Joanna Schroeder

Few things are cuter than the sight of your little boy holding hands with a little girl in his kindergarten classroom, or watching as your daughter puts her arm around a little boy from her tee-ball team. At that moment, parents often assume that what they’re witnessing is young love, even if their child has never had a crush and is just expressing affection. While it may be tempting to call your child’s friend a girlfriend or boyfriend, or to tease them about having a crush, here are seven important reasons to resist.

There are about a zillion things I could say about what Patty Jenkins was able to accomplish with this movie, but for now I just want to touch on a few of the singular aspects of this film that were game-changers for all of Hollywood (and kids everywhere).

I’m spelling them out here so that other parents can talk about them and other boys can see that there isn’t just one way to become a good man.

This holiday film tells men it's OK to be emotional and vulnerable.

People try to keep it real by talking about the struggles of being a parent, and that’s great, but the truth is this: Parenting can be great fun.

I'm going to keep an eye on my health—but keep the scale under the bathroom vanity.

We're not saying you need an excuse to have wild, crazy, satisfying and fully consensual sex... But if you did, what could be better motivation than to piss Ted Cruz (and his ultra-Conservative cronies) right the fuck off?

I first saw shame take over my son’s face in a somewhat unexpected place: the toy aisle at Target.

What is this body? I wonder lately as I look in the mirror. Despite the fact that I’ve had this body shape for years now, it feels unfamiliar. I feel like it doesn’t reflect who I really am. But what body would reflect that?

As I grew older, I came to rely upon dieting as a way to ease my anxiety and feel in control. I was no longer in a cycle of eating too little or body dysmorphia, but controlling my food intake made me feel less invisible in a sea of girls where I felt like I'd disappear. It was almost a form of self-medication, to know that I could go on a diet and lose a few pounds.