The Perils of the Potty

Potty training stands out as one of those parenting duties that comes with more questions than answers: When? How? What’s normal? When should I worry? What if it's just not happening?
 
Dr. John Gleeson, a pediatrician with Esse Health’s O’Fallon Pediatrics, talked with SmartParenting about the potty training process. We learned so much we've renamed Dr. Gleeson "The Potty Whisperer." See if you agree.
 

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Hearing Loss Hits Home for More Tweens and Teens

I repeat myself a million times a day. Or so it seems — like all kids, mine have selective hearing. They always hear “Candy” but never “Can you please …” However, in some cases, it may not be the child’s fault — one in 20 kids ages 6 to 12 has hearing loss in one ear, according to a 2010 study from the Washington University School of Medicine.

Often these hearing deficits go undetected — parents may be worried about a child’s ability to pay attention, for example, when in fact the child isn’t hearing directions well.

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Is There a Quick Fix for Shyness

Back in my advertising days, the company I worked for forced us to take the Myers-Briggs personality test.

When the results were tallied, we were instructed on how to use the information to communicate more efficiently with one another. The extroverts were basically taught how to handle us introverts with kid gloves. The introverts, on the other hand, were provided with zero instruction on how to deal with extroverts – which pretty much told us that as introspective folks we were weird freaks of nature that needed to be put in a cage and studied by our louder counterparts.

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Lois Lowry's The Giver Comes to the Stage

When I heard last fall that Metro Theater Company would be putting on a performance of The Giver, one of my favorite books growing up, I was thrilled. It had been several years since I had read the book, and I wasted no time in revisiting it (again). I was a bit surprised to find that my perspective had shifted a little bit, with a more muddled mixture of hope and despair carrying me through the book than I remembered. It is a quickly engrossing novel, and I am excited for the day when I can share it with my own kids.

Lois Lowry’s book The Giver, which won the Newberry Medal in 1994, is a science fiction novel for children ages 10 and up. Set in a futuristic (though familiar) world, it is the story of a boy named Jonas who lives in a safe and seemingly perfect Community. Everything in it is well-controlled, from the climate to the genetics of the individuals to the very language they use with one another. They value sameness above all else.

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Single Day Camp at Upper Limits Climbing Gym
Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Upper Limits Single Day Camps are a great way to keep your kids active and engage when school is out. Single-day rock climbing camps are for ages 7 -15 and are held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Upper Limits locations in Chesterfield and Maryland Heights.

 

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Popular Stories

Take Your Kids on a Trip Through Time: History Exploration Days at the Missouri History Museum

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7 Signs Your Kids Are Ready For Their First Sleepaway Camp

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