The Wall Street Journal-20080116-Home -amp- Family- Best of the Juggle - Excerpts from WSJ-com-s Work -amp- Family Blog
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Home & Family: Best of the Juggle / Excerpts from WSJ.com's Work & Family Blog
Handling Child's Meltdown
If Prized Possession Vanishes
This is a repeat scenario in our house: It's around 8:30 p.m., my 3- year-old daughter is finally settled in bed, and just as I'm tip- toeing out of the room, she rummages in the covers, bolts upright and asks the dreaded question: "Where's George?"
While my husband and I hunt down her beloved stuffed monkey, my daughter begins to sob, and my narrow window of evening downtime evaporates.
For working parents who've been gone all day, it's difficult to know where a cherished item was last seen. (Most recently, we found George on a chair in the darkened living room, placed there apparently to admire the Christmas tree.) Some parents will go to extreme lengths to find their children's beloved animals, pillows and blankets -- from digging through Dumpsters to bidding for similar ones on eBay.
Readers, what do you do about lost or misplaced items? By hunting for them or replacing them, are we indulging our kids, or saving our sanity?
Readers say:
"My advice -- if you know your kid loves it, and if there is even a chance it won't be made next year, buy an extra and put it on the shelf."
"After losing one of our loveys at the mall, the kids and I made a rule that it stays in the house or the car, period."
Career Advice From Parents
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By John J. Edwards III
In response to a post on developing a work ethic in one's children, a reader remarked: "To me it seems like many people focus so much on getting their kids into college. Kids need their parents' guidance in their 20s when they're finding jobs, working on projects with peers, handling difficult bosses . . . "
One idea I'll aim to pass on to my kids is the need for frequent, honest self-assessments of how your job situation fits both your immediate needs and your longer-term goals. I'll tell them not to stay put if they're stagnating, as well as not to jump at every offer.
Readers, what lessons will you try to impart to your children about gaining balance and success in the working world?
Readers say:
"I hope to be able to pass along some advice and guidance to my son but will also have to allow him to make his own choices and his own mistakes, which will make his own successes that much sweeter."
"Most twentysomethings out of college should better understand the career world than their parents. After all that is the point of college. Unless a child asks for career advice, the parent should mind their own business."
Wife Outearns Husband
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By Jennifer Merritt
In our four years of marriage and all the years we dated, I have outearned my husband by anywhere from 30% to 70%. Rarely has this made a real difference in our relationship, but I've often felt the weight of supporting my family was squarely on me -- a feeling I've typically kept to myself. Is this how men feel when they're primary breadwinners?
There are days where I feel the weight of that responsibility, but most days I don't think about the fact that I earn more. Except for once during an argument I regretted instantly, I have never brought up the disparity. But I am pretty sure I feel entitled to do fewer chores and spend more because I earn more. However, I'm quietly ashamed of this and overcompensate by spending very little on my wants and usually giving a thumbs-up to my husband's.
Readers say:
"It's always been 'our' money, when he made more than me, and now when I make a bit more."
"I, too, outearn my husband and it's always been that way . . . I remind myself every morning to get up and get to work, as our entire lifestyle rests on my income alone. I do feel trapped."
