Planet Middle School: Helping Your Child through the Peer Pressure, Awkward Moments & Emotional Drama

by Kevin Leman

Toilet-Paper Wisdom My friend Kathy Flores Bell, with whom I wrote A Chicken’s Guide to Talking Turkey with Your Kids about Sex, has a unique way of highlighting exactly the window of time that a child has at home with his parents. When she does her presentation, she starts with a strip of 18 squares of toilet paper. The 18 squares represent the 18 years you have with your child as he is growing up. As Kathy talks, she starts ripping them off one by one and tossing them onto the floor. By the time your child has reached Planet Middle School, parent, at least 11 of those 18 squares are already lying on the floor. And by the time he’s reached eighth grade, you’re left holding only 5 squares. What will you do with the squares that remain? How will you make the best of that time—for both you and your child? I suggest you use Kathy’s idea and do your own demonstration with 18 squares of toilet paper. It’s a powerful visual to convey the concept that time is short, and together you need to make it count.