How to not lose your sh*t

Hello everyone! Here’s your regularly scheduled reminder that that “grownup” underwear you bought after college graduation isn't supposed to last you into your kids’ teen years. Just buy yourself a new bra (or four) and call it a worthwhile investment in you.

P.S. Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.

The Women’s World Cup = Teachable Moment 

Soccer players at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which kicked off late last week, will on average earn just 25 cents for every dollar earned by men at their World Cup last year. And believe it or not that’s an improvement—in 2019, it was less than eight cents per dollar. Our eyes just rolled out of our heads.

But there’s a lesson here. Elite women athletes should be paid fairly. And your kids, no matter how they identify, should be able to see that. This year’s Women’s World Cup is a great excuse to 1) talk about gender pay gaps and 2) rewatch the documentary LFG about the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team's ongoing fight for equal pay.

This Isn’t Fake News

But trust us, there’s plenty out there. Did you know: Streaming services are now more watched than cable, according to a new survey from Nielsen. YouTube alone accounts for nearly 9% of all TV usage.

These days, “I saw this TikTok” is leaps and bounds more common than “I read it in the Encyclopedia Britannica” (#TBT). But how can we trust everything we see on streamers and social media sites? We can’t.

So: It’s important to teach kids media literacy. You can start teaching your kids about what’s real and what’s not on the internet by talking about how viral misinformation online takes shape and learning about what they can do when they see something fishy. Because discerning kids are cool kids!

The Perfect Gift for Your Teen Girls

Can we take a moment to say how proud we are of our daughters? Taylor and Olivia created their very own box with the Canadian mother-daughter founded company Ruby Crate.

It's a box for teens and tweens featuring a collection of products handpicked by our girls and Sienna, the teen co-founder of Ruby Crate. We might be biased, but we think Taylor and Olivia’s taste is unparalleled. We can’t even imagine having such a good eye when we were their age wearing scrunchies and biker shorts in a very not chic way.

Take a peek at the girls’ Ruby Crate collab and use the code TAYLIVI15 at checkout for 15% off either a single box or yearly subscription. 😍

It’s Not Stalking, We Swear

Back in our day, parents never worried about what we got up to in the summertime so long as we took our bikes, wore our helmets, and made it back by sundown. Today…different story.

So we’re kind of totally on board with sharing locations with our loved ones (and, yeah, following our teen kids). The idea that “location-sharing feels less like a privacy threat and more like an expression of affection,” as the NYT puts it, seems right to us.

What do you think?

The perfect recs to help you get over the midsummer parenting slump when everyone is one step closer to a meltdown, both literally and figuratively.

• How to get your kids moving: Try the “when and then” strategy—when your child completes a task you’ve probably asked them to do about 476 times, then they can do the thing they’ve asked you to do about 476 times.

• How to not lose your sh*t when your kids are being jerks: We’ve got the podcast for you, with Dr. Adele Lafrance and Ashley Miller, co-authors of What To Say To Kids When Nothing Seems to Work.

• How to feel seen as a very real parent: Look, we’ve all got parenting regrets. This Brooding Q&A gets real about expectations, mistakes, and course corrections.

• How to reward yourself: Because you’re trying your hardest. You deserve to kick back with a book, a bottle of wine, a night out, or all of the above.