Day: April 21, 2023

After a long day of mothering, I lie in bed exhausted, scrolling my Tiktok FYP. It’s mostly fashion hauls and videos of strangers falling down captured via Ring cams, but peppered in also are #momworkouts — one-minute clips of women showing me how to flatten my mom tummy and get a quick, efficient workout despite the massive time-crunch that is parenthood. And while I typically scroll by, rolling my eyes a bit at the idea that TikTok could be the effective personal trainer that I so desperately need right now, today I am desperate. I feel sluggish and frustrated that I can’t manage to get myself moving. So I decide to give these TikTokers a whirl.

And so here I am, several workouts later with feedback on whether these particular TikTok trends are even worth a crap. Spoiler alert: It’s complicated.

You’ll see a lot of quick exercise videos that claim to target specific elements of your body on FitTok. So I decided to give several of the most featured ones a whirl, so you don’t have to.

Take, for example, First up, The Mombelly Workout. This three-exercise showcase was captioned “sexy abs” — a big promise! — and to be honest, it left a lot to be desired. Now, I could be wrong, but I felt very little burn after doing these, and so they just didn’t seem super effective to me. Maybe these exercises are meant to be more rehabilitative in nature, geared to restoring and re-strengthening belly-muscles post-baby, rather than delivering a six pack. But the caption DID promise “sexy abs” and so I’m evaluating the workout on those terms. Basically, doing these exercises certainly didn’t hurt — but nothing life-changing here.

Then there’s the No More Fupa Workout. We’re going to agree to ignore the start of this video, in which the video’s instructor points to the “fupa” she is targeting, which is in fact her six pack, and we are going to see it through, because this is a good one. (She also does it all while wearing Crocs, which feels both relatable and disarming.) Anyway, I did two rounds of 20 reps of each of these five exercises and they kicked my butt. And best of all, with no equipment needed and minimal space necessary, I could do all of these on my living room rug, with my curious 2-year-old next to (and sometimes on top of) me. Two weeks in, and my belly might just be looking a little tighter — and if soreness is any indicator, it’s working.

Then there were the whole body videos, like the Quick Full Body Workout.

Now, this one was the real deal! It gave me that “I just did a full, effective, worthwhile workout” feeling afterwards. While the previous workouts felt like a good little blast of something, this felt more legit. I did exactly what my #TiktokTrainer said and completed all of the circuits. The only change I made was substituting a dumbbell for the kettlebell, since that’s what I had on hand.

I will say this felt a little more advanced, with some of the moves like the kettle bell swings requiring proper form to avoid injury. This workout felt more geared toward the mom who has some prior strength training experience. (A beginner could always just Google or Youtube all the correct form instructions for each move prior to doing them — but that kind of defeats the purpose of “easy and convenient,” right?) I will definitely be keeping this workout in my circulation on the days that motivation strikes.

And finally, I tried the Beginner Full Body Mom Workout. Another great full-body, easy to follow, sweat producer. This required no advanced moves, but still packed a punch. As long as I minimized rest between moves and rounds, this series left me feeling accomplished. I did make the jumping jacks low-impact, as my wonderfully awesome and attractive #rectocele (a type of prolapse, in my case caused by pushing out four big-headed babies in seven years) makes jumping and other high-impact movements very uncomfortable and typically ends in me peeing my pants.

Other than that, I kept this workout the way it was, and loved the combination of exercises used. I will keep this one in the rotation for sure.

Overall, I am not sure TikTok is the place for my #mommyworkout needs. The quick targeted exercise videos are fine, but you’d need to string many of them together to get a full workout in and at that point convenience feels a bit out the window. The full body circuits are good, but I think YouTube is overall a better option, where the longer videos can carry you through the full experience, rather than rattling off the exercises and then leaving you to do them on your own. Personally, I think I will gravitate to other platforms for fitness, and leave TikTok to what I feel it does best — fashion, some humor, and a quick food recipe or two. But I can’t promise I won’t continue trying all the trends – it’s pretty fun after all.

Samm is an ex-lawyer and mom of four who swears a lot. Find her on Instagram @sammbdavidson.

