When you think of Henry Golding the word dad may not immediately come to mind. Even though he made a major name for himself as the over-the-top handsome, yet down to Earth for an uber-rich guy, love interest of Crazy Rich Asians, IRL Golding is now a devoted dad.

The Crazy Rich Asians star and wife Liv Lo welcomed their newborn last week. Golding recently posted a sweet Instagram pic of himself, Lo, and their new baby, captioning the black and white photo, “This woman right here. Beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Your strength brought us our greatest joy. Thank you, I love you.”

 

The actor’s wife also posted her own birth-day pics, sharing photos of herself at the hospital and in labor. Lo added, “On March 31st our lives changed forever. Link in bio of leaving Instagram for #maternityleave (for the time being). I’ll prob be up during midnight breastfeeds checking in on you, but otherwise “I’ll be back” xx.”

Lo, a fitness instructor and wellness entrepreneur, wrote about her decision to take time off after giving birth on her Fit Sphere website, “This simple knowing, that I can return to work and the world when I am ready gives me the power to direct my attention to what is most important to me. 40 days, or about 6 weeks postpartum, is the first postpartum exam with your OBGYN. Until this clearance happens I am not keen to get back to work or sharing with the world how I am feeling. This may come as a shock or disappointment; however, in my self-reflection, it has become clear that I need to set these boundaries for myself and my family.”

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com

 

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Sale season is kicking off with a bang. You may be excited to score Prime Day deals on Amazon but there are a slew of other sales going on this week.  If you can’t wait until Black Friday to start your holiday shopping then you are in luck. 

Online shopping

Fire up your laptop because we have rounded up the best deals you can get today. 

Target: Deal Days help kick off the holidays with deals Oct. 13 and 14 

Walmart: “Big Save” event offers customers amazing Black Friday-like savings on thousands of items from Oct. 11  to Oct. 15

Best Buy: Black Friday prices guaranteed Oct. 13 and 14

Bed Bath & Beyond: Spend $200+ and get $50 back in rewards on a selection of newly marked-down items

Macys: Use code THANKYOU to save an extra 30% on your order.

TJ Maxx: Clearance event going on now

Nordstrom Rack: Up to 75% off home goods until Oct. 18

Gap: Get an additional 50% off on markdowns

Wayfair: Get up to 70% off the entire site and free shipping on orders $35+

Old Navy: Get 50% off sitewide and free shipping

Hanna Andersson: Get 40% off sitewide

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Paul Felberbauer on Unsplash

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Persistent attention issues have a significant impact on the daily lives of millions of people. Today Akili announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted clearance for EndeavorRxTM (AKL-T01) as a prescription treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Delivered through a captivating video game experience, EndeavorRx is indicated to improve attention function as measured by computer-based testing in children ages 8-12 years old with primarily inattentive or combined-type ADHD, who have a demonstrated attention issue. 

Akili ADHD

Attention impairments are a key component of ADHD for many children yet are often overshadowed by more overt symptoms of ADHD.

EndeavorRx was reviewed through FDA’s de novo pathway and its clearance creates a new class of digital therapeutics. EndeavorRx is designed to directly target and activate neural systems through the presentation of sensory stimuli and motor challenges to improve cognitive functioning.

“We’re proud to make history today with FDA’s decision,” said Eddie Martucci, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Akili. “With EndeavorRx, we’re using technology to help treat a condition in an entirely new way as we directly target neurological function through medicine that feels like entertainment. Families are looking for new ways to help their children with ADHD. With today’s decision by FDA, we’re excited to offer families a first-of-its-kind non-drug treatment option and take an important first step toward our goal to help all people living with cognitive issues.”

