Category: Pop Culture

Information parents should know about Netflix's 13 Reasons Why

Information parents should know about Netflix's 13 Reasons Why
The series 13 Reasons Why on Netflix is hugely popular among teens. It is based on the bestselling novel, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, that came out in 2007. Netflix summarizes the show saying “[a]fter a teenage girl’s perplexing suicide, a classmate receives a series of tapes that unravel the mystery of her tragic choice.” Here’s some of... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
April 11, 2017 at 4:08 pm • 

Dear Evan Hansen: A great musical for teens and their parents

Dear Evan Hansen: A great musical for teens and their parents
Teens trying to find their way and feeling out of place. Parents feeling uncertain of how to connect and best raise their adolescent children. Social media posts taking on a life of their own and being less than accurate. Sounds like a typical house on a typical day, right? But actually, these are themes from the new hit Broadway musical Dear... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
April 4, 2017 at 10:26 pm • 

Family review of Beauty and the Beast & conversation topics about the film

Family review of Beauty and the Beast & conversation topics about the film
After literally years of waiting and anticipating and preparing, my family and I were excited to finally get to see the live action Beauty and the Beast film. My daughter was beyond excited and had high expectations. My husband was far more skeptical. Looking at them side by side as the film began, I was... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
March 17, 2017 at 12:16 am • 
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8 fun subscription boxes for teens and tweens, 2016 edition

8 fun subscription boxes for teens and tweens, 2016 edition
Welcome to the third annual Between Us Parents roundup of subscription boxes that are great for teens and tweens. They make great gifts for the holidays and for birthdays, graduations, and other occasions. You can find the prior years here and here. This year’s list features new suggestions not included on any previous list. All prices... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
November 26, 2016 at 6:51 pm • 

Conversation starters about Moana to use with tweens and teens

Conversation starters about Moana to use with tweens and teens
Moana is the story of a young Polynesian girl (voiced by Hawaiian actress Auli’i Cravalho) who sets out to find demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, aka People’s Sexiest Man Alive) in order to save her island and the whole world. It’s out in theaters nationwide today. The plot is pretty straightforward but there is a lot... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
November 23, 2016 at 6:28 am • 

Olympic humor: Mary Carillo's epic rant about backyard badminton

We’ve been watching the Olympics a lot in our house and have loved watching amazing athletes like Simone Biles and Michael Phelps take home the gold with incredible performances. This year’s games, however, haven’t been overly hilarious, so it’s time to revisit Mary Carillo’s epic rant about badminton from the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
August 13, 2016 at 11:56 pm • 
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8 reasons to love Piper, the short film before Finding Dory

8 reasons to love Piper, the short film before Finding Dory
Piper is the short film from Pixar debuting in theaters today before Finding Dory. It is wordless, but in just six minutes it speaks volumes about parenting and all kinds of hot-button topics today. I loved the conversations that Piper generated with my teen. Piper tells that story of a hungry sandpiper hatchling who ventures... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
June 17, 2016 at 12:02 pm • 

10 fun facts about "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

"If it's to be a Christmas special, I want to certainly deal with the true meaning of Christmas." - Charles Schulz, upon first learning of the possibility of making the television special. He also vetoed using a laugh track, wanting viewers to enjoy it in their own time and their own way.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” In honor of the occasion, a television special honoring the 50th anniversary will air on November 30th and the U.S. Postal Service released 10 stamps with still frames from the beloved television special. You can see each stamp and learn fun facts about “A... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
November 23, 2015 at 11:17 am • 

Family review of "The Peanuts Movie"

Family review of "The Peanuts Movie"
Tonight we went to see lovable but hapless Charlie Brown, take-charge Lucy Van Pelt, adorable Woodstock, and our very favorite beagle Snoopy on the big screen. Our family review of “The Peanuts Movie” is pretty simple: we all thought it is a charming movie. All three of us used the word “cute” to describe the... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
November 6, 2015 at 10:46 pm • 
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The voices behind the emotions in Inside Out

The Disney Pixar film Inside Out comes out on June 19, and there’s a lot of buzz about this movie that explores what goes inside the mind of a tween from the perspective of her emotions. It got great reviews after being shown at Cannes Film Festival last month. Riley is an an 11-year-old girl... Read more »
By Shannan Younger,
June 8, 2015 at 5:54 pm •