The Longest Shortest Time

💥EXCITING NEWS💥 Ever since LST ended, I've been developing a fiction podcast about middle school. It's called HERE LIES ME and I'm thrilled to announce that I'm joining forces with Lemonada Media to bring the show to your ears this fall. For now, here's a peek inside my brain (my ever evolving storyboard). More soon!

This week on LST: Our LAST episode. Think of it as a little party, just for us. Okay, us and Will Smith: https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3u5

You are the best audience a show could ask for. Thank you for tuning in. While this is the end of LST, this isn't really goodbye! Hillary's cooking up something new (probably something about middle school.) You can sign up for news about Hillary's next thing at longestshortesttime.com/participate and you can follow her on Instagram and Twitter .

All of our archives will remain online at longestshortesttime.com but we'll be turning off the comments on January 1, 2020. So if there's a comment you've wanted to leave on an episode, now is the time!

On December 29, 2010, posted the very FIRST episode of LST, Your Singing Really Interferes With My Going To Sleep Process. Hillary interviewed her friend Anne Sailer about how her son Jacob hated being sung to, which was hard for Anne because she was a music teacher. Here are Hillary and Anne last week celebrating the last 9 years together!

(Fun fact: Since that first episode, both of Anne's kids have also been on the show - her son Jacob was in episode 46 and her daughter Molly was in 174 and 214 as one of our teen advice panelists.)

Hey LSTers, to celebrate our show’s nine year run, we made a special discount code for ALL of our merch! Use code SOLONGLST for 20% off at podswag.com/lst

Longest Shortest Time – PodSwag

"The popularity of animal clothes shows how far we’ve come in our perception of young children, away from the idea that their base nature must be tamed by discipline and toward the belief that their uninformed and wild relationship to the world is something precious and wonderful to be celebrated. "

When Did Children’s Clothes Start Sprouting Ears and Claws? Today, dressing your kid as an animal is the height of cuteness. But that wasn’t always the case.

This week on LST: Ina May Gaskin returns to LST to tell you that if you didn’t have a “natural birth,” you are not a failure! Ina May just updated her Guide To Childbirth book, and she says those revisions were inspired by YOU. https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3tQ

EPISODE #218: Ina May’s Guide, Completely Revised and Updated The mother of modern midwifery returns to tell you (yes, YOU) that if you didn’t have a “natural birth,” you are not a failure.

'It cuts across all social and racial lines, across class lines — it cuts across every line,' Ms. Hoffman said. 'There is no profile.'"

We know this is scary stuff, so we really appreciate that the NYT also published this this resource on how to protect your kids online: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/07/us/protect-children-online-sex-abuse.html

Video Games and Online Chats Are ‘Hunting Grounds’ for Sexual Predators Criminals are making virtual connections with children through gaming and social media platforms. One popular site warns visitors, “Please be careful.”

This week on LST: BUSY PHILIPPS. She tells Hillary about playing by the rules in Hollywood when she's had to, but that after she had kids, she started making her own rules—at work and at home. https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3tB

EPISODE #217: Busy Philipps Works the Postpartum Hollywood System Busy Philipps has been working in Hollywood since she was 19 years old. She's always played by the rules when she's had to, but after she had kids, she started making her own rules—at work and at home.

"Over and over, I found myself having two conversations with experts: One about what they knew from their patients or their research, and another about the choices they made about when to have children on their own."

The Truth About Pregnancy Over 40 More than 100,000 Americans give birth in their 40s each year, but what does that mean for the health of their pregnancies and their babies?

🎉 We're SO thrilled to see Hillary's book, Weird Parenting Wins, on NPR's best books of 2019 list! Especially exciting to be featured among amazing company - not only in the Family Matters section, but also Eye-Opening Reads, Funny Stuff, and Staff Picks. https://apps.npr.org/best-books/ =2019&book=109

NPR's Favorite Books Of 2019 The Book Concierge is back with 350+ great reads, hand-picked by NPR staff and trusted critics.

This week on LST: We made you a mix tape! We have three little treasures that we’ve been dying to share with you—a baby picked up by the police, the joy and terror of kale, and talking birth control in front of your dad... https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3tp

EPISODE #216: We Made You A Mix Tape A baby picked up by the police, the joy and terror of kale, and talking birth control in front of your dad. Three little treasures that we’ve been dying to share with you!