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I’ve always loved fashion, and while I certainly don’t embrace all of the latest trends — I’ll pass on the low-waisted jeans that are coming around again — I enjoy staying on top of them. And so it thrilled me when my daughter showed an interest in clothes from an early age and enjoyed shopping with me as a kid. It made me so happy when we picked out similar things.

Well, those days were short and sweet and now my 17-year-old daughter has her own ideas about what’s stylish.

From what I can tell, teenagers these days don’t seem to have one word for their way of dressing, unlike back in the 80s when we knew whether we gravitated to “goth” or “preppy.” In 2023 there are so many different styles and the trends seem to lean toward a mix of Y2K vibes and clean girl (an entire term to describe very basic clothes and a clean, make-up-free face with stellar brows). But I’ve heard it’s also very important to look like you just woke up and didn’t put a lot of effort into yourself but to look miraculous, because plot twist, it actually does take a lot of effort to make sure you nail that look.

There’s a fun recent TikTok trend where daughters dress their moms up as themselves. After watching a few, I asked my daughter if she thought I dressed like she did. Honestly, I felt like I was pretty in line with today’s trends and that she’d say yes. I mean, we both love our sweats and leggings, and there are times I go in my closet and I know she’s taken something.

However, she gave me a fast “no.” Clearly, I’m not quite meeting my daughter’s standards when it comes to getting dressed, so we decided to try this #turningmymomintome mother-daughter experiment ourselves.

I thought she would at least grab one piece of my clothing for the two looks she put together for me, but that didn’t happen. She did use my shoes, but only because we are different sizes and she made sure to tell me my hair needed to be “straight and parted in the middle.” Okay then.

This outfit is how I would normally dress. I’ll be 48 in a few months, I’ve had three kids, and being comfortable is my number one goal in life.

The two pictures below are what my daughter picked out. Bottoms are super soft and comfortable and, according to my daughter, anything skinny (jeans or leggings) doesn’t really work anymore. It’s all about a flared or baggy look on the bottom and the smallest top you can find. Literally.

When I first held her tops up to me I didn’t think the pairings were going to work well together. And while I love a crop top, I never grab tiny tops like this.

But that’s going to change because here’s the truth: I loved how I felt in both of these outfits — comfortable, stylish, and very much like an older version of my daughter whom I love very much. I’ve always believed you should dress however you want and rock a style that you love but it wasn’t until I wore my daughter’s clothes that I realized I wasn’t completely embracing that. When I’m shopping there’s always a voice in my head reminding me of how old I am.

Women have been taught for a long time that we have an expiration date and that only certain body types should wear different things. “Dress age-appropriately” has been a saying for so long, but what does that actually mean? Am I supposed to retire to shapeless dresses and wear a one-piece bathing suit because fifty is right around the corner? Should I ignore the mini skirts when I see them in the stores because those days are over for me? I don’t think so.

I still feel like the same girl I was in high school and there’s nothing wrong with me and my seventeen daughter sharing clothes. Now, I will be going into her closet and drawers to take some of her clothes because the way she dressed me was a reminder that as a middle-aged woman, I’m still allowed to dress however I want.

Katie Bingham-Smith is a full-time freelance writer living in Maine with her three teens and two ducks. When she’s not writing she’s probably spending too much money online and drinking Coke Zero.

While some of fitness TikTok can be inspiring and helpful, it can also be a minefield of misinformation and unhealthy practices. All too often, the line can be quite blurry between FitTok accounts that can get you into shape and make you more body positive, and accounts that slip into dangerous weight-loss goals, exercise addiction, unrealistic expectations, and obsession with how you look. At the same time, these “health influencers” could be giving you tips and tricks that are absolutely not recommended by doctors, and that could even be dangerous to your physical body or your mental health.

Well. As someone who got less healthy in all the ways during the pandemic and a pandemic divorce, I’ve recently started to take better care of both my body and my self-esteem. But it took me a while to find people on social media who checked the right boxes for my needs as a mom in my 40s who was fed decades of garbage about how my body is supposed to look (and how I was supposed to treat my body).

I needed health and fitness influencers who did not tout weight loss goals. Who did not put value judgements on foods. Who weren’t completely obsessed with fitness over all else. I needed my FitTok finds to understand that fitness is for health (mental and physical), fun, and the challenge — and it doesn’t have anything to do with scales or mirrors.

