And just like that, the most important 21-year project of our lives is over.
We moved Noelle into her freshman dorm at Case Western this week, three years after doing the same for Maddie at Michigan. Like the first time, the goodbye was anticlimactic. Hauling boxes up several flights of stairs and unpacking in an air-condition-less shoebox doesn’t exactly lend to sentimentality. Once Noelle’s roommate arrived, the farewell was abrupt. I know many of you have been there.
We arrived home, two-and-a-half hours later, to an officially barren nest. I can’t come up with a better way to describe the days since except…weird. I never really paid much attention to the dozens of framed pictures of our kids covering our walls – now they stop me in my tracks. Pardon the cliché, but where does the time go?
I’ve met a few Baby Boomer men over the years who told me they were hyper-involved in their grandkids’ lives, trying to make up for the time they didn’t spend with their Gen X kids. Fortunately, I don’t carry that burden (see: Not a Baby Boomer).
Sure, my business travels took me away more than most dads. And I was definitely guilty of not being present at times when I was home, distracted by work (and my phone) more than I’m proud to admit.
But I was otherwise all in. I spent a ton of high-quality time with my kids. Of all her superpowers, Tara was never big on – literally – child’s play. So, I read most of the bedtime books and sang the bedtime songs. I did the tea parties, dress-up, stuffed animal birthdays, and “Mommy & Me” music class. I chaperoned school picnics and did crafts at the classroom Valentine’s Day parties. As time went on, I seldom if ever missed a performance, a meet, or a banquet. I’m not patting myself on the back. I know plenty of dads who were more involved than I was, and don’t even get me started on Tara and all the other moms – that’s next-level. But I do feel like I left it all out on the field.
As our kids got older, we got closer. COVID contributed to that, as well as an unspeakable family tragedy. I wish they hadn’t suffered through those things. Still, the relationships we formed were a silver lining. Maddie and Noelle are two of my best friends, if not the very best.
So, I’m grateful not to feel regret. There are plenty of other feelings to process without it.
I also know our parenting journey is far from done. They’ll continue to need us, continue to learn from us, and continue to enrich our lives in ways nothing else can.
The biggest part of the journey just ended so fast.
Here’s what we’re seeing:
Somehow, the power of sports in the media landscape hasn’t reached its ceiling yet. If you’re an NFL junkie like I am, you’ve probably realized that you’ll need a minimum of 6 different streaming subscriptions to see every nationally televised game this year. 6! That’s a perfect example of market dynamics at work – the streaming platforms are fully aware of sports’ (especially the NFL) gravitational pull, hence the massive licensing deals they’re willing to do. And it appears to still be working. In our extensive study on the topic, we found that over one-third of sports fans plan to subscribe to a new streaming service to watch sports this fall – which doesn’t include all the people who already have them all. Of course, the big problem is churn. Lots of those subscribers will turn the service off once the season is over. So how do you keep them? We also took a deep look at the profile of these intenders. Check that out for yourself.
Two-thirds of Americans expect tariff costs to alter their holiday shopping this year, but the numbers vary widely by political affiliation. A full 50% of U.S. adults report that they’re already thinking about or planning for the holidays this month (flat to last year, but way up from just 4 or 5 years ago). The new twist in 2025, however, is the potential/imminent impact of tariffs on prices or product availability. Seventeen percent of shoppers say they’re buying gifts early to get ahead of potential price hikes, while 49% anticipate buying fewer gifts or spending less on individual gifts. But the numbers are very uneven across the political spectrum. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to be unfazed by the tariff implications, by nearly 3 to 1. We also shared some early insights on what categories of gifts and retailers will be the biggest this year, with notable differences between older and younger shoppers.
It’s mindboggling how willing young people are to share their location. When I was in my teens and 20s, the last thing I wanted was for everyone to know where I was. It was one of the beauties of pre-cell-phone life. Today, young people don’t only want to be found, they want to broadcast their precise location. In our 3 Things to Know this week, we looked at the comfort level with location-sharing features among users of different social networks – finding, naturally, that they’re most popular among the younger-oriented apps. We also noted the rising popularity of refurbished tech products, especially among cash-strapped Millennials, and examined different ways people are curbing their day-to-day travels to save money on gas.
The beauty category continues to change right before our very eyes. Economists and MBA professors will be studying the evolution and resilience of the U.S. beauty and cosmetics industry – during and after the pandemic – for decades to come. Brands like e.l.f. Beauty and others have not only been amazingly adaptive to the emotional wellness and social influencer trends of the last five years, they’ve, in many ways, driven those very trends. Even as daily makeup usage has declined since 2022, those brands capitalized on the converse popularity of skin and haircare. New trends, namely those among moms of Gen Alpha children, are changing the face of beauty yet again. Now, perfume is all the rage. It pays – handsomely – to be agile.
Taylor Swift’s impact on the NFL might be a two-way street. Most of the analysis out there (including lots of our own), since Taylor Swift began showing up at Kansas City Chiefs games, centered on the marketing value to the NFL – i.e., the new fans who started tuning into the games. Well, new data we published this week suggests that perhaps Swift picked up some new fans too. Despite being on the music scene – with no shortage of media attention – for over a decade, nearly one in five current Swifties say they’ve only become fans in the past year. This group skews slightly older and, of course, over-indexes as big sports followers. Two of the biggest marketing juggernauts in the world are a match made in heaven.
More awesomeness from the InsightStore:
- Here are the biggest takeaways from our 8-part Economic Uncertainty webinar series.
The most popular questions this week:
How concerned are you, if at all, about the current state of household debt in the US?
Do you think mental health days should or should not be offered to students?
Would you ever consider doing a cold plunge?
Do you typically stop for coffee before a flight?
Do you generally prefer plant-based or traditional meats for your burgers?
Answer Key: Very concerned, especially come Q1 of next year; It already is offered to them – we call it “skipping school;” I’ve done it many times, best hangover cure ever; No, but I drink one in the car on the way to the airport; I won’t even dignify that question with a response.
Hoping you’re well.
JD
