Something surprising happened the other day: my son commented on someone’s race.
He’s just over 2, but I had this fantasy it would have taken longer than this. That difficult conversation of “what is racism” must be just around the corner.
Here’s how it went:
The four of us were in the car, packing up after a trip to Fort Lauderdale beach. Just to make small talk, I asked Alexander what he saw out of the window.
“A tall, white man,” he said.
“Oh,” I said.
My wife and I looked at one another. Well, isn’t that interesting, we said.
Our sons are biracial. I’m white (although I wasn’t the man Alexander was referring to) and my wife is African American. We know from a certain Democratic presidential candidate how complicated this racial experience can be for a kid. They are likely to benefit from our new societal sensibilities about growing up with both black and white parents, but it's never going to be easy.

Still, despite all the talk about race this campaign season and the major role it plays in my life, I’m always queasy at the topic. Sure, I talk about race frequently, but it’s never easy. And when it comes to kids, I don’t know when it’s confusing and when it’s helpful to raise it. (Rowan is only 10 months, so I’ve got some time there.)

So when did your kids first ask about race? What did you say?

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We've probably all had the experience of our young ones making some kind of rude observation that is best kept to oneself. (Such as when Lily looked at a woman in the Publix checkout next to me, and asked, "Mommy, is that a man?''')

Adults who don't have a self-censor have no friends. But we have to expect this kind of embarrassment from kids.

This weekend we went to visit the grandparents. They're in their 70s.

Lily and I and her grandmother were sitting at the kitchen table.

"Are you going to live in this house forever?'' Lily inquired.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe,'' her grandmother replied.

Lily paused for a great while.

And then she said, so innocently:

"How do you spell die?''

Great question, Lily. And why do you ask?

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As a child, social networking involved a red kickball. All it took was the sight of the ball being launched in the air by a neighboring kid's foot to get me outdoors and socializing.

How pedestrian.

These days kids socialize by logining on to a MySpace, or Facebook or uploading a video of said selves to YouTube.

And in this new social structure enters TotSpot, a place for pre-school kids to swap virtually boogers.

Does your wee one use TotSpot? Lifestyle reporter Liz Doup would like to hear from you. Send her a note at ldoup@sun-sentinel.com.

Or perhaps you frequent the site, famzam that is geared more to families wanting to share photos, videos, recipes, etc. Either way, Liz would love to talk with you.

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Stay-at-moms should be pulling in $117,000 a year, according to a study by Salary.com.

Is this a pittance or a boon? Tell us what you think about stay-at-home moms being worth $117,000 on the free market.

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The video clip is hard to watch. A teen girl being punched, slammed into a wall, taunted to fight back.

The Lakeland, Fla., beating happened March 30, and was released to the media on Tuesday.

The six girls, ages 14 - 17, have been arrested and may face charges as an adult.

According to news reports, the victim was lured to the home for the beating, to be aired on YouTube, after allegedly posting an offensive remark on a MySpace page.

This horrific beating begs the question: Who's to blame?

Should the parents of these alleged bullies be held accountable? Was the victim in the wrong? Is the media to blame?

Let's start talking about how we can prevent our kids from being the victim or bully . . .

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This falls into the category of something I never thought about on my way to parenthood. But it happened one day a few weeks ago.

Sometime back, my wife and I agreed on teaching our children the anatomical correct name for their body parts. It wasn't a big discussion, just something we sort of agreed on almost in passing.

Of course, most of this teaching goes on while I am at work. So I never really have given it that much thought until my daughter caught me off guard.

Her mother was at the doctor. And we were playing in the living room. She opened her mouth wide. I did the same. We did the aahhhh thing, each of us getting louder by the moment. Finally, I stopped and pointed in her mouth and said: "What's that in there? Is that China?"

That stopped Ana Isabel. "No, papa. That's not my China. This is my China," she said while doing a full-on Michael Jackson crotch grab. Vagina, China. It's all the same to a two and half year old. I just about fell out of the chair trying not to laugh.

I relayed the story to my wife. We laughed. It's better than the name her grandmother used to for the same body part, Carrie Ann said. Tootie. It confused her as a little girl when the sitcom "The Facts of Life" had a character with the same name.

So, how do you handle teaching your children about their body?

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This week, the daycare my child attends celebrated St. Patrick's Day and Easter by asking parents to bring in plates, cheese, juice boxes and SWEETS: cupcakes, candies, cookies.

What the heck do children ages 1-2 need with candy???

Baby teeth are temporary, and can be difficult to clean if the baby is like mine and squirms and wails during the cleanings.

I was instructed via a note to bring candy for the Easter party. I brought grapes, lovingly divided into baby bite sizes, for the kids.

As a compromise, I brought in treat bags of candy and gum for the teachers.

How do you deal with your daycare provider plying your child with sweets?

