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Oncologist Offers Guide for Parents to Talk About Cancer with Kids
Renowned oncologist Dr. Sanjay Juneja released the guide “We Need to Talk About Cancer,” aimed at children ages 10‑14. The book provides fact‑based, compassionate language, age‑specific talking points, and strategies for parents to discuss diagnosis, treatment, and emotional impact honestly, emphasizing the importance of saying the word “cancer” and maintaining ongoing check‑ins.
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The Little Things That Make Fatherhood Meaningful Every Day
— Fatherhood rarely announces itself in big, dramatic moments. More often, it shows up in the quiet routines that repeat week after week. It is in the early morning preparation of school lunches, the careful planning of a weekend outing, or the steady presence during grocery runs that keep a household moving. These small acts… The post The Little Things That Make Fatherhood Meaningful Every Day appeared first on The Good Men Project.
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I Banned Smartphones for My 4 Kids. They Became Obsessed with Walkmans Instead.
Ali Hynek bought her kids screen-free old-school devices. Courtesy of Ali Hynek Ali Hynek is a 45-year-old mom of four in Utah whose children had been asking for smartphones. Instead of smartphones, Ali bought her kids a boom box, a recorder, a rotary-style phone, and a Walkman. Her 10-year-old son, Ethan, is particularly keen on the Walkman and spends hours listening to music. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ali Hynek. It has been edited for length and clarity. For a couple of years, my four kids have been asking for smartphones. Being aware of the negative impacts of smartphones, for kids and adults, my husband and I have told the kids they won't be getting smartphones until they are at least 17. We've discussed with them about why we've made this decision, explaining our reasoning rather than just making a blanket rule. Even though I think they understand why they aren't allowed smartphones, I'm aware that they sometimes feel they are missing out, as so many kids in school have them. But they've had watches they can make phone calls from, and we'd be open to getting them a little brick phone (like the old Nokia ones) to communicate with family and friends, as we don't have a house phone. Ali Hynek banned smartphones for her four kids. Courtesy of Ali Hynek A little over a year ago, inspired by my sister's love of VHS tapes, I went thrift shopping to find some "old school" analog ways to listen to music. It would be a chance for the kids to tinker and learn how we used to listen to music before smartphones and streaming. They started making their own mixtapes I found a stereo boombox, the kind that had a CD and tape player, an old rotary-style phone, and a radio that you have to manually change the channels with a little knob. When I brought it all home, the kids were intrigued and curious about each item. While this once had been the only way I listened to music, my kids had never even seen these devices. It was all new to them. Ali Hynek's kids started making their own mixtapes at home. Courtesy of Ali Hynek To hold their interest, I took them thrifting to find tapes and CDs to listen to, but the music we found early on was a bit boring for the kids. Instead, I suggested they could make their own mixtapes — like I used to do when I was a kid. I bought a bunch of blank tapes and one of those 90s recording devices and let them experiment by finding songs on the radio, and pressing "record" when a song came on that they liked and "pause" when the song finished. By the end, they had personalized mixtapes with all their favorite songs. It brought back many good memories of my childhood. I got my 10-year-old a Walkman at his request Ethan, my 10-year-old son, particularly liked our experimentation with analog music devices. At the same time, he was watching "Guardians of the Galaxy" and saw that one of the characters often walks around with a Walkman and headphones. "Can I get one of those?" he asked me. I took him to several thrift stores, and we couldn't find one. They were really expensive on eBay, but I found one on Amazon for a little over $30. I bought it, and we found Aerosmith and "Guardians of the Galaxy" tapes that he could listen to. Soon after we got the Walkman, we went on a long road trip. Ethan sat for hours, looking out the car window while his music played on repeat. It was like road trips in the 90s, when all you could do was listen to music and watch the world passing you by. At home, he just walks around with the Walkman attached to his side, headphones in. I often find him lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, and listening to his music. Since then, my other three children have also had their own Walkman and headphones, and have taken to listening just like Ethan. My 4 kids want to shop for cassette tapes All four of them often want to go to thrift stores with me to hunt for cassette tapes to play. We recently found a Madonna tape, and I bought a Billie Eilish tape online. I doubt this is just a fad. It feels more like what it's like to learn to ride a bike — once you've done it, you'll always love it. They have latched onto this way of listening to music, and I haven't sensed that their excitement is waning. If anything, they get more and more excited to hunt for new tapes to listen to — it's like a treasure hunt. I love watching them enjoy music. I love that we have another hobby we can do together. I love that their faces aren't always glued to a screen. I love having flashbacks to my own childhood. Read the original article on Business Insider
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I Taught My 3-Year-Old How to Pack Her Own Bag. I Want Her to Be Independent.
