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.

Catherine caught up with the new version of Cinderella directed by Kenneth Branagh (see trailer at left), and we started the conversation with a tip of the hat to NPR's Linda Holmes for the exhaustively researched Cinderella treatise on her blog Monkey See, which will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about this storied lass and a few things you didn't. Catherine found the latest incarnation to be entertaining but not as appropriate for the preschool set as you might expect from the subject matter and the Frozen short preceding it (maybe the director and Downton Abbey cast members are a hint that this is Cinderella for moms). She also has an early opinion on Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, though she didn't binge-watch it like all the cool kids are doing.

Terri is still in mourning for Parks and Recreation and hasn't moved on to finding a new show to love. With Cougar Town's departure next week, Mom will be her last watch-every-week comedy standing, and although she'd like to add The Odd Couple to that list, it's not quite there yet. This week she's mostly ticked at ABC's Secret and Lies, a show she doesn't watch and is glad of it after hearing of a lie it told about hemophilia — because hey, when you're looking to make a cheap shot on your unpleasant TV show, why not make life a little more difficult for people with a serious medical condition? You can read why folks are protesting and how you can join them on the blog Comfort in the Midst of Chaos.

Tell us about the pop culture you've been taking in this week in the comments, and if you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.

Our group chat got started with a little Grinch-iness over the very sweet and inspirational story of a cheerleader with Down syndrome who was defended from bullies by some middle-school basketball players. We applaud those players, we're delighted that this girl is cheerleading and accepted by her schoolmates ... but the viral hoopla that surrounded the circulation of the story and mushroomed into escalating efforts by the school leave us a bit unsettled. We look forward to a day when standing up for people with disabilities will be standard operating procedure, not medal-worthy; wonder why inspiring stories about people with disabilities so often star people without; worry about what happens when all the attention dies down; and hope folks realize that just hitting "share" on that heartwarming post doesn't mean you're off the hook for the things you do that are less than inclusive and accepting.

Next, we looked at the way some parents have sought to get themselves off the hook with fellow airline passengers by distributing apology goodie-bags before their baby even starts wailing in midair. We talked about the need for people to get over being angry about crying babies already; the much-worse people that try our patience in flight; the impossibility of actually getting it together to do such a Pinterest-y thing; and the appeal of doing things to make people feel like heels for complaining about you.

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week: Catherine liked a post on Parent Hacks about getting older kids to do chores; Amanda mentioned an article she wrote about "8 Steps for Helping Third and Fourth Graders Become Self-Advocates"; Nicole again invited listeners to join her and Terri for the Inclusive Class podcast; and Terri had a suggestion for a more useful thing to share on Facebook if you want to support kids with special needs, and some real-world things to follow up with.

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.)

What kind of entertainment do you enjoy with your kids? For Catherine, it's audiobooks, chosen to fill long car trips with something more appropriate and adult-friendly than Top 40 radio. Among those she and her kids have listened to and enjoyed are the Harry Potter series; the Origami Yoda series and Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger; the Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo; The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (kind of a Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for younger readers); and Every Day by David Levithan.

Terri wishes she had something similarly noble and educational to talk about, but getting kids to read or even listen to books has always been more struggle than sharing in her house. The entertainment she and her daughter have been enjoying together is Dancing With the Stars, ABC's sparkly and silly "dance competition" featuring "celebrities" and a vast array of sequins and tiny outfits. She gives her thoughts on the current lineup of alleged stars, names her early favorites, commisserates with good dad Bruce Willis, considers Julianne's violation of the 10-Point Comfort Scale, and gives everybody a good excuse for watching: It's really about inclusion, y'all!

Share your favorite audiobooks, DWTS contestants, or other kid-parent entertainment choices in the comments. And if you're reading this description somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)

For this week's podcast, our friend Kathy Ceceri subbed in for Amanda, who was busy at SXSWedu, for a chat on standardized testing, pushing your kid, and all those things schools and parents are doing wrong. And since it's Friday the 13th, our recording was unluckily haunted by a variety of unwanted sounds, including answering-machine messages and my son talking to his computer. But no dogs barking! Catherine's dogs outsourced the disturbances.