Here are the best people I’ve found.

Jessamyn Stanley

The gold standard in body-positive yoga, Jessamyn is a queer, plus-sized woman of color whose inclusive, loving approach to fitness and yoga has helped millions of women feel more confident in their practice. Her feed is filled with feel-good messages, inspiring pep-talks, and lovely images of people of all sizes striking a pose. If you really want to go to the next level of radical self-acceptance, she also has a naked yoga channel on OnlyFans now.

Elizabeth Sanders

A single mom has committed herself to getting healthier and stronger, and none of that translates to getting to a certain size or number on the scale. Elizabeth Sanders’ feed is filled with super-cute workout clothes, unstoppable body positivity, and just a lot of ass-kicking. I love seeing her gym workouts as well as listening to her story, whether it’s about how she’s getting comfortable working out at the gym or why she’s doing what she’s doing (spoiler: it’s all for her). Warning that she does show some progress pictures from time to time, but they’re all focused on strength and happiness and not size or weight.

Danae Mercer

One of the most damaging parts of social media is that is incredibly curated and edited; it can make you feel like everyone else looks completely perfect. Mom and fitness journalist Danae Mercer is dedicated to reminding everyone what women look like in real life, especially after recovering from a severe eating disorder in her 20s. Her body-positive reels focus on how models “fake” pictures, how we can feel better — or at least neutral — about our imperfections, and how we should really just be having fun and living our lives.

“We see these images as casual, momentary snapshots, but in reality they’re each taking 30 to 40 minutes to create,” she told her alumni magazine in 2020. “The result is, we look online, and we think, ‘Everyone is perfect but me.’”

Erin Azar

If you’re looking for inspiration and also a ton of laughs, you’ve got to follow Erin Azar, a self-described “struggle runner” and “chaotic runner” who does not give one flying flip about how she looks or how much she weighs. A mom of three little kids, she’s all about running for mental health and physical health, as well as for fun and community. Many of her videos are completely hilarious, and quite a few make fun of the fitness influencers who we try to avoid most. She’s a huge proponent of the “leisure run,” which is basically running without any goals in mind. I love it.

If you’re not convinced yet, know that she often does interpretive dances about each of her runs. Go watch one.

Latoya Shauntay Snell (Running Fat Chef)

If you’re into running, walking, or jogging and need some health inspo, this is your woman. Latoya Shauntay Snell has been a multi-sport athlete for 10 years and her feel-good TikTok channel is filled with energizing talks, tips for running at every size and experience level, and tons of great style. She truly shows the joy that comes with exercise when you take away expectations, embarrassment, and shame. It is awesome.

“It’s not about moving faster than everybody else,” she writes in one of the captions of her videos. “For me, I love seeing the ways I can propel myself into a new adventure.”

Sarah Histand

Fitness to hit a weight goal or pants size can not only be unhealthy, it can also be demotivating and frustrating. I love Sarah Hinton’s Mind and Mountain TikTok account because all of her fitness advice is geared toward the goal of exploring the world and being able to get out in nature. She’s a therapist and fitness instructor who lives in Alaska, and her videos are not only stunningly beautiful, but also informative and inspiring. She walks viewers through great activities that can help you get out in the world and also shows how joyous it can be to exercise outside.

Reyna Cohan

Reyna Cohan’s feed is very much a snapshot of her daily life — and it’s not just infused with yoga and and gym trips, but also with lots of food, fashion, self-care, and adventure. Super down-to-earth and fun, Reyna really shows how taking care of yourself can happen in just a few minutes, and how loving yourself makes living life a lot more fun.

Callie Vinson

Callie is an Indiginous ultramaratoner who is all about body positivity and inclusion in running. She’s currently training for a 100 mile race, with a super-positive and thoughtful attitude that inspires me to like… jog around the block, at least. And while she’s definitely all about doing health stuff the actual healthy way, just a small warning that she has lost about 200 pounds running and does post about how her journey to health did include weight loss.

