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Episode 4: The Momtourage

FB - Momtourage

The internet can be a great place for parents to get information about parenting and form communities around caring for their children.

But sometimes that online community can turn ugly. This is the story of one such Facebook group, and the lessons learned.

 

Subscribe to The Parent Coop on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or wherever you listen to great audio.

Contribute to future episodes

The Parent Coop audio project is planning to release six new episodes in the first half of 2016. We’ve already lined up some great stories to share, but we need your help. Contact Annie@theparentcoop.com if you have a story that you think could add to one of these themes.

Even if your story is only loosely related to a theme, send it our way. If the story has conflict, great characters and a compelling arc, we’ll consider it.

 

Fridge Art – Stories about art as a release. The fridge as a value judgment. Expression, development, graffiti – tell us about your art story.

Call-in prompt – What was the first piece of art you were proud of, as a child or as a parent?

 

Loss – Stories about the loss of parents or children. This is an opportunity to cast away some of the fear that surrounds talking about loss as a parent. Tell us about your loved one, and how they’ve shaped you.

Call-in prompt – Tell us the name of someone you’ve lost as a way of honoring their existence.

 

Pets – Stories about a peculiar pet or an animal that changed the way you saw the world. Maybe you treated your brother like a pet.

Call-in prompt – What’s the weirdest name you’ve ever given a pet? Where did the name come from?

 

Sell out – Tell us how you identify yourself, beyond the role of parent. How do you maintain that identity?

Call-in prompt – What odd things did your parents do to make extra money? Or as a child, what was your first paying job?

Check back often for more story ideas and prompts. Or check us out on facebook.

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5 Best and worst parenting Super Bowl Commercials

Let’s be real, we had no loyalties to either the Denver Broncos or the Carolina Panthers. We were there for the national anthem, the halftime show, and the commercials. And here are, in our opinions the best … and the worst, when it comes to depicting babies and families.

1. Puppy Monkey Baby

 

What the actual Hell? Mountain Dew is known for its weird commercials, but this one goes to a new level of bizarre. We all sat in shock after this one ended, unsure if we were horrified or amused.

But it is telling young people that babies are cool. So that’s good I guess?

 

Subaru – Dog Tested

 

This one is cute. With sentimental music that would make any parent who’s struggled with a temperamental sleeper tear up a little bit, it hits you in the feels.

It’s not really clear what the commercial is about until the final moments, but we like it.

 

Doritos Ultrasound

 

Doritos, like Mountian Dew, loves to go weird, and they did it here. We don’t love the depiction of dad as the brainless oaf who brings a bag of chips into the ultrasound.

But maybe doulas should start bringing Doritos to births, to help get the baby out. It was a natural birth … sort of.

 

Heinz Ketchup Game Day

 

Families take all kinds, and for most of us, our families wouldn’t be complete without our pets. And dachshund’s in hot dog outfits are pretty great.

It’s also nice that, there are options for everyone in this commercial, even those of us in Chicago, where ketchup on our dogs is a cardinal sin.

 

“SuperBowl Babies”

 

Well played NFL. It’s cuteness actually overpowers a couple of sad facts.

  • Seal sold out and rewrote his 1994 Grammy-award winning song for a morally corrupt corporation that makes money off of grown men beating themselves into permanent brain damage.
  • For most of us, Chicago included, there haven’t been Super Bowl Babies in our towns for decades. Unless you count all those babies made during last year’s Super Bowl blizzard. Chicago’s Super Bowl Babies came shuffling out in 1985, which means they turned 30 this year.

If you’re like us, you missed the last quarter of the game because you were trying to put your own kids to bed. You can watch all the 2016 Super Bowl commercials here.

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Episode 3: Hearing

We use our ears every day to make our way through the world, and when you’re a parent, hearing can be a challenge. You cherish the first words, the funny phrases, and you cringe at the meltdowns and the tantrums.

But when your ability to hear is threatened, you’ll do anything to save it.

The third episode of the Parent Coop audio project tells the story of a dad and his struggle to save the sounds he loves.

 

Subscribe to The Parent Coop on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or wherever you listen to great audio.

Contribute to future episodes

The Parent Coop audio project is planning to release six new episodes in the first half of 2016. We’ve already lined up some great stories to share, but we need your help. Contact Annie@theparentcoop.com if you have a story that you think could add to one of these themes.

Even if your story is only loosely related to a theme, send it our way. If the story has conflict, great characters and a compelling arc, we’ll consider it.

 

Fridge Art – Stories about art as a release. The fridge as a value judgment. Expression, development, graffiti – tell us about your art story.

Call-in prompt – What was the first piece of art you were proud of, as a child or as a parent?

 

Loss – Stories about the loss of parents or children. This is an opportunity to cast away some of the fear that surrounds talking about loss as a parent. Tell us about your loved one, and how they’ve shaped you.

Call-in prompt – Tell us the name of someone you’ve lost as a way of honoring their existence.

 

Pets – Stories about a peculiar pet or an animal that changed the way you saw the world. Maybe you treated your brother like a pet.

Call-in prompt – What’s the weirdest name you’ve ever given a pet? Where did the name come from?

 

Sell out – Tell us how you identify yourself, beyond the role of parent. How do you maintain that identity?

Call-in prompt – What odd things did your parents do to make extra money? Or as a child, what was your first paying job?

Check back often for more story ideas and prompts. Or check us out on facebook.

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Episode 1: Names

A name can be symbolic, whimsical, or a last minute decision. This first episode of the Parent Coop audio project delves into the birth of our host Annie’s second child, and we hear from some listeners about how they chose their kids’ names.

 

Subscribe to The Parent Coop on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or wherever you listen to great audio.

Contribute to future episodes

The Parent Coop audio project is planning to release a new episode of the show the first week of each month for the next six months. We’ve already lined up some great stories to share, but we need your help. Contact Annie@theparentcoop.com if you have a story that you think could add to one of these themes.

Even if your story is only loosely related to a theme, send it our way. If the story has conflict, great characters and a compelling arc, we’ll consider it.

 

Dancing – Stories about dance classes, school dances, or the delicate dance a high school student does to avoid telling their parents their mistake.

Call-in prompt – Tell us your memories of school dances. Parent and kid perspectives welcome.

 

Fridge Art – Stories about art as a release. The fridge as a value judgment. Expression, development, graffiti – tell us about your art story.

Call-in prompt – What was the first piece of art you were proud of, as a child or as a parent?

 

Loss – Stories about the loss of parents or children. This is an opportunity to cast away some of the fear that surrounds talking about loss as a parent. Tell us about your loved one, and how they’ve shaped you.

Call-in prompt – Tell us the name of someone you’ve lost as a way of honoring their existence.

 

Traditions – Holidays are full of stories of family and tradition. How did a family tradition shape your relationship with a parent or a child? All faiths and traditions are welcome – not just American, Christian, white.

Call-in prompt – What crazy new tradition did you or a family member try to start in your traditions? Did it stick?

 

Sell out – Tell us how you identify yourself, beyond the role of parent. How do you maintain that identity?

Call-in prompt – What odd things did your parents do to make extra money? Or as a child, what was your first paying job?

Check back often for more story ideas and prompts. Or check us out on facebook.