EndeavorRx was granted clearance based on data from five clinical studies in more than 600 children diagnosed with ADHD, including a prospective, randomized, controlled study published in The Lancet Digital Health journal, which showed EndeavorRx improved objective measures of attention in children with ADHD. After four weeks of EndeavorRx treatment, one-third of children no longer had a measurable attention deficit on at least one measure of objective attention. Further, about half of parents saw a clinically meaningful change in their child’s day-to-day impairments after one month of treatment with EndeavorRx; this increased to 68% after a second month of treatment. Improvements in ADHD impairments following a month of treatment with EndeavorRx were maintained for up to a month.

“For children living with ADHD, improving their ability to focus and resist distraction is critical to their daily functioning and performance in school,” said Elysa Marco, M.D., cognitive and behavioral child neurologist and Clinical Executive for Neurodevelopmental Medicine at Cortica Healthcare. “Unlike traditional ADHD medications, EndeavorRx is designed to specifically target inattention. Based on the benefits my research participants and patients have experienced, I am thrilled that EndeavorRx is moving from the lab to the clinic to play an essential role as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for children with ADHD.”

The EndeavorRx treatment will be available with a prescription to families soon. Akili believes that cognitive impairments require the same constant attention and care as with any other chronic condition. EndeavorRx will be released as the centerpiece of the Endeavor Care Program, which includes the EndeavorRx treatment and Akili Care,TM a mobile tracking app and personal support services for caregivers. Easily accessible from home, EndeavorRx is downloaded from the App Store by families on their mobile devices and does not require any additional equipment.

“The clearance of EndeavorRx marks the culmination of nearly a decade of research and development and was fueled by the commitment of our team and collaborators to challenge the status quo of medicine. This would not have been possible without the dedication of our clinical research partners and hundreds of families who gave their time and energy to participate in our clinical trials,” said Scott Kellogg, senior vice president of medical devices at Akili.

EndeavorRx is built on the Akili Selective Stimulus Management engine (SSMETM) core technology, a proprietary technology designed for the targeted activation of specific neural systems in the brain to treat diseases with associated cognitive dysfunction. SSME presents specific sensory stimuli and simultaneous motor challenges designed to target and activate the neural systems that play a key role in attention function while using adaptive algorithms to personalize the treatment experience for each individual patient. This enables second by second monitoring of patient progress completing the treatment sessions, and continuously challenges each patient to an optimized level, encouraging patients to improve their performance. Driven by the core belief at Akili that effective medicine can also be fun and engaging, EndeavorRx is delivered through an action video game experience. The captivating experience of EndeavorRx is designed to drive engagement and compliance.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Akili

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Sleepovers of the past included movies, popcorn and endless games of Mall Madness. Put down your credit card and take a trip to the virtual mall with your kids. The Mall Madness board game is making a comeback this fall.

Cha-ching! Hasbro is bringing back the popular game 15 years after the original version left store shelves. The game requires “shoppers’ to get all the items on their list and it coached you through the entire process. It was a thrill to swipe your pretend credit card at I.M. Coughin Drug Store and 2 Left Feet Shoes. The food court had plenty of options including Aunt Chovie’s Pizza. 

Mall Madness

The new modernized version has the same feel as the original with 22 mall locations on 2 floors including a nail salon, candy store, jewelry store, arcade, shoe store, electronics store and a toy store. The talking electronic button features fun sound effects when a player buys something. It also tells players where to move, announces surprise clearance sales and more.  

The new Mall Madness board game will be available on October 1 online and at most major retailers for $24.99. It can be played by two to four people and is suitable for ages nine and up. Mark your calendar or pre-order it now on Amazon.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Amazon

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My day begins as usual: I am awoken by compliments and gentle caresses from my parental authority, Mom, or as her ilk is called in my community, my personal assistant. She informs me of the weather report and presents me with a curated outfit perfect for the day’s events, my personal taste, and the aforementioned weather. Unfortunately, she has selected the blue shirt and today I’ve decided blue doesn’t match my aura this morning so I insist upon the yellow. She fetches the yellow shirt and sighs, “Whatever, just get dressed.”

