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" One thing I&amp;#039;ve really had to learn when I became a single mom was knowing when to keep my mouth shut. There&amp;#039;s a lot that goes along with dissolving a marriage and trying to manage a household all on your own that they just plain don&amp;#039;t need to worry about. That&amp;#039;s my job, and my kids shouldn&amp;#039;t be used as a sounding board while I do it. Here are just a few of the things I think you need to keep to yourself and not share with your kids as a single parent:   Money woes - You&amp;#039;re bound to have them, and your kids don&amp;#039;t need to know how desperate you feel over them. That&amp;#039;s not to say that you shouldn&amp;#039;t tell them honestly about your money situation - to a degree. My daughter early on could never understand why we didn&amp;#039;t go out to eat like we used to or take a lot of fun outings and trips on the weekends like we did when Daddy was around. I sat her down and let her watch me pay bills after payday a couple of times (of course, your kid has to be old enough for this one) and suddenly, her perspective changed. But I didn&amp;#039;t let her know that I had a foreclosure notice in that big envelope. I didn&amp;#039;t tell my kids our water was almost cut off, twice. Kids have enough to worry about. They shouldn&amp;#039;t have to worry about being thrown out on the streets or any other financial castrophe they can think of.  Love life details - This should go without saying. It&amp;#039;s okay to let them know you&amp;#039;re dating or that you had a nice time last night on your date, but keep it generic. They don&amp;#039;t need to know you never left the hotel room all weekend long or that you and he had a fight that was so loud you thought the neighbors would call the cops. Your kids are invested in your happiness, and they&amp;#039;ll going to want to root for you or defend you, and getting them emotionally invested along with you can bring on all sorts of trouble.  Details of bad conversations with your ex - I&amp;#039;ve said it before and I&amp;#039;ll just keep saying it: zip your lips where your ex is concerned. Your kids don&amp;#039;t need to know that he went off on you in phone conversation or that his sister sent you an email bashing his new girlfriend to you. Take the high road and let them form their own opinions of the other parent.  Serious fears about the future - Are you waiting on medical test results that could be something bad or something not-so-bad? Will you be in serious financial trouble if that check doesn&amp;#039;t get here by Friday? This kind of stuff happens all the time, but unlike you, your kids shouldn&amp;#039;t know about the bad alternative until it really, honestly exists (and maybe not even then, if they don&amp;#039;t really need to know). Until then, it&amp;#039;s just a hypothetical situation and you&amp;#039;re worrying them needlessly. I had to go for a medical test once and made the mistake of telling my kids. They were convinced I was being tested for cancer when really, it was a routine screen recommended for women my age. Kids sometimes hear differently than we think we tell. Be wise, select your words carefully, and remember: nothing&amp;#039;s really happening until it does.  Potential changes to their situation - Right along the same lines as the above, if something might happen to change their way of life, don&amp;#039;t go into it with them until it&amp;#039;s a sure thing. Yes, Dad might take that job and move. Sure, you might marry that guy someday and then they&amp;#039;ll have step-siblings. It&amp;#039;s entirely possible you may move out of the school district and away from their friends if you can find the right house or apartment. But it&amp;#039;s also possible you won&amp;#039;t, and getting them upset or excited over possibilities that don&amp;#039;t end up panning out is an emotional rollercoaster ride they shouldn&amp;#039;t be on.   There&amp;#039;s a lot we want to shield our kids from in the big, cold, world, but sometimes, we have to honestly recognize that we need to protect them from our own impulses to overshare or vent. Open communication is always important with your kids, but you need to temper it with a look to what&amp;#039;s in their best interests to hear. [Follow Ellie on Facebook and Twitter] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/dating-marriage/a47026/5-things-not-to-share-with-your-kids/>