10 Best Parenting Books For 8 Year Olds
Updated on: September 2023
Best Parenting Books For 8 Year Olds in 2023
I Am Confident, Brave & Beautiful: A Coloring Book for Girls
Code 7: Cracking the Code for an Epic Life
My Magical Words (The Magic of Me Series)
Me & My Feelings
Ready, Set, Grow!: A What's Happening to My Body? Book for Younger Girls
The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal)
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind
Dinosaur Activity Book for Kids Ages 4-8: A Fun Kid Workbook Game For Learning, Coloring, Dot To Dot, Mazes, Word Search and More!
Just Between Us: Mother & Daughter: A No-Stress, No-Rules Journal (Activity Journal for Teen Girls and Moms, Diary for Tween Girls)
Train Your Angry Dragon: A Cute Children Story To Teach Kids About Emotions and Anger Management (My Dragon Books)
On Theme Park Rides, Scared Children, Safety, and Adults Who Act like Friends Rather Than Guardians
This parenting advice column advises a mother not to panic after seeing a photo of her 2-year-old looking scared on a log ride. Talk to him before getting upset. We also advise an aunt that it's not too late to butt out of her niece's problems.
Stop here every day for a new question and answer, practical help for busy parents.
Question
My 2-year-old son's father took him to a family oriented theme park. I received a picture of the boy on a log ride, and he looks terrified. I forwarded the picture to my mother, who was not pleased. She feels it was unsafe. While I hate seeing my little guy so scared, I doubt it scarred him, and the ride was probably safe. Should I be worried?
Answer
No theme-park ride is perfectly safe. But considering the number of people who patronize these rides every year, the number of accidents is surprisingly small. According to an annual report prepared by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions and the National Safety Council, U.S. park guests took 1.7 billion rides in 2020. Those rides resulted in 1,086 injuries (one every 1.56 million rides), of which only 65 required overnight hospital treatment.
These days, amusement parks tend to be heavily regulated and spend a lot of money on maintenance and safety. So without knowing anything about the ride in question, I can say that statistically, it was probably not dangerous. Log rides in general do not move as fast as roller coasters, and while age 2 sounds pretty young, you will frequently see toddlers on such attractions.
Most of these rides, if not all of them, have height requirements. If your son is tall enough to ride, he's probably large enough to handle the physical activity. Also keep in mind the nature of these rides. They are designed to excite passengers, causing pulses to rise. Your son may very well have been terrified, in which case I would hope his father had the good sense to restrict him to less-intense rides for the rest of the day. However, he could just have been excited and caught up in the moment. Those two sensations '" fear and excitement '" can cause remarkably similar facial expressions.
What does this mean for you? You should call your boy's father and ask him about the trip. And you should talk to the boy himself. But if they tell you the ride was no big deal, don't make anything more out of it, your mother's concerns notwithstanding.
Question
My 16-year-old niece has been dating the same guy for almost two years. She confides in me, and I know she is sexually active. They usually use protection, but not always. Now I am concerned she might be pregnant. Should I buy a pregnancy test for her, or just wait to see if she misses her period next month? If she is pregnant, she may have to move in with me. Her father, my oldest brother, has a terrible temper and would not go for this at all.
Answer
This is a perfect time to do what you should have been doing all along. Staying out of it. Your sole job in this situation is to tell your niece to talk to her parents.
If she is pregnant, the two of you may have problems beyond finding a place for the girl to live. Your knowledge of the girl's activities will come out eventually. Such things always do. Some brothers might consider your conduct betrayal, or at least an undermining of parental authority.
If your brother has the bad temper you mentioned in your question, he may be upset that you didn't try to talk his daughter into not having sex '" or at the very least, telling him so he could put a stop to it. I know you are not this girl's mother. But you have run smack into the dangers that occur when adults voluntarily cede their innate authority and become friends of children rather than guardians. You have not behaved like the mature adult in this relationship.
If the girl is pregnant, I see a lot of potential damage to family relationships. But if she is not pregnant, you still have a chance to start acting more like an aunt and less like a girlfriend.
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