I contemplate her sass whilst picking out my socks, slowly and deliberately. She’s not the perkiest assistant, but I’ve had her for almost five years now and I’ve grown accustomed to her presence. She returns a few times to remind me of our schedule, muttering something about “being late again” and “on notice at work.” Sock selection is an important process and it takes however long it takes; I wish she would remember this.

Half an hour later, my assistant chauffeurs me to my destination whilst huffing something that sounds like “ducking finally” under her breath. In order to lighten her mood, I pepper her with philosophical questions like “What does ‘tomorrow’ mean?” and “What does a five and a three make?” Most PA’s find this exercise enjoyable, just be sure to never accept “I don’t know” for an answer. It’s important to keep challenging their brains.

We arrive at our destination and I spend the next 9 hours listening to briefings about letters and numbers and navigating office politics. My coworkers and I have a working lunch. There are carrots on the menu today and we discuss at length what superpower they provide. Kyle says they make you see underwater. Jaden says they make you see at night. I like Kyle’s idea better; I’ll share that with my assistant later. She always laughs when I tell her about our progress at work. I don’t completely understand her sense of humor, but I’m glad she enjoys the fruits of our labor.

My assistant comes to drive me home just as I’ve started working with the Magna-Tiles. I wait all day for my turn on this equipment and now she’s rushing me to leave. I cross my arms and glare at her, but decide not to share the reason for my sour mood. I take slow, tiny steps to the car in protest. She questions me about my motives, but I stay strong and silent in the face of her exasperation. She knows what she did. She needs to learn. It’s important for PA’s to figure things out for themselves. She makes an empty threat about “losing screen time.” She’s bluffing. I hold strong. She threatens again. I meet her gaze, steely-eyed. She leans down to me and hisses something about no screen time for the rest of the week. I notice a few of my colleagues exiting the building. I’ve got to get control of my assistant before her outburst ruins my reputation, so I make a quick decision to run to the car. She can’t embarrass me if she can’t catch me.

Clearly shaken, she secures me into my seat, rambling about safety and parking lots. She is tiresome when she is panicky. Remember: regularly increasing your PA’s heart rate keeps them healthy. We start our trip home in silence and then she asks me about my workday. I can’t remember anything. As if you had a clearance high enough to know what I do all day, wee lamb. I do tell her about the carrot incident, though, and she laughs like I expected. Such an uncomplicated creature.

We arrive home and my assistant turns on the television for me. (Bluff called.) However, she does not start the show from the beginning. This is unacceptable. I have been slaving away all day and I just want a few thirty-minute blocks of talking monster trucks and do-gooding dogs to relax into my evening. Is that too much to ask? I follow my assistant around the house continually alerting her to this injustice as she attempts to do a plethora of tasks that are obviously less important (her bladder does not need to be emptied as frequently as she insists, I am certain). Finally, between prepping a dinner that I’ve just decided I will no longer eat and emptying a dishwasher that she hasn’t noticed didn’t actually run, she pulls up Netflix and allows me to choose a show. During my tenure at this establishment, I’ve found success is all about persistence.

I can tell my assistant is losing her resolve. Instead of eating the dinner I raved about when she served it last week, I request various “healthy” snacks, one after another. “Healthy” is a buzzword for assistants and they tend to use it loosely. I will eat ¾ of an apple cut in wedges, half a block of cheddar cheese cut into squares, one piece of triangular peanut butter toast, ten half-moon grapes, and two pieces of deli ham rolled into cylinders. It is important to keep your assistant guessing the appropriate shapes. Never accept poorly cut toast, know your worth.

It also behooves you to keep a keen eye on your assistant’s emotional state. I notice my assistant has refilled her chardonnay twice during “dinner,” which is my cue to sit quietly and see how many extra episodes of Peppa Pig I can sneak past her before she looks up from her phone. I succeed in scoring one episode. Not my best work, but we can’t always hit it out of the park.

