Safe enough to eat? By Tricia Cornell While Congress and parents try to guarantee that toys are safe for kids, small toymakers are learning about laws and unintended consequences Full Article

Truth and consequences: facing painful realities helps create resilient kids By Beth Hawkins At several junctures over the years, my father has told me a story about my first pet. It was a turtle about the size of a silver-dollar pancake, and in his story, despite his best efforts to caution me, it died from my overhandling. He tears up at the memory, which tends to surface when we’re struggling to get past some misunderstanding rooted in the past. Full Article

Talking the talk on sex and intimacy By Joy Riggs When I saw the movie Julie and Julia a few months ago, I especially enjoyed the scenes that showed the relationship between Julia Child and her husband, Paul. At a time when it’s nearly impossible to avoid hearing about the implosion of Jon and Kate Plus 8, or about Tiger Woods’ infidelities, it’s refreshing to see a depiction of a marriage in which the spouses act like adults, respect each other, and seem to actually like spending time together. Full Article

Money may be tight but information abounds By Kara McGuire Need advice on how to save for college, divvy up your investments or live within your means? Lucky for you, there is no shortage of magazines, radio shows, and web sites dedicated to the topic of personal finance, which came into its own in the 1990s. Even Oprah has joined in, assembling a panel of go-to money pros to help America tackle overspending and credit card debt. Full Article

Get the lead out By Readers Do you worry about lead in your kids’ toys? Do you worry more about handmade products or about mass-produced products? That’s what we asked readers of our weekly e-newsletter, Minnesota Parent This Week. Here’s what you had to say. Full Article

Safer safety standards? By Tricia Cornell Kids put everything in their mouths. I remember thinking, when my own kids were in the “How does the book taste?” phase, that I needed nutrition labels on our household items as much as I did on the Pirate Booty. (Who knows, maybe that corner of Moo, Baa, La, La, La counted as a daily serving of fiber?) Full Article