People get a little salty about the PTA. Christina Crawford admits today: “Nothing used to strike more fear into my heart than ‘P-T-A volunteers needed’ showing up in my email inbox. We’ve been conditioned to believe that PTA moms are public enemy #1. In movies, the PTA mom is often cast as the villain and portrayed as a power-hungry-mean-girl-drama-queen who is out to terrorize poor unsuspecting parents with judgment and requests for donations or volunteers.”

But then she actually joined the PTA. And she learned something amazing: Actually, it can be a blast. Read it and give it some thought, if those calls for volunteers have started appearing in your inbox.

Kelly Faircloth, Executive Editor

“Have you ever been in the shower, singing your fave Taylor Swift song, and then suddenly your mind jumps to you slipping and cracking your head open? Or maybe as you watched your kids peacefully play in the backyard, you suddenly envisioned your neighbor's giant, scary dog barreling toward them. If this sounds familiar, you most likely experienced an intrusive thought,” writes Brianne Hogan today. She talked to an expert about what they are… and what to do about them. Check it out.