Reading ahead in parenting manuals is always good for a moment of panic and then self-assurance. As a mother of a preschooler you know that you would never ever let your teen run off with the credit card.

But those parenting patterns start early. My kids are not yet teens, and I am already wondering if I will send the right messages. From what I understand the method of parenting teens is not that different than toddlers; it’s just the issues are different (and the hormones).

From restaurants to airplanes: Seems that most people (or at least the over 400 of you who commented) think it is just fine to ban babies and kids from restaurants.

How about airplanes? Would you like to see child-free flights or at least a family section of the airplane?

I am standing shivering at the gas pump, filling up my huge SUV in the urban core of my beloved city. A thin man walks up to me and asks me for money. I want to ignore him but it is hard to avoid this uncomfortable conversation when you are stuck standing with a gas pump and wallet in your hand.

I answer him honestly that I don't have any loonies or twoonies, that I just used them in a parking meter. He persists, sticking out his tobacco-stained hand asking for small bills. But I don't have any of those and I certainly don't want to start sorting through the bills in my wallet. He offers to pump my gas so I can look in my wallet. I refuse. I am relieved when he stomps off to ask the driver at the pump in front of me.

But he returns asking me if I could get some small bills when I go into the store.

"You mean, you won't seat us at 7 p.m.?" asks my husband, holding the car seat with our one-month old daughter sleeping soundly.

"As I explained, we do not seat children after 8 p.m. and since you won't be finished by then we can't seat you now," the host explains for the second time.

My husband and I stand there incredulously. How could one of our favourite neighbourhood pubs be refusing to seat us? We were regulars who had drunk their fine beer and even ordered their off-the-menu burger for a decade.

When your child is lying on you all hot and sweaty, their breath is faint and their eyes are glassy. What do you do?

Worry, of course. Just like all kid injuries and illnesses there is always a moment of a breath intake followed by an "oh, he's ok." But how do you know when to take a child to the doctor? When is that fever too high?

I can hear the clip-clop of my high heels going down the hall. And then the ka-klunk ka-klunk as they are kicked down the stairs. My 5-year-old son arrives right after them, proceeds to put them back on and walk down the hall.

We shrug our shoulders and move on. It's not that unusual for young boys to dress up as girls in their own home.

If he had wanted to wear them for Halloween what would I have said? Would I have stopped him?

Those Canadian Tire commercials are the first hint that the holiday season will soon be upon us and you know what that means: the babysitter scramble.

Now that my daughter is turning five and is in control of her bladder we have a stable supply of teenage babysitters. How did I find them? Asking around; keeping an eagle eye on when the girls on my street turned 13; some low-level stalking of kid-friendly girls at local stores, camps and a little bit of sitter-poaching from neighbours.

For the next two months it is a babysitter’s market, even the so-so ones are busy on Saturday nights. And since your social life depends on a babysitter you need to have a strategy. My strategy has to do with cable, homemade chocolate chip cookies and rounding up when I pay.

Recently, my friend, the awesome Theresa Albert, who is the mother of a very in-demand babysitter sent me a list of dos and don’ts when trying to sell yourself to a sitter. Theresa says: 

We learned the hard way that there are other things that put us in the “preferred client” category and won us the top Saturday night spot. You don’t have to make the same mistakes. Now that my daughter is the coveted sitter I understand the arrangement from both ends and can get you to the head of the sitter pursuit pack.

Here are some of her tips:

It’s parent-teacher season! Translation: it’s time to stress about your kids and suck up to their teachers. I happen to love parent-teacher meetings; we cover my favourite topics: my kids’ strengths and a little bit about their weaknesses.

I drive my husband absolutely crazy at these things, I go on and on explaining each and every impulse, emotion and behavior of my adored child. But even I leave some stuff out. So, in a perfect world here is what I would add to my parent-teacher interview:

I married Mr. Less-Than-Perfect. Actually, that is not true. He is perfect, and that is his biggest fault. It's really very annoying to be married to someone who is so perfect. Essentially, he married Ms. Less-Than-Perfect.

But we stumble along just like everyone else. We used to have date night and weekends away and now we have the occasional fundraiser and parent/teacher interviews as our together time. Romantic isn't it?

If you could tell your younger self something, what would it be? Would it be that everyone feels different sometimes? That it gets better? That sometimes what makes you different will also make you special?

That’s what Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project is doing. And now a group of Canadian celebrities are joining in to let gay kids know that if they are experiencing bullying it does get better, eventually.

They are using the very medium that has become the weapon of choice of bullies and turning it into a way to reach out to victims to say life gets better.