Lessons in Sharing

After teaching your children to share their toys, their books, sometimes even their food, backpedal just a bit and put some limits on their generosity.

Young children and adolescents may need to be reminded that there are some things they just shouldn't share. Clothes or shoes, for instance; either can be a fast track to giving -- and getting -- a fungal infection. Tinea, for example, a fungus that is easily spread through contact with anything that's touched infected skin.

Funky Skin

That scaly rash or ring on a child's groin, hands, and feet, or that flaky or bald spot on the scalp can be a fungal infection. Your best defense is to encourage your children to keep their skin clean and dry. Kids are also less likely to get fungal infections if they:

• Change their socks and underwear every day
• Wear airy, breathable clothing in warm weather
• Take off their shoes at home and air out their feet
• Throw away grungy, worn-out exercise shoes
• Refrain from borrowing someone else's shoes

Of course, you want to keep your kids as free of infectious skin problems as possible, but completely sanitizing your home is impossible. Besides, some experts believe a germ-free environment may not be so healthy.