On this week’s episode: Dan and Jamilah are joined by Care and Feeding columnist Nicole Cliffe. They answer a question from a mom whose brother’s suicide attempt is causing her to reevaluate her son’s relationship with his uncle. He’s recovering, but can she trust him to look after her eight year old? They also answer a question from a father whose kid regrets choosing an iPad over a Switch. Should he just break down and buy the Switch? And how can he teach his son that getting the next shiny thing doesn’t necessarily make you happy? For Slate Plus, special guest and Slate staff writer Ruth Graham discusses her parenting dilemma that included a highly anticipated trip and... barf? Sign up for Slate Plus here.

Recommendations:

Dan recommends two Oscar nominations for your tweens and teens: Knives Out and Parasite. Jamilah tossed in the Oscar-nominated short, Hair Love. Many art-house theaters screen the Oscar nominated shorts; so go see them in person.

Jamilah recommends Trader Joe’s cauliflower products. Cauliflower au gratin, great! Cauliflower tot casserole, delicious! Plus, you don’t really have to cook.

Nicole recommends Contigo water bottles for kids, which comes in blue and orange.

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Podcast produced by Rosemary Belson.

Hosts

Jamilah Lemieux is a writer, cultural critic, and communications strategist based in California.

Dan Kois is an editor and writer at Slate. He’s the author of How to Be a Family and the co-author of The World Only Spins Forward.

Nicole Cliffe lives with her husband and three children in Sandy, Utah. She is the co-founder of the Toast and has written for the Guardian, Christianity Today, New York, and the Morning News.

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