Sunday, October 1, 2023 | 
mail.0.jpeg

Bethany Mandel

Bethany Mandel is a homeschooling. stay-at-home mother of six and a widely published writer and editor. She writes about parenting and family life.

motheranddaughter.jgp.jpg
Family
The benefits of having siblings present at childbirth
Women are increasingly afraid of pregnancy and childbirth. Could this form of “exposure therapy” help?
By Bethany Mandel
bike_ea.JPG
Family
Why are these only children having large families?
Like the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, some only children felt lonely as kids. Could they help reverse demographic trends?
By Bethany Mandel
Tucker Carlson, host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio in New York.
Analysis
Tucker Carlson wants you to have ‘Mormon levels’ of kids. Is it good advice?
With his Fox News exit, life advice from Carlson has been circulating online this week. Young Americans, in particular, should take note.
By Bethany Mandel
New rules for day care employees could drive up the costs.
Perspective
Perspective: Rising child care costs in DC will affect families across the nation
When parents can’t afford child care in the District of Columbia, their unique perspective will be lost on Capitol Hill.
By Bethany Mandel
James and the Giant Peach make an appearance in Cardiff, Wales on Sept. 17, 2016, to celebrate 100th birthday of author Roald Dahl.
Perspective
Roald Dahl and the giant controversy
Publishers are hiring ‘sensitivity readers’ and changing the words of beloved authors. This is how a culture withers and dies.
By Bethany Mandel
A mother and father look in on two sleeping children an illustration from an 1899 book.
Perspective
Perspective: ‘I haven’t slept through the night in 5 years’ — the costs of gentle parenting
Parental discipline is due for a comeback. Kids need it, and parents do, too.
By Bethany Mandel
Author and organizing expert Marie Kondo poses for a picture during a media event in New York, Wednesday, July 11, 2018.
Perspective
The life-changing magic of a messy house
After having 3 kids, organizing guru Marie Kondo has admitted she’s not as tidy as she once was. Parents the world over are rejoicing.
By Bethany Mandel
bethany__Coco_Flamingo_Getty_97451973.jpg
Perspective
What should we make of the ‘tradwife’ craze?
Tabloids portray “traditional wives” as strange and exotic. Instead, they’re women who have seen what “having it all” really entails.
By Bethany Mandel
GettyImages_1195223956.jpg
Perspective
Perspective: ‘Humanity is not sustainable’ — the dangerous fiction of Paul Ehrlich
It’s easy to write him off as a crank, but the provocateur’s predictions have had dire real-world impact.
By Bethany Mandel
010923_2023_return_to_God_bethany_mandel.jpg
Perspective
Perspective: Will 2023 be the year of faith?
Making New Year’s resolutions can be as much about spiritual health as physical health.
By Bethany Mandel
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama in the East Room of the White House, Sept. 7, 2022.
Perspective
Perspective: Love her or hate her, Michelle Obama is speaking truth on marriage
Obama said her marriage was miserable when her kids were young, but she stuck it out.
By Bethany Mandel
Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose during a photocall with newborn son Archie.
Perspective
Perspective: What Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got wrong about pregnancy loss
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were no doubt under great stress, but most miscarriages are caused by problems that exist at conception.
By Bethany Mandel
People gather around the 10-foot menorah during the “Chanukah on the Pier” event hosted by Chabad of San Clemente in San Clemente, Calif., on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022.
Perspective
Perspective: I’m Jewish. Can we please stop with the ‘happy holidays’?
My family’s holiday season was in the early fall. Don’t inflict another on me.
By Bethany Mandel
120622_old_single_alone_untethered_f.jpg
Perspective
‘We never do fly off to Rome’ — the cost of the untethered lifestyle
No amount of money or government assistance can replace the care and love of a family, as a million ‘kinless seniors’ are finding out.
By Bethany Mandel
Customers shop for dolls at the American Girl Place store at The Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles.
Perspective
How American Girl lost this American mother
