I'm just back from a week away with my kids. We went to Istanbul. I realize this is an extremely privileged thing to be able to do. I pulled it off with a combo of house-swapping and airline points, but I am still a very very lucky human being. The wonderful thing about traveling to a place as foreign as Istanbul is that you and your children end up on the same footing—none of you speak the language or know how to navigate daily life there. So it inspires a kind of teamwork and camaraderie that it's hard to have at home, with all its chores and responsibilities and teachable moments. Also, getting away from daily work-life balance tension makes you more the person you actually probably want to be. You can see each other differently. My children actually laughed at some of my jokes—not even very good ones. Travel has it own stresses, but they are containable will-you-make-the-connecting-flight type stresses that are shared, rather than the can-I-get-this-task-done stresses that you carry alone. We can't all go to Istanbul, obviously, but this is a vote for doing something that seems more difficult and challenging as a family, especially among people whose beliefs you don't fully understand. Somehow the reach is invigorating rather than stressful. Hope you can try it, even if it just means going to a different part of Texas.
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roundup
For many decades, dyslexic kids were considered lazy or stupid. More recently, they've been considered to have a disability. And in the last six years, parents of dyslexics have banded together to swarm the statehouses to make sure laws are put in place to help them get the help they need. Here's how they did it. TIME
If you're finding the situation on the border confusing, then this story should help. It explains step by step how a 7-year old boy became separated from his parents and has been for a year-which seems like a crazy situation that nobody would ever condone—and what the family's life is like now. TIME
It is a truth universally acknowledged that kids love a good space story. What better time to indulge them than on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 space mission? TIME for Kids has suggestions for ways to celebrate with your future Neil Armstrongs and Katherine Johnsons:
Summer usually means visits with families. That can be fun, but it can also be fun's exact opposite. So it might be time to revisit this story about how to get the most out of them. It isn’t just about trying to make everything goes smoothly, says one expert. Emory University's studies of kids’ connections with extended family uncovered an important principle: "The more kids know about their families, the stronger they are." TIME
Is there a link between dangerous neighborhood environmental conditions, asthma and strong family relationships? This study from Northwestern University thinks so. Northwestern University
A single dad turned to his daughter for fashion advice for a first date. His daughter, being a daughter, put his photos on the Internet. Then he got stood up by his putative date. He also went viral. It really is so much fun to be a dad. TIME
PFFT: Parenting from Famous Types
Kristen Bell, actress and parent of two,
"What's so clear is that it is in your DNA to reject your parents. They hate it when I sing. I come home with tidbits from Frozen that no one will ever know and they're like, 'Yeah, okay.'"
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