• Before having kids, my husband and I knew we wanted to keep screens at bay for as long as possible.
• Now that we have a child, we’ve mostly stuck to that plan, but it isn’t always easy.
• Sometimes I’m a little envious of those who do allow screens, but I’m still happy with the decision.

Even before having a kid, my husband and I discussed our parenting values.

We knew we wanted our future child to grow up speaking English and my husband’s native language of Dutch. Instead of expensive trips to Disney World, we agreed we would take our child to visit real castles in Europe. We were also aligned on delaying screen time as long as possible. For us, that meant our child wouldn’t use cellphones, tablets, or watch television.

Now that we have a kid, our theoretical parenting philosophies have been tested against a real-world toddler. We’ve stuck to our guns, but sometimes we question whether parenting would be easier on us if we let our son have screen time.

We’ve held to our no-screen values, with a few exceptions

Our son is almost 3, and for the most part, he has an analog childhood, playing with blocks, cars, and coloring books instead of technology.

In practice, we’ve made a few exceptions for screens. Our son is allowed to have video calls with his grandparents. He can watch television with us if it’s an educational or news program in Dutch or a cooking show.

We made temporary exceptions during the World Cup and the Olympics. But, when it’s adult programming, my son tends to lose interest after a few minutes and then prefers to play with his toys.

We understand the temptation of letting a screen entertain a toddler

Our son has been on the move since he started crawling at 6 months old, and walking at a year old. Since he started crawling, he never stays in one place unless he’s sleeping. For most day-to-day activities, we don’t mind that our son is a busy, active toddler, but the one time we would really like a break is when we go out to eat. Occasionally my son will stay seated for a whole meal, but more often than not my husband and I take turns walking him around the restaurant. There have been meals when we didn’t even get to sit together because our son was on the move the whole time.

We’ll see other families at restaurants with their kids sitting quietly at the table. Not always, but more often than not, the kids’ eyes will be transfixed by the soft glow of a cellphone or tablet. We’ll see the parents have a peaceful meal, sitting down together the whole time and wonder, “Wow, what does that feel like?” We’re not judging; we would love a peaceful dinner too. Our worry is that giving our son a cellphone as a distraction will open a one-way door that leads to him constantly asking to use it.

Another time we feel the temptation to plant him in front of cartoons is when day care is unexpectedly closed. This past winter, we had a snowstorm that took several days to clear the roads and sidewalks, and school was closed. My husband and I are fortunate to have the flexibility to work from home, but it’s impossible to work with our son around.

Expectedly for a toddler, he demands our attention and can’t entertain himself for more than 10 to 15 minutes. My husband and I tried to juggle him between us, but quickly realized neither of us was getting any work done, and our son was understandably frustrated by our inattentiveness and the lack of stimulating activities compared to what he’s used to in day care. My husband and I ended up having to alternate days off so we could cover the childcare gap due to the snow.

There’s never a dull moment, and that has led to some fun experiences

With an active toddler, there is seldom a relaxing moment, but we have had some fun experiences because of our son’s gregariousness, which I partially attribute to his interacting with the world around him rather than being sucked into a screen.

Our son, and us by extension, have been invited to meet the chef at our favorite French restaurant. At our regular sushi place, the waitresses fuss over him and specially prepare orange slices for him.

On one occasion, our son waved to a police officer who let him sit in the driver’s seat of the police car and play with the sirens. We’ve become friendly with one of the firemen at the local fire station, and he lets our son climb into the fire engine and play with the lights.

There are moments when it might be easier for us to let our son be distracted by technology. We don’t give in because we cherish those moments where we see him engaged with the world around him, and we wouldn’t trade it, even as tempting as it can sometimes be.

• Mathematicians are struggling as AI upends their field.
• One professor says that mathematicians need to develop better communication skills to stay relevant.
• Charisma can help scholars set themselves apart, he said.

AI is lowering the barriers to mathematical discovery.

One prominent math professor says that means hiring practices in academia need to get a whole lot more personal, and mathematicians need to get a whole lot more eloquent at communicating their ideas.

“I am looking for a narrative of where you want mathematics to go, the technical ability to explain why this may be possible,” Frank Calegari, a math phenom at the University of Chicago, wrote in a recent essay about what he’s looking for in a researcher.

