One of the perks of adulthood is the freedom to make our own choices. Should I head to the gym or sleep in another 30 minutes? Should I spend that birthday check or save it? Should I cook or order takeout? It’s empowering — and exhausting. So, it’s no wonder we sometimes crave hard and fast rules about parenting. Just tell me what to do. But two decades into life with social media, even the experts don’t have all the answers. Really, it all starts with one seemingly simple question: When is my child old enough to have an account?...
TikTok's Safety Tools Are Here To Help Parents With Back-To-School Stress
Parenting a teen in the digital age can be daunting. After all, most of us grew up without cell phones or social media (I, personally, am old enough to remember the thrill of getting dial-up internet in middle school), so that means we’re the first generation to have to monitor our kids’ online lives without role models for reference. We’re exploring uncharted territory, finding the balance between starting to allow our teens access to the same apps we scroll daily (like TikTok) while also wanting fiercely to protect their privacy and teach them about staying safe online. While the average...
Kids & Phones: An Age-By-Age Guide For Establishing Boundaries
— Ariela Basson/Scary Mommy; Getty Images, Shutterstock We all hope our kids inherit our best genes, but there’s no question that they also pick up our worst habits — including our digital dependencies. After all, adults know as well as children that when phone screens compete for attention, they win every time. So, what’s a parent to do? “Some overarching rules are essential for all kids,” says Laura Ordoñez, executive editor and head of digital media and family advice at Common Sense Media, a non-profit that assesses kids’ content and works to make media and technology safer, healthier, and more...
The Two-Year Age Gap Is The Absolute Worst
— Catherine Falls Commercial/Moment/Getty Images I remember watching my firstborn son waddle around the beach a few weeks after his first birthday. He wandered around the sand a bit before making his way over to a pair of brothers who were building a sandcastle. The scene was one from a storybook: mom and dad sitting in their chairs enjoying some light conversation while their two sons, around 4 and 6 years old, worked together to create a creative and well-structured castle as they smiled and laughed. At that moment, the baby fever crept its way in, and I thought to...