Would\should you ban books, tv shows, movies, etc. that frighten your child?
Would\should you ban books, tv shows, movies, etc. that have a strong emotional effect (crying, visibly upset, anxious) on your child?
Does age matter?
Should a parent intentionally expose their child to media that will frighten or emotionally affect them?





Inspired by remembering that my mother banned Scooby Doo because it gave me nightmares, but made me watch "The Fox and the Hound" with my siblings constantly even though it made me cry inconsolably every time. No idea what her reasoning was, other than maybe because my crying didn't affect her but my nightmares meant I'd wake her up.

You have a child in Year 1 (5-6yrs old). Once a week, at their school, they have a 1/2 hour swimming class. Yes, your school has a pool within the complex, go with it.

After swimming, the children come back to their classroom and change back into their school clothes. It is a mixed girl/boy class. The children are all, at one point or another, in various stages of nudity and there is no partition to separate the girls from the boys. The only other person in the room is the class teacher and maybe one parent helper.

What would you think of this open-changing in the classroom idea?

(Also, I have no idea if there is a change room available.)

what age will you start teaching your children about money? I mean things like RRSPs, mutual funds, etc? If you're not any good at things like that, will you find someone else to teach them for you? Why or why not?

Your adult daughter is married, stable, all that good stuff. You are very proud of her. She and her spouse move to another country because one or both of them got an awesome job. Again, very proud. Although you only see her in person once a year or so when she comes home to visit, you talk on the phone several times a week, email all the time, generally keep in touch really well. You are very up-to-date on her life. One day you get an email from her with pictures of her in a hospital bed holding her newborn. The email just has the name, time and date of birth, size, and weight of the baby and "SURPRISE!! You're a grandma\grandpa!" She had never mentioned the pregnancy.

What do you do?
Does your reaction change if this is your first grandchild?
What if you later found out that other family members knew about the pregnancy and had been sworn not to tell you?

Edit: To be clear, she didn't conceal the pregnancy for negative reasons, it was just a misguided attempt at a pleasant surprise.

Where do you draw the line as to what your kids are allowed to watch/be exposed to through media? Is it relevant if the subject matter is satire?

Edit: Okay, bitches. Your answers must contain at least 3 of the following: Panda bears, nazis, wheatgrass, Simpson references, or scotch tape. Improper grammar is a must. Make it so.

How do you keep your kids from spoiling holiday surprises? Have they ever accidentally told someone about a gift before it was given? Funny stories welcome . . . I have one, too!

Do you go out of your way to hide the presents you're giving them? What would you do if you found out that they snooped and discovered one (or all!) of them early?

My answer in the comments.

Do you expect your adult children to tell you about their medical issues?

Does it matter how old they are? if they live with you? how often you talk/see each other?

Would you expect your (financially independent or mostly-so, not living at home) adult child to tell you if they:

a)needed surgery

b)sprained a wrist or ankle

c)broke a bone

d)had the beginning stages of a chronic condition like high blood pressure or high cholesterol which was well controlled

e)had a chronic condition that was in later stages or harder to control

df)had a serious, possibly fatal illness like cancer (yes, I know my alphabet)

Does your feeling change if they are married? What about if it affects their ability to work in the short term? in the long term?



(brought to you by my decision not to tell my mom about my elevated cholesterol, because she'll freak out, but it's not a big deal. Thinking I might tell her eventually if I can't control it with diet and exercise, because I really feel like someone should know what meds I'm on)

edit to turn off comment notifications, because my inbox isn't THAT lonely.

Would you let your young child join an activities group related to a religion that is not yours/theirs?

I.e., boyscouts/girlscouts, a church service group, or some other such thing. Assume that their BFF belonged.

Would you send your young child to a school related to a religion that is not yours?

At what age will you let your child start making medical decisions? Small things like letting them decide whether or not to take antibiotics for tonsillitis or bigger stuff like surgery?

At what age are children old enough to be responsible for their own *VERY IMPORTANT PAPERWORK* such as citizenship documents, passports, SSNs, SINs, Resident Alien cards, birth certificates...whatever else?

Inspired by asking my mom for my birth certificate and being told "YOU MIGHT LOSE IT!!!!!" I'm in my 20s.

Let's say you have two kids who are 10 and 12. The 10-year-old is generally a sweet-tempered child who is easy to get along with. The 12-year-old is often mouthing off and disagreeable with family. For the sake of this post, we'll eliminate any medical issues for the older child's moods (i.e., he's not depressed, bipolar or anything of the sort. He's perfectly amiable with his friends and strangers, but a jerk to family).

One day, an older relative calls and asks you if she can take the younger child on a little outing. You ask if the older child is coming along and are told, nicely, that the older child isn't invited. You push a little bit more and are gently told that the older child is unpleasant to go out with.

Do you allow your younger child to accept the relative's invitation? Do you think it's fair to exclude the older child?