At issue for Calegari is the distinct possibility that low-level researcher positions across academia will be filled by students who only got there by churning out AI-generated proofs.

A 30-minute discussion, though, would differentiate those slop-producers from promising candidates with a clear vision and a talent for communication.

“The hiring process is going to have to be much more about personal interactions than a paper file,” Calegari said in his essay, which was posted on Terence Tao’s blog.

Calegari slammed what he described as “lazy committees” that hired students based on a single paper or academic publication, which could now be sired by AI.

“Once we take this approach, we then have the responsibility to train our own graduate students to be better able to communicate mathematics, something that we should take much more seriously,” he said.

Last month, Cornell professor Steven Strogatz remarked that mathematicians with “rizz,” a slang term for charisma, had newfound stock because they could explain AI-generated results and turn them into new questions.

The brusque push by AI companies into mathematics has caused consternation and head-scratching among many a math geek, as the field ponders how to stay relevant while OpenAI floods the field with hundreds of proposed solutions to the world’s most complex problems.

Some professors have sworn off AI altogether. Most, however, are trying to find ways to incorporate the technology into their work.

Students across the country are also struggling to adapt, demanding that their professors publish clear guidance on how to use AI, if at all.

“We are lacking high-level leadership from across the academic community,” one student wrote in a recent MIT survey.

• “I Play Rocky” tells the behind-the-scenes story of how “Rocky” was made.
• The movie features Anthony Ippolito’s spot-on performance as Sylvester Stallone.
• Here’s how the cast compares to the real-life people they play.

If you thought “Rocky” was a remarkable underdog story, wait until you learn how it was made.

“I Play Rocky,” from director Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”), recounts the story of how Sylvester Stallone got his start in Hollywood. As a struggling actor in the 1970s, Stallone wrote the “Rocky” screenplay as a way to give himself a starring role. After gaining the attention of producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, who had a first-look deal with MGM, Stallone then had to battle the producers and the studio to allow him to play Rocky Balboa.

“Rocky” would go on to win the best picture Oscar and launch a massive franchise, and Stallone went from an unknown to a global superstar overnight. But as Farrelly chronicles in his movie, the making of “Rocky” was far from smooth sailing: it was shot on a shoestring budget, and Stallone suffered injuries throughout the production.

“I Play Rocky” is heightened by top-notch performances from Anthony Ippolito as Stallone, Anna Sophia Robb as Stallone’s first wife, Sasha Czack, and Matt Dillon as Stallone’s father.

Here’s how the actors compare to the real-life people they play in “I Play Rocky.”

Anthony Ippolito plays Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone was the lifeblood of “Rocky.” He wrote the script and would only agree to sell it to Winkler and Chartoff on the condition that he played Balboa, turning down over $200,000 for him to sell the script without starring in it. By betting on himself, he would make not just Balboa a household name but himself, as well.

Ippolito is a 27-year-old from Long Island who is just beginning his career in Hollywood. Before “I Play Rocky,” his biggest credit was playing Al Pacino in the 2022 Paramount+ miniseries “The Offer,” which chronicled the making of “The Godfather.”

From his voice to the way he moves on screen, his performance as Stallone is astoundingly accurate.

AnnaSophia Robb plays Sasha Czack, Stallone’s first wife.

Czack dated Stallone back when he was a struggling actor. They married in 1974, two years before “Rocky” was released and became a sensation. Czack was also the still photographer on the “Rocky” set. She and Stallone divorced in 1985.

Robb has been acting since she was a child. She played Violet Beauregarde in Tim Burton’s 2005 “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Other credits include “Soul Surfer” (2011), “The Way, Way Back” (2013), and “Rebel Ridge” (2024).

She portrays Czack as Stallone’s emotional rock and biggest cheerleader. She types out Stallone’s handwritten pages of the “Rocky” script and keeps him upbeat throughout the challenging “Rocky” shoot.

Matt Dillon plays Frank Stallone Sr., Sly’s father.

Frank Stallone Sr. was a barber and aspiring actor. His only acting credit was playing the timekeeper in the boxing match between Balboa and Apollo Creed at the end of “Rocky.”

