Dear Reader

School daze

We’ve been marking the magical yet frenzied back-to-school season in this country for centuries — even before it was a country — since Boston Latin School, which still operates today as the oldest public school in America, first opened its doors to students in 1635. However, in this unprecedented pandemic fall of 2020, educators, parents and students of all ages must navigate something quite unusual that can’t exactly be named, by anyone. The once-predictable excitement of new teachers, new friends, new backpacks and shiny new shoes paired with that all-important first-day outfit has been replaced with the dread of continued remote learning and too many unknowns.

At ParentMap, we’ve decided to dress ourselves up for the first day of school anyway — we’ve chosen our September back-to-school issue to reveal a brand-spanking-new design. This issue is chock-full of content to address some of your BTS preoccupations, from the critical importance of annual wellness checkups (p. 10) to inspiring Instagram accounts that will make supporting your child’s instruction at home a little easier and a lot more fun (p.12). Having kids learning at home while you try to work, function and plan out how to feed the team multiple times a day requires a whole new menu of tech support — equip yourself with our reader picks for apps to help busy families stay organized (p.7).

One of my top parenting failures was not understanding that responsibilities help develop self-reliance, emotional skills, autonomy and kids’ need to feel needed. Consistently prioritizing age-appropriate chores has been cited as one of the chief predictors of success in adulthood, so increase your little toddler’s social-emotional and essential life skills with some chore-building (p. 18).

Now that the house is clean, how about a little educational screen time? In this month’s Parent Day Jobs, you’ll meet Auntie Lena, the TV alter-ego of inspiring producer and host Val Thomas-Matson, who has created a new series designed to encourage BIPOC children to take their rightful place in the world (p.31).

SEPTEMBER 2020, VOL. 17, NO. 8 PUBLISHER Alayne Sulkin

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR Patty Lindley OUT + ABOUT EDITOR Nancy Chaney DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR Vicky McDonald DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Nicole Persun OUT + ABOUT EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Devon Hammer COPY EDITOR Sunny Parsons CONTRIBUTORS Diana Cherry, Jackie Freeman, JiaYing Grygiel, Tiffany Doerr Guerzon, Devon Hammer, Malia Jacobson, Vicky McDonald, Sanya Pelini, Ph.D. DIGITAL MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER Lindsey Carter SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST + TRENDING EDITOR Diana Cherry EMAIL PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Angelica Lai ADVERTISING SALES + PARTNERSHIPS SENIOR ADVERTISING AND PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER Ida Wicklund ADVERTISING PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER Jen Dine AD OPERATIONS MANAGER Elisa Taylor ADVERTISING CLIENT SERVICES SPECIALIST Jessica Collet ADVERTISING CLIENT SERVICES ADMINISTRATION Angela Goodwin EVENTS EVENT OPERATIONS Brenna McCown EVENT COORDINATOR Mallory Dehbod MARKETING + EVENTS ASSISTANT Taryn Weiner ART + PRODUCTION SENIOR DESIGNER Amy Chinn ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS MANAGER Carolyn Brendel

What’s your most successful chore sweetener?

Shameless flattery! Point them at a chore that “only you can do.”

I actually sometimes strategically time a cleanup so my 3-year-old doesn’t try to come “help.”

We use simple logic: A family is a team, so everyone must pitch in — even the dog!

Buy your preschooler their own personal vacuum!

PARENTMAP EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Benjamin Danielson, M.D. ODESSA BROWN CHILDREN’S CLINIC Joan Duffell RETIRED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE FOR CHILDREN John Gottman, Ph.D. THE GOTTMAN INSTITUTE PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Laura Kastner, Ph.D. PSYCHIATRY + BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Bea Kelleigh VICE PRESIDENT AT DOVETAILING, LLC Yaffa Maritz, M.A. LISTENING MOTHERS + COMMUNITY OF MINDFUL PARENTING Ron Rabin THE KIRLIN FOUNDATION Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MINDSIGHT INSTITUTE CONTACT INFORMATION Advertising information 206-709-9026 or advertising@parentmap.com Fax 206-709-9031 Calendar submissions calendar@parentmap.com Editorial submissions editor@parentmap.com Distribution distribution@parentmap.com Subscriptions subscriptions@parentmap.com Administration 206-709-9026, parentmap.com Subscription rates 1 year: $12