If you had a quarter for every time you’ve heard the word “crisis” lately, well, you could probably single-handedly stimulate the economy. These days it seems like bad news is everywhere — on television, the Internet, at playgroups, and at the checkout stand in the supermarket. All the talk of a recession, a struggling stock market, and layoffs probably has your anxiety level sky high.

It is not hard to imagine that all this bad news may be getting to your kids too. Chances are you have probably already fielded some tough questions like, “What does ‘recession’ mean?” For most of us, these questions are tough to answer — it is hard to know how to tell kids what is happening without frightening them. read more

Why is it that most of our embarrassing moments circle around the potty? I guess a majority of what we do as parents is help our children learn how their bodies function — sometimes you might just wish they were quicker to learn tact and judgment to go along with their potty training.

How to Talk About It. Our oldest child had just been potty trained and was very excited. As a treat I took him to visit a family friend, who is a dentist, at work. Unfortunately, the friend had just begun a procedure and couldn’t see us. My 3-year-old was very upset and blurted out for all to hear, “But I need to tell him I go poop and pee in the big boy potty all the time!” A shocked and almost speechless receptionist then gave my son his choice of toothbrush as a peace offering. –Rexburg, ID   read more