Day: April 21, 2023

Your child is an absolute angel. Right? … Right? Reality check: At some point in your life as a parent, your child will likely get in trouble at school. You’re no doubt doing your best to raise a kind, thoughtful child and not an entitled kid or a spoiled brat. But kids often act much differently at school than they do at home. So, don’t beat yourself up when your kiddo gets in trouble or a teacher tells you your child is struggling behaviorally. Instead, take it as a chance to learn — about the teacher, your kid, and yourself. One psychologist and positive parenting advocate who runs TheMomPsychologist, Dr. Jazmine, says the key to tackling behavioral issues at school starts with asking the right questions.

With more than half a million followers on Instagram (and more coming every day), her words of wisdom are clearly hitting home for parents everywhere. “I know it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, embarrassed, and upset at your child when their teacher approaches you about their behavior,” Jazmine starts. “But, first focus on gathering more information by asking these questions.”

6 Questions to Ask Your Child’s Teacher When They Get In Trouble

1. What triggered this behavior, or what was happening right before this behavior occurred?
2. Has this happened before? If so, is it getting worse over time, the same, or better?
3. What do you think is at the root of their behavior and why?
4. How did you intervene in the moment, and what was my child’s response?
5. What is the plan moving forward? How do you plan to support my child with this?
6. How do you think I can best support my child at home?

Why These Questions Matter

First, if this is a pattern and you feel like you need to talk to your child’s pediatrician (and later a specialist of some kind), they’ll ask you those questions, too. They’re going to look at your kid’s triggers and the surrounding timeframe to come up with their own conclusions about what might be causing your child to act the way they’re acting. Your teacher might immediately hit the nail on the head with what they believe are your child’s triggers and/or the root of their behavior — or they might be way off the mark. But these questions will still help you and anyone else involved gain insight into a situation only a few people witnessed firsthand.

It’s also important to account for how everyone intervenes and responds to your child’s behavior. Sometimes how we respond can actually make kids feel a lot worse or escalate the situation. In most instances, your child’s teacher will have at least a few years of experience and know different tactics to de-escalate a behavioral problem. Those tactics don’t always come easy when dealing with a classroom full of other kids who also need your attention, though. Right away, you may be able to spot that the teacher handles things much differently than how you do at home. From that point, one of you might need to adjust your tactics. Alternatively, you might need to work on finding new ones together.

The Beauty of an Action Plan

Having an action plan for both teacher and parent is mutually beneficial. “Remember, you all work on a team,” Jazmine shares in the caption. “It’s their job to help support your child as best as they can in the classroom. You have zero control over what your child does at school, but you can help support them at home.”

First and foremost, it helps both of you know this is something you’re working on together so neither party feels like they’re being left high and dry. It also creates a united front for your child: If you’re both taking the same steps, it shows you’re both trying to help them and creates consistency. Consistency will be the key to solving nearly all issues — in childhood and life in general.

Jazmine’s Other Vital Advice

Jazmine’s six questions will go a long way in helping you understand what is happening with your child and their teacher in the classroom. If working together doesn’t make a difference for your child, she offers another piece of advice: “Advocate for your child to be assessed if there are ongoing concerns about your child’s behavior at daycare/school,” she added in her caption.

This is crucial. Behaviors in kids can be written off as so many different things, from typical development to brattiness to “learned behavior.” And while those things are all possible, there’s a lot to be said for a mother’s intuition. If the reports you’re getting raise red flags for you, sound the alarm. Doing so will require (most likely) talking to the school and talking to your pediatrician.

In the long run, a specialist might tell you your child’s behavior is routine or that you’re accidentally taking a big misstep in your response. A specialist might also recognize a diagnosis for your child. That sounds scary — and it is — but make no mistake: The sooner you know what’s causing your child’s behavior, the sooner you can work with experts to find ways of addressing it (and that doesn’t necessarily mean medication). With early direction, your child is much more likely to learn, adapt, and overcome as they grow.

If you thought Christine Quinn’s possible departure from the show could mean an end to the Selling Sunset saga, think again. The drama-filled reality docuseries was just renewed for seasons six and seven, according to Netflix, which announced a new summer lineup on Thursday.

The Season 6 teaser trailer was just released by Netflix featuring some old favorites and new additions to the Oppenheim Group.

Agent Chrishell Stause kicks off the teaser trailer by saying, “I know people think I’m having a midlife crisis, but I’m having an awakening,” seemingly alluding to her relationship with partner G Flip.

The trailer also features returning agents Chelsea Lazkani, Emma Hernan and Amanza Smith.

