Mugs. Matchbooks. Mickey Mouse ears. Snowmen. "Tiny cups." Dust. These are just some of the things we've collected. Do you have a collection you're proud of — or just unable to part with? Comment on our Facebook page.

Dancing With the Stars is starting to get real -- well, not real, like having anything to do with real life, but real like people who you wish would stay around longer are being sent home. Catherine and Terri chat about this week's dances and gimmicks and hailstorm of 10s, and then move on to a more dignified competition — the Tony Awards — for which the nominations have recently been announced. Out of a large field of musicals and plays they've never seen, they're pretty excited for Hamilton, the cast album of which Terri has played so many times that her kids are about ready to take away her iPhone. Next, they continue their Parks and Recreation marathon with four season 5 episodes — "Sex Education," "Halloween Surprise," "Ben's Parents," and "Leslie vs. April" — and follow along with the West Wing Weekly podcast by watching and discussing Season 1's "The State Dinner." If you're watching along too, up next are Parks and Rec eps "Pawnee Commons," "Ron and Diane," "Two Parties," and "Women and Garbage," and the West Wing ep "Enemies."

What makes for a memorable college class? Getting to make things? Meeting famous authors? Sitting in a dark room watching slides? The opportunity to memorize a ridiculously lengthy poem? for today's Speed Round, we share some college classes we still remember as special. Which ones still stick in your head? Share on our Facebook page.

Inspired by a Tweet from Shonda Rhimes suggesting that 60 percent of people have slept holding their mobile phones, we thought we'd find out if that statistic held up with our Parenting Roundabout crew. Have you ever nestled down to sleep with your cell phone? Comment on our Facebook page.

From the land of noisy trucks, stalled construction projects, deadlines, and book-completion euphoria we come to you for our weekly chat. Here's a road map to our conversation:

0:48 Intros and What's New With You — Woohoo! Nicole finished her book! Let's pretend it won't be coming back to her soon with changes to deal with and just celebrate her newfound spare time!

4:22 Our Favorite Teachers — In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we call out some educators who have particularly impressed us, both in our ancient days of going to school ourselves and in more recent years as teachers of our children. 

14:10 What We Really Want for Mother's Day — Spreading the appreciation around a little, Sunday is Mother's Day, and we've got some ideas as to what we'd really like to get. But is this anything we can actually tell our families? And would they be able to indulge us in that anyway?

22:06 Interview of the Week — Catherine chats with pediatric OT Meghan Corridan about transitioning kids from school to summer. Have you made your summer bucket list yet?

31:31 Shameless Self-Promotion — Amanda shared an interview she did for the NH Children’s Trust “My Voice Matters” campaign; Terri channeled a comments-inspired tantrum into a blog post on the R-word; Nicole has more ideas on things parents should do before the school year ends; and Catherine has articles on her VeryWell site on having an active summer, keeping bored kids busy, and preventing summer weight gain.

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.

Don't be calling us hoarders! That there is an heirloom! Even if it does look like an ancient typewriter, or a dusty teapot, or a grizzly-bear part. Show some respect! And tell us all about your family heirlooms, in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

Summer movie season will soon be upon us, or at least those of us who haven't replaced "catch the newest release in the theaters!" with "Netflix and chill." We have a hard time getting our enthusiasm up, so maybe we need to hear from you: What should we be excited about this summer? Comment here or on our Facebook page.

On this week's entertainment-themed Round 2, Catherine and Terri chatted about the latest episode of Dancing With the Stars and Icons and Easily Confused Paddle-Wielders; continued their Parks and Rec marathon with Season 4 closer "Win Lose or Draw" and Season 5 openers "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington," "Soda Tax," and "How a Bill Becomes a Law"; and suppressed their iTunes review envy to watch the West Wing season one ep "Mr. Willis of Ohio" with the West Wing Weekly podcast. Listen along, and if you want to marathon with us next week, we'll be discussing the P&R eps "Sex Education," "Halloween Surprise," "Ben's Parents," and "Leslie vs. April," and the WW ep "The State Dinner."

Is it getting kids to brush teeth, finding lost items, forcing breakfast consumption, general sloooooowness, or getting your own lazy butt out of bed? Listen to our morning challenges and then confess your own in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

A few months ago, when Terri was engaged in her annual Lenten coffee fast, we chatted about things we could give up for a while if we knew we'd get 'em back. Today, we go hard-core and talk about things we'd have the hardest time giving up forever, and while in truth the answer would certainly be our families and maybe also wifi, that's not where our heads went in the moment. Listen to find out what immediately came to mind, and share your own never-give-it-up stuff in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

Through snow and carpooling and book finishing and bad parenting karma we struggled to bring you this group chat. Here's our road-map of what we discussed, for your fast-forwarding convenience:

0:44 Intros and What's New With You — Nicole is chewing her toast during our podcast, not chewing her toes. An important distinction.