Assistants are forever preoccupied with our sleep. They talk about it incessantly. They attempt to tie our behaviors to our level of exhaustion, falsely thinking they can control our every action if they can only crack the code on our personalized, perfectly fine-tuned amount of sleep. It is our job to keep this code a secret. It is our one true power. Resist, at least until a new sibling is born, or until you turn six. Six years is the average length of time it takes for an assistant to be completely broken in. Stay strong.

After a rather rushed bath and singular measly story, my assistant tucks me into bed. Here is where I will shine. I get out of bed three times: once because Kyle mentioned the word “zombies” today and that’s scary; once because the door isn’t shut all the way (I could shut it myself, but that is beneath me); and once because I remembered the zombies again. It is a grand performance. I cry real tears. My assistant doesn’t growl at me through gritted teeth until the third instance and I’ve managed to extend the day by half an hour. I hear my assistant head to her room with a heavy sigh. After her door is shut, I sneak out of bed and play with legos for two more hours.

I will be impossible to deal with tomorrow.

It was a successful day indeed.

This post originally appeared on McSweeny’s.

Shannon J. Curtin is the author of two collections of poetry and her work has been featured in a variety of literary magazines. She holds an MBA, competitive shooting records, and her liquor. She would probably like you. You can find her at ablogofherown.wordpress.com.

Heads up, it’s Target’s bi-annual toy clearance sale where you can find toys up to 70 percent off. If that doesn’t scream “start your holiday shopping now,” we don’t know what does. We headed to the bullseye retailers ourselves and scoped out some insane deals you’ll want to snag before they’re gone.

Word to the wise––be sure to head to your local store to stock up on sale merchandise. Target’s website doesn’t reflect the crazy low prices we found while shopping the aisles.

LEGO Bane Toxic Truck Attack- The Batman Movie

Karly Wood

You're practically LOSING money if you don't buy a LEGO set when it's on sale, and while Target hasn't yet marked down tons of them yet, there are several to choose from. We spotted this Batman movie version for over $15 off, as well as some Brick Headz and an Elves set for just $25. That's quite a deal!

Sound Moovz- Motion Activate Musical Bands

Karly Wood

Encourage your budding musician or dancer with a Sound Moovz band, a musical wristband that creates sound based off your movements! Connect to an app and your options are limited. We spied this super creative toy on sale for 50 percent off! Quite a discount when the regular price is $70.

You can see for yourself how cool Sound Moovz bands are on their website!

Baby Alive Snackin' Noodles Baby

Karly Wood

Baby Alive Snackin' Noodles versions are 50 percent off! If you're brave enough to purchase one of these for your kids (they DO need regular diaper changes, after all) you can't beat the $20 price tag that you'll find on the Target sale. This doll is a bit fancier than the regular Baby Alive––it slurps, and makes sounds and says phrases, too.

Pie Face Sky High

Karly Wood

The $7 price tag for Pie Face Sky High is just one of tons of games on sale. The popular, messy game is ramped up in this version and stands over 3 feet tall. If you're in the market for some new games for family fun night, we highly recommend checking out all the discounted options, stat.

Teddy Ruxpin

Karly Wood

This throwback Teddy Ruxpin is only available at Target and is $15 off. Enjoy time with Teddy as he sings, tells stories and uses his animatronic mouth and LCD eyes to bring story time to life. Oh yeah, he's also Bluetooth compatible! 

Matchbox Learning Blox

Karly Wood

When your kiddos play with these Matchbox cars, they aren't just playing––they're learning too! This marked down set comes in at $20 for 26 cars and accompanying matching ABC blocks. That's less than $1 a car!

Air Warriors Thermal Zenith Dart Gun

Karly Wood

This heatseeking gun comes in at 50 percent off (just $10!) and shoots up to 90 feet. It comes with 6 precision darts and the thermal feature can detect heat up to 60 feet away. At this price, you can afford to get a few and have the ultimate family dart gun war.

Little Tikes Princess Horse & Carriage

Karly Wood

Send your little princess off in style, especially when this $130 toy is marked down to just $65. Push and pull handles make this an easy vehicle to take to the park or for a trip around the block, and at 50 percent off, why not? You'll also have plenty of time to assemble for Christmas if you buy now!

