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Pandemic Parenting: How Do I Talk To Kids About Financial Cutbacks?

As if parenting weren't challenging enough, the coronavirus pandemic has raised 1,000 new, unprecedented questions.

Pandemic Parenting: How Do I Talk To Kids About Financial Cutbacks?
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As if parenting weren't challenging enough, the coronavirus pandemic has raised 1,000 new, unprecedented questions. 

We asked the experts: How do I explain financial cutbacks to my kids?

“We are all homeschooling," said Dr. Dontal Johnson, a pediatrician from Nashville. "Maybe incorporate a little home economics, maybe going over the budget and sit down with them and say, 'We have to save a little bit here so that we can maybe have a little bit more in savings, just in case Mommy or Daddy has to temporarily go on, like, a furlough, or if Mommy and Dad can't can't really go back to work.'”

“You need to tell the truth," said parenting expert and author Rosina McAlpine. "Even sometimes hard truth. Now, I'm not suggesting that we have inappropriate conversations. You know, we have age-appropriate conversations. But it is OK to say, you know, 'Dad lost his job; Mama has got less hours now.' So reassuring, 'We're OK, we're going to be fine, we can do this.'"