Care & Feeding | Preparing Kids for the Worst (Without Freaking Them Out)

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4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, a listener faces an agonizing parenting dilemma: Their beloved dog is old and undergoing risky surgery—and they’re not sure how honest to be with their child about what might happen. Should you keep things upbeat and hopeful? Or give your kid a soft landing pad in case the worst comes true? The hosts unpack how to talk about death when it’s still a maybe, not a certainty. Then in triumphs and fails, Lucy dives a little too deep into her daughter’s love life, Zak regrets letting the kids watch something not-so-age-appropriate, and Elizabeth dials in with travel tales from Mongolia. Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Some people think investing is a test of endurance.
0:04.9	But when you invest £100,000 or more with HSBC UK,
0:08.9	you have access to our network of advisors,
0:11.2	who will make it feel less like a marathon you haven't trained for,
0:13.8	and more like a 5K that's just your speed.
0:16.0	Because investing isn't a struggle when we're here to help.
0:18.5	Search HSBC Financial Advice.
0:20.7	HSBC UK, opening up a world of
0:23.0	opportunity. Capital at risk, HSBC UK current account holders only £100,000 investments or savings
0:27.8	required for the advice service, eligibility and fees apply. This episode will contain explicit
0:31.9	language. Welcome to Karen Feeding, the show where we raise the next generation together. I'm Zach Rosen. I host another podcast. It's called The Best Advice Show. And I am dad to 7-year-old Noah and 4-year-old Ami. We live in Amsterdam. Hi, I'm Lucy Lopez. I host a podcast, The Mamasita, Rika. I'm Mother to Amelia, who's 15, and Avery who's 12. And we live in Miami,ika. I'm mother to Amelia who's 15 and Avery who's 12 and we live in Miami, Florida.
0:57.7	I'm Elizabeth New Camp. I write the family travel blog, Dutch Dutch goose. I'm the mom to Henry
1:01.9	who's 13, Oliver who's 11, and Teddy who's 8. We live in Tokyo, Japan, but I'm currently traveling
1:07.9	with the kids. We are in Ulan Putar, Mongolia, which fun fact is the coldest capital city in the world.
1:15.8	How cold is it right now?
1:16.9	Well, it's not that cold right now because it's summer.
1:20.3	It's like in the 60s here, but in the winter, I guess, as capital cities go, it's very cold.
1:26.4	Wait a minute, it's 60 degrees right now where you're on?
1:28.9	It's a cute 95 in Miami right now.
1:31.8	Yowsers.
1:32.6	Today on the show, we're going to start with a round of triumphs and fails.
1:35.8	After that, we'll answer a listener question about how and when to talk to kids about death.
	...

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