Don't Shy Away From the Tough Stuff

A few weeks ago a friend shared a news story on her Facebook page about the Tide Pod challenge. I showed it to Peter and he was shocked that anyone would do anything as stupid as eat poison intentionally. We talked about teenagers and their proven lack of good judgement and Peter expressed his own worry about becoming a teenager. I told him to remember that feeling and keep trusting his parents while he's in those crazy teenage years.

A week later he came home from a Young Men activity and reported that two of the boys had been boasting that they tried the challenge. He was genuinely concerned for them. I know these boys and I know their moms and I suspect that they were all talk and no action. Nevertheless, we talked about the experience with Peter. We told him that sometimes kids will say they've done something to seem cool, whether it's wise or not, whether they've done it or not. He concurred with us that nothing about this internet fad is truly cool.

Then a letter came home from the Principal at the boys' school warning parents about this same challenge. We talked with all the kids about it and everyone agreed that it was a dumb thing for anyone to do. Sophie even talked through what she would do if someone offered her soap to eat.

We've had these same talks about alcohol and pornography and drugs, both prescription and otherwise.

I hope that as my kids get older, we can continue having open discussions with them about scary and important things. Not that we want to worry our kids unnecessarily, but we also don't want to send them out into the world unprepared. We want them to be ready if they come face to face with these situations.