Danyele Wilson

If you’re looking for an account that’s inspiring but also comes with a ton of actual, practical gym advice to get your stronger and happier, check out Danyele Wilson. She kills it at the gym and has mountains of tips for bigger and taller women who want to optimize their workouts. She also has more general tips for healthy living and body acceptance, and her confidence is contagious.

Sarah Aswell is the Special Projects Editor at Scary Mommy, where she contributes her editing and writing across the website and runs Scary Mommy Book Club. A humor writer and stand-up comedian, Sarah’s work has appeared in places like The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, National Lampoon, MAD Magazine, Reductress, Funny or Die, and more. Her writing about comedy, entertainment, and parenting has appeared in Vulture, Forbes, USA Today, Vice, The Advocate, and Working Mother Magazine, to name a few. Sarah lives in Missoula, Montana, with her two daughters and slightly too many cats. She was recently named one of the best unknown comedians in America by Thrillist, which is one of those insults that sounds like a compliment. Follow Sarah on Twitter at @sarahaswell and/or check out her comedy at sarahaswell.com.

On any given day as I mindlessly scroll TikTok during nap time, my For You Page is filled with Taylor Swift concert footage, Vanderpump Rules drama, and anything and everything to do with cleaning and organization.

“CleanTok” has become something of a phenomenon on social media, and there are endless tips, tricks, and hacks from content creators swearing that they have the best way to ensure a clean, organized, and aesthetically pleasing home. And, without fail, I buy into every single one.

But after scrolling through hundreds of TikTok organization tips, tricks and hacks — and trying so many of them, too — I realized something: All those ideas are good in theory, but it turns out I’m more of big f*cking bucket kind of mom.

I have a three-year-old who has more toys than any of us know what to do with. My first step in attempting to control the chaos was toy rotation, basically setting out a fraction of a child’s overall toy collection at one time and allowing them only those toys as play options. That makes them more exciting and engaging.

And it worked: With an abundance of choices, my daughter got overwhelmed trying to figure out what to play with. Toy rotation has allowed her to really hone in a couple toys or activities (we’re super into matching games lately), and ever since I started, she’s done way more independent play.

You’re probably wondering what in the hell I do with all the other toys that are not in rotation. Well, frankly, I wondered, too.

That’s when I turned to TikTok for advice on how to best sort, organize, and keep track of all my daughter’s toys to help reduce clutter and ease my ADHD brain. Enter: IKEA organization hacks.

There are so, so many. DIY masters have hacked the basic, iconic Billy bookcase into gorgeous built-in bookcases; moms have taken IKEA shelving units, added some 2x4s, and turned them into homework desks for their kids with space for every school supply. One TikTok hack that worked wonders for us was taking IKEA spice shelves and turning them into bookshelves for my daughter, and we love the Flisat table for sensory activities.

But there was one major playroom organization hack that truly had me dreaming big. And I went all out.

I bought two sets of the IKEA Trofast shelving units, the corresponding bins, and a label maker. I assembled them all by myself with just one flimsy Allen wrench and a dream. I sorted out all of her toys into categories like “blocks,” “imaginary play,” and “sensory toys,” and then I stuck them into the matching bin. It would be toy rotation heaven.

I had a system. It was perfect. Each toy had a place. Every bin had a label. I was ready for my own organization show on Netflix.

That is, until it was time to rotate on a late Friday night after I looked over at my daughter’s toy shelf, bleary-eyed, noticing that she hadn’t touched a single thing the entire day.

That was just the beginning of a cycle of ever-more-aggressive toy rotation over the days and weeks that followed. More and more often, I found myself walking over to the shelf, removing a few toys, moving them over to our guest room and throwing them on the bed because I was way too lazy to put them back where they “belonged.” Then I’d run over to the closet where I kept the Trofast shelves and pick out a couple other things that she hadn’t played with in awhile.

Trying to find the “right” toys for her became a guessing game where I typically set myself up for failure. The morning after a new rotation, she’d squeal with glee at the sight of some new item she hadn’t seen in awhile, play with it for maybe 30 minutes, and then turn to me and ask: “Mom, can I switch this out for something else?”

The weekly requests became daily requests. Eventually, I gave up and just let her go into the closet herself and pick something out… without having her put something else back in its place.

