The study every boy mom needs to see

This has been one of those weeks. Heavy in Canada, heavy in our group chats, heavy in that way where you're scrolling the news with one eye and packing camp lunches with the other, trying to hold both at once. We don't always know what to say in weeks like this except that we feel it too and we're here anyway.

And underneath all of that, a realization has been creeping in this week… one of our oldest kids is heading to university this fall, and between finalizing course selections and ordering that dorm room duvet, it stopped being a someday thing and started being a real thing. Like, this-house-is-about-to-get-so-quiet real. We keep catching ourselves mid-conversation just staring at them a little longer than necessary. If you've got a kid on the edge of leaving, or even just growing up faster than you're ready for, we're right there with you. It's a weird, tender kind of sad that nobody really warns you about.

So in between the big feelings, life (and the algorithms) kept moving. Here's what's happening in our kids' digital world this week

Spotify just gave free users a real parental control option

Spotify announced this week that parent-managed accounts, the feature that lets you control what your kid listens to, are no longer locked behind a paid Family Plan. Families in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, and the Netherlands can now set one up for free. It works by creating a separate account for your child that's linked to yours but doesn't touch your algorithm or show up in your Wrapped, so no more mysteriously curated "kids' music" ruining your December recap. Explicit content is blocked by default, video playback is off, and the more social features, like Messages, aren't available to kids on managed accounts either.

What you can do about it is pretty simple. If you already have a Family Plan (and now, even if you don't):

• Open the Spotify app.

• Go to your account page.

• Tap Add a Member.

• Choose the option for a listener under 13.

• You'll walk through setting a display name and content preferences for your kid, and you can go back in and adjust things any time.

It's one of those small, unglamorous wins that just makes one corner of your kid's digital life a little safer without a fight. If you want the same kind of walk-through for the apps and settings that actually matter most, our Screen Sense Guide breaks down exactly which controls to prioritize across every device your kid touches, not just the obvious ones.

A new study is linking heavy social media use to rising ADHD symptoms in boys

A new study tracked more than 11,000 kids across the US from about age 12 to 16, and found when a boy's addictive social media use went up one year, his ADHD symptoms tended to rise the year after, especially around ages 14 and 15. The researchers describe “addictive use” as feeling like you can't stop, even when you want to. This isn't saying social media causes ADHD, and the researchers are careful about that distinction too. But the pattern held up enough that it's worth us paying attention to, particularly for parents of boys in that early-to-mid teen window.

We share this not to cause anyone to panic. We share it to encourage all parents to notice any interesting patterns. Pay attention less to how many hours your kid is online and more to whether they seem unable to put the phone down even when they say they want to. Open conversations about what keeps pulling them back in, whether it's a specific app, a group chat, or just boredom with nothing else to do, tend to land better than blanket restrictions. And if attention and focus already feel like a struggle at home or school, it's worth mentioning the social media piece to whoever's already supporting your kid, whether that's a teacher, pediatrician, or therapist, so it's part of the fuller picture.

Can we talk about how it's still July? Like, technically, we have weeks of summer left. And yet we’re already seeing the ads we hate to see coming…back-to-school supply lists, uniform sales, that one commercial with the parents dancing down the aisle while the kids look devastated. We saw the first one this week and just sat there like, excuse me?

If you're already starting to think ahead (even if you don't want to be), we shared a post on Instagram about on the digital skills every kid should have locked down before the enter high school. If you’ve got a kid in that boat, it’s worth a read or save before September sneaks up on us.

So if you saw a back-to-school ad before you were ready, just know we felt that one too. There's still time. We're not doing the countdown yet. We're choosing to live in the summer moment for a few more weeks, and we recommend you do the same!

—Cat & Nat