Robert Decelis/Photodisc/Getty Images Once your kids hit a certain age, you become an expert in the social complexities of children’s birthday parties. Who you “have to” invite, how much to spend on the gift, when you should arrive, whether you should stay or go as a parent. But a recent post on Reddit’s popular Parenting subreddit is a new one for even the most veteran parent. “I’m just wondering if this seems odd,” writes user Tricky-Sport-139 (we’ll call them Tricky). “Maybe this is a new thing kids are doing?” She explains that she got an invitation for a birthday party...
Did Your Parents Pick You Up From School On 9/11?
TikTok We all remember where we were on September 11th. Me? I was in 7th-grade history class. And yes, I was one of those kids who watched everything live. My teacher (history, c’mon) turned on the TV in the classroom right after news started to circulate, and we watched some of the most horrific moments in our nation’s history. At 12 years old, this is pretty…intense! And while nowadays, we know that would never fly, it was a pretty canon event for kids in school on that day. At my school, the administration let kids go to the office and...
Maternal Mortality Rates Were Up Slightly In 2024
NineLives/E+/Getty Images Preliminary data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that the U.S. maternal mortality rate — already the worst among so-called developed countries — rose last year after post-pandemic decreases in 2022 and 2023. All told, 19 more pregnant people and new mothers died in 2024 than the year before. While the data is not finalized and the increase nowhere near the sharp uptick in deaths from 2020 to 2021, some experts fear national trends may only make this statistic more grim in years to come. Preliminary data from the CDC found 688 pregnancy related...
This Mom Wants Us To Normalize Low-Commitment Kids Sports
TikTok / @littleredschoolhouseco It’s May, or, if you signed your kid up for any spring or year-round extracurricular, it’s hell month. Days without practice or rehearsals are few and far between, and every weekend seems like it’s an away game — or, even worse, a tournament. This level of commitment doesn’t even seem to be reserved for the big kids anymore — U8 town soccer practically carries as many obligations as a D1 team these days. And one mom on TikTok says that it’s high time for parents to put their foot down. “I think we need to normalize kids...