She’s three and a half years old, so if you think anything ended up in it’s labeled bin, you’re kidding yourself.

Three months into my toy organization journey, the guest bedroom was a mess, the labels had fallen off the bins, and s—t was everywhere. I had every intention of becoming an organized, tidy mom where every toy had its right place, but deep in my soul, I’m a “big f*cking bucket” mom.

What’s a “big f*cking bucket mom,” you ask?

That’s a mom who respects the concept of a perfectly organized toy system where every piece of every toy is in a bag with a label (in a bin with a label) in a closet in a room that looks so put together it would immediately be on her Pinterest board. But she just can’t make it happen for herself.

She puts all the toys her kid owns in some big f*cking buckets and lets the universe handle the rest.

I still change out her toys from time to time (our house literally is not big enough to keep them all out at once, or else we might as well charge entry and open an indoor playground), but I’ve let go of the unnecessary pressure to keep everything organized.

Before I embraced the bucket life, it had gotten to the point where I’d literally freeze up in a panic when my daughter received a new toy, and I couldn’t think of the “right bin” to put it in. Now, I keep the TikTok tips that work for us, and ditch the rest.

One tip I adopted was from popular TikToker KC Davis (@domesticblisters). She practices toy rotation and also has the damn IKEA Trofast shelves, but she uses the same bins for storage and toy display. So when she wants to put out a set of blocks for her kid, she simply grabs that bin and sets it out. Meanwhile I was attempting to transfer 100 Magnatiles from an IKEA bin to an acrylic bin from Target (because, again, I truly wanted that “Cleantok” look) until I eventually gave up and threw it all on the floor of the guest bedroom and shut the door pretending they weren’t there. I’d opted for an overly aesthetic approach that just wasn’t attainable for me.

A bunch of big buckets? Completely attainable and a weight lifted off my shoulders. Free yourselves!

Katie Garrity is a contributing Scary Mommy writer covering news pertaining to parenting, celebrity, and viral moments. She has written news content for Distractify and Cuteness as well as personal essays for Thought Catalog and Clean Plates. She has a degree in English from North Central College. In her free time, she’s hanging with her 3-year-old and husband, planning their next family trip, and watching restocking videos on TikTok.

As a mom, I don’t ask for much: clean clothes that no one has used as a personal tissue; coffee that I can finish drinking before it gets cold; an uninterrupted trip to the bathroom. But my main goal in life is to sleep. And if I can’t do that, I’d at least like to look like I did.

Enter TikTok and its endless life hacks and tricks.

For many, TikTok has become the answer to whatever ails us. Are your homemade cookies every shape except round? Learn how to make cookies so round that even Mrs. Fields will be impressed! That box of leftover pizza that’s too big to fit in your fridge? Choose from one of many videos that will teach you how to make that box a third of its size in minutes! You have a challenge, TikTok has a hack for it.

Well, in my case, I’m not just a tired mom, I’m a tired mom who is also in her late 40s. I have a multi-step skincare routine that includes serums, oils, eye cream, and even snail mucin when my skin feels especially dry. It’s not a fruitless endeavor; my skin has never looked better. But there is only so much that a jar of product can do. I’m not afraid of injectables or a medical laser treatment to help rejuvenate my skin. My dark circles, however, just don’t want to go away. I’ve never been one to shy away from home remedies, and I knew TikTok would have ideas for me to try in spades.

First up was the Glasses Concealer Hack. As the name states, you draw a pair of glasses on your face with concealer. The videos show a heavy-handed swipe of concealer under the eye and under the brow, complete with a swipe over the nose connecting the two and “arms” drawn toward the ears. My first thought was wow, that’s a LOT of product! Not wanting to deplete my favorite concealer, I went for a more affordable option, my tube of Maybelline Fit Me, one of the many products I was convinced to try after seeing it on TikTok.

My hunch was right: It is a lot of concealer. I understand that the top of the glasses is intended to be a primer for the eyelids, but even my beloved Beauty Blender struggled with this product. It looked more like I experimented with a Kabuki-style look rather than a simple under eye hack.

