — All right, calm down. Grandparenting expert Susan Adcox is here to talk about families and sports, and although you might expect a grandparent to get snappy about the way parents today do things, she's actually quite supportive of our drive to be at every single sports event every one of our kids participate in.

39:47: Shameless Self-Promotion — And now, for the kind of shamelessness we can get behind: Terri touts the Round 2 entertainment podcasts she does with Catherine, on which they'll be covering a new season of Dancing With the Stars while continuing a Parks and Recreation marathon; Amanda shares 4 Hard Questions I Asked Myself After the 2016 LDA Conference; Catherine has advice on What Not to Feed Your Child Before They Play Sports; and Nicole really wants you to take her online workshop.

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

Update: The story about the teacher was in South Carolina, not North Carolina, and the kid who stole the picture has since been arrested, which as parents of teens who sometimes do stupid things does not necessarily make us feel better.

Don't be fooled by our fabulous new intro music — this is still Parenting Roundabout you're listening to. We've done some format-tweaking for the new year, with a longer group chat that includes some introductory conversation, two topics, an interview with one of our regular contributors, and some shameless self-promotion. Here's your roadmap through this week's episode.

1:38: What's New With You? — We've been doing some traveling this week, and some book writing, and some writing avoidance.

11:42: Topic 1 — Are we the kind of moms who find it easier to spend money on and do nice things for our kids than for ourselves? (Hey, we really wanted socks for Christmas.)

24:15: Topic 2: Current Events — We discuss an article about "aspirational parenting" that got our backs up. Of course, we're not aspiring for our kids to be members of the power elite so much as just make enough money to buy us really nice socks.

39:03: Interview of the Week — Catherine talks with pediatric occupational therapist Meghan Corridan about good educational apps for kids. Find links to the apps and companies Meghan mentioned on her blog, MAC&Toys. The app Catherine recommended is Mathmateer.

51:11: Shameless Self-Promotion — Terri shared articles on questions to ask about your child's lunch and recess on her About.com site; Amanda shared a blog post she wrote for Matan called "Without Exclusion, We Wouldn’t Have to Talk About Inclusion”; Nicole shared a blog post she wrote for Disability.gov, "Not Just One Story of Successful Inclusion"; and Catherine shared an article from her About.com site on how to set family goals for the New Year (or how to drag your family into your New Year’s resolutions so you might actually keep them!).

Thanks as always to Jon Morin for producing our podcast and most especially for our spiffy new in-and-out music. If you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.

Parents who think their children's activities give them a second time around for childhood too are getting us hot under the collar this week. Nicole is particularly steamed at parents who turn a kid's Halloween costume into a family affair, and even have the nerve to get in on the trick or treating. Catherine thinks parents who want to make their kids' sports all about them need to bench themselves. And Terri's worried that maybe her enthusiastic support of her daughter's marching band crossed the line.

Speaking of parents needing to change their ways, we chatted a bit about the habits and traditions we can't quite let go of, from Christmas PJs to driving kids everywhere to hanging on to work habits more appropriate to a college student than a creaky old mom. Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week: Catherine suggested you check out her article on 10 Things You Can Do to Fix Youth Sports if you're bugged by those over-involved parents or might be one; Nicole advocated for submarine parenting rather than the helicopter variety; and Terri wondered whether you've tried The List App (follow her @mamatude if you have).

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.

Did you see that viral story making the rounds about a diner owner who screamed at a toddler who wouldn't stop screaming, and then kept up a NSFW social-media battle with the tot's similarly unable-to-let-it-go parents? Yeah, us too. Did you refrain from reading the comments that you knew were going to make you feel like everybody is judging you and your family and maybe you should just go hide in a dark room? Yeah, us neither, even though we all know better by now, don't we? We piled on with our own observations about the situation, and wondered why we can't just all live and let live and let dine and let read the Internet without feeling under attack.

Moving from kids who are out of control to other family members who don't always obey, we talked about our beloved and often noisy-at-podcast-time dogs, sharing whether and why we're pet people. Finally, we gave our recommendations for the week: Catherine mentioned an article on "Activities for Dogs and Families to Share" and another on stopping with the parent shaming already; Amanda thought an article on "What to Say When Other People Interfere with Your Parenting" by one of our Round 3 contributors, Lexi Walters Wright, was apropos; Nicole suggested a survey on "What Kind of Pet Is Right for Your Family?" from Parents.com; and Terri passed on articles about taking kids to restaurants and other community trouble spots and creating the best chance for success — as well as a rant she wrote when she got riled about this sort of thing in the past.

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

[This is an encore presentation of a Parenting Roundabout episode originally released on January 14, 2015. If you listened to it the first time, this is your second chance to follow up on all the resources and ideas mentioned that you just never quite got around to. And if you didn’t listen to it the first time -- hey, it's new to you! Either way, please listen and enjoy.]

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.

Once you've committed to a particular way of parenting or educating your kids, can you admit to having struggles or making mistakes without inviting people to assume that your whole approach is wrong? Terri chatted with Kathy Ceceri, who writes about homeschooling on the All About Homeschooling Facebook page and her site Crafts for Learning, about the value of parents sharing their experience, the riskiness of setting yourself up as an expert, the difficulty of always putting a positive spin on things even though others might benefit from a more honest account, the way homeschoolers and free-range parents and people who are neither of those things feel judged by the other side, and the likelihood that those who try to see both sides will get judged by everybody. Enjoy today's conversation and look for chats with Kathy the last Wednesday of every month.