This week on LST: John Hodgman tells us about cornering the market as an elitist villain on TV—from his only child origin story to the height of his acting career flying first-class back and forth between New York and LA to the moment he realized that without really meaning to, he’d become a villain in his own life, to his own kids. https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3t0

EPISODE #215: John Hodgman On Being A Villain Without Really Trying John Hodgman has made a career out of playing elitist villains on TV. He later realized he's been a villain in real life, too — including, sometimes, to his own children.

"I wanted so much to be pregnant that it took over me like a bridezilla for the uterus."

Michelle Buteau: I Always Wanted Kids—I Didn’t Realize How Hard It’d Be to Have Them The "First Wives Club" star opens up about her journey to become a mom: "I wanted so much to be pregnant that it took over me like a bridezilla for the uterus."

Have you seen this new mom drama? We are loving it—especially because past LST guest Casey Wilson is in it!

Mrs. Fletcher Learn more about the HBO series Mrs. Fletcher.

Our teen panel is back with more parenting advice! Wanna know when to give your kid a smartphone? Why mumble rap is cool? How to maintain a strong relationship with your child? Molly, Mason, and Quincy have the answers—plus, they give us the scoop on the latest teen lingo. No cap. (Are we doing this right?) https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3sE

EPISODE #214: The, Like, Show. Wavy Edition Our teen panel is back with more parenting advice! Wanna know when to give your kid a smartphone? Why mumble rap is cool? How to maintain a strong relationship with your child? Molly, Mason, and Quincy have the answers.

Our friends at The Double Shift are back with a brand new season, "The Revolution Begins At Home." (!!!) Last time, they brought you stories on mothers taking charge in the workplace, from brothels to boardrooms. This time, you can expect six boundary breaking conversations about everything from finding a co-parent online, to mental load for moms, to a transgender parent of five raising his kids communally — because, according to host Katherine Goldstein "no one's work life is gonna change if our home lives are stuck in the past." New episodes start this week! You can also follow along on Instagram for BTS photos and more!

‎The Double Shift on Apple Podcasts ‎Kids & Family · 2019

While we were working on our follow-up, we've been thinking a lot about the surprising ways parenthood changes careers. Like this story about long-distance runner Mary Keitany: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/27957731/inside-mind-new-york-city-marathon-champ-mary-keitany

And this Kathryn Hahn interview on Fresh Air: https://www.npr.org/2019/10/24/772672014/actor-kathryn-hahn-says-the-best-part-of-her-career-came-post-kids

Inside the mind of a four-time New York City Marathon champ Make no mistake, Kenyan Mary Keitany aims to win her fifth title in New York on Sunday. But now she's running for different reasons.

"Brown said that because young kids are fairly concrete thinkers, parents should act “feminist” in ways that are directly tied to their lives—like using “kid” to refer to a peer, instead of “boy” or “girl.""

Who Are Feminist Baby Books For? “I don’t think, in and of themselves, that’s how you raise a child to be a feminist.”

We have NYT bestselling author RAINA TELGEMEIER on LST this week! If you have a child in elementary or middle school, chances are you have at least one of Raina’s graphic novels in your home. Maybe Smile, or Sisters, or her newest book, Guts! Hillary got the chance to talk to Raina on the day Guts launched. Hear how Raina’s method of coping with her childhood fears accidentally made her a hero to kids all over the world: https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3s0

Lyndsay from Episode 126: When “I Do” Makes You A Parent, Too, wrote this beautiful and thoughtful op-ed about her abortion for the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/opinion/sunday/late-term-abortion.html

Opinion | I Had a Late-Term Abortion. I Am Not a Monster. I am a grieving mother who protected her child from a life of pain and suffering.

on Instagram gave Hillary's book a lovely review AND she had this great win of her own using chalk to draw roads and runways for her kids' toys so she can have some coffee!

🎉REVIEW!🎉 Some parenting books can feel very judgmental or strict. This is NOT that. In this book, @longestshortesttime host Hillary Frank compiles all of the advice, tips, and tricks she’s received throughout her podcast’s time on air, and compiles it into this fabulous little guide. Her chapters are about everything from sleep (she shares a list of songs other parents swear by to get their kids to sleep), to picky eating (all about vegetables), and she even touches on teenagers! The stories included are so funny and relatable, which is my favorite part. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are/were a @longestshortesttime listener. My current weird parenting win is chalk - anytime my kids wake up grumpy or are having a rough morning, we go outside, get the chalk, and I sit down and draw with them. Sometimes we just doodle, sometimes they want to decorate the curb, and sometimes if I’m properly caffeinated, I make them a bunch of roads for their cars and dump trucks, or a little runway for their airplanes. It’s hard to be two, but chalk makes it easier! Do you have a weird parenting win?