As the concealer began to settle, all my fine lines were more present than ever. Obviously, I used too much product, but in my defense I followed the directions in the video… from a 25-year-old with flawless skin. Maybe I should have looked for this hack from someone of “advanced age”?

In the end, my dark circles were covered. But so were my eyelids and part of my eyebrows. I’m usually a sunscreen, concealer, mascara, lip gloss, and go kind of girl, but in order to work with all the extra products (“Now you don’t need primer!” one of the videos enthusiastically promised) I had to put on nearly a full face of makeup. Otherwise, I would have just been one blob of concealer.

Even then, I didn’t notice much of a difference. I think I’ll stick with my regular concealer routine.

I next investigated various facial massages, acupressure, and cold spoons. Everyone has an idea about how you can manipulate your face to look more awake, and they’re not all great. Some left me with red lines along my face where my fingers had been, while others did nothing. One that I did enjoy was a simple video on reducing eye fatigue with two quick face massages. It felt nice when I did it — always a plus — and my eyes actually did look more open and less like the zombie I was on the verge of becoming.

As for those chilled spoons, you do see an instant boost. It’s nothing that will last all day, but I appreciate that it not only reduces puffiness under my eyes, it also makes me feel a little more awake as well. Plus, it doesn’t require buying anything.

The final hack that lured me in was a DIY turmeric under-eye mask. Women are swearing by this hack, and how-to videos are racking up millions of views. Turmeric apparently has a slew of wonderful properties, as boasted in a wide variety of videos, including the ability to exfoliate, de-puff, lighten dark circles and spots, minimize UV damage, clear breakouts, and on and on. Sounds like a miracle cure to me — that is, if you believe everything you read on the internet.

There were no shortage of videos and recipes; some of the most popular include buttermilk. Personally, buttermilk is not a staple in my fridge. I buy it once a year to make my mom a birthday cake, and even then I never finish it. I decided to look for one that could be made with things I already had, and stumbled on one that was equal parts turmeric and honey. Hooray!

Learn from my mistake and mix your mask in a clear, glass bowl. The turmeric will stain anything. I mixed my potion and applied it with an old makeup brush, then waited 10-15 minutes to let it do its thing. I didn’t notice any sensitivity, as some claim, so I didn’t have to scrub it off mid-mask as I feared and made it through the entire 15 minutes. When I wiped it off, I was pleasantly surprised that my eyes did look a bit brighter.

This mask leaves me with so many questions. Will the turmeric eventually stain my skin? What is the long-term impact of putting this on my face? Will I see any benefits from doing this every so often, or do I have to follow the strict 3x-a-week routine the videos recommend? I’m going to ask my dermatologist, and if she’s on board, I’ll try it again.

Overall, there was no runaway winner when it came to these hacks. While fun to try, none of them were the holy grail that I’d hoped to find. But everyone responds differently, and honestly, you might as well try them out.

As for me, I’ll continue trying the facial massage (when I remember) and on especially rough mornings, I’ll use my $12 ice face roller that I bought on Amazon when I feel puffy. And as fun as it was to draw glasses on my face, that was a complete no for me.

If I ever feel the urge, I suppose I could pivot entirely and embrace another TikTok trend: sleepy eyes and under eye circles. That’s right, people are actually trying to look exhausted. Hey moms… did we start a trend for once? This is one I can easily get on board with. And I don’t even need makeup to do it!

Becky Vieira has been wearing mom jeans since 2016. She writes for a variety of parenting outlets, and can often be found oversharing intimate details of her life on Instagram. She’s immensely proud of the time she thought to pee in one of her son’s diapers while stuck in her car, as opposed to her pants.

Vieira’s debut book: Enough About the Baby: A Brutally Honest Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood is a guide book for women who recognize the necessity of self-care—even if sometimes the rest of the world does not. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, son, dog, three cats and a partridge in a pear tree.

Kelly Clarkson opened up on her talkshow to guest Henry Winkler about her daughter’s struggles with dyslexia in a heartwarming moment from this week’s show. Winkler offered some advice to her little girl in a sweet clip that is now going viral.

The Barry actor, 77, appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where the two talked about Winkler’s lesser-known success as an author, including 30 children’s books.