As for the part of the podcast we really do want you to listen to, we discussed those all-too-frequent standardized tests, the anxiety they cause for kids, the complications of opting out, and what value standardized evaluations have for non-standardized kids. Next, we chatted about the various ways parents try to motivate kids to do well, if not on standardized tests then on report cards and in college and in life. We considered the merits of bribing, rewarding, pushing, and letting kids set their own goals and hoping for the best. Of course, if your child's future path isn't clear to you, it's not so easy to know which way to push or pull.

Finally, we made our recommendations for the week: Catherine shared a post on Alphamom about the difference between rewards and bribes and her own post on helping kids compete to excel rather than compete to beat; Kathy mentioned a Cognoscenti post on why it might not really matter what college your child goes to that got some attention on her All About Homeschooling Facebook page; Nicole said you really should be listening to the Inclusive Class podcast, which has enough episodes waiting in the archives to last you quite a while; and Terri suggested some questions to ask about standardized tests, an article that takes Dancing With the Stars way too seriously, and an interview with a regular watch by Linda Holmes on NPR's Monkey See blog.

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.)

Ellen Seidman, who blogs about parenting children with special needs at Love That Max, joined Terri for a chat about the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign from Special Olympics and the reasons we really really wish folks would stop using the R-word. We talked about our amazement that this is a word people want so badly to hang onto; recalled Ellen's articles on confronting people on Twitter, asking people you know to stop, and finding the word in current kid's literature; and referred listeners to Terri's list of 225 alternatives to the word (because we're not asking you to be a nicer human being, we're just asking you to use a different word when you're slinging insults).

If you're unfamiliar with the R-word campaign, do visit the website R-word.org, look through their materials and videos, and take the pledge. If you have, please help us spread the word (maybe make it your next social-media campaign.)

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

Serial seems to have made podcasts popular in a whole new way, but some of us have been listening to them all along. Catherine and Terri discuss their favorites, particulary Pop Culture Happy Hour, which is the model for our Parenting Roundabout group chats and the mutually loved podcast that got Catherine and Terri talking about pop culture for these Round 2 eps in the first place. They chatted about their PCHH fandom; Catherine talked about the aforementioned Serial (as well as the SNL spoof of it embedded at left and an article about celebrities sharing their theories); and Terri went on a bit about the many podcasts she listens to and enjoys, even if she never actually gets a chance to take in all the pop culture they're talking about, including Firewall and Iceberg, Extra Hot Great, the Nerdist Writer's Panel, WTF with Marc Maron, By the Way with Jeff Garlin, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, Ask Me Another, and Try It, You'll Like It. What podcasts are you loving these days? Share in the comments, and be sure that you've subscribed to ours so that you'll get all of our group chats and additional mini-podcasts.

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

Getting organized seems to be tougher and tougher these days, with our schedules getting busier and busier, and more and more tech tools to help out in ways that require full days of programming and entering info. We discussed the allure of collecting pretty datebooks, the tech we've tried and adapted to our own needs (including Day One, Wunderlist, SimpleNote, iCal, and Evernote, which we don't quite know what to do with), our favorite low-tech tricks, and the proper orientation of days on a wall calendar.

Then we moved on to the current trend of formally announcing things like births, deaths, engagements, weddings, and other major life milestones online, rather than the old-fashioned phone chain or snail-mail. We shared our love of e-vites, our concerns about Facebook death notices, and our feeling that folks who miss things because they're not connected should go ahead and join us in the 21st century.

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week. Amanda was too swamped by the events she has to organize for this week to come up with something, but Catherine recommended an upcoming documentary on obesity as well as the film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day; Nicole shared her organization-apropos article on "10 Simple Tools to Help with Executive Functioning in the Classroom"; and Terri really thinks you should go right now and download NPR's Austin 100, which did indeed come out the day after we recorded and is available through April 2. (Did she mention that it's 100 free songs?)

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.)

Parting from your TV friends at the end of a season is never easy, but when you'll have to wait a long year to see them again, as with Catherine's favorite Downton Abbey, or there'll never be another new episode, as with Terri's favorite Parks and Recreation, it's especially hard to say goodbye. For this week's Round 2, we chatted about those season and series endings. Catherine celebrated some plot developments in this Downton season while wondering why others are still, still, still going on, and looked forward to following promising developments waaaay down the road in January. Terri bravely held back tears while talking about the super-sweet, upbeat, hopeful, and time-hopping Parks final episode and season, and the value of finding your team of pop-culture soulmates with whom you can celebrate shows that the wider world ignores.

