Millennial Mom Thoughts

Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Kids & Family

Two millennial moms...sharing some thoughts. As parents and as education professionals, we discuss our past, present, and future relationships with changing technologies. We're interested in how it impacts ourselves, our students, and our kiddos, and we're learning how to advocate for the issues we care most about.

  1. 4d ago

    EPISODE 51: A Grab Bag of Millennial Mom Thoughts

    Sometimes when one of the Millennial Moms has her basement flood for multiple days, you plan nothing for your episode and instead go for a “grab bag” of topics. Turns out that works out great because we got to talk about a variety of important and interesting things! Jordan shares about several upcoming webinars for parents, educators, or literally anyone--all shared on the ever-growing Google doc. Two of the webinars will feature Natasha Singer, who has a new book, Coding Kids, releasing on September 8th. We then dive into Singer’s latest New York Times article, “How Big Tech Captured American Schools.” This creates some discussion about what is school actually for when the tech industry influences so many aspects of education. We then talk through what happens when a digital product company like Google makes a change to their product and how that impacts users. Helen shares her classroom technology policy for this semester in her role as the Clinical Coordinator for the English Education program at Illinois State University where she teaches future teachers. Helen teaches Jordan there is a version of Instagram you can pay a monthly fee for, and Jordan thinks it is ridiculous...because it is. This, of course, leads to Jordan sharing all about the purse obsession she had in her younger days with the designer Paul Frank. Helen’s purse style has been (and always will be) thanks to Kohl’s. Find Helen on Substack at⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen to Helen's friends on Go Kvetch! Join Jordan in⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  2. Aug 24

    EPISODE 50: Hey baby, we're fifty!

    We kick, we stretch, and we kick because this is our FIFTIETH episode! Helen shares how she made it out safely from a scary storm, and Jordan has been busy baking treats. Helen then promises that when our podcast gets seven (or more!) reviews, she will share an incredible first-day-of-seventh-grade story. Jordan gives details about The UnPluggEd Project meant for schools and families to embrace and lean into human connections and away from the distractions of technology in October. She also shares about the Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education that Illinois Families for Public Schools is asking Chicago Public Schools board candidates to sign. We then dive into the world of tech monitoring devices for babies and how they normalize surveillance and tracking in our day-to-day lives. We talk about how these baby tracking devices are often marketed to stressed-out, anxious, and fearful new parents as a way to “help” bring peace of mind. We talk about the devices and apps we did use in our early days of motherhood and how we feel about them now. Our conversation was sparked by a recent New York Times article, “Aw, It’s Baby’s First A.I. Surveillance System.” We question the long-term implications of being constantly tracked. Jordan points out a part from the article where one of the companies claims that infant sleep data might be interesting to future pro-athletes and how ridiculous that sounds.

  3. Aug 13

    EPISODE 49: Supporting Distraction-Free Schools

    Just in time for back-to-school, Jordan shares all about the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project (DFSPP) that she has become involved with over the past year. DFSPP is a joint initiative between the Becca Schmill Foundation and Smartphone Free Childhood US that advocates for a better, safer educational experience for every child through legislation with 3 model bills: Phone-Free Schools, Social Media-Free Schools, and Intentional School Technology Use. In addition to being the Illinois DFSPP co-lead, Jordan is now joining the national leadership team to help support and strengthen existing and new state teams. We then talk about the differences between the Senate’s Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the House’s Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act. We share our excitement about two upcoming book releases: Natasha Singer’s Coding Kids and Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath’s re-release of The Digital Delusion. Jordan gives the tech-related updates for her school district in Morton, including a bell-to-bell cellphone policy and the removal of direct student access to YouTube on school iPads, and she overviews the recent board meeting discussion about whether 1:1 devices should continue in grades K-2. Jordan ends by reading a few recent article titles from her ever-growing Google doc resource that has been shared across the country. Find Helen on Substack at⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Jordan in⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms. Check out the following articles and resources mentioned throughout our conversation: A state-by-state breakdown: PhoneFreeSchoolsReport.org A major win for child safety: “Meta fined $567m” An intriguing conversation: “DSFPP & SBS Present: Skills Before Screens” A powerful read and watch: “Why Did We Let Big Tech Take Over Education?” An upcoming webinar: “Big Tech’s Battle to Remake Education” And for more, check out Jordan’s always growing, always helpful (and hopeful! And disheartening! And empowering!!) doc of Links and Resources.

  4. Aug 7

    EPISODE 48: What if it’s not the phones? Ok, but it is.

    We kick off our episode with a brand new segment we’re calling “Gratitude,” complete with Helen’s on-the-fly segment theme song! Helen is fresh off the first day of her new job as the Clinical Coordinator for English Education, and Jordan has shared another newsletter for her reConnect Morton community group. For this episode, we’re talking all about a recent piece published in The Atlantic, “What if It’s Not the Phones? An evolutionary psychologist is challenging the popular understanding of kids and technology.” The article discusses Peter Gray’s (a founder of Let Grow) stance that smartphones and social media did not lead to the mental health crisis they’re facing; he thinks Common Core is to blame. Jordan shares her frustrations with Gray’s position on internet exploration for children, given that he is such a champion for childhood independence and play. Gray refers to social media age minimums as a “violation of human rights,” and we talk through how as a society, we age-gate many things such as drinking, driving, and voting. We add yet another new segment called “words I didn’t know before but now I do” after Jordan comes across a word in the article she didn’t know. Find Helen on Substack at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Jordan in⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  5. Aug 1

    EPISODE 47: Happy 1st birthday, Millennial Mom Thoughts!