Dillon is an acclaimed actor whose credits range from classics like “The Outsiders” (1983), “Drugstore Cowboy” (1989), and “Wild Things” (1998) to modern auteur movies like “Crash” (2005″), “The House that Jack Built” (2018), and “Asteroid City” (2023). This is not his first time working on a Peter Farrelly movie. He starred in the 1998 comedy classic “There’s Something About Mary,” which Farrelly made with his brother, Bobby.

Dillon plays Stallone Sr. as a tough father who often talks down to his son. Sylvester has said his relationship with his father was fraught, and revealed in his 2023 Netflix documentary, “Sly,” that his father was “physical” toward him and his older brother.

P.J. Byrne plays “Rocky” producer Irwin Winkler.

Winkler is a Hollywood producer who formed the production company Chartoff-Winkler Productions with Robert Chartoff. The company made hit movies like “Point Blank” and “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” in the 1960s. After winning the best picture Oscar for “Rocky,” they produced “Raging Bull” (1980) and “The Right Stuff” (1983) before dissolving their company in 1985, though they were both producers on all the “Rocky” sequels. Since then, Winkler has produced “Goodfellas” (1990) and “The Irishman” (2019).

Byrne has played memorable roles in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013), “Rampage” (2018), and the current TV series “The Rainmaker.”

He portrays Winkler as a tough but fair producer who isn’t immediately sold on Stallone playing Balboa, but when he finally comes around, he’s loyal to Stallone.

Toby Kebbell plays “Rocky” producer Robert Chartoff.

Chartoff is the other half of Chartoff-Winkler Productions. After the company dissolved in 1985, Chartoff’s credits included “The Tempest” (2010) and “Ender’s Game” (2013). He died in 2015.

Kebbell is an English actor who has worked steadily in Hollywood since the early 2000s. His credits include “War Horse” (2011), “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014), “Ben-Hur” (2016), and “Kong: Skull Island” (2017). He played Dr. Doom in the ill-fated “Fantastic Four” (2015).

Kebbell plays Chartoff as the softer half of the Chartoff-Winkler duo. He’s the one who suggests they lower the film’s budget so they can have final say on casting.

Stephan James plays Carl Weathers, who starred as Apollo Creed in “Rocky.”

Before his acting career, Carl Weathers was a football player who signed with the Oakland Raiders in 1970 and played seven games. After a short stint playing in the Canadian Football League in 1973, he retired from football.

Playing the bombastic Creed in “Rocky” was Weathers’ breakout role. He would go on to enjoy a long acting career, starring in three “Rocky” sequels, hits like “Predator” (1987) and “Happy Gilmore” (1996), and “The Mandalorian” TV series, for which he was nominated for an Emmy. Weathers died in 2024.

James is best known for starring in the acclaimed 2018 movie, “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

James plays Weathers with a lot of bravado, though it’s eventually revealed he has as limited a boxing ability as Stallone.

Jay Duplass plays “Rocky” director John G. Avildsen.

Avildsen won the best director Oscar for “Rocky.” He went on to direct “The Karate Kid” (1984) and the next two sequels. He also returned to the “Rocky” franchise to direct “Rocky V” (1990). Avildsen died in 2017.

Jay and his younger brother Mark started their careers as major figures in the “mumblecore” indie film movement, a DIY style that often featured non-actors and non-traditional plots. Jay’s acting credits include “The Mindy Project,” “Transparent,” and “Industry.”

Duplass portrays Avildsen as a fast-talking, fast-moving filmmaker who is determined to make “Rocky” less a boxing story and more a character study.

Kiki Seto plays Talia Shire, who starred as Adrian in “Rocky.”

Shire was one of the few established actors on the “Rocky” set. She had played Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” (1972) and “The Godfather Part II (1974), which earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. She would go on to earn an Oscar nomination for best actress for playing Adrian and would reprise the role in four more “Rocky” sequels.

“I Play Rocky” marks Seto’s first feature film role.

Seto has limited scenes, but makes the most of them. Seto’s highlight in the movie is when she reveals to Stallone and Avildsen before a scene at an ice rink that she doesn’t know how to ice skate.

“I Play Rocky” is in theaters now.