Taking sides in a political battle is never good for a brand, especially when children are involved.
By Bethany Mandel
momathome.jpg
Perspective
Perspective: The connection between COVID-19 and home births
here’s been an increase in the number of women giving birth at home since 2019. It’s especially notable among Black mothers, according to the CDC.
By Bethany Mandel
Antibiotics are as important as baby formula. Why isn’t the Biden administration doing more?
Perspective
What the antibiotic shortage says about our nation’s priorities
Antibiotics are as important as baby formula. Why isn’t the Biden administration doing more?
By Bethany Mandel
There’s a difference between free-range and feral parenting that some parents don’t seem to comprehend.
Perspective
Perspective: Make ‘parent’ a verb again
There’s a difference between free-range and feral parenting that some parents don’t seem to comprehend.
By Bethany Mandel
Aniston_infertility_ea.JPG
Perspective
Perspective: Jennifer Aniston’s infertility story reveals truth about late pregnancies
Hollywood tries to tell us women can have children into their 40s and even 50s. The truth is more complicated.
By Bethany Mandel
trucks_flags_ff.jpg
Perspective
The GOP and Trump. Is a divorce in sight?
After Trump’s candidates failed to deliver in the midterms, the GOP might be ready to break up with its leading man.
By Bethany Mandel
parental_guidence.jpg
Parenting
Is gentle parenting spoiling our children?
Parenting is hard, but in many ways, we’re making it harder on ourselves by trying to be “gentle” and “positive” versions of ourselves.
By Bethany Mandel
Pleasant Grove High School student body president Francisco Calderon tries on his graduation gear at the school in 2020.
Perspective
Perspective: The case against pandemic amnesty
Washing our groceries was silly. Keeping children shut out of school was harmful, and people should be held to account.
By Bethany Mandel
Candalyn Mettmann holds her son, Ellington Mettmann, as Valorie Mitchell, a paramedic with the Salt Lake County Health Department, gives Candalyn Mettmann a COVID-19 vaccination.
Perspective
Perspective: The CDC’s gift to the GOP
Nearly 60% of parents have not had their children vaccinated for COVID-19. We don’t want vaccines to be political, but politicized is what they’ve become.
By Bethany Mandel
Rachel Keenan takes a live class online at her home in San Francisco in March 19, 2020.
Perspective
Perspective: Bad policy, not COVID-19, made children’s test scores decline
Newly released scores prove what some of us have been saying all along. It was a mistake to close schools.
By Bethany Mandel
100422_war_on_mothers_mandel_r2.jpg
Perspective
Perspective: Welcome to the mommy wars, Kelly Osbourne
Whenever a mother or mother-to-be makes a parenting decision, there’s someone waiting to judge her for it.
By Bethany Mandel
bbc_creative_1w20Cysy1cg_unsplash.jpg
Perspective
Women are having to get creative about child care. But what happens when they can’t?
The expense and availability of child care got worse during the pandemic, especially for health care workers and others who can’t do their jobs remotely.
By Bethany Mandel
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds attend the 2022 Met Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2022 in New York City. 
Perspective
Perspective: Four cheers for Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
The celebrity couple is about to cross into “large family” territory. Few in Hollywood do so in traditional ways.
By Bethany Mandel
Shia LaBeouf arrives at the 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards on Feb. 8, 2020, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Perspective
What Britney Spears gets wrong about faith — and Shia LaBeouf gets right
One interview and one Instagram post show the chasm between the two entertainers in their understanding of God.
By Bethany Mandel
AP22154409636241.jpg
Perspective
Parents, don’t follow Meghan Markle’s example when getting a dog
Families with young children should think twice about adopting a rescue dog and put safety first.
By Bethany Mandel
Publisher Hugh Hefner, second from left, poses in front of his new DC-9 jet with some unidentified women in February 1970.
Perspective
Good riddance to Playboy mentality. It harmed a generation of women
Young women were told it was fun and empowering to be promiscuous. Now older, they’re speaking out about how that felt.
By Bethany Mandel
Load More