We each have our own particular extroverted or introverted approach to our fellow humans, but what about families — can a family be extroverted or introverted? outgoing or in-staying? people people or homebodies? We discussed whether socializing charges or drains our batteries, whether you should push kids (or husbands) to be something they're not, whether families that do a lot of running around just hate each other too much to hang out at home together, and whether waiting until we're in Nicole's planned retirement home to really get out and socialize is a workable plan.
Next, with the movie Inside Out jerking tears at movie theaters and the season of small children graduating from things upon us, we thought it was a good time to talk about what's making us cry — events, songs, anger, frustration, Hallmark commercials, pretty much everything, it turns out, but the really serious stuff we should be feeling teary over. As promised, I've created a playlist of cry-worthy songs that you can listen to when you're in a mood to weep and add to by suggesting your favorite weepies in the comments here, on the YouTube page, or on our Twitter and Facebook presences.
Finally, we made our recommendations for the week: Catherine promoted the entertainment-themed Round 2 podcasts that we do here every Tuesday, as well as her list of the best podcasts for parents (present company included); Amanda gave a thumbs-up to an article on the value of Inside Out for kids with attention problems; Nicole highlighted an article on raising an introverted child, to which Catherine added a nod to the website Quiet Revolution; and Terri mentioned one article up now on her site, on helping kids recognize emotions, and another that she would have written had she not spent a day listening to sad songs on YouTube.
Thanks as always to Jon Morin for producing the podcast and Kristin Eredics for our happy in and out music, and if you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.