    Put your party hat on because we are celebrating the 1st birthday of our podcast! It’s hard to believe we’ve shared a year of so many different Millennial Mom Thoughts with our listeners. After Jordan shares about her recent trip to visit family in Indiana, Helen delights us with her impressive sound effects. We then talk about how Meta recently reversed a decision to give users a feature allowing anyone to alter public Instagram account photos with an AI image generator. This leads to a conversation about a situation Jordan encountered where a friend uploaded a photo of her son into an AI image generator app. Jordan shares how she handled it and why these are discussions we all need to have. After a birthday party celebration, Helen realizes she has discovered a new passion: creating stickers! Helen then details her teaching experiences with the Upward Bound Summer Institute. A new Common Sense Media report details how Google’s AI search poses an “unacceptable risk” to students, which sparks a discussion about how AI is impacting education and how we navigate that as educators and parents (including reading Fairplay’s call for a pause on AI in schools and considering Schools Beyond Screen’s email template to district leadership). We then reflect on the many conversations we’ve had over the past year and how much fun we are having making this podcast. We’re looking forward to another year of great conversations, new guests, and plenty more laughs!  Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms. View the recording of the Skills Before Screens webinar.

  6. Jul 23

    EPISODE 46: A Conversation with Kevin Stinehart

    We are thrilled to share our conversation with Kevin Stinehart, a fellow millennial who is a leading voice on what modern childhood is missing. Helen first shares with us her incredible running accomplishment: taking third place at the Cry Me A River Trail Half Marathon! And Jordan drops a small hint about a future project she’s working on. We then get to talk to Kevin about his amazing work and what is like to be featured in the global phenomenon book, The Anxious Generation. Although becoming an educator wasn’t his original plan, he has been recognized as Teacher of the Year in his school district and is now a doctoral candidate at Clemson University. We discuss the transformative Play Club initiative he began at his school in 2019, including both the local impact on his students and the global interest in its successes. In a recent essay on Substack, Kevin discusses what happens when we don’t allow kids to be kids and instead use devices to quiet or distract them. Kevin shares some of the amazing stories from his school Play Club that allows students the opportunities to play without adults leading the activities or interfering, even when conflict arises. Helen and Jordan have so many more questions than we have time for, so we hope to bring Kevin back for a part two! Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  7. Jul 16

    EPISODE 45: Toys Over Tablets

    Spoiler alert: There will be a few Toy Story 5 spoilers in this episode! We are discussing the summer blockbuster and the messages it sent (and didn’t send) to viewers. But first, Jordan shares a huge childhood independence experience for her six-year-old, and Helen discusses her daughter’s first week back at daycare. We also share about a recent IRL summer library storytime we attended together. Jordan published her first Substack essay sharing how she initially debated seeing Toy Story 5 with her family but wanted the experience of going to the theater together with friends. Helen asked Jordan how the film met her expectations on a scale of 0-10, and Jordan details why she gave it a 4. Frustrations are shared about how the film claims to (initially) portray the Lilypad tablet as the villain and yet Disney is ultimately a business, so the Lilypad tablet, made by Leapfrog, is currently available to buy. Another major sticking point is that when the tablet ultimately remains in childhood, it also remains in the bedroom. We then dig into the concerns about trusted messenger organizations, like Common Sense Media, that take money from and/or partner with social media and big tech companies. We end with Helen sharing the unique spelling of her favorite doll’s name. And sharing some fun sound effects. Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  8. Jul 9

    EPISODE 44: The Amazing Generation

    Did you miss us?! Get excited because we are back! We kick off Season 3 sharing what we have been up to so far this summer: visits to the zoo, beach, Magic House, and aquarium, eating vacation ice cream, sleeping in hotels, watching fireworks, and having plenty of outdoor play! Helen shares a very exciting big life update a.k.a. a new job! She will be the Clinical Coordinator for the English Education program at Illinois State University. We then dive into our amazing experience of hosting our first-ever summer book club where we read The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price. For 5 weeks, we met with local kids, ages 9-12, engaging in conversation and doing activities based on the book. While we each deeply enjoyed the experience, we are most glad that it sparked conversations with the families of the 11 girls who joined us each week. Jordan shares a recent investigative report on Snapchat done by Parents Together Action and Heat Initiative. The report details the experience of multiple 13-year-old test accounts for 1 week on the platform. A shocking finding from the report was that in 12 hours, 739 videos unsafe were recommended. The other social media topic we discuss is the Instagram teen account feature that allows minors to send nude images. These online spaces are not safe for children. Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

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5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Two millennial moms...sharing some thoughts. As parents and as education professionals, we discuss our past, present, and future relationships with changing technologies. We're interested in how it impacts ourselves, our students, and our kiddos, and we're learning how to advocate for the issues we care most about.

Information

  • Creator
    Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones
  • Show Website
    Millennial Mom Thoughts

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