How should I respond to the discovery that an adult member of the extended family of a friend has been forcing one of the children to engage in sexual acts with him? I don’t want to intrude in other people’s business, but now that I’m in possession of this information I feel responsible to do …
Family Q&A
How should we plan to handle our grandmother’s health care needs and financial affairs now that she’s beginning to show signs of dementia?
Do you have suggestions for preventing conflicts and misunderstandings among siblings over the care of their aging parents? I’ve been hearing horror stories about what can happen when elderly people can no longer care for themselves and need the support of their grown children. My mom and dad are nearing that stage in their lives, …
Can you list for me some of the basic symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease? I’m beginning to fear that my spouse may have it, but I don’t know how to tell for sure. How does one care for a person afflicted with this condition?
How do we know when the right time has come to move my aging father-in-law out of our home and into a professionally staffed nursing facility? He’s been living with me and my husband for the past couple of years. I don’t want to abandon him just when his need is greatest, but recently I’ve …
What kind of treatments or therapies are available to kids who suffer from Sensory Processing Disorder? We’re fostering a boy from an abusive, high-risk background. After several consultations with an occupational therapist we’ve come to the conclusion that many of his most aggravating behavioral problems can be traced to sensory-based issues.
Do you have any ideas on how to stop my older kids from picking on their younger brother? I intervene when I can, but all this bullying is causing the youngest one to play the victim, and I don’t want to encourage him in that attitude. How do I handle this situation?
How should I respond to my child’s fascination with evil characters? He’s only three years old, but whenever he plays make-believe, he always takes on the role of the villain, and the only action-figures toys he wants are those representing “bad guys.” In response, we’ve completely phased movies and television out of his life, but …
Can you help me “let go” of my son who is heading off to college? I’m worried about the challenges he’ll be facing on his own – challenges to his faith and his moral values, not to mention the practical challenges of living on his own for the first time. We’ve always been a close-knit …
How can we stop our preschooler from bullying other kids? Our 4-year-old is a bright and loving child, but he’s also quite strong willed. His teachers have already talked to us several times about his uncooperative behavior — interrupting, ignoring instructions, etc. But now something more serious has happened. He recently pushed one student to …
How can I find a trustworthy source to diagnose and treat my young child’s deficient speech and language skills? He’s way behind his peers in this area, and I’m especially concerned because he’s supposed to start school next fall. How do I talk to him about this without making him feel abnormal?
How can I convince my adult son that matrimony is valuable and worthwhile when his own parents couldn’t make it work? My ex-spouse and I split up when my children were still small, and I thought it was all water under the bridge. Now I find that my son blames me and his dad for …
How do I tell my young children (ages eight, seven, and four) that their grandparents – my husband’s mom and dad – are splitting up as a result of Grandpa’s involvement with another woman? Since these grandparents live out of state, we only see them every three to four months or so. We don’t plan …
Should I let my teenage girls wear pants? I was raised in a conservative Christian home where modesty in behavior and clothing were always stressed as matters of the highest importance for young girls. In particular, my mother made sure I understood that women should never wear pants, since “A woman shall not wear anything …
Should parents come to the rescue when grown and married children need monetary assistance? Our daughter and her husband are struggling, and we’d like to help them out. But we don’t want to set an unhealthy precedent or cross a boundary. How do you think we should handle this?
Do you have any advice for parents trying to help a teenager who struggles with bad feelings about her figure and physical appearance? Our daughter has a poor body image and a distressingly negative view of herself, but she won’t talk about it. How do we bring this up without smothering her, alienating her or …
How can I encourage my husband to take the responsibilities of parenthood more seriously and get involved more directly with our children? He likes the “fun” part of raising kids – for instance, he’s great at getting down on the floor and “wrestling” with our toddler. But when it comes to the practical side of being …
Should my husband and I spend Christmas morning together with the kids at his parents’ house in spite of the fact that we’ve been separated for four months? He said he wants me to come because he’s hoping to be present next year when it’s my turn to have the kids on Christmas morning. Although …
When it comes to parenting roles, aren’t moms and dads interchangeable? I understand that there are some basic and very important differences between males and females, and I can even see how these sex distinctions might come into play in the parenting process. But it seems to me that one can go too far with …
Is it normal to experience pain when nursing an infant? I’m so discouraged that I’m ready to give up. As a matter of fact, I’ve developed an infection in one breast over the past couple of days. Am I doing something wrong? Should I stop nursing until the inflammation clears up?