Dear Barb:

I have a six-year-old daughter who was recently diagnosed with a heart condition.  She was apparently born with it, but it wasn’t apparent.  Now she needs to take medication for it.  My husband and I have not told my daughter about her condition.  My husband says our daughter doesn’t need to know.  He feels we should just go on with things as they are.   If we keep this from her we are not being honest with her, and we have always stressed to her that mommy and daddy will always tell you the truth.  So I think telling her is the right thing to do.  Also I believe it would be better for her to know her condition in case something happens when she is away from us, so she will be able to tell people that she has a heart condition.  What is your opinion on this? Thanks, Stephanie.

Hi Stephanie:

Sorry to hear about your daughter, but with all the advances in medicine today people are living normal, full lives with heart conditions.  It is best to discuss this with your daughter’s cardiologist before you do anything.  And the final decision is up to you.  Amazon has a few books on the subject – Cardiac Kids: A Book for Families Who Have a Child With Heart Disease.  Also, I found a Web Booklet that has information about childhood heart disease.

I feel that a child should be made aware of their condition, however you have to be careful not to scare them, which is why it is good to discuss this with the cardiologist first.  Children are adaptable and can learn to live with many situations.  As parents, we want to protect our children from uncomfortable circumstances, but reality is full of ups and downs.    I believe it’s best to prepare your children for these types of obstacles.  Thanks for writing Stephanie, hope this was helpful. 

Dear Barb:

I have a question about social media.  I was married briefly and the relationship ended badly.  My problem is that my sister has pictures of me with my ex on her face book account.  I asked her take them down and she refused to.  She said she didn’t want to because of the other people in the pictures.   She said she will not tag me in them, but every time I go on her site I see the pictures.  Why wouldn’t she just delete them? Larry.

Hi Larry,

Welcome to the world of social media.  The only account that you can control is your own.  If someone tags you in a picture, you have the option of deleting the tag so the picture will not show up on your account.  Your ex was a part of your sister’s life which she obviously doesn’t feel a need to delete.  So my suggestion to you would be to not go on her account and look through her pictures. Easy fix.  Thanks for writing Larry.