The Most Popular Parenting Posts of 2025

Plus — it's Now What's SIXTH BIRTHDAY!!!!

Quick reminder that my 30% off sale ends at midnight tonight! Don’t miss out. Enjoy Now What for just $49 a year or $4.90 a month!

Six years ago, I started this newsletter. At the time, I hadn’t really thought it through — I wasn’t sure how long I’d write it, if I’d enjoy it, if anyone would read it.

But now, six years later, here we are. There are now 30,000 of you!!! You all are the smartest, kindest people I know and so generous with me and with each other. I’m incredibly grateful for this beautiful, supportive parent community.

Today, in celebration of yet another year coming to a close and Now What’s sixth birthday, I’m sharing my six most popular posts of 2025.

Number 6:

I wrote this newsletter because I’m seeing burgeoning perfectionist tendencies in my 11-year-old and want to know how to help her. I interviewed three researchers who study perfectionism to get their research-backed advice. I think perfectionism is often misunderstood — parents sometimes think it’s a good thing because it can fuel success and achievement. But the beliefs and self-concept that drive perfectionism can be very harmful, and you can absolutely raise successful kids who aren’t perfectionists.

Number 5:

Did you know that most dad hobbies (golf, long distance cycling or running, hunting) involve leaving the house for long stretches of time without the kids and often do not provide for the family — while most mom hobbies (baking, knitting, gardening) are done while home with the kids and often do benefit the household? These differences aren’t random; they are by design. We need to flip the script and start normalizing mom hobbies that involve leaving the house and the kids.

Number 4:

A new study in the journal Child Development suggests that parents may not always realize how much their children can learn from everyday tasks like getting dressed on their own, cleaning their rooms, packing their lunches, or maneuvering toys or playground equipment. It suggests there’s is a simple question you can ask yourself to stop yourself from helicoptering or meddling too much and preventing these important learning opportunities.

Number 3:

I absolutely loved Nancy Reddy’s book The Good Mother Myth, and this fascinating Q&A with her was a hit with many of you. We talked about the important (but largely hidden) flaws in much early child development research, why social progress often fuels misogynistic parenting norms, myths about attachment theory, and more.

Number 2:

I don’t know about your kids, but mine can get super screamy when I tell them screen time is over. It’s easy to blame the screens themselves, but there are important psychological factors to know about, too — and there are simple things we can do as parents to make these transitions easier.

And now for my most popular newsletter of 2025, by far, with more than 33,000 views……..

Number 1:

Wow, you all really loved the movie Nightbitch. Or at least, you loved reading about some of its key themes in my newsletter. The film truly captures the ambivalence so many other mothers feel: They love their kids, but they yearn for more — for the freedoms they have lost. They love their husbands, but they resent the hell out of them, too. As Rachel Yoder, the author of the book Nightbitch, put it in an interview: “How do we escape that story? How do we write another story? It seems almost impossible.”

Which newsletters of mine were YOUR favorites this year? Please share in the comments!

One of my favorites that didn’t make it into the top six was my interview with Allison Daminger about her fabulous book What’s On Her Mind, which I still talk about alllll the time. The book and interview, which delve into the various reasons women typically end up doing far more mental labor than men do, are totally fascinating.