Cara Natterson's Blog, page 4

Finally Making It (Literally!)

If you had the choice, would you ever go back to the beginning of puberty? Not knowing what you know now – just plain old go back? Me neither. Okay, what if you knew what you know now? Would that make it palatable? Maybe… but probably not. Okay, what if you knew what... READ MORE

Travel Warnings

The topic of how to travel safely during the pandemic – or whether one should travel at all – is not new. It is, however, badly in need of a reframe. That’s because the most frequent debate here seems to revolve around how people plan to get to their destination rather than thinking about what they’re going to do when they get there. It turns… READ MORE

Fitting Into Our Kids’ Shoes

I have spent the past couple of weeks holed up in my office, burying myself in work while rationalizing declined calls, unanswered texts, and an utter absence of downtime. Forget about seeing other humans in real life. I have a hundred reasons – most of them with a Zoom passcode attached – at the ready for why there’s no time. As a result, I have cleared my desk (sort of) and brought my inbox to a manageable(-ish) volume. I have also turned into a moody and unpredictable force… READ MORE

Why Are We Surprised?

Our non-mask wearing, non-social distancing, pack-’em-in-a-crowded-indoor-space encouraging president has been diagnosed with COVID. Why are we surprised? Most of us aren’t… we’re just ready to be surprised by whatever comes next.

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When Do-Overs Get Confusing

I am a huge fan of the do-over. Parenting do-overs in particular. Do-overs provide us a little extra latitude in our limit setting. Not sure if you should let your kid have a phone? Or a particular app? Questioning whether it’s okay to allow a hangout during the pandemic? Trying to set a bedtime? Or a curfew? If you know you can... READ MORE

Our Kids, Their Social Lives, and COVID

It’s time to talk about our kids, their social lives, and COVID. Or more precisely, to talk about talking to them. Just because there’s a single lethal coronavirus circulating out in our world (okay, two strains if you want to get technical), it doesn’t mean there’s one answer to the question of how you should live your life or how I should live mine. Ditto that for our kids. But the reverse – the notion that everyone should make up the rules according to their own interpretation of data about a… READ MORE

All Good News

This past Labor Day weekend, I spent an evening hanging out in my backyard with a long-time friend. (Side note: As we all get on in years, I have learned to stay away from calling them old friends!). The sun had set but my phone’s weather app still registered the temp as 91 degrees. Now this friend happens to be a comedy writer, but that’s not necessarily what makes… READ MORE

12 Best Books to Read With Your Tween Daughter

Thanks for the double-listing, UpJourney!

The tween years, which range from ages 9-12, are defined by the “in-between.” Tweens are not really children anymore and not quite teenagers. Not only are their bodies changing, but their social world is changing too.

Some days your tween may play games she’s always loved. Other days, she prefers doing what older kids are doing. Sometimes she shares with you and reaches out for connection. Other times, she wants more independence.

Monumental shifts in your child’s physical, emotional, and social development take place during…READ MORE

Puberty and Pandemic

I am starting a puberty lifestyle company, which is in and of itself slightly hilarious because aren’t lifestyle brands supposed to be aspirational? And since when has anything about puberty – the zits, the sprouting hair everywhere, the odors, and the pendulous moods – ever been aspirational? But it’s happening, and you’ll hear more about it… READ MORE

Emergency Youth Authorization

When I try to say the phrase Emergency Use Authorization, more often than not I trip and find myself uttering Emergency Youth Authorization instead. It happens so frequently that I have started to get in my own head about it, pausing before the three words come out of my mouth, only to hear what is now an inevitable use/youth swap. And then this morning, as I listened to a recent episode of The Daily (an excellent recap of where we are in the pandemic trajectory, by the way, which I highly recommend spending 25 minutes listening to), I heard coronavirus guru Donald G. McNeil Jr. and host Michael Barbaro do the same thing, not just once but over and over again. READ MORE