So there's this lady I know (actually my sister-in-law) who is always comparing her children to my daughter, who is 16 months old. One of hers is an 8 year old girl, one is a 2 year old boy. She loves them very very much, and takes really great care of them. She spends a lot of time playing with them, and teaching them, and making sure they go to play dates and get socialization. She makes all their food herself, and even some of their clothes. She gets them the very best health care, and they are doing really great all around. I don't deny that. I think she's great at what she does.

I know she loves her children very much, but I am sick of her comparing them to my toddler. She brings up how much and how fast her children are learning whenever I talk about what my daughter has been learning lately. I haven't gotten my 16 month old potty trained yet, and so she brags about how quickly she got hers trained. When someone in the family wants to hold my daughter, she demands that the person also pay attention to her children right then at that very moment. If someone says they love my daughter, she'll ask "Don't you love my babies, too?"

I am so sick of these comparisons! And I think I have a very good reason to be sick of it.

( My reason for being sick of it. )

Do you think I am being unreasonable about being sick of my sister-in-law's behavior?

ETA: So, seriously, people, how do I handle this tactfully? I am starting to get really sick of it. I am having another baby in early February, and there is already talk of her expanding her family. Should I have a talk with her? What should I say?

Oh, this is harder to post than I thought it would be...
I've always believed in the 'natural consequences' idea, that a child should be able to learn from experience (if you think dinner is yucky, and you won't eat it, you'll be hungry in the morning; if you don't do your homework, you'll deal with your teacher tomorrow; if you hit your sister again, she'll hit you back and Mom and Dad won't get in the way). It's usually worked.

Anyway, this year, both kids started new schools (long story), the younger one in 1st grade and the older in 7th. The 12 yr old decided she doesn't like the bus, and won't take it home if the weather is nice enough to walk (a natural consequence, if she didn't mind the 30 to 40 minute walk). I think you can see where this is going...

Since the school year started, back in Sept, she's been having bathroom issues. She'll get home, and race to the bathroom. At least three times, that I've seen, she's gotten home soaking wet.

Now, I think it's possible to push the natural consequences too far, and if a 12 yr won't got to the bathroom when she has a chance, and wets her pants, that's going too far. But what can I, as a parent, do about it? She knows what will happen if she doesn't go before she leaves school. She knows its not a problem on the days she takes the bus. And she knows that if she walks home, there's a good chance she'll have an accident.

Any ideas/input?

So I went on a hunt to find the most realistic toy gun possible for a prop. First I went to the dollar store, then to K-Mart, then Wal Mart and then FINALLY to Toys R Us, not one place sold toy guns that looked anything like the real thing. I remember when I was younger Wal-Mart had an awesome selection. I asked the clerk and she said most places don't sell toy guys anymore because they're inappropriate.

I personally don't see how toy guns are any more harmful than shooter videogames, which are still carried in these stores. Maybe I'm just bitter because this lack of toy guns is inconveniencing me big time.

Would you/have you let your kids have a toy gun? Would it matter how realistic it was? Is there a certain age where it would be okay?

Do you let your child play with shooter video games?

As a parent do you have to explain every decision to your child or should your word be law?

Should a parent obey the same house rules that they set for their children? Obviously, not things like "don't use the stove by yourself" for a small child, but things like "Don't yell to get my attention, come and get me instead"? or "keep the TV volume low enough not to be heard in the other room" - courtesy-type rules for living peaceably together in the same house? Is a parent hypocritical if they don't follow the same rules?

If your kid was at the age when certain things you do embarrass them to death, would you stop doing those things out of respect for their feelings?

What do you teach your children about handicapped parking spaces and bathroom stalls? Do you teach them by example that it's alright to use handicapped bathroom stalls, but not parking spaces? Or the reverse? Is neither acceptable unless they're handicapped? Or are both alright? Does it depend on the situation?

When your child tells you that he/she hates you, how do you respond?

You divorced from your spouse when you youngest was about 8, and you oldest two were 14 and 19. The oldest two have adjusted to the divorce and your youngest lives with the other parent but sees you regularly. You meet someone AMAZING and want to spend the rest of your life with them and the two of you set a date two years out for the wedding.
*fast forward 1.5 years*
Your ex has been diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer and is dying. Your youngest is almost 10 now and is taking the impending death of his custodial parent hard, even though he still likes you and your future spouse immensely and will come to live with the two of you after you ex's death. Your ex finally dies about a month before your much planned for wedding and while the older two are (reasonably) upset the youngest stops eating and talking and functioning on any reasonable level, and after you have moved him into your house (where the things are still in boxes) the child just lays on the mattress in the dark. Your middle child says that he thinks that your youngest is having trouble adjusting and suggests that you hold off the wedding for a couple of months to give the kid a chance to heal, as another change right now is more than he can handle.

A. Do you delay the wedding/put off the wedding for the time being?
B. Would you answer change if you were the step parent (to be)?
C. Do you find someone to care for your child and leave him home while everyone else goes out to party?
D. ...?...