Disney Beauty & The Beast Belle Doll

Karly Wood

Snag some goodies for your little princess, like this Belle doll that is 50 percent during the Target sale. This particular toy aisle is actually packed with tons of other discounts on toys like My Little Pony, Spirit Riding Free, Barbie and Elena of Avalor.

 

––Karly Wood

All photos: Courtesy of Karly Wood for Red Tricycle

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Ready to lose the baby weight, but don’t have a gym membership or much time away from your little one? We hear you! Ease yourself back into the game and get moving at home with free online workout videos. We searched YouTube to find the best free fitness videos you can do with your baby in tow. Whether your newborn is just lying on a mat beside you, or if you’re holding your older baby close in a carrier, there’s a youtube workout for every mama trying to get back into shape. If you’ve got your clearance to workout from your doctor, try one of these workouts.

Baby & Me Yoga with Molly Sims

This professional-quality video was produced by Tom’s of Maine and Los Angeles’ Zooga Yoga and stars Molly Sims to keep you motivated. The 15-minute postnatal yoga session combines stretches and toning exercises. While most of the workout has your baby laying on your mat, the final few minutes features a few moves that your little one will love – being held, kissed and lifted up and down.

Cross Train With Your Baby

New mom, blogger and Youtube fitness trainer Sarah Fit, filmed this quick cross training routine with her baby. She’ll show you how to use your baby as a weight (it’s not as unloving as it sounds!). The video is only about 5 minutes long, but don’t worry, it’ll take you longer than that to complete the calorie-blasting workout. Sarah takes you through four exercise and includes the number of reps and sets you should do along with smart tips on technique and new mommy issues.

20-Minute Baby Wearing Workout

JessicaSmithTV takes on a mommy and me workout by having her postnatal client wear her baby in a carrier for the session. The low-impact cardio routine, will get your heart rate up and keeps you moving so you don’t have time to get bored. The carrier keeps your hands free, while your baby gets to enjoy the movement as you squat, march, do leg lifts, squat and more.

Squats, Lunges & Baby, Oh My!

Shayna Frasco Rose, a certified trainer and mama, created this quick full body workout incorporating your baby. Be sure that your little one can hold his head up on his own before trying it. In just 5 minutes you’ll complete lunges, squats, biceps curls and abs. The heavier your baby is, the harder the workout will be.

Mommy & Me Full Body Toner

Fitness trainer BekahFit, who offers more videos on her website for a monthly fee, shows you nine mom plus baby moves in this 6.5 minute video. While BekahFit talks you through each exercise, you’ll see her sister and niece demonstrating. You’ll do everything from mountain climbers to squats with an overhead (baby) press.

Weighting Game

If you have a set of free weights, or have a gym in your apartment building that you can take your baby to without getting dirty looks from other gym goers, this routine from Sterling Jackson is for you. You’ll wear your baby in a front carrier, so your hands are free to do biceps curls, triceps dips and more. At the end, you’ll take Baby out and place him on a mat so you can interact with him during a few core exercises. Note: if you weren’t into fitness pre-baby, this mommy and me workout will be too advanced.

Entertain Baby With a Cardio Blast

Watch this 2-minute video to learn a sequence of 6 baby weight-burning exercises along with recommended reps and sets. Don’t let the new mom’s near perfect bod deter you. You’ll start with burpees and with squats with lateral raises. You won’t hold your baby or get her in on the action of this workout, but the video does show you how to do these moves while your baby is watching, and hopefully entertained by your sweat session. Good luck!

Head to Toe Mama & Baby Session

Fitness pro Phyl London will instruct you through a 15-minute total body, mommy and baby workout. You’ll start with a few core exercises, work on push ups (which Baby will enjoy as you kiss her little head!), add the weight of baby to some sets of squats and lunges and more.

Do you have a favorite Youtube workout? Share it in the comments below.

–Julie Seguss