Raising another human being can be tough, yet ultimately rewarding. These talks highlight the struggles and successes unique to parenting.

Babble.com publishers Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman, in a lively tag-team, expose 4 facts that parents never, ever admit -- and why they should. Funny and honest, for parents and nonparents alike.

Parenting books promise to teach us how to raise successful children and, in doing so, reveal why each of us turned out the way we did. Developmental psychologist Yuko Munakata tells a different story, challenging and complicating the prevailing wisdom about parents' role in their children's futures.

"Co-parenting" isn't a buzzword -- it's a way of showing up for your family openly, consistently and lovingly, says storyteller and father Joel Leon. In this moving talk, he challenges all parents to play an equal, active role in their children's daily lives, even in a world that often places the weight of sacrifice on mothers alone. Leon encour...

How can parents ensure their children have a healthy relationship with technology? Social psychologist Sonia Livingstone suggests that the key lies in embracing technology alongside children -- and lays out a practical roadmap for how to get there.

In her new book "All Joy and No Fun," Jennifer Senior explores how children reshape their parents' lives -- for better and worse.

You aren't sleeping. You barely have time to eat, let alone peruse TED Talks. Here, talks under six minutes that will give you a quick dose of inspiration.

By loading kids with high expectations and micromanaging their lives at every turn, parents aren't actually helping. At least, that's how Julie Lythcott-Haims sees it. With passion and wry humor, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford makes the case for parents to stop defining their children's success via grades and test scores. Instead, she s...

LB Hannahs candidly shares the experience of parenting as a genderqueer individual -- and what it can teach us about authenticity and advocacy. "Authenticity doesn't mean 'comfortable.' It means managing and negotiating the discomfort of everyday life," Hannahs says.

The director of communications for the non-profit Citizen Schools, Colin Stokes thinks deeply about the media he shares with his two young children.

The parenting section of the bookstore is overwhelming -- it's "a giant, candy-colored monument to our collective panic," as writer Jennifer Senior puts it. Why is parenthood filled with so much anxiety? Because the goal of modern, middle-class parents -- to raise happy children -- is so elusive. In this honest talk, Senior offers some kinder an...

Certain elements of childhood -- school, play, homework -- are often considered universal by those who live in industrial societies. Evolutionary anthropologist Dorsa Amir draws from her time living in foraging societies to explain how the post-industrial experience of childhood is a relatively new development for humanity with wide-ranging impl...

Glen Henry got his superpowers through fatherhood. After leaving behind a job he hated and a manager he didn't get along with, he went to work for an equally demanding boss: his kids. He shares how he went from thinking he knew it all about being a stay-at-home parent to realizing he knew nothing at all -- and how he's now documenting what he's ...

If you could guarantee that your child would avoid inheriting a serious condition, such as blindness, would you do it? Alastair O'Neill describes the wrenching decisions people have made now that science can pre-screen healthy embryos.

Hidden behind the allure of the newest innovations on the web are plenty of potential pitfalls for children—from online bullying to inappropriate content. Michael Fey offers practical advice for parents to close the digital divide between them and their children to help ensure the whole family has a healthy interaction discovering and enjoying t...

Losing children to illness, disease or acts of violence is devastating and endlessly difficult to cope with. These talks come from parents who have experienced such loss and found a way to make it through.

When Shaka Senghor and Ebony Roberts ended their relationship, they made a pact to protect their son from its fallout. What resulted was a poetic meditation on what it means to raise a child together, yet apart. In this moving and deeply personal talk, Senghor and Roberts share their approach to co-parenting -- an equal, active partnership that ...

Aala El-Khani explores the needs of families affected by war and displacement and the mental health of children who have experienced armed conflict.

As a mother with a son affected with Fragile X syndrome -- a genetic disorder -- Emilie Weight believes that a diagnosis of disability can create opportunity, not despair. Her son's differences compelled her to question her inner self and her role in the world. With this new mindset she discovered his true superhero qualities when she stopped tr...

As a father of four, Dwight Stitt believes that family connection is everything. In this heartfelt talk, Stitt shares his own hardships of fatherhood in the wake of divorce. Determined to maintain strong bonds with his children, he imparts a collection of lessons that he hopes will keep all dads -- divorced or not -- deeply connected to their kids.

A collection of talks to enjoy before welcoming a new little life into the world.

Roberto D'Angelo and Francesca Fedeli thought their baby boy Mario was healthy -- until at 10 days old, they discovered he'd had a perinatal stroke. With Mario unable to control the left side of his body, they grappled with tough questions: Would he be "normal?” Could he live a full life? The poignant story of parents facing their fears -- and h...

The founder of the Tinkering School, Gever Tulley likes to build things with kids.

Andrew Solomon writes about politics, culture and psychology.

Katie Hinde is studying breast milk’s status as the first superfood, providing babies with invaluable microbes custom-tailored to their individual needs, via an incredible and unlikely dialogue between the mother’s enzymes and the baby’s saliva.

Sebastián Bortnik's work is focused on preventing cyber attacks.

Alanna Shaikh is a global health consultant who specializes in strengthening health systems.

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. In his talk, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish -- as kids and as adults.

Steven Addis is a father and photography buff who, by day, harnesses the power of branding for social change.

Kids don't come with a manual, and parents don't get grades to affirm they're doing things right. These talks speak to the complexities of parenthood, offering unusual insights and hard-won advice.