“I was driving my daughter to school yesterday, and she’s dyslexic,” Clarkson, 40, shared. “And you have told me that you’re dyslexic as well. I find that amazing, to tell my daughter that you’ve written like 40 books and you’re dyslexic.”

The “Since U Been Gone” singer went on to explain that her first born daughter, River Rose, 8, was “getting bullied at school for not being able to read like all the other kids.”

In response, Winkler pointed out that 1 in 5 children have the learning disability. To which Clarkson admitted that she “didn’t know how common” the learning difference was.

“She’s part of the tribe!” he said, going on to find the right camera to look into, ready to speak to River directly.

“River! How you learn has nothing to do with how brilliant you are,” he said to audience applause.

Clarkson — clearly moved by the touching moment — was brought to tears. “Fine, I’m fine,” she joked while choking up.

Winkler is right. Dyslexia affects an estimated 20 percent of the population, making it one of the most common learning disabilities. The processing disorder, which makes it difficult for people to read, spell, speak, or learn a second language, can make kids feel left out or behind at school, even though it’s not associated with any difference in intelligence.

Clarkson’s journey into motherhood started two years after she married her now ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2013. The couple expanded their family again in 2016 before divorcing after nearly seven years of marriage.

Last month, the pop singer appeared on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast, where she opened up about being a single mom, explaining a ritual she has with her kids where she to checks in and gauges their feelings.

“I ask my kids every night when we’re snuggling and I put them to bed, ‘Are you happy? And if you’re not, what could make you happier?’” Clarkson said.

“Especially the past two years … it kills me [but] I want them to be honest so I don’t ever say, ‘Oh God, don’t tell me that,’ but a lot of times it would be like, ‘I’m just really sad. I wish Mommy and Daddy were in the same house.’ They’re really honest about it. I’m raising that kind of individual.”

The talk-show host continued, “I just sit there and I’m like, ‘I get it. I’m from a divorced family as well. I get it. That sucks. But we’re going to work it out. And you are so loved by both of us.’”

“I think [it’s important to be] communicating with them and … not treating them like an adult, because they’re not, but not treating them like a child,” Clarkson added. “They’re not small feelings. Those are huge feelings, and those are huge emotions.”

For many parents, the only place they can get their baby to fall asleep is in the car. But something happens as they get older; they get all fidgety and start kicking the back of the seat and asking are we there yet? a million times. Or, worse, they get queasy every time they get in the car, making even a quick ride to the store a nightmare. And a full-fledged road trip? Forget about it. You’re lucky if you can make it out of the driveway, much less across state lines.

If this sounds like your family and you’re wondering how to put an end to these unfortunate bouts, you came to the right place. To learn more about kids and car sickness, Scary Mommy spoke with Dr. Christina Johns (“Dr. Christina”), a pediatrician specializing in pediatric emergency care, a senior medical advisor at PM Pediatric Care, and a regular contributor to the medical talk show Doctors Call.

Here’s what she had to say.

Why do people get car sick?

Car sickness is a type of motion sickness, and, as the name implies, it happens when our bodies experience a lot of movement. But not just any movement, like walking or running — Johns explains that motion sickness usually occurs when you’re in the car or on a plane or boat because of the conflicting information of motion and stillness that your brain receives from your eyes, ears, muscles, and joints. This inconsistent signal to the brain is what causes many people to experience symptoms, including nausea, dizziness, and headache.

Why do a lot of kids get car sick?

Johns says that anyone is susceptible to experiencing motion sickness but that women and children especially are affected. “The reason kids are a little more prone to get carsick than adults is that their view of the outside is often more obscured either due to their placement in the back seat or their inability to see out of the windows because of their height. As permanent passengers, children are also more likely to be reading, looking at a device, or playing with a toy, creating more of a discrepancy between what they feel and what they see,” says Johns.

What can parents do to help prevent car sickness?

Not having your child ride in the car probably isn’t an option, but the good thing is that, in most cases, there are simple things you can do to help prevent or ease car sickness. Riding in the front seat is a great option for older kids who meet the safety requirements since they can see directly out of the front window, easing that conflicting information to their brains. But because kids are often backseat passengers, that’s not always possible.

