Given that today is Halloween, I had considered gathering a collection of spooky blog posts to share with you. Instead, it’s mostly business as usual with the monthly speedlink. Hopefully, there’s a little something for everyone here.

Not long after my daughter was born, I blogged about the double standard of gender-appropriate toys. While it might be “empowering” for a girl to play with traditional “boy” toys, the reverse is not so widely accepted. This narrative came back around when a 5-year-old boy decided to paint his nails. He was ridiculed at school and came home crying, confused and devastated. Thirsty Daddy painted his nails purple in solidarity, because why can’t little boys think red nails are pretty?

Thinking about taking a trip with the family? Tamara of Discovering Parenthood has a guest post up on BC Mom, offering tips for a stress-free Disneyland vacation. It has literally been more than 20 years since I’ve been to Disneyland and, understandably, a lot has changed in that time. We’re planning on going with Addie eventually and these pointers will surely come in handy. MaxPass, you say?

Continuing on the theme of travel, Lizzie Lau sums up some great family friendly activities and attractions in New York City. We were just there earlier this year — I vlogged about it, of course — and there is never enough time to see, do and eat it all. We missed out on the High Line and MoMA, plus so much more, so we’ll definitely need to return to the Big Apple at some point.

How about a trip that’s a little closer to home? I’ve been seeing a few of my fellow blogger type friends posting about this place, so we should probably check it out. Brandee Foster of One Crazy Kid offers up her take on Taves Family Farms in Abbotsford. In addition to the pumpkin patch, you can visit with baby goats, turkeys, chickens, and even alpacas. There’s even a “corn cart” track… that’s one way to do a corn maze!

If you’re constantly thinking about taking a vacation, you might be burning out. Maybe you feel like you’re just running on the hamster wheel and not actually making any forward progress. I know the feeling all too well. Jen of Practical by Default lists 9 signs you’re in survival mode and how to get out of it. If you’re tired of drowning in everyday tasks, if you’re exhausted from treading water, this is the post for you.

Trying to juggle your career with your family commitments is never easy. Childcare can be remarkably unaffordable and, for a lot of families, having one parent stay home full time makes far more financial sense. That’s how things panned out for Dale Allen Berg and he’s been a stay-at-home dad ever since. But it’s not easy. In his own words, “It’s been a tough journey… filled with a lot of anger, jealousy, bitterness, resentment and probably a few more things.” How do you cope?

Okay. We couldn’t get through this speedlink without at least one Halloween post, right? For that, we turn our attention over to Buzz Bishop at Dad Camp. He outlines some general guidelines for teens who want to go trick-or-treating. It’s okay for older kids to go around the neighborhood collecting candy, so long as they follow these basic rules. It starts and ends with respect.