2:19 Keeping Caregivers Informed — When we heard about Little Peanut on the Go, an app that facilitates sharing of information with babysitters and other caregivers (including grandparents, if they're app-friendly), it got us thinking about how we communicated with our kids' sitters back in the dark ages when you had to rely on whiteboards and didn't have to worry about wifi.

14:44 Keeping Schools Informed — Speaking of the free flow of information, how come schools still send you home 100 pieces of paper at the start of the school year? Shouldn't we be able to fill out forms online? And get texts and e-mails instead of handouts? And act like our kids are going to school in the 21st century? Is there an app for that?

26:55 Interview of the Week — From caregivers and schools, we move on to communicating with doctors in a chat with author and blogger Robert Rummel-Hudson about the relationships parents of kids with special needs form with our kids' doctors and specialists. (Warning: that all goes away when they become adults, alas.)

39:15 Shameless Self-Promotion — Terri mentioned a blog post about Parenting Karma; Amanda shared a colleague's infographic on the Anatomy of an Effective Email to Your Child’s Teacher; Catherine introduced the transition of her About.com site to Verywell; and ... have you heard Nicole is writing a book? It's got her kind of preoccupied. We also thanked those who've been shamelessly promoting us with iTunes stars and reviews, especially Maos and SusieMein. Keep those kudos coming, please!

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.

The work being done on one of Catherine's bathrooms has made a cameo appearance on a few of our podcasts, between the noise and the reflecting on Bluetooth ceiling fans. Will the rest of us be providing similar accompaniment? Listen to our home project plans and add your own in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

Middle names: we've all got 'em, but unless you're filling out a form or your mother is mad at you, they don't get used that much. We thought we'd have a chat about what our particular middle names are and whether they mean anything more than something our parents came up with just to, well, fill out a form. If your middle name has a story, share it in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

On this week's entertainment-themed podcast, Catherine and Terri wonder why people can't just dance on a dancing show, who should be cast in Catherine's latest book-club book, when Leslie Knope's council campaign will ever be over, and why we can't all age like Rob Lowe. Want to fast-forward through some of that? Here's your guide:

0:26: Dancing With the Stars — It's Iconic Dances Night, and it's pretty clear that they're using "iconic dances" with the same air quotes as "stars." 

14:52 Catherine's Book Club Report — Catherine read The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo and gives us a quick review.

19:56 Parks and Recreation Marathon — This week, we discussed the Season 4 episodes "Lucky," "Live Ammo," "The Debate," and "Bus Trip." Up next week: "Win, Lose, or Draw," "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington," "Soda Tax," and "How a Bill Becomes a Law." Watch along with us!

27:37 The West Wing — We're watching along with The West Wing Weekly podcast and discuss "The Crackpots and These Women" right along with them. Up next: "Mr. Willis of Ohio."

Sure, it's fashionable to diss fast food as fatty and non-nutritious, but that doesn't stop us from wanting a really gross cheeseburger from time to time. Where do you go when you've just gotta have some fries, some tacos, some 1,000-calorie salad? Find out our fast-food faves and share your own in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

Hey, look alive! This podcast is too short to be boring. But we do talk about boring things in it — specifically, the things that make us bored. Like uni-tasking. Listening to people talk. Watching other people's video games. Sitting still. If you're still awake when we're done, tell us what bores you in the comments here or on our Facebook page..

Since carpooling schedules so often interfere with our efforts to schedule podcast recording times, we thought we'd take some time today to talk about carpooling instead of doing it, and throw in some thoughts about other things we remember from our long-ago childhoods. Here's a road-map of our conversation:

01:12 Intros and What's New With You — Does the five-second rule apply to licking up delicious things you've accidentally dripped onto your electronic devices? Discuss.

02:57 Carpooling (or Unpaid Uber) — While Catherine does more carpooling than the rest of us combined, we all have traumatic stories to share about driving carpool now or riding in carpool then.

14:53 Those Were the Days — Thoughts of being squished in the backseat with kids you don't like got us remembering more pleasant things about childhood, like eating disgusting food and spending money on silly things and reading all day and generally having no responsibilities at all.

24:46 Interview of the Week — An experience with an apparently unsavory book and a determination to get kids to read no matter what inspired Catherine and Terri to use this week's segment for a little chat on whatever works. Listen to more of their conversations on pop culture on Parenting Roundabout Round 2.

