Survival Guide

If your kids are like most, they're probably really, really good at three things: getting into stuff they're not supposed to be in; completely destroying every valuable item you own; and absolutely ignoring everything you say.

As adults, we dads have fairly simple needs and not a lot of time to fulfill them. Between work and taking care of our families, we only have so many minutes of the day that we can pack in our off-time activities. Our kids aren't quite so simple, however, and we live in a different era.

Most travelers would agree that when you're on an airplane, there's nothing worse than sitting next to a parent with a screaming baby. But you know what is worse? Being that parent.

When you have toddlers in your home, a clean house is not a destination-it's an ongoing journey. Your house probably won't be really clean until the kids move out, but in the meantime, you can get your young children to help out.

There's probably only one thing that makes a father more uncomfortable than buying feminine hygiene products for his daughter. If you're a single father, the task of helping your daughter buy her first bra will fall upon your shoulders. And even though you may have had a lot of experience with bras during your teenage and adult years, nothing can prepare you for that day when your young daughter needs to get one.

Getting your toddler to start learning as early as possible might be difficult, but it's not impossible. With all of the educational toys on the market today made especially for toddlers, there are hundreds of ways for your toddler to learn while still having fun. But you might not be sure which toys are best suited for your toddler or even how to pick the best ones.

With the recent lead paint and other toy scares from manufacturers overseas, it can be mighty scary trying to decide what toys are safe for children. And those fears don't lessen when you hear that the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that there are about 150,000 toy-related accidents and injuries in any given year.