Dear Mr. Dad: During the recent fires in Southern California, my kids seemed fascinated. It seemed like a a good time to talk to them about fire safety, but aside from “Don’t play with matches,” I have no idea how to go about it. What are the basic ideas I need to get across, and how can we make our home as fire-safe as possible?

A: Good for you for recognizing the need. Too few parents do, and the results are often tragic. Children set over 100,000 fires per year—one every five minutes. Over 4,000 Americans die each year as the result of fire, including more than 600 children. Property damage in 2006 alone totaled over $11 billion, and more people die in the U.S. as a result of fire than all natural disasters combined.

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Dear Mr. Dad: I’d really like my 5-year-old son to start playing baseball in the Spring, but I wonder if it’s too soon? How can I tell when to sign him up for sports? How much do I push him?

A: One of the great rites of fatherhood is passing on the love of a sport to his child. That said, my first question would be whether your son has expressed an interest in baseball. If he hasn’t, then committing him to a league may be more than he’s ready for. You might take him to watch a local high school or minor league team play a game, gauge his interest, and go from there.

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Dear Mr. Dad: I am a divorced father of a 9-year-old boy, sharing custody with my ex-wife. The problem is that she’s overindulgent, and after a week in her house, our son comes home feeling and acting helpless. How do I get my ex to understand that our son needs to learn to be independent—and that she needs to encourage independence when he’s with her

A: You’ve put your finger on two of the biggest problems single parents face these days. First, dealing with inconsistencies between houses. And second, one parent spoiling the child. In many cases—as you’ve already noticed—the two go hand in hand.

Ideally, you and your ex-wife would have similar parenting goals, which you would discuss on a frequent basis as your son grows. However, as you’ve discovered, that’s not always practical, especially if the two of you aren’t on the best of terms.

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Dear Mr. Dad: My wife and I love to cook, and we go out of our way to make meals we think our kids will like—or at least eat! But time after time we find ourselves dumping untouched food into leftover containers, or worse, into the trash. They seem to eat nothing but macaroni and cheese, and we’re worried that they’re not getting what they need in their diets. What can we do?

A: This may not make you feel any better, but I’m betting that every parent reading this column is nodding his or her head in agreement. Apparently all our children got the same memo.

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