What's a Venmo Mom? 🤑

TOP OF MIND

I can't be bothered... just Venmo me 💅
Move over Crunchy Moms, Helicopter Moms and Wine Moms, there's a new mom in town, and she's making it rain.

Casey Neal, a mother of four from Tennessee, got real on her TikTok account by proudly giving herself the "Venmo Mom" label. What is a Venmo Mom? Well, it's a mom who values her time over money.

Her video brought out other Venmo Moms who were previously in hiding. One mom wrote in the comments, "I’ll literally pay for the entire event. Just don’t make me go.”

The important bits
Neal works full-time as a district store manager, so she doesn't have a lot of free time to donate, which explains why she'd rather donate money.

“I constantly traveled for my old job and I never had enough flexibility. I was barely making it to sports practices, competitions and games.”

Still, other moms have had less positive things to say about her decision. She told TODAY that some parents have made her feel lazy for not volunteering. She overheard one mom make a "cruel comment" about her schedule.

Neal says there is too much pressure on moms. They're expected to be present for school activities, oversee school enrollment, and they're usually listed as the primary parent, which means when something happens at school, moms are usually the first person they call.

And while most moms were supportive of her decision to essentially be an ATM for the school, some parents pointed out that no one likes volunteering their time. "If we all were Venmo Moms, who would make these events happen?"

That's a fair question, but it's worth noting that not all parents hate volunteering. Some moms (and dads!) actually enjoy it. One mom in the comments wrote, "My kids told me that me showing up when they were kids made them feel important and loved."

What's it all mean?
There are enough "____ Moms" to go around. If you want to be a Venmo Mom, be a Venmo Mom. If you want to be a PTA Mom, you go and do it!

At the end of the day, we're all just Trying Our Hardest To Survive The Week Moms.

DID YOU HEAR

😡 iPad? More like iMad!
According to an analysis of 315 preschool-age kids, every 69 minutes of daily tablet use was associated with an increase in expressions of anger and frustration in the following year. This seems to back up other research suggesting too much screen time can negatively impact preschoolers' health and social skills because they are not interacting with their parents or other kids. Here are 4 expert tips to reduce screen time in your household. Lots of great info!

💰 Bigger child tax credits could be coming
In Vice President Kamala Harris' proposed economic plan, she revealed she plans to expand the child tax credit. Families with newborn children could get up to $6,000 in tax relief. This news comes one week after JD Vance, Trump's running mate, floated the idea of a $5,000 child tax credit. We can only hope this is the beginning of a bidding war. Let's get it up to $10,000!

🧑‍⚕️ Four signs of ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancers are often detected when they're already in advanced stages, making them incredibly difficult to treat. This is primarily because research has previously suggested women don't show any symptoms in the early stages, but a new study is giving hope. This study suggests ovarian cancer could be detected earlier by focusing on 4 symptoms: bloating, abdominal pain, frequent urination, and feeling full quickly. Read more here.

🍴 Baby-led weaning is growing in popularity
Back in 2001, a former midwife/public health nurse named Gill Rapley pioneered the concept of baby-led weaning. Instead of following traditional medical advice to spoon-feed babies special infant cereals and purées, parents are now offering solid foods that babies can feed themselves, typically starting around 6 months of age. Experts note the idea seems to be especially popular with millennial parents. Read about the potential benefits here.

🧘 August is wellness month
Here are 17 affordable "gems" to improve your self-care routine.

A DOSE OF GOOD

BITES WITH KIYAH

It’s back to school time which means many parents’ Pinterest boards are filling up with ideas for packed lunches that are so cute and utterly time-consuming that they are not likely to be made beyond the first week of school.

This is not sustainable! Sorry, Camden!

And while cute lunches are… well … cute… having a balanced lunch is more important for sustaining your kids energy (and ability to learn) than having a cute one. Not sure how to pack a balanced lunch? This list of more than 30 ideas can help get you started.

Kiyah is the co-founder of Kizingo Kids and an expert in nutrition. Follow her on Instagram and Youtube.

ON A BUDGET

Labor Day might still be two weeks away, but the Labor Day savings have already started!

It's not often Apple puts their AirTag on sale, so if you're in the market for one, now's the time to buy it. They're currently 15% off on Amazon.

Keurig just dropped the price of their K-Mini Single Serve machine by nearly 50%.

The highly rated Fitbit Inspire 3 Fitness Tracker is currently 20% off.

And the super convenient Ninja Fit Personal Blender is only $44 for a limited time (normally $69).

HERE’S A QUESTION

Last week we asked you if you let your baby cry it out, and the response was mixed, but the most popular answer with around 40% of the vote was, "Yes, but I didn't stick with it.”

RECALLS

Over 160,000 pounds of Perdue Chicken Nuggets
Perdue Foods is recalling nearly 170,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets and tenders after a number of customers reported finding metal wire embedded in the chicken.

The recall impacts three products:

• Perdue Breaded Chicken Tenders

• ButcherBox Organic Chicken Breast Nuggets

• Perdue Simply Smart Organics Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets

If you believe you might have the wired nuggets in your freezer, the company wants you to throw them away or return them to the store. Perdue is offering refunds to impacted consumers. You can call them at 866-866-3703.