Remember our group chat from early in February where we asked, "How Free Should We Be to Let Our Kids Be Free"? (It was Episode 55, if you want to go back and listen and refresh your memory.) Terri, Catherine, Amanda, and Nicole were somewhat taken aback by a free-range-war-inciting article on the topic in Slate and wondered whether the parents could have handled this a different way. Our friend Kathy Ceceri, who writes about homeschooling on the All About Homeschooling Facebook page and her site Crafts for Learning, listened in and had some different opinions, so we thought we'd take some Round 3 time for a responsible opposing viewpoint. We talked about how parents can broaden the standards of their community, be leaders rather than reactors, and engage in civil disobedience in a way that upholds our values but doesn't cause trauma to our kids. For some additional thoughts on the subject, Kathy recommends a recent New York Times article that makes "The Case for Free-Range Parenting." 

Where do you stand on free-range parenting? Add your opinion in the comments. And if you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, please come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.

This week's first group-chat topic came once again from the UK, where public shaming of parents who tick other parents off appears to be a thing. A few weeks ago we talked about a parent who sent an invoice to the parents of a child who didn't show up at a birthday party (and had her private Facebook exchanges shared with newspaper readers), and this week we gave our take on a request for group birthday presents for schoolkids that led to a public sharing and mocking of e-mail. We debated which was more ill-mannered, the request or the response; wondered why a parent would think it's okay to do the kind of online bullying we discourage kids from doing; fess up to whether we've ever used another parent's behavior as a hook for online or private ranting; and consider when taking up a collection might or might not be a fine idea.

Speaking of gifts, our second topic dealt with that thing that's supposed to come after gifts: thank-you notes. An NPR article got us thinking about whether thank-you notes are still a necessary courtesy or whether there's a better way to teach kids about gratitude ... and whether if that better way is more time- and effort-intensive, it's moving in the right direction.

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week: Catherine mentioned an article about "Active Valentine's Day Games and Activities"; Amanda directed us to her WayWire page, which features special-needs-related videos; Nicole had a Valentine's Day article to share too, on "Including All Students During Valentine's Day and Beyond"; and Terri mentioned both Valentine's Day content and a story from Variety about the cast of Grimm making a very useful endowment to a Portland Children's Hospital (plus some thoughts on what use a Grimm could serve in real life).

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.)

On this week's group chat, we revisited free-range parenting in light of a Slate article that seemed to want to declare a Free-Range Revolution over the police response to a couple of kids walking home by themselves. We discussed where we personally draw the line between appropriate and inapproprite independence; our own fears that people might fear for our kids' safety; the importance of parenting to the abilities of your own particular kid; the dangers of parenting with a capital P; and the many technological solutions available for discreet child surveillance.

Next, we considered giving kids a little classroom freedom by pulling them out of school for family vacations. A recent New York Times article suggested that some schools might consider that illegal, and we talked about the times when it might really be okay (say, for sporting events) and really might not be (if you're teaching your kid that school rules are stupid).

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week: Catherine directed readers to About.com's children's books site for the latest book award winners, and to her own list on great sports books for tweens and teens, which includes this year's Newbery honoree; Amanda offered snowbound parents her personally tested list of activities to help hyperactive kids beat cabin fever; Nicole recommended Life 360, MamaBear, Find My Friends, and Tile for all your child-spying needs; and Terri was happy about the way actors Chris Pratt and Chris Evans used a fun Super Bowl bet as a way to give sick kids a special experience (and raise money for Christopher's Haven and Seattle Children's Hospital).

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.)

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.

So, are we still at war? Join About.com parenting experts Terri Mauro (specialchildren.about.com), Catherine Holecko (familyfitness.about.com), Katherine Lewis (workingmoms.about.com), and Lisa Jo Rudy (autism.about.com) as we check in on the status and truthfulness of this alleged family feud and discuss ways to find some peace. Visit the podcast recap on our Facebook page for links to the stories discussed and your chance to chime in.  

You know you’re supposed to check if the house your child is playing at has a gun in it, or the carpool your child is riding in has a texting or drinking driver, or the sleepover your child is going to has responsible adult supervision. But it’s so very awkward to ask. Join About.com parenting experts Terri Mauro (specialchildren.about.com), Catherine Holecko (familyfitness.about.com), Susan Adcox (grandparents.about.com), and Amanda Morin (kidsactivities.about.com) as we give some advice for how to do this vetting of other parents, and how to gracefully receive those questions yourself. Find links to stories we mentioned in the podcast, and tell us how you handle your vetting, on our Facebook page.

We've all had them -- those child get-togethers that turn into disasters. Join About.com experts Terri Mauro (specialchildren.about.com), Catherine Holecko (familyfitness.about.com), Kathy Ceceri (homeschooling.about.com), and Lisa Jo Rudy (autism.about.com) as we tell some of our playdate horror stories and give our suggestions for avoiding the worst.

Are kids today over-supervised? Are some kids not supervised enough? Are we all worried for nothing, or about the wrong things? Join About.com Parenting Experts Terri Mauro (specialchildren.about.com), Catherine Holecko (familyfitness.about.com), Susan Adcox (grandparents.about.com), and Lisa Jo Rudy (autism.about.com) as we talk about parenting anxiety and how much caution you should really throw to the wind.

Kids aren't the only ones who can rough you up in the schoolyard. Parents and teachers often show behavior that would get them suspended if they were on the child side of the line. Join About.com experts Terri Mauro (specialchildren.about.com), Catherine Holecko (familyfitness.about.com), and Amanda Morin (kidsactivities.about.com) as we ask, how do you deal with parent bullies? And have you ever been one?