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Make Puberty Suck Less 2023

Who’s in?

Hi to each and every one of you! So…when we had babies, everyone told us we’d miss the diaper days and toddler tantrums when our kids got older and needed us less and less. But guess what? Just like any phase of parenting, this “big kid” one has its perks. Enjoying your kids as people > losing your mind just trying to keep them alive. Trust us.

Wisconsin’s Pronouns Debate Heats Up—and Parents Are at the Center

Source: LemonTreeImages/Getty Images)

Earlier this week, a judge in southeastern Wisconsin blocked a school district’s policy of allowing students to change their names and preferred pronouns without their parents’ consent. The judge’s reasoning? Letting kids make the decisions for themselves violates the right of parents to make medical decisions for their children.

  • FYI: Legislation banning discussions about gender and sexuality in schools has been introduced in nearly half of US states.

Gender and identity? They can be complicated and emotional conversations for parents and kids, but it doesn’t have to be up to a judge to spur these kinds of convos. Read this and this for some tips on bringing it up the right way.

Petition to Make Puberty Suck Less

We’ll be the first to sign. Puberty can be a roller coaster—not the fun kind—and most of us here have been through it years ago (but we’re not saying how many years). So why does it still present so many unfair challenges and assumptions for Black teens and tweens?

We enjoyed reading this piece from licensed counselor Alisha Woodal about how to make puberty insightful and even joyful, especially for young Black women.

What to Know About Teen Suicide

Source: kwest19/BigStock

This one is a little heavy, fair warning. But it’s one of the most important conversations you could have with your teen…it’s about suicide.

Did you know: About 13% of high school girls had attempted suicide and 30% had seriously considered it in 2021. For LGBTQ+ teens, more than 20% had attempted it and 45% seriously considered it.

We’ve got to start talking to our kids about how to deal with this. Parents’ support is absolutely key to helping your kids through their own suicidal thoughts or navigating a friends’. In this interview with Stacey Freedenthal (a PhD, LCSW, suicidologist, educator, writer, psychotherapist, consultant, and speaker), we talked about creating a safe space for teens, asking questions, and knowing what resources are available. Hope you’ll give it a listen. ❤️

Is This Famous Dad onto Something?

He’s played in the Super Bowl and the World Series, but University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders is arguably getting the most attention for openly ranking his five children on a regular basis. What do we think—honest or a bit that’s gone too far?

The perfect recs to keep your teen motivated. Because it’s tough! And we had quite the discussion about it in our Common Parent group earlier this week. A mom in the crew asked for advice on keeping her super smart almost-15-year-old motivated (her phone is a major distraction, Mom said). Raise your hand if you’ve been there. Everyone, right? So let’s talk about some tactics for keeping our kids on their game, from playing sports to tidying up their room.

  • Try the game-changer “when and then” parenting approach. Tell your teen, “when your room is clean (or some other thing they refuse to do is done), then I’ll take you where you want to go (or do the thing you’ve been dying to do).”

  • Understand your teen’s brain—they really only see themselves and it can be tough for them to understand your perspective as a seasoned pro.

  • Take the time to really get why your teen seems ungrateful with this interview.

  • Consider what some of the reasons might be for your child to seem so unmotivated (spoiler alert: it’s probably not just laziness).

  • And when all else fails, take a beat and relax. You’re doing your best and that’s setting the right example—someday they’ll follow suit.

Parenting a teen or tween can feel like an onslaught of major crises and massive worries. It’s a lot of responsibility, and we’re usually too hard on ourselves. But today, we hope you’ll take a minute to enjoy all the wonderful parts of being a parent. Turn off the news, lock your phone in the cupboard, and take a good long look at the little person you’re helping to shape (they’ll call you weird for staring, but who cares?).

—Cat & Nat