Your young son is crying while you're talking on the phone with your brother. You think it's because he hasn't slept yet this afternoon. You explain:
He gets cranky when he doesn't have a nap.
children (topic), emotions, personality, sleep 
You get into a debate with one of your classmates about whether you think it's OK for parents to punish their children by spanking them. You don't think it's a good form of punishment. You say:
There's a very fine line between spanking your kids and child abuse.
abuse, children (topic), idioms, punishment, violence 
Your baby is sick. You took his temperature, and it's higher than it should be; he has a fever. You call a doctor, and explain the problem:
My infant is running a fever of a hundred and two.
baby, children (topic), health, numbers, progressive aspect 
You're a teacher. You're having a meeting with some colleagues to decide how to spend some money that's in the school's budget. People are getting really angry and emotional as they debate how to use the money. You want everyone to calm down, so you say:
Let's all take a step back and remember that it's about what's best for the kids.
You're talking to a friend about your teenage son. In the past few months, your son has been starting to listen to loud and aggressive music. He wears dark clothes and acts angry a lot. But you're not too worried because you think it's normal for his age. You tell your friend:
He's going through a little rebellious phase.
When someone's behavior changes for a few years, you say that they are "going through a ___ phase".
To understand "phases", you can think of the moon. Sometimes the moon is full, sometimes it's half full, and sometimes it's completely dark. But you don't worry when the moon is dark because you know that it's a normal and natural event which will change again soon. We call the moon's appearance at different times "phases".
In the same way, people naturally change as they get older. When children are between 3 and 4, they enter an "inquisitive phase" (a time when they like to ask a lot of questions). Most kids between 11 and 14 go through an "awkward phase" in which they don't seem comfortable because they're not children anymore but not yet teenagers either. And a lot of people between age 15 and 25 go through a "wild phase" when they like to drink, party, and date lots of different people.
If you say that someone is "going through a phase", it sounds like you think that they will soon stop acting the way that they're acting:
Don't worry about it. He's just going through a phase. He'll grow out of it.
People call things "little" that they don't respect very much. For example, if someone who you go to school with threw a party but didn't invite you, you might angrily say:
I guess I wasn't invited to her little party.
Here's an example from a previous PhraseMix lesson:
Teenagers often try to do the opposite of what their parents want. This is called "being rebellious".
Your young nieces and nephews came over to your house during the Christmas holidays. They were playing with toys, eating and drinking, and opening gifts. Now they've left and your house is really messy. You say to your husband:
Look at this place! They completely trashed it!
children (topic), cleaning, dirty, holidays 
Today your daughter made a really funny mistake on her science homework. You wanted to laugh about it, but you didn't want to upset her so you stopped yourself from laughing. Now you're telling your husband about it and explaining why you did that. You say:
I didn't want to make her feel self-conscious.
children (topic), emotions, homework, mistake, simple past, worry 
Your daughter made a big mistake on her science homework. It was a really funny mistake but you didn't want to make her feel bad by laughing at her, so you tried to control yourself. Later, you tell your husband about it. You say:
I could barely keep a straight face.
children (topic), difficulty, laughing, mistake, 한글번역 You're in a discussion with some friends about women who are focused on their careers. You hold pretty traditional ideas about women working. You want to state your opinion, but you know that some of the people listening won't agree with it. You say:
This might sound sexist, but I do believe a woman should stay home and take care of the children.
adjective, belief, career, children (topic), disclaimer, discussion, home (topic), opinion, sexism, traditional, women You're riding home after a day at the beach with your young children. The children have fallen asleep in the back seat. You're talking to your husband. You say:
All that sun must have really worn them out.
beach, children (topic), determiners, guess, modal, phrasal verb 