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Friday Round-up

By October 11, 201365 Comments

The Case For Intensive Youth Athletics vs. The Case Againstย A debate about the state of sports in our kidsโ€™ lives right now. (For the moment, we are just trying to figure out how to curb the Nike habit.)

Ten Ways to Clean Your Kitchen Less. Confession: I donโ€™t actually care about the tips. For me, itโ€™s all about the color of the cabinets.

Cooking: Anti-Feminist Trap or Ultimate Expression of a Motherโ€™s Love?ย The daughter of a feminist, who has lived both sides, weighs in.

Serena Williams, LeBron James, and Peyton Manning arenโ€™t just leading the pack in their respective sports, theyโ€™re leading the pack in endorsement deals with junk food products. ย (I mean, really, how hard would it be to just endorse the National Orange Growers Association?)

Oh my goodness, this might just be my Super Bowl.

Does ethical parenting exist? Even if this is the quintessential New York story, itโ€™s still an irresistible read. (And as a soccer mom, the annotation all the way to the right of the opening image made me laugh out loud.)

Jimmy Kimmelโ€™s genius solution to the iOS 7 โ€œnauseaโ€ problem.

My ten-year-old is loving this.

My eleven-year-old is loving this.

I am pre-ordering this.

Best Parenting Tip Ever. My facebook followers will have seen this already, but itโ€™s so good I need to make sure as many people as possible get the message.

The Weekly Conundrum: What movie do I show to a bunch of 10-year-old girls that they havenโ€™t already seen ten thousand times? Suggestions welcome! (Old-school choices encouraged.)

I am delighted to be part of thisย healthy lifestyle panelย next month. New Yorkers: Get your tickets and come say hello!

From Andy:

This song, which I just now discovered, and which immediately became my Fall Anthem.

Donna Tarttโ€™s new bookย which I ordered and which, if the reviews can be trusted, is gonna make the next few weeks worth living.

This interviewย for publishing nerds out there.

What Iโ€™m going to drink tonight, courtesy of our pals in Portland, Maine. If you like gin, this stuff is off the hook.

Last night, Jenny agreed to watch The Wire, breaking a five-year stalemate, which is both thrilling (like sharing the best book ever with someone) and also scary (what if she hates it?). Iโ€™m gonna do the whole series again, right along with her. Join us!

65 Comments

  • Avatar Beth says:

    Movie choice โ€“ Pretty in Pink or The Breakfast Club?

    Love that parenting tip, thanks!

  • Avatar Connor says:

    Since they canโ€™t watch The Wire with you, what about Clue? Of course, thereโ€™s always Monster Squad, Stand by Me, Hocus Pocus, The Goonies, Gremlins, any of the Indiana Jones seriesโ€ฆ

  • Avatar Jesse says:

    my favorite movie when i was ten was โ€œadventures in babysittingโ€ and โ€œtroop everly hills.โ€ i still
    love them both.

    http://semiweeklyeats.blogspot.com/2013/10/rainy-weekend.html

  • Avatar Mary says:

    Great roundup and interesting reading. Love the Times article about the kitchen and feel exactly the same way.

  • Michelle says:

    Show them The Fantastic Mr. Fox! One of my favorites, and for some reason it seems like no one else has seen it. (Perk: youโ€™ll love it too!)

  • Avatar Ohio12 says:

    I second the Adventures in Babysitting idea. Back to the Future. The Adventures of Natty Gann. Are they old enough for the Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles stuff? Princes Bride. You are soccer people, have you seen Bend it like Beckham? This might be hard to findโ€ฆ Shag. My sisters and I watched it when we were teens about a million times. Search for a clip on youtube.

  • Avatar Leslie says:

    My favorite movies at that age were Mrs. Doubtfire, High Fidelity, and That Thing You Do. Still love them, actually!

  • Avatar Becky says:

    I watched the original โ€œParent Trapโ€ (Hayley Mills, not Lindsay Lohan) with my kids (9 and 5) this summer and they both LOVED it. I think we watched it three days in a row. But the suggestion of โ€œTroop Beverly Hillsโ€ above is amazing. I will be watching that again very soon!

  • Avatar Ohio12 says:

    Girls just Wanna Have Fun

    Tootsie

  • Avatar Scheherazade says:

    I love The Wire. I came to it late (i.e. 2 months ago) so making my way through the DVDs I borrow from the library. I think it gets better every season (on season 3 now).

    I second the original Parent Trap. I remember watching the Sound of Music obsessively one year but I may have been a bit older.

  • Avatar Babou says:

    The Adams Family or Hocus Pocus (if itโ€™s autumny enough around where you liveโ€ฆ) ?
    The Secret Garden ? But Andy, you might cry watching this oneโ€ฆ I know my dad didโ€ฆ

  • Avatar sharon says:

    Thank you for the wonderful (as always) round up! I especially enjoyed the NYT piece about cooking and being a feminist!

  • Avatar Leigh-Ann says:

    Movie ideas: Candleshoe; Troop Beverly Hills (though there are 4-letter words randomly sprinkled throughout); Monster House is holiday-appropriate and actually legitimately spooky; and, if they havenโ€™t already seen it, Gremlins is another Halloween-friendly flick.

  • Avatar Melissa@Julia's Bookbag says:

    We recently began The Wire here as well, after seriously 4 yrs of arguing. ๐Ÿ™‚ Itโ€™s kinda ok. HA HA HA! Makes my husband crazy when I say that.

    DONNA TARTT has a new book???? Oh you made my life. The Secret History is in my alltime Top 10.

  • Avatar Anna says:

    My girls loved Stardust and The Neverending Story. This weekend we will try Labyrinth.

  • Stephanie says:

    I LOVED The Babysitters Club Movie. And I second the Sound of Music.

  • Avatar Meghan says:

    I was going to suggest Clue too. That was my favorite slumber party movie growing up!

  • Avatar Vicki says:

    Movie choice: โ€œBack to the Futureโ€โ€ฆthe kids laugh at the stuff we thought was new and cool in the 1980โ€™s. The stuff from the 50โ€™s they think is retro and cool!!!

  • Avatar Lucy Mitchell says:

    You are SO lucky to be starting the Wire โ€“ I still miss it and watched the last episode over a year ago. The National Lampoon movies? (some are 15โ€™s but some not, I think.) They surprised me by not being awful at all.

  • Avatar Ashley says:

    Might I suggest The Witches? An English and Dahl classic, itโ€™s just scary enough for the season. Or The Labyrinth with D. Bowie โ€” so good.

  • Avatar Julia says:

    Loving the movie choices! Brings me right back to childhood/early teen years.

    It hasnโ€™t been mentioned yet, so if they havenโ€™t seen it already I vote for Splash. Loved that movie as a kid.

    Let us know what you decide!

  • Avatar janet says:

    That panel you are on sounds like MY Super Bowl. Too bad I donโ€™t live in NY. ๐Ÿ™

  • A Life From Scratch says:

    Loved the ethical parenting article โ€“ the perfect nap time read, thank you!

  • Avatar Nancy says:

    Freaky Friday, National Velvet, Sound of Music, Ghostbusters

  • Hannah says:

    Ryan Bingham, be still my heart. I too loved Adventures in Babysitting, maybe more like 11 or 12 years old though? I can still dance through the opening sequence ๐Ÿ™‚ And (itโ€™s kind of terrible but was a slumber party favorite in my youth) โ€“ Canโ€™t Buy Me Love โ€ฆ

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