If you just can't get enough of these series, Catherine recommends the recaps of Downton Abbey at Go Fug Yourself, and Terri recommends HitFix's huge batch of articles to see off Parks and Rec, as well as the epic YouTube/Twitter battle between Linda Holmes (@nprmonkeysee) and Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall), with the great Rob Lowe line from "Flu Season" as the equivalent of crying uncle.

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

Who's the go-to parent in your home? A Huffington Post article on being the default parent got us talking about who wears the responsibility in our families, and a couple of us actually admitted to being backup parents at least part of the time. We chatted about how work schedules influence responsibility-taking, pondered the impact of adoption and step-families on traditional roles, felt for dads who don't get respect when they're in default mode, and wondered why the parent not in charge of logistics can never seem to remember when activities begin and end.

Next, we looked at the names we're called and the names others expect to hear. Other people's kids calling us mom? Okay. Other adults calling us mom? So very not. We took some time to rant about pet name-calling peeves and agreed that it's important to call people what they want to be called even if you think it's silly. But you can still talk about them on a podcast.

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week. Catherine was smiling about a New Mom Tech list of "11 Instagram accounts to follow that start your day off happy"; Amanda urged default and backup parents to follow her recommendations on "Ditching Good Cop, Bad Cop: How to Put Up a United Parenting Front"; Nicole pointed readers toward Huffington Post Parents, which is full of interesting topics for parents (and podcasters) even if it is a little click-bait-y; and Terri suggested checking out The Inspired Treehouse and Lemon Lime Adventures for all your snow-day bored-kid entertainment ideas.

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.)

During our Oscars live-tweet, Kathy Ceceri mentioned her appreciation of Best Animated Feature winner Big Hero 6 for its good depiction of robots, and we thought that deserved more than a tweet's worth of talk. In this week's Round 3, Kathy tells us about the film (in case, like Terri, you haven't seen it), shares a little about the real robots behind the ones onscreen, and gives parents some idea of the kind of projects you can find in her book Making Simple Robots and her website, craftsforlearning.com. To follow along with the balloon-muscle project she mentions on the podcast, see "Make a Robotic Balloon Muscle" on the Make: website.

Read more on robotics from Kathy:

+ "Resistance is Futile: Harvard’s Kilobot Swarm Keeps Fellow Robots in Line"
+ Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future with 20 Projects
+ "5 Real Robots Made from Everyday Stuff"

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

The video at left is not Neil Patrick Harris's opening number from the 2015 Oscars. It is his opening number from the 2013 Tonys, a spectacle so glorious that for Terri's money, it gives him a "Get Out of Jail Free" card in perpetuity for any hosting gig that is less than stellar. After live-tweeting the 2015 Oscars, Catherine and Terri got together to chat about whether this behemoth benefits from having a host at all, whether we really want to hear winners talk and talk, how cool the graphics were, how frustrating the parenthesis situation is in Birdman's subtitle, whether we really needed Lady Gaga and The Sound of Music so far along in an endless show, why John Travolta should really probably just stay home, and of course, the dresses in all their cleavage-baring, peek-a-booing, impossible-to-sit-in glory. You can read our live-tweet in the post right below this on the Parenting Roundabout blog, and Catherine also recommends this Birdman parody from the Independent Spirit Awards, although the showing of the Oscar winner she describes in the podcast sounds pretty fun too.

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

With the entertainment extravaganza of the Oscars coming up on Sunday (speaking of which, follow our live-tweet at #OscarsPRP), we took on a couple of pop-culture topics in this week's group chat. First, we forayed into the adult-unfriendly territory of tween TV, inspired by a New York Times column on the awfulness of Nickelodeon's Bella and the Bulldogs. We chatted about whether the show's premise (a girl on a boy's football team? what?!) is still valid, why the same tropes keep coming up in children's and adult programming, exactly how realistic our grown-up shows really are, and the possibility that you can think too much about what your tweens are watching.

