Category Archives for "Kids"

3 How to stop bedwetting

Mahad asks: My four-year-old son is in the habit of bedwetting. Do you have any suggestions? I really want to resolve this issue because it is becoming problematic for us.

Oh Mahad –

I so feel for both your son and you.  It’s very difficult, I know, to live with someone in your house who has bladder control, and it’s painful and humiliating to be the one with that problem.

With me it’s been slightly different.  I was able to get paper-trained and house-trained very quickly.  After that, there were a couple of times when Handsome was so stressed out it made me lose control, but otherwise I’ve been fine.  With one exception!

That exception is that dogs, unlike people, get inspired to Continue reading

0 Our responsibility for our own health

ankita asks: Are we ourselves responsible for our certain type of ill health?

Hi ankita –

Well of course I’m not a doctor, I’m a dog!  But I see enough to know that the answer to your question is… Sometimes.

Clearly, if I eat some rotten moldy maggot-infested 6-day-old meat, and I get sick, I’m pretty responsible for it.  And clearly, if I’m just saying hello to another dog and she gives me Parvo or Kennel Cough, I wasn’t responsible for that at all.

The part of the question that gets difficult is when two dogs, or two people, do the same thing, and only one gets sick.  Maybe another dog could eat that meat and not get sick; maybe another one could play with that sick dog and not get sick.  And the medicine that saves your life might be poison to me.  It’s really hard to make specific rules.

But here’s the one thing I can say for sure.  There are certain things that have absolutely no positive Continue reading

0 What to present in three minutes

tueman84 asks: if u have 3 minutes to present something, which subject will u choose?

Hi tueman84 –

Hmmm…  Well there are things I love to present to Handsome. Dirt,

sticks, old Continue reading

0 Good topics for practicing conversation

Aree303 asks: Please give me some daily English conversation to use with my 10-year-old son. I like to practice with him. He is in bilingual school but rarely speaks English.

Hi Aree303 –

Congratulations to you for caring so much about your son’s education, and working to help him navigate a multi-lingual world.  I’m happy to help.

In fact, I think I can help a lot.  Because what you really need is help finding things that interest your son, that can both help him learn English and give you good topics to talk about.

May I recommend…   Continue reading

1 Why we sometimes feel alone.

nanny asks: Why am I always alone?

Oh nanny, I know that feeling!  It’s so painful!

But then there those days when I wake up and feel like I’ve got so many people and dogs around me I can’t find space to think!  So if that’s true, I can’t really be alone, can I?!

The truth is that we often feel way more alone than we really are.  We might spend a day by ourselves, but that doesn’t really mean we’re alone.  We’re still in the minds and hearts of our families and friends, and we have so much effect (good and not) on others all the time.  But when we feel alone, that’s about our Continue reading

0 How to find out if someone likes you too.

Hannah asks: I really like this boy, and I don’t know how to tell him I like him. We just met and he’s really cute. I just really don’t know if he feels the same about me, and I don’t know how to get him too! Please help!!

Hi Hannah –

Well, first, I’d direct your attention to Sweetparker’s question, about her confusion over two guys (it’s listed in Previous Questions, under Growing Up, Life Skills, Relationships, and School). I talk with her about ways to try to find out what a boy thinks of you.

But I want to throw a couple of other thoughts at you as well. First, know that there’s nothing wrong with being nervous and shy. Most boys think it’s really cute! The only problem is if you’re so shy you can’t even approach the boy. For example, Handsome had his first crush on a girl when he was ten years old. He never had the guts to even meet her. The only words he ever said to her were when he accidentally stepped on her Continue reading

0 How to deal with a kid picking fights with you.

Chupa Chup asks: There’s a boy that goes to my school and he comes to school care and sometimes we fight and hurt each other and hit and kick and pinch and punch. I don’t know what I can do to make him stop hurting me all of the time.

Hi Chupa Chup –

Well, there’s an easy answer to your question, that I’ll bet you’ve heard adults say before:  Stop fighting with him.

Now I’ll bet that just made you roll your eyes, because of course you can’t stop fighting with him, because he’s going to come at you and hit and kick and pinch and punch.  Right?  But maybe you can actually stop the fight instead.

You see, I’ve been in lots of fights.  And I’ve won fights and lost fights.  I’m a good fighter.  But I don’t like fighting.

Actually, let me restate that.  I love fighting, but not when it’s Continue reading

0 How to make your parents trust you.

Bumpy asks: How can I make my parents trust me?

Boy, Bumpy, do I hear this one all the time from kids, teens, even some adults!  Why can’t our parents trust us?  We can be super-responsible in the eyes of the world, but these people, who know us the best and love us the most, have absolutely the worst opinion of our integrity and abilities!

Well, it’s one simple problem you’re facing:  Diapers!

Yes, you read it right, I said Diapers!  You see, when you were born, you were completely helpless – you couldn’t even lift your head up.  And you’re here today and able to complain to me because your parents did absolutely everything for you back then.  They knew you were helpless, and were there always.

Then you got a little older, and you started crawling around, walking, talking… you were feeling pretty powerful.  But no matter how smart or tough you were, they knew that you were still helpless and had no idea how to handle life, because of the big bulge around your Continue reading

0 How to know if a friend is avoiding you, or is not okay.

Malavika asks: I have a friend. Yesterday I called her after school to see if I could go to her house. She said she wasn’t feeling well. But later that day, she said she needed to borrow a labcoat for school and she came over and she was fine. Again today I called her to see if we could hang out but she said she wasn’t feeling well. I asked one of her school friends, and she said that she was fine in school. She was speaking and talking fine in school. I’m a little scared. I don’t know if she is ignoring me, or hiding something or is she really not well? Please, I need advice!

What a mystery, Malavika!  I have no more idea than you do about what’s up, but I can offer one bit of advice:  Find Out!

And here’s the big issue here – every possible answer you have has an emotional side to it.  If she’s ignoring you, that hurts!  If she’s hiding something, that might make you mad!  And if she’s really not well, that’s really sad!

So your job is to Continue reading

0 How do I improve an 8-year-old’s study skills?

Baqir asks: I have an 8-year-old boy of grade 4 in a Pakistani English medium public school, who is not taking interest in studies and resists teaching from mother. Do you have any suggestions?

Hi Baquir –

The first thing I want you to do is to take a very deep breath.  And then, every time you begin to worry about your son’s academics, I want you to take another.

Your son is eight years old.  This is a great time to learn – his brain is as powerful and receptive as it will ever be.  But he’s also growing.  What he learns now about subjects in school is extremely important, but what he learns about life is even more so.  And where they overlap is one huge thing:  Love Of Continue reading