Parenting tangent: letting kids fail, and Ben's laundry story
Spinning out of the stepdaughter letter, the hosts trade notes on teaching responsibility: alarm clocks kids must set themselves, lunches and band instruments not rescued at school. Ben tells his current laundry saga — after his wife flagged a load sitting four days, he took over all the household laundry and now runs it like a top, arguing his daughters will learn the skill in one college weekend and the logistics matter more than the lesson. Mike counters with his house's system: leave your laundry blocking the washer and the family dumps it on the floor.
More on Parenting
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Dear LFTP: Champ the untrained dog and holding boundaries with your son
- How do I handle my son bringing his untrained dog Champ on our weekend grandson visits?
Mike reads the second letter: the writer hosts weekend grandson visits where her son Dennis brings Champ, an untrained destructive puppy that runs wild, barks, and digs.
From No. 586 · Nothing Personal
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Dear LFTP: wife mocks husband's bladder problem in public
- How should I respond when my wife mocks me and my bladder problem in public?
Mike reads a letter from a man married three years whose wife calls him vulgar names in public and makes his bladder-control problem into comedy.
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Dear LFTP: the birthday invitations
- Should parents be allowed to send birthday invitations to school when only select students are invited?
Mike reads the second letter: the parent of a special-needs pre-K child saw a Facebook group post exposing that her daughter was excluded from a birthday party.
From No. 574 · Starring Ted Danson as Joab
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Dear LFTP: Cindy's baby name ideas
- What should I do about my friend's terrible baby name choices?
Mike reads a letter from Dave about his longtime friend Cindy, six months pregnant, who keeps proposing names like chlamydia, bidet, chalet, and cliche because they sound pretty regardless of meaning.