Then we turned from TV to movies with a look at Entertainment Weekly's list of 55 movies all kids must watch before they turn 13 or forever be confused by pop-culture references (so no pressure there, 12-year-olds). It looks like our kids won't be having many in-depth conversations with EW writers, because based on this we didn't do too well with the cultural indoctrination. Still, we chatted about kids finding the entertainment they like, judging our entertainmentment faves by their own standards (as a Huffington Post writer did to Amanda's beloved Sixteen Candles), and moving the cultural conversation to things like vlogging, old-timer. (But if you do still want to try for indoctrination, why not check out Pop Culture Happy Hour's list of ways to turn your toddler into a nerd instead?)

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week: Catherine celebrated efforts to fight childhood obesity; Amanda looked forward to our Oscars live tweet (did we mention, #OscarsPRP?) and to rooting for her cousin in the best adapted screenplay race; Nicole turned up a list of "10 YouTube Stars Your Kids Love" to get you started on that vlogging conversation with your youngsters; and Terri mentioned the 10-Point Comfort Scale she'll be using to judge the dresses on Oscar night (at, ahem, #OscarsPRP).

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.)

For this week's entertainment-themed Round 2 podcast, Catherine and Terri chatted about the star-studded Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special that took over NBC this past Sunday night. Though they both missed the red-carpet portion (red-carpet portion? really?), Catherine recorded and watched most of the special, while Terri dipped in and out of it and caught up with online clips. They mentioned some likes and dislikes about the special, reminisced about Saturday Night Live of old, and generally wondered if this is really where anybody would have expected the scruffy disrespectful comedy show that started during Terri's high-school years to end up. (To watch clips that Terri mentioned, you can find Paul Simon in his turkey suit on Vimeo and John Belushi talking about feeding fingertips to the wolverines on Yahoo!)

Speaking of over-hyped self-congratulatory star-studded entertainment, we'll be live-tweeting the Oscars on Sunday, and hope you'll join us. Look for the hashtag #OscarsPRP, and study up on Terri's 10-Point Comfort Scale for Oscar dresses to get in the mood for our red-carpet commentary.

(If you're reading this description somewhere without hyperlinks, 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.)

For this week's Round 2, Terri and Catherine looked at entertainment related to Valentine's Day, which (warning to the unprepared) is coming up this weekend. Catherine gave a thumbs-up review to The Hundred-Foot Journey, with a couple of romances making it worthy Valentine's viewing. Catherine and Terri both gave a squeamish thumbs-down to the idea of seeing 50 Shades of Grey in a movie theater with people or really anywhere or even the trailers or the book or really, can we just scrub it out of our brains? On a sweeter note, Terri talked about the many adorable romances and friendshps on Parks and Recreation, and shared a list of her favorite love-themed episodes. And for those for whom Valentine's Day is a little melancholy, Terri recommended two gorgeous recordings to wallow in: a mash-up of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" and "Style" by Louisa Wendorff and Devin Dawson, which started life as a viral video and is now available on iTunes, and the sad ballad "Just Like It Sounds" on Dawson's SoundCloud page. What are you watching, reading, or listening to this Valentine's week? Share in the comments.

(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.)

For this week's Round 2, Catherine and Terri chatted about Super Bowl commercials, including that super-buzz-kill-y Nationwide ad about how while you're watching the game, your kid's probably in the kitchen going through the hazardous chemicals. We talked about how, if you're going to run an ad that will traumatize children, you might want to not put a dog at the start of it; the difficulty of explaining that Fiat ad to kids; the halftime show starring lip-synching sharks; and the fun of watching the ads with Twitter accompaniment (shout-outs to @parksandrecnbc, @TheTonyAwards, and this tweet from Time columnist James Poniewozik). To view the ads we talked about, follow the links below, and then tell us in the comments what you liked and loathed.

Nationwide | Nissan (Cat's in the Cradle) | Fiat | Toyota (Amy Purdy) | Microsoft | McDonald's | GoDaddy | Always | Budweiser | Clash of Clans (Liam Neeson) | Snickers (Brady Bunch) | Jublia (Toenail Fungus) | Cure Auto Insurance | Loctite | Coke

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.