Questions about gifts

Here's a random question, which I may or may not explain: do any of you, those of you who are parents, have rules for gift giving?  Let's try that again: do any of you try to limit the number of gifts your families give your children? It's becoming a bit of a thing in our house, and I need some input.

Another question for my readers

This question refers to my previous post. 

Is there a way to ask someone, who is well intentioned, not to post personal information about my children or me on Facebook?  After last night's ordeal, I woke up to find that Pita (yes, we're friends on FB again) had posted a prayer request for Bear.  While I do appreciate that her intentions were good, I don't appreciate her sharing the news so publicly, especially as she is friends with my father and brother, neither of whom yet knew about Bear's trip to the ER.  As soon as I saw her post, I had to call my parents and my brother, so they didn't see her post and get worried--or be hurt that I hadn't yet called them.  Again, I know she was well intentioned, but I really, really don't like that she posted something like this so publicly.  I also know this feeling is a bit ironic given that I just wrote a blog post about the incident.  I also realize that it is entirely likely I'm overreacting, but it really bothers me.  I know I will likely just have to let it go, but if anyone can think of a tactful way to make this request please let me know.

*As an aside, Pita knew about Bear's trip to the ER b/c Yetta called right as Bear and I were leaving.  Archer told her to get her off the phone quickly.  This is usually the sort of thing we don't share with our families until after the fact because it makes life less complicated.

A rhetorical question

Wonderful readers, I have a rhetorical question for you.  Let's say you have a dear friend who is struggling to improve a certain aspect of hir life.  Let's also say that you have observed certain things about your friend's actions and behavior that are possibly hindering hir struggle, things that the friend is clearly not conscious of.  Finally, let's say that you think that if your friend were more aware of these actions and behaviors, your friend might be able to address said struggles more fully.  Would you point out these actions and behaviors, knowing the friend might not take it well and that you maybe doing permanent damage to your friendship?  Or would you mind your own business?

*Note: we'll assume that none of these behaviors are life threatening to the friend or anyone else.

A question

I have a cryptic question, and I'm sorry, but I can't offer any more details at this point.

If you're concerned that a loved one's illness is beginning to have a serious and prolonged negative impact on their children, at what point do you step in and point this out to the loved one?  Is there a way to do this tactfully without making the loved one feel like s/he is failing her/his children?  Is it acceptable to say, "You need to focus on yourself right now.  Perhaps it would be best for you if the kids stayed with X for a while"?  Or is this something that is impossible to do with any kind of tact?

Readers

I seem to have lost a lot of readers since I renamed my blog.  I'm apparently not tagging posts as well as I was either.  I'm trying to decide if I actually care about that.

A question

I have a question for all of my readers in cyberspace--and although this is a question about parenting (sort of), I'm equally interested in the opinions of those of you who aren't parents. I'm sorry to be cryptic with the information, but I'm not ready to be specific.

If you were selecting a guardian for your child (or children), would you feel compelled to select family members over friends? Also, what do you consider the most important thing when selecting a guardian for your children? Is a familial connection more important than choosing someone who shares your values?

Weird question for my readers

So I could create one of those handy little poles that e-blogger now helps one create, but I figured why bother. I'm posing a question to my readers, at least my readers who are also bloggers. For those of you who are married, does your spouse know you blog? Does said spouse read your blog? I will elaborate on this once I hear from some of you.