More than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

We at Informed Families hear it so often: “I never suspected my child was abusing drugs.”

All kids lie, according to Victoria Talwar, Ph.C., associate professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at McGill University in Montreal.

It’s never easy to be a parent, but it can be especially difficult in times of uncertainty. Certainly, the pandemic qualifies! We all thought surely we’d be past it by now!

Just as for adults, it’s important that children exercise regularly. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children and adolescents ages six and older get at least an hour a day (total) of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity. They should also participate in such bone-strengthening activities as jumping rope or running at least three days a week.

One of the topics from this month’s Family Table Time is “Sun and Heat Safety.” That’s because it’s vital to know how to protect your children during the hottest days of summer.

Like it or not, it’s in a teenager’s nature to be impulsive.

Today’s chuckle, “the most optimistic person is the mother who packs 3 books in her bag to read on summer vacation.”

“Parents beware—Omegle might just as well be called “Pedophiles R Us,” warned one reviewer on Commonsensemedia.org. “I found out by chance that my (just) 14-year-old daughter has been using this site. Her conversations involve guys asking her for sex and to meet her in hotels for sex.”

When you’re running late for school and work, and your little one doesn’t feel the urgency, what do you do?