The clip also offers a first look at the Oppenheim Group’s two new agents: Nicole Young and Bre Tiesi. The clip also offers a first look at two new agents: Nicole Young and Bre Tiesi.

“I have $100 million in sales and counting. If someone were to get in the way of that, there’s going to be an issue,” Young says in the teaser. Meanwhile, Tiesi explains that she’s “kind of a mirror” and will match whatever vibe she’s given.

OG realtor, Mary Fitzgerald, will also return this season. In the teaser, Fiszgerald references the show’s former “villain” and now-departed cast member, Christine Quinn, saying that she won’t miss her and that “it’s probably for the best she’s gone.”

Heather El Moussa also appears in the trailer, saying she’s going to be a “rockstar mommy and also a rockstar business woman” as she struts through an L.A. mansion showing off her pregnant belly.

Season 6 of Selling Sunset premieres Friday, May 19 on Netflix.

The show, which follows the realtors who work for The Oppenheim Group in Beverly Hills, CA, in both their work and personal life, began in 2019 and premiered its latest season at the end of April, featuring both old and new faces.

In season five of the series, fans were introduced to newcomer Chelsea Lazkani, who brang the heat, even more so than previous newcomers, Emma Hernan and Vanessa Villela. Though fans expect to see the original clan, the newest cast list has not yet been revealed. The finale of the April season left quite the cliffhanger for multiple plot lines in the group, with possible departures from Quinn, who did not attend the series reunion, Villela, who was considering a move to London, and an announcement from Maya Vander, who made her leave official in the final episodes, to start a new chapter in Miami, FL.

Christine Quinn announced she was parting ways with The Oppenheim Group to a new brokerage, RealOpen, reportedly created by her husband, Christian Dumontet, back in April.

Taping for the next season is scheduled to begin as soon as this summer.

The real estate mogul twin brothers, Jason and Brett Oppenheim, will also be debuting in a spin-off of the successful reality show, Selling the OC, which will follow the lives of the group working in their Orange County office. The show’s teaser seems to live up to, and possibly exceed, the drama that ensued on Selling Sunset, and surely will support the success of its original counterpart.

The spin-off will debut on Netflix on August 24th, and thank god — it’s the perfect thing to binge-watch while you wait for the next season of Selling Sunset.

Odds are, if you ask 10 people whether they love babies, nine of them will answer yes. Babies are just so damn cute and squishy and incapable of judging your questionable binge-watching habits (*ahem*), panty lines, or choice in four-letter words. No one seems to love babies more than Love Is Blind co-host Vanessa Lachey, though — at least that seems like the only logical explanation anyone can come up with for asking that awkward and inappropriate question of when two people plan to procreate. After watching the Love Is Blind Season 4 “live” reunion special, many viewers are (rightfully) annoyed and triggered by Lachey’s persistent line of questioning. After all, who says they can or even want to have babies? Why does that need to be next?

The comments in question came during the ill-fated after-the-regular-season bookend to Love Is Blind Season 4, and they weren’t exactly subtle. It all started with a surprise cameo from Season 3 cast member Bartise Bowden and his infant son. “Who is going to be the first to become parents?” Bowden asked in a pre-recorded video clip.

And, OK, sure — Bowden’s baby announcement was big news (read: a shocker) in the LIB universe, and Vanessa, co-host husband Nick Lachey, and the LIB showrunners were likely trying to capitalize on that buzz. Still, they should have stopped there with just a cameo and a silly little rhetorical question from a previous cast member. Unfortunately, that is not what happened.

Instead, Vanessa breezed right into pestering Season 4 castmates about any possible baby news. “Who is going to give me our first Love Is Blind baby?” she asked. As if possibly becoming aware of her slight, she prodded on but only dug a deeper hole. “I don’t want to ask if you’re trying because that’s TMI. Obviously, you’re all…”

On the actual cameo itself, Lachey commented, “OK. Seriously. If that doesn’t make your ovaries burn, I don’t know” — seemingly forgetting that not all parents have ovaries and not all people with ovaries can or want to use them.

Luckily, Season 4 couple Tiffany Pennywell and Brett Brown came prepared. Pennywell quickly told Lachey they were just focusing on enjoying their marriage. “I was just about to make a joke — I was like, ‘Jesus, y’all really put the baby pressure,'” Brown chimed in. “My God.”

While the reunion stars could only be so candid on-camera, Love Is Blind fans were more vocal in their distaste for the line of questioning.