• After my second child was born, I couldn’t justify spending half my wages on childcare.
• I left my job of 17 years and started earning money through several small businesses.
• I now earn up to $2,000 a month while working fewer hours and spending more time with my kids.

After having my second child, I quit my job of 17 years because I couldn’t justify sacrificing half my wages for childcare.

Instead, I’m running multiple side hustles that rarely require me to be away from my kids. And, no, I’m not getting rich playing games or taking surveys on my phone. I’m trying to replace the income I previously earned without giving up the flexibility I want as a mom.

Right now, I bring in $1,400 to $2,000 a month. Some hustles have clear pros and cons. Some are more convenient, lucrative, or glamorous, whereas others I may need to consider dropping altogether.

Turo is the closest thing to passive income

I was hesitant to rent my beloved Toyota Tacoma to strangers. But it’s paid off, I’m not commuting anymore, and we have access to my husband’s vehicle.

In the nine months it’s been listed on Turo this year, the truck averages $400 a month in earned and projected income. The app handles most of the process, and renters treat it respectfully.

The biggest inconvenience is coordinating pickup and drop-off, especially airport runs. Occasionally, I need help from others. Still, compared with the almost nonexistent time I spend managing it, Turo is my easiest yes.

The photo booth has the best earning potential

For a decade, I’ve been a photo booth attendant for a local event company. I typically make $200 for a three-hour event, although drive time, setup, and teardown make for longer evenings.

Recently, my husband and I bought our own mirror photo booth and started our Phoenix-based company, True Reflections Photo Booth Co. Since most of the gear was secondhand or discounted, the upfront costs were under $ 5,000.

Our typical event charges $600. If my husband or I run it, we keep the profit and skip the middleman. In theory, we can recoup our investment in fewer than 10 events.

Of course, now we’re responsible for insurance, software, equipment, marketing, storage (our garage), and taxes. We’ve had one gig so far and have two more lined up, but need to get booking ASAP.

I didn’t have to worry about networking as a hired hand, but, to me, that’s half the fun. Either way, this is a lucrative hustle I never refuse.

Freelance writing is the hardest hustle for me to quit

Despite having an English degree and maintaining my own lifestyle blog, landing paid assignments can feel impossible.

Freelance writing requires ridiculous persistence. Rejection is common, even for veterans.

I’ve written for $10 and even for free to get noticed. When a pitch finally convinces an editor, though, I earn $125 to $250 for an 800- to 1,000-word article.

If it weren’t my longest-running passion, this tumultuous gig isn’t always worth it as a momtrepreneur. Alas, I continue to pitch and sometimes get lucky.

Cleaning pays well, but only thanks to free childcare

Through Care.com, I found a weekly housekeeping and meal-prep job that pays $25 an hour, or about $300 a month. I also occasionally clean a friend’s Airbnb for $150, usually in three hours.

The money-to-time ratio is solid. I enjoy the physicality and catching up on audiobooks.

But family watches my kids for free. If I had to pay for childcare so I could clean someone else’s house, the math really wouldn’t add up.

My simple syrup business is small, inexpensive, and fun enough to keep

I started making homemade coffee syrups to avoid overspending on artificial drive-thru coffee. This summer, I joined Arizona’s Cottage Food program and began selling them.

An 8.5-ounce bottle sells for $12, and my margin is about 70%. The ingredients are inexpensive, and I’ve streamlined my process enough that production only takes a few hours each week, including managing my Hotplate storefront.

My toddler and I occasionally run a driveway coffee stand to highlight flavors. He gets the cash tips.

Since I make these for my own home café anyway, this microbusiness is worth growing for now.

Print-on-demand has potential, but not worth the effort right now

My husband is a designer, and we run a Shopify store using Printify for shirts, mugs, hats, and other merchandise.

Unfortunately, it isn’t profitable yet.

Original, non-AI designs take time. Uploading them to various products is tedious. Then comes SEO, advertising, and social media — all the work required to persuade strangers that the products exist.

A $60 hoodie sounds promising until nobody buys it.

We haven’t shut the store down, but it’s on the back burner until we can devote creativity and time toward it without compromising quality.

I’ve learned flexibility has value, too

In the past, I read tons of articles that claimed extra income is a cinch. Clearly, it’s not; I don’t always reap as much as I sow. But it can be done, and there are endless options.

