Spot the lie

Plus: How to fake a clean house

Hi, everyone! We’re very much in the “who cares if the person next to me at spin knows my leggings are Amazon and not Lululemon” phase of life, but someone better check on the kids. Apparently, their newest obsession is cosplaying as rich people. The closest we’ve come to that trend is when we snuck into [REDACTED FOR LEGAL REASONS]. Those were the days.

Teens + Conspiracy Theories = 🤯

Source: Neuroscience News

Turns out your kids might be worse off than your in-laws, at least when it comes to falling victim to misinformation. According to a new study, teens are way more likely to believe online conspiracy claims than adults.

  • 60% of 13–17-year-old Americans surveyed agreed with four or more harmful conspiracy statements…compared with just 49% of adults.

  • And for teens who spend 4+ hours a day on any single social media platform, the figure jumps to 69%.

We already knew that social media was bad for our kids’ mental health on an individual level, but now it could have major consequences on a societal level, what with fake news on TikTok and artificial intelligence on…well, everything. Want to talk about media literacy with your family? Start here.

Kids Giving You Anxiety?

Boy, have we been there. You love your kids so much that you get a knot in your stomach any time you even think about something going sideways for them. Over on our discussion board for our Common Parent community, someone brought up feeling anxious about their teen starting a new job—they hadn’t heard from their kid on how things were going. And because they have the parent gene…they assume the worst.

Ever been there? Got any advice, even if it’s no news is good news? Tell us what you think—because it takes a village, and we’re all neighbors here.

Did We Raise Business Geniuses?

Taylor and Olivia are basically the next Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Our daughters created their very own box with the Canadian mother-daughter founded company Ruby Crate…and it’s selling out.

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. Even when their rooms are a mess, they’re chic.

The box is over 80% sold out so we’d get to getting if we were you—do that right here. And since you’re a newsletter subscriber, you can use the code TAYLIVI15 to get 15% off. 👑

We Need to Talk About Inequality in Student Athletics

Because this is crazy. A recent study by Harvard and Brown University economists found that recruited student athletes at elite colleges disproportionately come from super duper rich families.

  • One in eight admitted students from the top 1% (aka families with incomes over $611,000) was a recruited athlete. For the bottom 60%? Just one in 20 admitted students.

  • And athletes were 4x more likely to be admitted than regular applicants with the same qualifications.

Translation: There’s a pay-to-play double standard in college admissions that favors wealthy kids. We think everyone should be a little more peeved about this, especially if you’re about to be lugging football, volleyball, and hockey gear around all school year long.

The perfect recs to match the hodge podge vibe of this end-of-summer, back-to-school madness when you don’t know what day it is, whose pickup is when, or what friends are doing what with who. Enter: a grab bag of useful things to keep in your back pocket.

We ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up all the time (drink every time they say rock star or veterinarian). But when was the last time you genuinely asked your teen or tween what kind of life path excited them? Try it out, and be sure to really, honestly listen to what they tell you. They’re dreaming of their futures, so why not join in on the fun with them?

—Cat & Nat