Learning how to handle problem customers in retail isn’t easy. If you treat them with even a fraction of the lack of respect they show to you, it can balloon into a full-on “situation.” And things can get especially complicated if that bad consumer has a little kid in tow. [More]
kids
Why Do You Disapprove Of My Capitalist Kid’s Lemonade Stand?
By 7.27.12
Writer Helaine Olen has a young son, and he engaged in a classic American summer activity: he started a lemonade stand on his quiet suburban street. He earns some spending money and probably learns some important lessons about customer service and profit, and the neighbors who patronize his stand get a refreshing beverage. But, Olen writes, her son’s customers want more than that. They ask what charitable cause his lemonade stand is raising money for, and disapprove when they learn that his stand is a for-profit venture. What the heck? [More]
13-Year-Old Left In Parked Car Goes On Destructive Rampage, Parks On Top Of Another Car
By 7.19.12
Just about everyone has done it: leave kids in the car, even for just a minute or two, with the keys still in the ignition so the air conditioning, heat, or radio can keep running. For people without kids, surely your own parents left you in the car with the keys at some point. Or maybe they never did, fearing that something would go terribly wrong. Like when a Michigan teen with the keys to her grandmother’s car launched a one-girl demolition derby in the parking lot of a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. She hit a utility pole and a few parked cars before eventually nestling the vehicle sideways between two other parked cars. [More]
United Books Unaccompanied Minor On Flight That Bans Unaccompanied Minors
By 7.3.12
United Airlines has a simple enough policy regarding children flying alone (unaccompanied minors, as airlines call them.) They cannot travel on the last flight of the day. This makes sense: no one wants an unaccompanied minor to become a stranded unaccompanied minor if their flight is canceled. But when Hannah booked a flight for her 12-year-old son to travel unaccompanied, no one mentioned this rule, and United phone agents placed him on the last flight of the day. This meant that he was turned away at the airport, and his departure delayed until the next day. Hannah thinks that the family deserves some kind of compensation for this inconvenience due to United’s screwup. [More]
A Few More Recalls: Bunny Sippy Cups, Plastic Rattles, And Instant Knives
By 4.27.12
The Consumer Products Safety Commission announced these three recalls were announced too late to make yesterday’s Recall Roundup, but we wanted to share them as soon as possible since two of them could affect small children. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt, ever, but a little kid getting poked in the eye by an Easter-themed sippy cup shaped like a smiling bunny? That’s particularly undignified. [More]
Parents, Do Everyone A Favor And Keep Your Toddlers Away From These Public Places
By 4.4.12
Some parents think its adorable for their tykes to scream their ABCs in public or use waiting room chairs as jungle gyms. Most others, though, are simply annoyed by the presence of unruly rugrats and would rather not be subjected to their antics while they try to take care of business. [More]
Money Mistakes Parents Unwittingly Teach Their Kids
By 3.29.12
No matter how good a game parents talk to their kids, it’s their actions and inactions that leave the most impact. This is especially true regarding money. Parents can pass on poor financial habits to their kids just as definitively as they did their genes. [More]
Study: Stairs Are Toddlers' Public Enemy Number One
By 3.13.12
Parents who think it’s adorable to let their toddlers wobbly amble up and down stairs are putting their kids at risk of severe injury. A study shows that stairs sent children under age 5 to the emergency room 931,000 times between 1998 and 2008. [More]
CDC Says Processed Foods Are Making Kids Fat
By 3.1.12
A major reason more than a third of American children are struggling with obesity is the copious amount of sugar they take in every day, with processed foods providing a significant share. That’s the opinion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that sugars made up 16.3 percent of boys’ calorie intake and 15.5 percent of that of girls. The CDC recommends that kids’ discretionary calorie intake be 15 percent or lower. [More]
In These Tough Times, Even The Tooth Fairy Is Cutting Back
By 2.24.12
Current economic turmoil is so severe that it’s even reaching the magical realm. A survey of parents found that, on average, they were slipping a bit less money under the pillows of their gap-toothed munchkins. [More]
Free Games That Teach Kids Stuff About Money
By 2.8.12
A significant amount of parenting is about coercing your kids into doing things that are good for them, such as eating vegetables and learning life skills. Playing computer games with your kids is a way to do just that. Under the guise of sitting at the computer to have fun, games can make it easy to teach them financial lessons, such as simple math, fractions and more abstract concepts. [More]
Should Companies Advertise To Kids At The Library?
By 1.19.12
Who doesn’t like stuffed animals? Free stuffed animals, even! E. isn’t happy, though. At storytime at her local public library, people representing Wells Fargo brought stuffed ponies with the Wells Fargo logo to distribute to the children, and donated a large pony to decorate the children’s section. [More]
You Can't Score A Free Plane Seat For Your Baby By Putting Him On Your 3-Year-Old's Lap
By 12.30.11
As any parents who have flown with little babies probably knows, many airlines will not require a ticket for children under two years of age, so long as the child is seated on an adult’s lap. But U.S. Airways had to give the boot to a family of six after the parents figured they could simply seat one of their under-2 children with their ticketed 3-year-old. [More]
When To Cut Kids Off From Allowance
By 12.15.11
Allowance is an excellent tool to teach kids about money while cutting your own expenses. The idea is you’ll make them save up for their own stuff, which will keep you from spending as much money on them. The problem is sometimes allowance ends up being a crutch that continues well into adulthood and only teaches grown “kids” to rely on their parents for income. [More]
Things Kids Can Teach You About Money
By 12.13.11
Parenthood makes you take on more responsibilities in all facets of your life, and one of the most crucial of those areas is money. But even financial know-it-alls always have more to learn, and may find unlikely teachers in those who have no clue about finances. [More]
Industry Fails To Produce Hot Toy; Parents Sigh In Relief
By 12.13.11
Every year the evil sorcerers who run the toy industry seem to manage to conjure a must-have toy during the holidays that’s in short supply — think Zhu Zhu Pets or Tickle Me Elmo. Since there’s no such toy this year, there appears to be no Hunger Games-style competition in which parents are forced to out-scheme and maul one another to bring home the preordained prize. [More]
Presents For Your Kids That Are Really For You
By 12.12.11
If you buy your kids presents that you don’t feel the need to steal back for yourself, you’re doing it wrong. Clever toy manufacturers make their products just as enjoyable for parents, so avoid all the fluff and look for the good stuff. [More]
Are You Responsible For Bailing Out Your Financially Irresponsible Parents?
By 11.18.11
We often hear stories about beleaguered parents who continually dip into their bank accounts to keep their fiscally foolish offspring from ending up on Skid Row. But what about when the shoe is on the younger generation’s foot? [More]
