Mom Trends: What’s Hot, What’s Not and What Is Crazy AF

Does it sometimes feel like everybody else has life figured out except you? Rachel Hollis, author of Girl, Wash Your Face, wants you to know that’s a lie. Life is messy and complicated for everyone, but once you understand that you are in control of your life, you can begin to live with passion, joy and confidence.

Aimed at women who feel overwhelmed and unworthy, Girl, Wash Your Face examines 20 lies that can hold you back from becoming who you were meant to be. Hollis details her own mistakes, traumas and life lessons, and shares with readers the strategies she used to overcome these lies and find true happiness.

Lean In, by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, explores the professional, personal and societal hurdles holding women back from leadership positions in the workforce. The hurdles include discrimination, family-unfriendly policies, and a lack of help at home. To get more women into leadership positions and make true changes, Sandberg urges women to “lean in” to their careers, taking risks and being ambitious in their professional goals, while demanding more help at home. To do this, women must fight a lack of self-confidence and internalized gender stereotypes to forge fulfilling and rewarding personal and professional lives.

In a stirring episode of "Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus," acclaimed actress and activist Julia Louis-Dreyfus joins forces with renowned policy-maker and environmentalist Gina McCarthy and commentator Judith Bowles. With both women recounting their personal journeys into activism, and McCarthy's transition from a bystander to an environmentalist, it's a podcast enriched with personal fervor. Louis-Dreyfus dives deep into her childhood influenced by political activism, while McCarthy shares her discovery of her own activist passion later in life, and her inclination towards policy-making grounded in hard evidence.

Their conversation doesn't shirk away from the contentious issues either. Louis-Dreyfus and McCarthy examine the place of emotion in politics, the gender bias that continues to pervade the field, and the controversial topic of climate change skepticism. As the dialogue unfolds, they recount past mistakes like the Flint Water Crisis, while also touching on their respective efforts to balance activism with personal life. It’s a podcast that blends admissions of past regrets with the wisdom acquired along a journey of dedicated activism.

No, you’re not a bad parent. And your kids are actually good kids—parenting is just hard. Do you wish it came with a manual? Clinical psychologist Becky Kennedy’s Good Inside might be just what you need.

Good Inside is a parenting manual to help you make changes in your child’s behavior while building a positive relationship with them. Most parenting advice sees children’s behavior as a problem to be fixed through time-outs, rewards, and serious conversations. But Becky Kennedy argues that these strategies jeopardize your connection with your children. That’s a high price to pay for band-aid strategies that don't deal with the root causes of problematic behaviors.

Our guide lays out the core principles of Kennedy’s approach to parenting, her essential toolkit for dealing with challenging behavior, and strategies to deal with 10 common parenting challenges. We complement Kennedy’s advice with that of other experts, including the authors of parenting classics The Whole-Brain Child, 1-2-3 Magic, and How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk helps parents build mutually respectful relationships with their children. Written by two educators, it’s been dubbed “the parenting bible” by The Boston Globe. Although it was published over 40 years ago, it remains popular because of its concrete advice on how to communicate in a way that shows your child you hear them and care about how they feel.

Having to say no to your child can make you seem like the enemy. The ideas in this book can shift that dynamic and show the child you’re on their side. Instead of getting locked in power struggles, you can work together to solve problems. You’ll learn how to give effective praise, respond when your child says they “hate” someone, get your child to cooperate, promote their independence, and get better behavior without punishment. This guide updates the material in the book and includes additional research about effective parenting techniques, including newer brain research that supports the authors’ original recommendations.

Potty training is an important milestone for a child’s dignity and independence, but it can be overwhelming or anxiety-inducing for parents. In Oh Crap! Potty Training, parenting coach and social worker Jamie Glowacki explains that to effectively potty train your child, all you need is a clear and consistent process that you feel confident about. Her book explores the basics of creating this process and explains how you can personalize it to your child and their needs.

In this guide, we’ll walk through Glowacki’s suggestions for potty training your child, her discussions of parental anxiety or uncertainty, and advice on specific potty training challenges. We’ll also explain the child psychology behind Glowacki’s methods, and provide alternative viewpoints on potty training from parenting experts and pediatricians.