To the parents, grandparents, uncles & aunts, caregivers...

Hello dear readers —

We’re working on some parenting/adulting-type content and I’d love to hear from those of you who are involved in family life and/or childcare in any way. 

Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, caregivers, chosen family, teachers, pediatricians, coaches, camp counselors, you name it, I’m listening.

If that’s you — please reply to this and let me know how it’s all going. Be specific, let it loose.

Tell me what your kids are excited about, and what they’re worried about. What you’re excited and worried about.

Tell me the topics they won’t stop asking about and the questions you haven’t got up the nerve to answer yet, or just don’t have answers for.

Do they think or talk or ask about climate change and public health, or are they too busy losing their Crocs and not washing their hands?

Do they get out in nature or is their best friend a chat bot? Do they read books? Magazines? If so, what kind? What genres? Did they used to? What replaced reading for them? Have you tried bribing them?

Do you make their lunches? Do they? Do they eat it, or just toss it? Do they ever — ever — remember to clean their lunchboxes out? Are they on free lunch? Is the food at the school healthy? Do they ride the bus? Does it come on time? Is it electric yet? Do you volunteer at their school? Do they love or hate when you do?

How’s mealtime going? Are you able to get home for it? What works, what doesn’t? How about homework time? What about camps? Signed up yet? (shoot me)

What are they listening to? Are they aghast — like mine — that you were born in the 1900’s? Do you ever talk about how much the world has changed? Did you explain what a MiniDisc is/was?

What’s sex-ed/family life look like in your school district? Does it even exist anymore? Are the roads safe for biking or walking? Are there any humanities left at their schools? How important is college to your family, if at all? How important are scholarships, and what’s looking most likely? Does it ever feel like someone comes into your home during the night and leaves random generic plastic toys everywhere?

If you’ve got more than one kid, do they get along? Why and why not? What works, what doesn’t?

I’d love to hear from you, in any format (And of course, we’ll never use or share anything you send without getting explicit permission from you, first).

Let it rip!

— Quinn