On this episode: Elizabeth, Jamilah and Zak share advice for weighing whether you want your kids on Roblox. The company just announced some impending safety enhancements to the mega-popular online multiplayer game… but, as the hosts and our Slate Parenting community will tell you, the platform might still be a wild west.

After that, of course, we’ll circle up to share some Triumphs and Fails. 

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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On this episode: Zak sits down with Zach O’Hora and Lisa Whittick – respectively, the creator and director of the new PBS Kids show Carl The Collector. They’ll talk about crafting a kids’ show with neurodiverse characters… and what it means to tell a good story.

We’ll also check in on where the hosts are this week – and then, if you’re coming to hang out on the Slate Plus Playground, we’re celebrating the life and work of children’s folk singer Ella Jenkins.

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

Jamilah’s check-in: tall fun man and an IEP 

Elizabeth’s check-in: self-sufficiency and model UN 

Zak’s check-in: two wheels and a dream

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Elizabeth, Jamilah and Zak talk about the aftermath of the presidential election — from the policy issues that freak us out to handling grief in front of our kids. And we’ll share a ton of amazing thoughts, advice, and reassurance from the Slate Parenting community.

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Zak help a member of the Slate Parenting Facebook group whose toddlers are at each other… Constantly. We’re just glad they don’t have cartoon hammers.

We’ll also check in on where the hosts are this week – and then, if you’re coming to hang out on the Slate Plus Playground, we’re talking about the long history of making stuff with your kids.

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

Lucy’s check-in: planning a Costco trip weeks in advance 

Elizabeth’s check-in: small things made big

Zak’s check-in: the newness wears off.  

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie and Rosemary Belson.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Zak crack open our mailbag. You’ve been sending a ton of emails about everything from Zionism to the Red Light District to Lucy’s Impala impulses… so today, we’re sharing all that and more. 

And then, of course, we’ll share some triumphs and fails.

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie and Rosemary Belson.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Zak share how they’re talking to the kids about tomorrow’s election. We’ll offer tips for cutting through the noise to talk civics… and also how to address the serious, nasty, and scary. 

Elizabeth’s book recommendations: 

V is for Voting by Kate Farrell

Equality’s Call: the Story of Voting Rights in America by Deborah Diesen

Usborne: Politics for Beginners 

The Politics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained 

We’ll also check in on where the hosts are this week – and then, if you’re coming to hang out on the Slate Plus Playground, we’re sharing our deep-seated love of (and gripes with) daylight savings.

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

Lucy’s check-in: back to the shitty little walk (as heard on Hear Me Out)

Elizabeth’s check-in: blow darts and ninja stars and teens and days in the month

Zak’s check-in: therapy 

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Lucy, Zak and Elizabeth answer a listener's question about something that happened last Halloween… when an older gentleman might’ve taken a photo of her young kid. We’ll talk about whether it’s as creepy as it sounds — and also, why Elizabeth is over Halloween. 

We’ll also circle up for a round of triumphs and fails — including an update on Lucy’s mama. 

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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We’re always getting questions about puberty. And even if we’re not dealing with a question explicitly about puberty, it seems like this topic always finds a way to come up anyway… like in last Thursday’s episode, for example.

And puberty is always in the news – just this year, the NIH published research about precocious puberty caused by chemicals in personal care products. And Harvard researchers developed an existing theory that socioeconomic factors might be linked to an early onset of puberty, too. Plus, our friends at Well, Now just published their own episode on puberty that we'd love for you to check out.

So we thought this might be a good time to re-share this great interview from last year — where Jamilah sat down with Cara Patterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett, authors of This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained. They’ve got some amazing insights to share, and we’d love for you to hear them if you haven’t already.

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. 

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Jamilah, Zak, and Elizabeth tackle a letter from a Care and Feeding reader who is trying to explain code-switching to a six-year-old. This kid doesn’t seem to understand how or why to speak differently to his peers than to adults… but how can you convey that without giving him the wrong message?

We’ll also, of course, circle up for a round of triumphs and fails. 

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Elizabeth, Jamilah and Zak help a member of the Slate Parenting Facebook group who's wondering how to help her seven and five-year-olds — and especially her son — learn how to listen. They’re both vibrant kids with a lot of ideas… so how do you not dull their sparkle, while also getting those lips a little more zipped?

We also check in on what’s happening in the hosts’ lives right now. And then, if you’re joining us for the Plus Playground — out now in your podcast feed — we’re discussing a column from The Guardian that says parenting is financially ruinous.

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

Jamilah’s check-in: Midwest musings

Elizabeth’s check-in: Grand Theft Bra-to

Zak’s check-in: Noa and Eli

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Jamilah, Zak and Elizabeth help a listener whose son is at the perfect age to learn about the birds and the bees. There’s just one problem: he really doesn’t want to know. We’ll help our listener with some strategies for communicating the important stuff, while still respecting a shy kid’s limits. 

We’ll also circle up for a round of triumphs and fails.

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices