Parenting

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. A mom from Arizona is going viral for her unconventional approach to how she raises her kids. Aubrey Matthesius (@aubreymatthesius) revealed in a clip on TikTok how she's raising "low-maintenance babies," going back to basics rather than adopting rigid routines. "To me, raising low maintenance babies means not over complicating things," the 27-year-old told Newsweek. "I think we get so tied up... in mom guilt and fear-based parenting that we allow our...

Weird Al Yankovic, the best-selling comedy recording artist in history, has built a career around making people laugh. Now, he’s bringing parents to tears. Recently, Yankovic appeared on NPR’s “Wild Card,” where he spoke candidly about his 22-year-old daughter, Nina, whom he shares with his wife Suzanne. When asked which period of his life he daydreams about, Yankovic, 65, replied with hesitation: Nina’s childhood. "My wife and I talk about this all the time,” Yankovic told host Rachel Martin. “We always used to say it would be great if we...

A viral social media trend is showing just how much the script has changed in modern parenting. In the videos, parents prompt their kids with the first part of stern classics like “Children are to be… ” (seen and not heard) or “I brought you into this world and I can…” (take you out), only for their kids to reply with adorably sweet answers like “children” and “feed you.” The trend appears to have started with Denstini Davis, 32, who was driving with her 7-year-old daughter, Phoenix Scot, in Hampton,...

“Cherish it while you can” is hard advice to follow for many new parents. Older parents are constantly telling those in the early days to cherish it: It goes by in a flash. But that can be very hard advice to follow when you’re in the thick of it, as Stephanie H. Murray wrote in 2022. Ultimately, all a parent can do is “keep an eye out for the precious moments amid the tumult and chaos,” one mother Murray spoke with told her. “Do what you can to imprint them...

Should grandparents dole out parenting advice to their adult children? Not every time, says this grandmother. “The relationship between parents and grandparents should foster the one with grandchildren,” a grandmother of three, who goes by the pseudonym DeeDee Moore on social media, tells TODAY.com. “Before offering parenting advice to your adult children, pause and ask yourself these three important questions,” Moore said in the video. “First, ‘Was I asked for this input?’ If parents haven’t specifically asked for your opinion, they may not be open to receiving it, no matter...

When Judi Sheppard Missett, 80, started teaching the now-iconic Jazzercise classes in 1969 while caring for a newborn, she never dreamed that her idea would last the year. Through the last 56 years, her idea became an iconic brand and a cultural touchstone ... as well as a family business. Judi's daughter, Shanna M. Nelson, 56, has taken the reins as the Jazzercise CEO and Shanna's eldest daughter, Skyla Nelson, 22, recently began a full-time role as a digital product specialist in the company's training and development department. “The one...

After 34 years in academia, Nadine Graves, a history teacher in Tampa, Florida, thought she had seen it all. Then she invited fellow educators to share the most unhinged emails from parents. Specifically, Graves meant the kind, as she put it on TikTok, “where you had to wait two-plus hours” to calm down before responding. “We hold in so much and I wanted to give them a safe place to vent,” Graves tells TODAY.com. And vent they did. • “A parent emailed me that I was selfish for not finishing...

Actor Liev Schreiber is opening up about his transgender daughter, Kai, sharing her journey and his steady support as a father. Schreiber shares parenting duties with his former partner Naomi Watts; they are parents of 16-year-old Kai and their 17-year-old son, Sasha. “Kai was always who Kai is,” Schreiber, 57, told Variety on May 8. “But I suppose the most profound moment was her asking us to change her pronouns.” He said it “didn’t feel like a big deal,” noting that Kai had expressed femininity for much of her life....

A clever teacher used a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich to teach a messy lesson about creative writing. “The students were mind-blown,” Kayleigh Sloan, a first and second grade teacher, tells TODAY.com. Sloan posted a video of the writing lesson on TikTok, where it got more than 53 million views. For the exercise, Sloan presented a loaf of bread and jars of peanut butter and jelly to her 22 students, then made a sandwich, based on their exact step-by-step instructions. “I’m going to read some of your responses on how to make...