The holy grail for teen dating

Hello everyone! How are we all feeling as the school year winds down? Overwhelmed? Excited? Ready for a gosh darn drink? For us, it’s all of the above. Here’s to hoping you and your family finish the year strong! 💪

Teens and Dating, Explained

Which would you rather: one more year of diapers or dealing with teens dating? We say pass the Pampers. Because navigating your kids beginning to date feels tough. It’s a tricky balancing act—you want to be an active parent and teach your children what it means to be in a fulfilling, loving relationship…but you also don’t want to be overbearing, because we all know that never ends well.

So how do you navigate teens and dating, from first crushes to first heartbreaks? Here are a few pointers:

• Listen to everything they want to share with you…with no judgment.

• Don’t betray their trust by spilling their secrets to other family members (read: your spouse).

• Ask if they want advice before launching into your “when I was your age” speech.

Want more? This expert advice is the holy grail for parents of dating teens. ❤️

Should Teen Skincare Be Outlawed?

This one’s for the parents of Sephora teens (AKA us). A California lawmaker recently proposed legislation that would ban selling certain anti-aging skincare products to kids younger than 13 years old.

• The reasoning? “Children do not need anti-aging products. Using these powerful products can result in serious harm,” lawmakers said.

• Trade associations that represent skincare brands have pushed back, suggesting a law like this is impossible to enforce and “threatens to overregulate products that are safe and essential for healthy skin care.”

We’re not sure what we think of this, TBH. On one hand, we hate that our kids think they need wrinkle creams and anti-aging serums at the ripe age of, uh, 12. But on the other hand, we can see how this might be a tough one to keep track of (hello, online shopping with mom’s credit card).

Finding Yourself in Motherhood

Remember when our kids needed us to literally survive? Those days are gone for most of us, and that shift can feel really tough. We’ve often found ourselves feeling out of a job as our kids get older and more independent. We want them to, of course! But it’s a big change.

So how do you keep from losing yourself in that major life shift? We chatted with Roxanne Francis, an award-winning Registered Social Worker, psychotherapist, and CEO of Francis Psychotherapy & Consulting Services. Roxanne gave us so much useful info about staying true to ourselves when everything is changing. Listen here 💕

If you know us, you know there’s nothing off limits. TMI doesn’t exist for us. So when it comes to talking about touchy subjects with our kids, we don’t mince words. We’re respectful, understanding, and empathetic to our kids…but we’re working on not being afraid to talk to them about anything.

So today? The perfect recs to tackle the hard stuff with your tweens and teens.

• The parent who refuses to make their kids ashamed of masturbation

• 5 ways to teach your teen about racism

• How to talk to your kids about taboo topics

• Making the most of a teachable moment…even if it’s hard

• 5 ways to address weight stigma with your teen