Other tips for preventing car sickness include:

• Stay properly hydrated.
• Avoid smoke or fumes.
• Keep the car cool (roll down the windows or turn up the A/C).
• Sleep, if possible.
• Use acupressure bands like Sea Bands.
• Suck on ginger candy.
• Eat small snacks, frequently.
• Distract yourself/child with music or activities.

“If your child starts to get carsick, ask them to look out the window, if they can. Seeing moving objects outside may stabilize the sensory input to their brain. It might be a good idea to pull over and let them walk around outside until they feel alright again. If you know that your child is prone to car sickness, do not feed them a large meal before traveling, as this could contribute to nausea and even vomiting,” says Johns.

In severe cases or for travel, she explains, parents can ask their child’s pediatrician about using over-the-counter medications like Dramamine. Always consult your child’s doctor before reaching for meds like this, though, and make sure you’re using the correct dosage based on your child’s age and/or weight.

The decision on whether or not to take the plunge and plan that huge trip to the Disney parks is never taken lightly. Parents need to weight the pros and cons of what is considered to be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of vacation for many.

Are your kids the right age? Can you afford it? Will any of it actually be worth it? Does that Disney magic everyone talks about really exist?

One mom on TikTok — @nickiunplugged — will tell you that, yes, the exorbitant, elaborate, and all-together exhausting trip to Disney is totally worth it — as long as parents plan to mentally prepare for worst case scenario and work hard to stay in the present moment.

In her video, Nicki begins by explaining that all the videos you see on social media of parents having the time of their lives with their kids at the Disney parks are true.

“… it’s all flashes of happy moments and I’m here to tell you those moments are there. That’s what’s going to make you come back every time,” she says.

However, those happy memories are typically balanced out by the more realistic sides of parenting. Because kids will be kids and trips will be trips. That’s why this Disney mom recommends that you do as much mental preparation as possible, psyche yourself up for every worst case scenario, and take the hits as they come.

“I also need to tell you before you book the trip, get your s—t together up here,” she says. “Get mentally stable because … you’re going to need to be prepared for when your kids just take you for a ride,” she jokes.

Nicki launches into a story with a lesson that every parent who has ever been on vacation knows all too well — you’re never really on a vacation when you’re with your kids.

“We got to the pool. It opened at 10. We got here at 10 on the dot, got our seats, Mom got all lathered up with her sunscreen, and without hesitation, one kid had to pee — immediately, immediately had to pee,” she says.

“The other one needed is goggles loosened five to seven different times. And now one’s already hungry again and the other one said ‘I’m bored. I wanna go back to the room.’”

Is there anything more rage-worthy than your kid telling you they’re bored while at freaking Disney World?

That’s why Nicki says you have to be firing on all cylinders and in the exact right mental space if you plan to shell out dough for a trip to the “happiest place on earth.”

“So you gotta, you gotta have it together up here before you go,” she says while pointing to her head. “But otherwise, book the trip.”

Several parents chimed in, agreeing with Nicki’s assessment and sharing their own thoughts when it comes to taking kids to Disney.

“There’s no better ride at Disney than the mental ride! 🤪” one parent joked.

“HA! That’s why we waited to take our kids when they were older! Don’t care what ANYONE says Disney is NOT for kids😂😂😂,” another said.

Another Disney park goer wrote, “Yeah I feel like I have to give parents a disclaimer when they ask about it bc it’s like oh 90% of the time is melting down or exhausted the 10% makes it worth it tho 😂”

In a follow-up video, Nicki expresses her gratitude and amazement for being able to take her kids to Disney, saying that her kids “don’t even know this isn’t normal.”

“They’re just like, ‘Cool, yeah, Can you get me another drink, mom? Can you get me Mickey freaking ice cream?’ Sure, I will,” she says.

She then recognized that growing up in a blue collar family, she never dreamed of being able to take her kids to Disney.

“That sh*t’s crazy. All the emotions, the joy of it and also like they don’t know what they have. I wish they knew how good they had it,” she said of her kids being typical kids.

“But I guess to round it all up is, like, I’ve got it pretty good too, right? Let’s enjoy it.”

Words to live by, whether you’re parenting at Disney or at home.