“I don’t appreciate Vanessa Lachey constantly asking about babies — especially publicly on air. You don’t know who’s trying and having trouble conceiving/carrying and who is feeling pressure from their biological clock. Just mind your own uterus,” wrote one viewer.

“I really hate Vanessa for putting this baby pressure on these couples constantly on this reunion. It’s 2023. Stop f*cking asking people when they’re having babies,” tweeted another fan.

“Let these couples enjoy life [without] kids. Who’s to say they even want them?” read another angry tweet.

Another made the wildly valid point that unless Love Is Blind is ready to financially support these couples through pregnancy and parenthood, they should keep their thoughts to themselves.

In all seriousness, the question of whether a couple will have children is highly individual and nuanced. There are more possible reasons than could be listed here, with even more potential unknown reasons looming, for why you should never ask when someone is having kids. But here’s the highlight reel, ICYMI, of why the question is inappropriate, offensive, and often triggering:

• They can’t have kids.
• They’re trying but struggling.
• They don’t feel financially prepared.
• They don’t feel emotionally ready.
• They want to enjoy their relationship first.
• They’re dealing with personal health issues first.
• They don’t want to.
• It’s literally none of your damn business.
• No one needs to explain their life choices to you.

While Love Is Blind fans have clearly named Vanessa the villain (they’ve even started a petition to remove her and Nick as hosts), it’s worth pointing out that there’s nothing “real” about reality television. Even reunions come with a list of talking points, and Vanessa could have been pressured into asking the questions by network execs. Even so, she could — and should — have pushed back.

There’s a new buzzy social media app in town, and it’s already giving Instagram and Pinterest some competition. If you spend any amount of time on TikTok, you’ve undoubtedly seen influencers hyping the lifestyle app Lemon8 in recent weeks. Weird name aside, Lemon8 blends the best features from TikTok and Instagram into an aesthetically pleasing layout reminiscent of Pinterest. And if you have a Pinterest- or TikTok-obsessed teen in your house, there’s a good chance they already have the app on their phone — they may even be the one who alerted you to its existence in the first place.

But who is it really for? Just teens? Nope. Lemon8 is aimed directly at people who love fashion, design, beauty, and aspirational content. For the most part, it’s not a place for memes or comedy skits. Instead, users will find OOTDs and makeup tutorials full of links telling you exactly where to buy the products used in the videos or highlighted in the photos.

Lemon8 is free to download, and setting up an account is easy. But before you add the lifestyle app to your social media rotation, there are a few things you need to know — especially as a parent. Read on for a rundown on what Lemon8 is, who owns the app, and why some of the hype might be manufactured.

What is Lemon8, exactly?

Lemon8 is a social media app focusing on beauty, fashion, home décor, food, and wellness. If you download and sign up with the app, those are the categories you’ll see across the top of your “For You” page. Like on other social media sites, you can choose which interests and creators you want to follow to curate your feed to your interests. The best part is the feed is laid out in a similar style to Pinterest, which cuts out the auto-play doomscrolling that TikTok is known for.

The content itself is presented as either Instagram-style photo carousels or TikTok-esque videos. However, users seem less likely to share random photos than to curate style lookbooks or serve up cooking tutorials. Sometimes, influencers will include text on their pictures detailing where each item in their image is from alongside the prices, and captions are full of information on where to find the products mentioned (with plenty of affiliate links).

Because of the nature of the content, it’s hard to know what’s an ad and what’s organic. But if you enjoy making aesthetic Pinterest boards, or already frequent LTK to search for products promoted by your favorite influencers, you’ll likely enjoy the relatively low-key vibes of Lemon8.

Where did Lemon8 come from?

The new lifestyle app is from Bytedance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok and is embroiled in a standoff with the U.S. government over national security concerns. Currently, congress is debating the Restrict Act, which could lead to a TikTok ban if passed. The bill won’t just affect TikTok, though. If passed, it will give the U.S. Commerce Department the authority to ban or restrict any app created in a country that could be seen as a national security threat.

For its part, Lemon8’s privacy policy is similar to that of other social media sites, but it does let users know that their information may not be stored on servers in the same country they reside in. “The personal information we collect from you may be stored on a server located outside of the country where you live,” the policy reads. (The storage of information on international servers is one of the sticking points between Bytedance and Congress.)

This could put the lifestyle app in a similar position as TikTok if Bytedance and the U.S. government don’t reach a compromise.

Is the hype surrounding Lemon8 authentic?

Lemon8 first launched in Japan in 2020 before rolling out in the U.S. earlier this year. According to TechCrunch, it began taking off with stateside users in late March and quickly became one of the top most downloaded lifestyle apps in the app store. However, the growth wasn’t entirely organic.