The author is teaching her daughter independence by letting her pack her own bag when they travel. Courtesy of the author I started teaching my daughter to pack when she was 3 years old. Packing together helps build her independence and decision-making. I hope the extra effort now will pay off as she grows older. I started teaching my daughter to pack when she was 3 years old, which, I know, sounds inefficient at best and slightly unhinged at worst. Packing with a preschooler is slow. It turns a 30-minute task into a 90-minute one. It involves delicate negotiations over which stuffed animals are "essential," last-minute outfit swaps as she re-discovers her favorite sparkly boots, and frequent distractions. If saving time today were the goal, I would simply do it myself. But my perspective changed after I heard versions of the same complaint from multiple mothers; they were still packing for their teenagers. Not just occasionally helping or reminding, but fully responsible for it. That dynamic doesn't appear suddenly at 13; it builds over time. So I decided to start while my toddler still craves independence with a fervor, hoping it will pay off over the next decade. The first step was participation, not decision-making The first time we "packed together," I did almost all of the work in advance. I pulled everything she would need and laid it out on the floor of her room, alongside an open suitcase. My toddler wasn't choosing items or deciding quantities. She happily folded clothes with me, shoved them into packing cubes, and put the packing cubes into the suitcase. The author doesn't want to be packing for her daughter when she's a teen. Courtesy of the author This participation also helped her mentally prepare for the coming travel. As we packed bathing suits, we talked about going to the pool and the beach. Her blankie gets packed because we'll be sleeping in a new place, so she'll want to have something familiar. She'll wear her sneakers to the airport because we'll be walking more than usual. Especially with toddlers, a smooth trip starts with helping them understand what the experience will be like before we get there. That mental preview reduces friction later. The next step was constrained choice Once that baseline was established, I shifted one variable: selection. Instead of laying everything out myself, I told her what we needed, and she got to pick: six T-shirts, five pairs of shorts, two bathing suits. Then she went to her drawers and chose them. That changed the task meaningfully. She still wasn't determining quantities or planning for contingencies, but she was making decisions within a defined framework. I separated "what do we need?" from "which specific items do we bring?" and introduced them in sequence. The author admits it takes longer to pack now. Courtesy of the author She's also responsible for helping put everything into her suitcase, which makes it easier to say no to the constant requests to bring additional toys and books. For shorter trips, if it fits into her carry-on after her essentials, she can bring it. On longer trips with a checked bag, she gets one packing cube for toys and books so she can decide what she most wants to bring. One major step is that now she has a suitcase that is clearly hers. For our coming trip to Asia, she's packing into a light pink MiaMily suitcase that I gave her for her most recent birthday, now enthusiastically decorated with stickers. It's a ride-on suitcase that she sits on proudly, like her travel throne. That shift sounds small, but it changes how she approaches the task. It's no longer a shared family suitcase or something I'm managing on her behalf—it's her suitcase, and she treats it that way. The goal is a gradual handoff I'm not trying to create unrealistic independence at 3. Over time, I can shift more of that responsibility to her by asking her to suggest quantities, to think through activities, and to identify what might be missing. It does take longer now. There's no way around that. But if the alternative is still packing for her a decade from now, the tradeoff is worth it. Read the original article on Business Insider
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A child psychologist trick: the fastest dopamine reset for an ADHD child after too much screen time