No, Kid Does Not Have To Go Potty

This apartment is perfect, but it is gonna need a second bathroom if this family hopes to stay together.

Back in the distraction game for the day, which I think I definitely need, but I want to thank a bunch of you for sending notes in response to yesterday’s newsletter. I have found surprisingly little out there on the topic of speaking to smaller kids about war (and still plan not to mention it to Kina), but there is this piece in The Independent1 that suggests a few criteria for whether or not to bring it up proactively with your child—their age (eight years old or older being the guideline from the article), your family’s proximity to the conflict, and the chance that they will hear about the war elsewhere. As with all parenting-related topics, this seems as much a matter for judgement as anything else, but for a kid like Kina—too young to process this, and fortunately not affected personally by the invasion of Ukraine—we are likely to absorb the news on her behalf, keep her safe, and continue to advocate for peace and the protection of children everywhere from military conflict.

dad