Our final season starts today! Hillary Frank is back in the host seat, and she’s checking in with Trystan & BIff aka The Accidental Gay Parents. A LOT has happened since we last talked to them two years ago: https://wp.me/p4bvGZ-3rw Family Equality

😂😂😂 What did your parents do that embarrassed you when they dropped you off at school?

This Video of Jerry O’Connell Tormenting His Kids by Singing Along to Prince Has Off-the-Charts Dad Energy A credit to dads all over the world.

"Most of those children live in high- and middle-income countries in North America, Eastern Europe, Pacific island nations and the Middle East. The U.S. is near the top of the list, with a rate of adolescent overweight around 42% (the highest rates, up to 65% are in Palau, Nauru and other in Pacific island nations, which have long struggled with obesity driven by a heavy reliance on imported food)."

Childhood Obesity Is Rising 'Shockingly Fast' — Even In Poor Countries A comprehensive new report from UNICEF calls attention to the surge in obesity in developing countries — even as they're dealing with children who are undernourished.

"There’s been a boom in unhealthy foods and beverages for children six months to 3 years old, packaged for convenience and often promising to make children stronger and smarter.

[...]

Billy Roberts, senior analyst of food and drink at market research firm Mintel, says that there were four times more product launches in the baby and toddler food aisle in 2018 than in 2005, with a huge surge in new toddler foods and drinks, most of which are extremely high in sugar."

Sweet excess: How the baby food industry hooks toddlers on sugar, salt and fat There’s been a boom in new foods and beverages for children six months to 3 years old, packaged for convenience and promising to make children stronger and smarter. But most are extremely high in sugar.

"[My family is] part of an alarming trend of Latinx communities struggling to access high-quality, affordable childcare. Right now, 42% of Latinx kids live in childcare deserts – areas with overfull or no childcare centers available. And with childcare costs rivaling college tuition, per the Economic Policy Institute, it’s no surprise that even those of us who can find childcare discover the cost is prohibitive. According to a recent study by Diversity Data, Latinx families spend a higher percentage of their income on full-time center-based care than any other group – almost double the recommended cost."

My Mother’s Child Care Struggle Is Now My Struggle Thirty-three years passed between when my mother gave birth to me and when I became a mother myself. I love that motherhood has given me more common ground with my mother, but I’m frustrated and angry that the struggles the U.S. child-care crisis…

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. We're sharing an essay from the New York Times about one woman's miscarriage and how to be supportive to people confronting a loss.

"I had a miscarriage in between my two girls. I went in for an ultrasound at around seven weeks, and there was no heartbeat. My period is so irregular that I had to wait two additional weeks to confirm that the pregnancy was not progressing properly. My obstetrician couldn’t definitively date the pregnancy because he couldn’t definitively date the ovulation, so I trudged to multiple radiologists for multiple disappointing ultrasounds over 14 days.

I expected to feel sad during this painful two-week wait, and after — and I absolutely did. A guttural sadness that would take months to lift.

What I didn’t anticipate was that I would feel a lot of other things, and that the emotional ground would continue to shift under my feet. I felt relief when I was able to take a new job right around when I would have been due to give birth; I knew I wouldn’t have been able to take it had I carried that pregnancy to term. Then I felt guilty about feeling relieved. I felt anger — spiky and random, popping up unexpectedly and without apparent trigger. And most appalling to me was the envy I felt toward women who were pregnant, successfully. An acquaintance of mine was due around when I would have been, and I could not stand to be around her during her pregnancy."

After a Miscarriage, Grief, Anger, Envy, Relief and Guilt There’s no ‘normal’ way to feel after a pregnancy loss.

"Many of us are shamed into silence and discouraged from writing honestly about a relationship that has shaped us like no other. We have to talk about it and write about it."

‘A World Where Mothers Are Seen’ Vanessa Mártir introduces Writing the Mother Wound, a series of essays on mothering presented in collaboration with Writing our Lives and Longreads.

"As I recovered in the hospital and then returned home, I expected that at any minute, my maternal feelings would flow, and we’d resemble the enraptured moms and babies I saw in diaper cream ads.

Instead, for the first few weeks, I felt the same fuzzy disconnect as I held and fed her."

I Didn’t Bond With My Baby Right Away Despite my high hopes, it took time and patience to connect with my infant. And I’m not alone.