As reported by the New York Times, Bytedance paid influencers to promote the new app to raise its profile. The gambit paid off with news of Lemon8 spreading — but that doesn’t mean the lifestyle app will go the distance. Bytedance designed Lemon8 to help the company compete with Instagram and Pinterest, but if the Restrict Act is passed, it could come under fire right alongside TikTok.

What’s more, the app has to actually live up to its hype. Right now, it’s a fun diversion for anyone who wishes Pinterest was a bit more social, but it’s unlikely to have you ditching your favorite recipes board on Pinterest in favor of a curated Lemon8 page just yet.

When picking out a baby name for a child, some parents go against the grain and pick something that is out of the box and unique, while others opt for family names to honor someone special in their life. When it comes to family names, there may be some controversy between siblings or other family members who may want to call dibs.

For one brother and sister, a family baby name debacle emerged from some tragic circumstances, and now the brother is wondering if he is in the wrong for how he reacted during his sister’s gender reveal party.

In the popular subreddit, “Am I The A—hole?,” Reddit user u/Patient-Ad8524 asked for advice about a complicated situation between himself and his sister regarding a family baby name.

He begins to explain that after their grandmother, Victoria, passed away, he and his sister, Layla, had agreed that whomever was to have a child first would have dibs on that name. He explained that he and his wife, Pam, had gotten pregnant first and planned to use the name.

“We found out it was a girl and did a gender reveal where we announced we were going to use the name Victoria,” he wrote. “My sister was not upset about this and jokingly said something along the lines of you beat me to the punch.”

A few months later, his sister announced that she was also pregnant. However, a few months after that, Pam gave birth a stillborn. “…while our daughter was never alive, my wife gave birth to her, it was just too early for the baby to live sadly. Our daughter is buried in a grave that says Victoria,” he wrote.

While they still remained amicable, the OP and his wife took a break from seeing Layla as it was painful to be around a pregnant woman. After a few months, they decided they were in a good enough place to attend Layla’s gender reveal.

However, things took a turn when Layla revealed that the baby was a girl and was planning to name her Victoria. Unsurprisingly, the OP flipped out.

After confronting his sister, she defended herself saying that since they “weren’t using the name, it’s only fair she should get to.”

He wrote that he proceeded to call his sister an “evil human being who doesn’t deserve to be a mother,” and now, his family has turned against him demanding that he apologize to sister.

The “AITA” post — which has been upvoted on Reddit over 10k times — received over 1k comments with several Reddit users coming to the defense of the OP.

“I’m definitely going to say a NTA, what your sister did was definitely horrible, but has she actually experienced losing a child? She probably doesn’t understand the feeling. I don’t think you should have gone to begin with honestly,” one user wrote.

Another echoed, “NTA. I am utterly dumbfounded and appalled by your sister’s lack of care. You and your wife had a baby daughter named Victoria. The name ‘Victoria’ is on her grave. Good Lord you two have suffered enough, I can’t believe your sister would be so cruel as to use the same name, without consulting you, so close in time to your loss. And to have it be revealed like this? I can’t even.”

Another Reddit user thought that the OP was in the wrong for misdirecting his hurt and pain onto his sister.

“YTA -I’m sorry to say that, and this is not going to be a popular opinion, but at least it’s more misguided and caused by pain than intentionally dickish or malicious. What happened to you and your wife is tragic, and I’m sorry for the pain and suffering you went through, but your reaction is on you, not anyone else,” they wrote, noting that the OP and his wife could benefit from therapy.

Another replied similarly, noting, ‘YTA, but gently. She’s allowed to use the name. I’m sorry for you and Pam’s loss, but a living child should be able to have the name it shouldn’t take away from your daughter you lost. Obvs so personally would have never done this but I think you telling her she doesn’t deserve to be a mom & ruining an entire party does make you the asshole.”

Other Reddit users landed somewhere in the middle, commenting that “Everybody Sucks Here.”

“She should not have named her baby Victoria, absolutely not and definitely not without discussing with you first. But “she is an evil human being who doesn’t deserve to be a mother” – that’s out of line, that’s so far beyond the line that the line is a dot to you. What she did to you and Pam (which I agree was wrong and, at the very best case scenario, just completely misjudged) had nothing to do with being a bad mother and you categorically do not tell someone who is in a high risk pregnancy that they don’t deserve to be a mother,” they wrote.

“You should apologise, so should she. She should use the name as a middle name, not a first name – you don’t own the name but she should be more tactful and respectful.”

Read the entire Reddit thread here.