Moving or Renovating? Here's a List of the Latest Housing Amenities Geared Toward Tweens

'Looks like the Big Apple is getting more hospitable for families with tweens. NYC never lacks for luxury nor trend, and the latest in Manhattan real estate is all about tweens. Luxe amenities in the newest condos in New York offer tweens spaces to socialize, exercise, game, and even create music. Standouts include:

• A sound-attenuating music practice room in the Brooklyn Trust Company Building (Brookly) where tweens can set up their drum kits and guitars and rock-out without disturbing the neighbors
• The indoor basketball court at 221 West 77 (UWS)
• The vintage gaming room at 111 Murray (TriBeCa) that features foosball, ping pong, and vintage arcade games (retro fun for the parents too)
• Robert Stern's townhouses at 20 East End also have a gaming room called a "Junior Lounge" for their residents ages 7-18 (UES)
• A first-of-its-kind building ringing the north edge of Central Park in Harlem/Morningside Heights will be Circa Central Park, and their plans include a video gaming room and free rentals of remote-control model sailboats, skateboards and bikes for taking advantage of the Park

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The Secret Language of Tweens - a Guide to Text Abbreviations

A St. Louis TV station, Channel 5, came out with a story this week about the abbreviations that tweens using when texting, and the list might surprise you. In addition to what you would expect as standard short-hand, the list includes "codes" covering everything from whether a parent is in the room ("POS" for "parents over shoulder") to finding a party ("WTPA" for "where the party at") to hooking up ("MIRL" for "meet in real life" and "NIFOC" for "nude in front of computer").

If your tween has a smartphone - and many do, including the DDs of yours truly - it is critical to talk early and often about the standards of conduct that your family has for ALL communications. For a primer on a Digital House Rules for your family, see this oldie-but-goodie article here.

Here is the full list of over 100 tween text abbreviations:

1. 143 - I love you

2. 2DAY - Today

3. 4EAE - For ever and ever

4. ADN - Any day now

5. AFAIK - As far as I know

6. AFK - Away from keyboard

7. ASL - Age/sex/location

8. ATM - At the moment

9.  BFN - Bye for now

10. BOL - Be on later

11. BRB - Be right back

12.  BTW - By the way

13. CTN - Can’t talk now

14. DWBH - Don’t worry, be happy

15.  F2F or FTF - Face to face

16.  FWB - Friends with benefits

17.  FYEO - For your eyes only

18. GAL – Get a life

19. GB - Goodbye

20. GLHF - Good luck, have fun

21. GTG - Got to go

22. GYPO - Get your pants off

23. HAK - Hugs and kisses

24. HAND - Have a nice day

25. HTH - Hope this helps / Happy to help

26. HW - Homework

27. IDK - I don’t know

28. IIRC - If I remember correctly

29. IKR - I know, right?

30. ILY / ILU - I love you

31. IM - Instant message

32. IMHO - In my honest opinion / In my humble opinion

33. IMO - In my opinion

34. IRL - In real life

35. IWSN - I want sex now

36. IU2U - It’s up to you

37. IYKWIM - If you know what I mean

38. J/K - Just kidding

39. J4F - Just for fun

40. JIC - Just in case

41. JSYK - Just so you know

42. KFY - Kiss for you

43. KPC - Keeping parents clueless

44. L8 - Late

45. LMBO - Laughing my butt off

46. LMIRL – Let’s meet in real life

47. LMK - Let me know

48. LOL - Laugh out loud

49. LSR - Loser

50. MIRL - Meet in real life

51. MOS - Mom over shoulder

52. NAGI - Not a good idea

53. NIFOC - Nude in front of computer

54. NM - Never mind

55. NMU - Not much, you?

56. NP - No problem

57. NTS - Note to self

58. OIC - Oh I see

59.  OMG - Oh my God

60. ORLY - Oh, really?

61. OT - Off topic

62. OTP- On the phone

63. P911- Parent alert

64. PAW - Parents are watching

65. PCM - Please call me

66. PIR - Parent in room

67. PLS or PLZ - Please

68. PPL - People

69. POS - Parents over shoulder

70. PTB - Please text back

71. QQ - Crying. This abbreviation produces an emoticon in text. It’s often used sarcastically.

72. RAK - Random act of kindness

73. RL - Real life

74. ROFL - Rolling on the floor laughing

75.  RT - Retweet

76. RUOK - Are you okay?

77. SMH - Shaking my head

78. SOS - Someone over shoulder

79. SRSLY- Seriously

80. SSDD - Same stuff, different day

81.  SWAK - Sealed with a kiss

82. SWYP - So, what’s your problem?

83. SYS - See you soon

84. TBC - To be continued

85. TDTM -Talk dirty to me

86. TIME - Tears in my eyes

87. WYCM - Will you call me?

88. TMI - Too much information

89. TMRW - Tomorrow

90.  TTYL - Talk to you later

91.  TY or TU - Thank you

92. VSF - Very sad face

93. WB - Welcome back

94. WTH - What the heck?

95.  WTPA - Where the party at?

96.  WYCM - Will you call me?

97. YGM - You’ve got mail

98. YOLO - You only live once

99. YW - You’re welcome

100. ZOMG - Oh my God (sarcastic)

101. 182 - I hate you

102. 420 - Marijuana

103. ADR - Address

104. CD9 - Code 9 - it means parents are around

105. ILU - I Love You

106. KOTL - Kiss On The Lips

107. LMIRL - Let's Meet In Real Life

108. NIFOC - Nude In Front Of The Computer

109. P999 - Parent Alert

110. PAL - Parents Are Listening -or- Peace And Love

111. RU/18 - Are You Over 18?

112. WYRN - What's Your Real Name?

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Lip Smackers Live On!