My side hustles aren’t as consistent as my prior job. Every month looks different; managing multiple small businesses means wearing many hats and constantly balancing my calendar.

But I’m earning close to my old paycheck while spending more time at home with my boys. I used to work about 70 hours a month; now I only work half that amount.

Time is truly my favorite currency.

• Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges is watching SpaceX’s Starlink mobile ambitions closely.
• A competitive network would need a land-based presence, and that will cost a lot of money, he said.
• Höttges’ larger concern is SpaceX creating a new kind of communication business, as Musk did in autos.

The CEO of one of Europe’s largest telecom networks is not stressed about Elon Musk’s Starlink mobile ambitions — yet.

“If he has the money, go for it,” Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday. “My assessment is that SpaceX, at least, if they want to play in that industry, needs at least minimum €200 billion.”

Deutsche Telekom owns a 55% controlling share of T-Mobile US.

Like his US counterparts at AT&T and Verizon, Höttges said that satellite-based networks aren’t sufficient for handling the kind of mobile coverage that consumers have grown accustomed to in well-developed areas.

“If you have an antenna 10 meters or 100 meters away from you, why should you go 400 kilometers up and down?” he asked.

The consensus among established carriers is that terrestrial networks — made up of tens of thousands of towers and hundreds of megahertz of spectrum, developed over many years — are the only viable competition to their services.

“Welcome to the party,” Höttges said.

Still, even though he believes Starlink faces such massive financial and infrastructural hurdles, Höttges is not taking his eye off Musk.

“SpaceX is creating a new category,” he said.

Between the chipsets, data centers, AI platforms, and satellites Musk owns, there’s an opportunity to create a new kind of vertically integrated communications company in the next five to ten years, he said. After all, that’s one lesson of the Tesla story.

“That is why I’m saying I take that super serious, because I was witnessing what happened to the car industry,” Höttges said. “They were ignoring it for too long, and we have to face the situation.”

• I’ve seen 31 US states from the passenger seat.
• I’ve viewed countless towns and city skylines from highways and overpasses across the country.
• I’ve figured out exactly how to pack for a successful road trip.

I’m 30 years old, and I still don’t know how to drive, but that hasn’t stopped me from spending hundreds of hours in the passenger seat on road trips across the country.

I’ve road-tripped more than 26,000 miles across 31 states in every region of the continental US.

When it comes to packing up the car, I’ve certainly made some mistakes. I’ve forgotten important items and wished I’d packed essentials I hadn’t even considered bringing.

But 400 hours and more than a dozen trips later, I think I’ve mastered the art of packing for a road trip. Here are the things I’ll always bring with me, no matter the destination.

I often forget to pack motion sickness medicine for road trips and end up stopping for some on the way.

I’ve always been prone to motion sickness, but even if you’re not, driving on winding, hilly roads may make you feel woozy if you’re not used to them.

I always pack my own source of caffeine.

I hate that I need caffeine to stay alert, but that’s where I’m at.

I love a coffee stop on a road trip. But I don’t like to rely on them for caffeine because costs rack up quickly — especially on long journeys.

I prefer to bring Mio Energy to squirt into my water bottle. It adds a flavorful boost similar to Gatorade and keeps me hydrated.

I download playlists and podcasts to keep the car entertained.

When you’re driving on open roads, you never know when you’ll lose service.

I pack headphones to take breaks from socializing in a full car.

I’ve always road-tripped with other people. And as someone who values alone time, I find that packing headphones is the only way to get it in a cramped car.

Especially when road-tripping with others, comfy shoes feel essential to sustaining my good mood.

I always pick a cozy pair that slips on and off easily, like Wally shoes or Crocs.

Another mood booster for me is a clean car.

From empty food containers to candy wrappers, a road trip can quickly make a car messy. So don’t forget to bring a small trash can or bag to keep things tidy.

Don’t forget wipes — especially when eating in the car.

When something spills, or your hands are sticky, you’ll be glad you packed them.

And lastly, don’t forget a camera to capture those stellar American landscapes.

Of course, there are other essentials for road trips, like emergency gear, sunglasses, and a reusable water bottle. But the items on this list have helped me make a long, bumpy ride go smoothly.