35:28 Shameless Self-Promotion — Catherine has an article for you carpool fanatics on dealing with dinnertime when you're never home for dinnertime; Terri has rescued her old "Love Notes for Special Parents" messages and given them a home on her Mothers With Attitude site; Amanda suggests grabbing her book On-the-Go Fun for Kids and bringing it on your next carpool adventure; and Nicole invites you to visit her Instagram account.

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.

Given the convenience of online correspondence, we're getting less and less interested in dealing with paper and envelopes. Is snail mail still a major part of your friend-contacting and bill-paying? And if so, can you lend us a stamp?

When teens and young adults have setbacks in getting a job or keeping a job or tolerating a job, parents need some sage advice to help them stay the course and understand that this is what it's like to be a grown-up, kid. But maybe you need something a little more meaningful than that? We share some words of work wisdom, and welcome yours in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

We've got four shows to discuss on this week's entertainment episode of Parenting Roundabout. In case you want to fast-forward over stuff you don't watch or care about, here's a road map through the episode:

0:27 Dancing With the Stars — It was Switch-Up Night on DWTS, and also "Can't anybody do their dang job?" night, as pros failed to choreograph their assigned dances, judges forgot how to hold up the correct paddle, and producers forgot that if you don't even pretend that the scores aren't predetermined, people are going to catch on.

11:54 The People v. O. J. Simpson — So we're a little late in following up on Catherine's initial review of this with a final opinion on the whole thing, but we no longer live in a pop-culture environment where time has meaning, right?

16:19 Parks and Recreation marathon — Our viewing continues with the Season 4 episodes "Operation Ann," "Dave Returns," "Sweet Sixteen," and "Campaign Shake-Up," continuing the generally campaign-centric second half of the season that Terri feels decidedly meh about. The campaigning continues in our episodes for next week, "Lucky," "Live Ammo," "The Debate," and "Bus Tour."

22:35 The West Wing — We're also watching episodes of The West Wing to keep up with the new West Wing Weekly podcast, and so we took a moment here at the end of our ep to chat about "Five Votes Down" and look enthusiastically forward to next week's "The Crackpots and These Women."

We're all lucky enough to work at home, as freelancers or remote-based workers, and that's all kinds awesome when it comes to being able to wear comfortable clothes and tend to your kids and record podcasts. But do we ever miss anything about an actual defined workplace that we could go to and come home from? Listen to our list of things we still long for a little, and share what you miss or would miss in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

It's no secret that the four of us spend way too much time hanging out on the Internet, enjoying the excellent procrastination opportunities that social media affords us. But what about our spouses? Are they similarly Internet-friendly? Or are they resolutely unplugged? We give our answers and you can too, in the comments here or on our Facebook page..

Can parents ever stop worrying? Ever, ever, ever? And should we be worrying about not having friends to worry with? And why does Catherine's bathroom fan need bluetooth? These and other questions occupy us on this week's Parenting Roundabout group chat. Here's a road map of our conversation:

0:54 Introduction and What's New With You — As you may hear from the periodic pounding in the background while we were recording, Catherine's having some work done in her house. And it turns out the reason you need bluetooth in the bathroom fan is because it has speakers in it. We live in an age of wonders.

5:44: Is There a Parenting Finish Line? — A tragic story from Terri's old hometown got us thinking about the fact that you can never stop worrying about your kids, no matter how much you want to. Is there ever a moment where your child is successfully delivered to adulthood and you can retire from parenting? We'd like to think so, but we have our doubts we'll ever break that tape.

15:53 Friends IRL — As four friends who met online and mostly interact there, we wonder whether non-virtual friendship is something people still do ... and why, since you've probably already read everything your friend has to say on Facebook.

28:24 Interview of the Week — Amanda called in sick to the podcast last week, and this week she chats with her husband, Jon, about that particular parental hell of having the entire family sick at the same time. Of course, having kids with special needs only up the degree of difficulty.

38:57 Shameless Self-Promotion — Terri shared a blog post on "Inclusion's Chris Traeger Problem"; Amanda has some parent-child behavior contracts for you; Catherine wrote about adventure parks; and Nicole is promoting an online course for people who want to say yes to inclusion and mean it.

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.

When things aren't going well, sometimes all you need is a little chocolate to make things right. Or a pedicure. Or maybe a latte? We share our go-to feel-better strategies on today's Speed Round. (And if you didn't get the Tom Haverford reference, this YouTube clip will explain. Seems like maybe you need to join our Round 2 Parks and Recreation marathon, too.) Share what cheers you up in the comments here or on our Facebook page.

The Internet is all about the should, and goodness knows we try to be trendy, so when Catherine saw a Tweet from About.com Health that asked, "Name one healthy food you know you should eat, but you just don't like the way it tastes,” she thought that would be a fine Speed Round question too. Is there something healthy you abhor? Comment here or on our Facebook page.