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Families have their own rhythm, their own cadences. They can speak to each other in ways outsiders can’t really relate.

When an outsider becomes a family member, as I did eight months ago, he quickly learns that the family language only bears a passing resemblance to his own.

I knock on the older girl’s bedroom door.

“What?” she calls out. It’s an impolite, get-lost kind of yell to my ears, regardless of whether she intends it to sound that way.

“Try again!” I yell through the door.

“Yes?” she replies, this time striking a you’ve-reached-Kay-how-may-I-help-you? tone.

That's more like it. The first response sounds like I have some nerve knocking on the door. The second strikes me as more polite. I'm happy.

The next morning, I knock on the younger girl’s door.

“What-ah?” she yells. When did the word “what” gain that extra syllable, anyway? “What-ah?” Sometimes-ah sounds-ah like you hear those-ah, old-time preachers-ah.

“Hey, I’m just checking to make sure you’re awake and getting ready for school. I don’t deserve the attitude.”

“I’m not giving you attitude!”

I love that. I get the attitude and the denial.

What I don’t get is that she’s telling me the absolute truth. She really doesn’t mean to be giving me attitude. Just like I don’t mean to sound like a holier-than-thou persnickety know-it-all who’s constantly correcting them.

They would know that if they spoke my language, and maybe I’ll go a little easier on them when I learn their language a little bit better. The good part? They’re comfortable enough with me that when they speak to me, it’s in their language.

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Unfortunately, last night my husband and I discovered that our son Ryan's 2006 Christmas hamster, A.J., had departed to the great wheel in the sky.

After gently telling Ryan of A.J.'s untimely demise, we explained that A.J. was in heaven and that he had a loving and happy life here with us. Many tears and fond recollections later, we had a burial on the side of the house with my older son Erik giving a moving eulogy.

Later, Ryan began to fret. When I asked him what was wrong, he said "I hope God puts A.J. in the animal side of heaven. If he's in the people side, he'll get stepped on. Then he'll have to die twice."

--Doreen Christensen

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Apparently my husband thinks its acceptable for our son to express his displeasure by uttering a certain curse word. We're not talking about the F-bomb here. And in the great scheme of things, it isn't considered one of the curse words that's so horrifying, but still. He's not even four years old yet.

Here's an example for you. We were in the restroom at the mall the other day and Evan was trying to wash his hands with soap but the dispenser was all out of soap.

"Damn it," Evan said.

"Honey, don't say that word, it's not a good word for us to use," I told him.

He got annoyed. My amused husband said that this simply illustrates how children easily pick things up and mimic their parents. Duh. And that it's not such a bad word and we shouldn't scold him for doing something that we do. Hmm. The dictionary defines it as "to condemn, especially to hell." I don't think a preschooler needs to be condeming the lack of soap in a bathroom with such finality.

So yes, we have to watch what we say. But I still don't think that gives our boys a free pass to drop the D word or worse.

I'm not going make the ol "wash your mouth out with soap" threat. Any suggestions on enforcing a no-cursing rule in the house and explaining why certain words shouldn't be used? I'm afraid I sometimes come up short after the constant "why" question when I issue an edict. "Because I said so" doesn't seem to cut it.

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Went to Barnes and Noble last week with my sons. They really like playing with the Thomas the Train set in the children's section, and I really like checking out gossip rags while they do that, so it works out well.

Another mom walked in with her son and baby daughter in her arms. The woman had long, gorgeous hair and a husky voice.

My son walked over to me, stood close and said, "Mommy, I think that looks like a girl."
I looked at the baby, wearing all pink, and answered, "Yep, that's a girl."
He continued.
"But she kind of sounds like a guy," he said.
Horrified, I realized he was talking about the woman with the husky voice. I quickly glanced over but the woman either did not appear to hear Evan or was ignoring this comment.
"No, babe, that's a girl too," I whispered.

Thankfully, the conversation ended there. But that was my first brush with my 3-year-old's brutally honest observations in public. I don't want to muzzle him, but how do I talk to him about keeping this kind of stuff between us?

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They are the stories our children will hear us tell time and time again as they grow up well into adulthood: Those unexpected moments when they open their mouths and say something truly amazing – or just plain funny.

We at transPARENT have plenty of those gems to share. We’d like to hear yours.

One of my favorites came around the New Year. My two-year-old son had just begun to understand the sights and sounds of fireworks. Dad had made a few demonstrations while my son and I soaked in the experience sitting on top of my car. There were plenty of “oh, wows” and “oohs.”

But the best moment came days later as I toweled off my son during bath time (and after a hearty dinner). His bare bottom on my lap, he let one rip. Then another. And another. He giggled, looked up at me and said with such innocent glee: “FIREWORKS!”

I can’t wait until the Fourth of July.

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