Balloons go hand-in-hand with celebrations. Kids are all over them. So, it felt like a no-brainer to do our next playdate at the Balloon Museum. The Balloon Museum opened Let’s Fly in Atlanta this spring and runs through June 9th. They have more locations in the US and internationally.
Continue readingAuthor: Patti Webb
Things I Learned on TikTok
Very apropos considering Tuesday’s Netflix post and that TikTok might be getting banned. Maybe not so apropos considering one of my Resolutions is cutting screen time…
There are so many parenting influencers (we do consider ourselves one), and all of those accounts, commentaries and opinions contribute to a lot of parenting noise. What may have started as a mindless scroll to turn your brain off, might end up with you questioning your parenting choices, feeling like you have to buy every product under the sun, or leave you genuinely scared for this generation.
And it doesn’t stop at parenting noise. Similar to spending hours on a video game or bingeing on the couch, once you stop, you’re like “Where did my life go?”. You end up dysregulated, feeling lazy, and asking yourself “Did I really need to watch 20 minutes of wild Karen encounters?”
In my infinite scrolling last fall, an ad showed up about turning your screen time into microlearning. Of course, I’m not going to pay for whatever app or course they are trying to promote, but it did make me reconsider the types of content I’ve been consuming.
Continue readingPodcast Playlist: March 2024
We’re throwing in another installment of Podcast Playlist pre-Spring Break. It’s been quite a haul to get through all these blog posts, leading up to our two-week Spring Blog Break. So if you are hitting the road for warmer climes or enjoying a staycation with your kids, download a couple of these parenting podcast episodes and see if you like them.
Continue readingThings We Loved: February 2024
We are in the doldrums of winter, but we know things are going to switch gears very quickly. Just a reminder in case you were “waiting for things to slow down.” We hope buying packs of class valentine cards didn’t sneak up on you too badly. Now that the love is over, here are the Things We Loved.
Child(ish) Reads: How to Raise a Healthy Gamer
I usually don’t have two book reviews this close…
I received an advance copy of How to Raise a Healthy Gamer and was planning on saving it for May when we have a whole week talking only about video games. I’m only about 70% done with this book, but I think the psychology and framework can be applied to other things besides gaming.
Author Dr. Alok Kanojia introduces himself as a former video game-addicted undergrad who got kicked out of UT Austin for skipping nearly all of his classes. Kanojia then went to a monastery in India when he realized he did indeed have a problem. There, he learned the power of the mind to control his own thoughts (in addition to yoga, meditation and Reiki) and returned to college. He now has a medical degree in Psychiatry.
In addition to being a therapist, Kanojia owns a mental health coaching company called Healthy Gamer that provides resources to overcome video game addiction. The book, How to Raise a Healthy Gamer: End Power Struggles, Break Bad Screen Habits, and Transform Your Relationship with Your Kids, helps parents understand modern video game addiction and work with their kids to create a plan to establish healthy gaming boundaries. It publishes March 12 and is available for pre-order.
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Child(ish) Advice 