Blending two families is a major task and there are pitfalls, but the biggest is when parents want their chosen mate to act as their children’s father/mother. You as a parent get to decide if you’re going to divorce. You also choose who you date or marry, but you can’t make your kids love the […]
A reader writes: “I was married and divorced two years later because there was no understanding with my first husband. We mutually agreed to divorce, after which my infant son and I stayed with my mother. Nine years later, the man I worked for proposed marriage. I took some time to decide as he was […]
I took a daughter of mine to a distant city yesterday and left her there. She’s entering a doc grad program at a university and is now immersed in adjusting to a new city and teaching her first class. Your kids may be your kids all your life, but good parenting means setting them up […]
In parenting, it’s sometimes the things you don’t say that make the most impact. You love your kids just as I love mine, and you want to shelter them from the foreseeable storms, the things you know will cause them grief. This can be anything from steering them clear of transgressions of the law to […]
Don’t kid yourself, no one parents as well as they wish they did. Raising kids is one of the hardest things on this earth and when you put pressure on yourself to parent your kids without ever messing up, you’re being too harsh. And unrealistic. You Weren’t Treated Well: Most individuals–even if they appreciate the […]
Some parents feel harassed and hounded by their kids. They feel like the children in their lives have all the power. Ever tried to make a kid eat when he didn’t want to? Or make one sleep when he doesn’t want to? These are very frustrating situations and can make the most sane parents feel […]
Don’t nag. Most lessons in life come from us getting the natural consequences of our choices. Even though pointing out the bad choice or ugly behavior is very, very tempting, it doesn’t help. As parents, we have a tendency to talk and talk to our kids, making sure they understand the errors of their ways. […]
One reader writes that she’s having trouble because she found out that her mom slept with her guy: “I’m a 21 year old female. I haven’t had a very good relationship with my mother over the last year and I’m having a very hard time with that because we’ve been close all my life. The […]
Responding first to readers have asked for help: “I am a 22 year old single mother and I have a two year old son. I was not ready for my son when I became pregnant. I love my son a lot, but lately I have not been able to deal with all the whining that […]
Before I get to the subject of this column, I want to respond to several emails from readers that who actually asked for advice: “They Won’t Let Me Drive” writes that he’s a 22 year old and his parents, with whom he still lives, insist he take “their test” before they allow him to get […]