Moms of all tweens and tweens alike, rejoice: Lip Smackers has been brought back from the brink! Last January, Lip Smackers' manufacturer, The Bonne Bell Company, announced that it was closing shop. The scent of the Dr. Pepper Biggy was a constant in my lip gloss rotation from my own tween years, and as a mom I bought these for my own tweens (Lip Smackers make excellent stocking stuffers, Easter Egg fillers, and birthday gift toppers!). 'Twas devastating news to lose this cultural icon. Luckily for tweens and tweens-at-heart everywhere, the Lip Smackers brand has been brought back into production by the new company owner, Markwins International Corp.
Dr. Pepper, the classic "Biggy"s, Cotton Candy, and Bubble Gum, smack on!

(P.S. Sadly the Thin Mint Lip Smackers are discontinued - but maybe we can start a campaign lobby the Girl Scouts to bring them back?
P.P.S. Your eyes do not deceive you: that IS a Swarovski-encrusted Lip Smacker Biggy!)

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Upcoming Book on Parenting Tweens/ Teens Offers Counter-Intuitive Advice

Teacher Tyler Durman has a new book coming out next month that offers some counter-intuitive advice to parents of tween and teens. We've not had a chance to read it as yet, but here is a preview from "Counter-Intuitive: What 4 Million Teenagers Wish We Knew":

• Being your tween's friend is the worst thing you can be
• Welcome disrespect
• Create boundaries that kids will like

In the era of helicopter parenting, this is a refreshing perspective to add to the parenting discussion, and we are eagerly awaiting our copy to review.

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Marketing to Tweens - It's Big Business

How big? Try $200 billion dollars a year. And that's just by kids ages 9-13 years old.
NPR did a story today on how major brands, such as Kotex, Dove, Aerie, and Pink are targeting tween girls to turn them into life-long customers. It's savvy marketing for sure, and even though companies say that they're targeting, say, the college-age crowd (like Pink by Victoria's Secret), the reality is that media-savvy tweens are well within range of their marketing.
Advertising in pervasive and can, in fact, be used for good (check out last week's post on the Canadian Safe Schools Network campaign called "Tweens Read Mean Tweets", which is riffing off of Jimmy Kimmel's show, or Dove's #selfie campaign). Make sure that your tween is equally as savvy in knowing when she's been sold to.

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Tweens Read Mean Tweets

CAUTION: this video contains direct and rude language and kids should be view it with along with a responsible adult.

Riffing off of Jimmy Kimmel's "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" bit, the Canadian Safe Schools Network has created a video of tweens reading mean tweets as a way to shine a light on cyberbulling. It's powerful stuff and worth your time. Kudos to the organization for this effort - it is well done and relatable.

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Instagram: Where Tween Girls Hangout

The ever-illuminating Rachel Simmons has just posted a piece on Time.com titled "The Secret Language of Girls on Instagram". It's a must-read item for all parents of tweens. Rachel discusses how girls' social currency and status is cultivated on Instagram and what parents need to understand about the platform (hint: it's not just for sharing pics).

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An Online Support Group for Parents of Tweens, Teens

We just got word of a new online support group for parents of tweens and teens. It's run by the University of Wisconsin, Madison and is called My Parenthetical (get it?). The site offers recent research, Q&A, blog posts, and an opportunity to post questions to a discussion board. The entire site is moderated by family researchers at the University. Some posts that piqued are interest are discussions related to homework tips and how to balance setting boundaries with granting freedoms. Pretty cool, in our books. Check it out!

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45% of Teens Would Change Their Online Behavior If They Knew Their Parents Were Watching.

The online security company McAfee has just published their annual report on "Teens and Screens", and the findings are prescriptive for us as parents. While most social networking sites' Terms of Service limit usage by tweens, many tweens use them anyways.  See below for a great infographic summarizing the report's findings; highlights from this report include:

• Nearly half (45%) of teens said that they would change their online behaviors if they knew that their parents were watching. Do you know how your tween behaves online? Do you know their virtual friends and hangouts?
• Nearly half (49%) of teens regretted something they've posted online - this despite being told that anything posted online is forever (yes, even SnapChat).
• More than half (52%) of teens do not turn off their GPS or location services on their smartphones. This means that online strangers can find your teen IRL (in-real-life).

For LOTS of tips on how to approach tech with your tween, check out our article on Creating a Family Technology Policy.

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Bar Mitzvah Fashion - 13 Year Old Tween Zeke Aspires to Esquire Style

It's not often that one hears about tween boys and fashion in the same sentence, so we were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon this post by 13-year old Zeke in Esquire magazine.  Not only does Zeke have style, but he can write to-boot! Check out his quest for the perfect, modern yet young bar mitzvah suit.

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