About

Who We Are:

The Red Pill Parents are: Red Pill Mama, 42, mother of a 5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, living in an Atlanta suburb; and Red Pill Papa, 40 (just!), father of a 5-year-old girl, living in New York City.  Friends since 1998, we share a desire to live more consciously, especially with respect to how we raise our children within our media-saturated, advertising-dominated, packaged consumer culture.  So we started this forum to examine, dissect, deconstruct, ask questions, maybe get some answers, but overall to simply become more aware — more conscious — of what we do (and don’t do) every day, and how the prevailing values of our culture affect ourselves and our kids.  And most of all, what we can do if we don’t like what we see.

Why “Red Pill” Parents?

We chose to call ourselves “Red Pill Parents” because of the metaphor of red and blue pills from The Matrix.  This nearly perfect explanation comes from Wikipedia: “Borrowing from the movie, the terms blue pill and red pill have become a popular metaphor for the choice between the blissful ignorance of illusion (blue) and embracing the sometimes painful, sometimes pleasant, truth of reality (red).”  As citizens, consumers and parents, we don’t want to just swallow the blue pill handed to us by popular media, advertising and the status quo.  Instead, we’re opting for the red pill: the truth, along with the courage and sacrifice it takes to live lives of integrity, and raise our children consciously, once we know the truth.

What — And How — We Write

What we try to cover, for the most part, is the hidden truth: the crucial stories and research that may not get widespread press coverage, the unseen effects of our every day actions, the things your doctor may not tell you, analysis of popular culture and the status quo that may surprise you.  And we try to do it all with the humility and humor that by necessity is an integral part of our shared journey: of raising kids in a crazy world!

We post regularly, and believe in journalistic integrity: this is not a blog where we solely throw our own opinions and ideas around (or steal others’), but rather take the time to research topics and pass along wisdom from those with way more expertise than ourselves (who will always receive credit).  At times, we will throw our own ideas and opinions around, but only because we think they are instructive to you, our readers.

Our Philosophy

Ultimately, Red Pill Parenting is about “doing the right thing” – living with integrity, and making decisions based upon the truth of what’s best for all parties involved: self, others, kids and planet — rather than basing our decisions on either “It’s always been done that way” or “What’s easiest for me?”  If you agree, then you are a Red Pill Parent.