Pregnancy
Dealing With Pregnancy Busybodies
A newly pregnant reader is having a hard time connecting with and wanting to share news of her pregnancy with nosey acquaintances.
Big Kid
Zen and the Art of Molasses Cookies
Through years of challenges, one cookie has steadied me every single holiday season. Is it magic? Maybe. I’m not going to rule it out.
Pregnancy
What to Expect (From Your Infertile Friends) When You’re Expecting
An expectant woman is concerned about her relationship with her friend with infertility and the recent chilly reception she has be getting from her. She needs relationship advice.
Your Life
My Friends Won’t Stop Making Out!
Can this friendship be saved? The “Too much PDA” edition.
Big Kid
The Best of the Internet: When Your BFF’s Kids Embrace Your Own
What happens when you internet BFF’s kids meet your own? It’s really a best of the web type story. Seeing our teens become fast friends proved to be an unexpected gift to a dear far-away friend and me.
Parenting
Moms At War, Middle-School Style
My daughter and I are caught in the middle between two women who hate each other. What do I do?
Relationships
Old-Fashioned Etiquette in the Age of the Internet
What do you do when you follow an acquaintance’s personal blog and come across a number of storytelling disconnects?
Big Kid
Your Teen Has a Friend You Don’t Like, 11 Things You Can Do About It
It’s bound to happen. Your kid is going to make a friend that you don’t like. What do you do? How do you know whether to step in or stand back?
Preconception
Secondary Infertility, Sadness & Jealousy
A mom experiencing secondary infertility asks how to deal with the conflicting feelings of jealousy and sadness she experiences when her mom friends get pregnant and she doesn’t.
Big Kid
When Mean Girls Are Too Close To Home
How do you help your daughters when they are excluded from play by the other neighborhood girls?
Your Life
Helping a Grieving Mother
What to do or say when the unthinkable happens.
Pregnancy
Dealing With a Know-it-All, Opinionated Mom Friend
A first-time pregnant mom is close to losing her cool with her know-it-all friend, an opinionated and know-it-all mom. Should she talk to her friend about this problem or just ignore her and the issue?
Pregnancy
The Worst Support Group in the World
A mom-to-be has abandoned a toxic support group but continues her friendship with another former support group member. But, that friend continues to gossip about our former group and I just can’t take it anymore. What should I do?
Big Kid
It Is None of My Business What Other Teenagers Do, Or Is It?
Do you tell parents if you know their kid is involved in destructive behavior? I happen to think it takes a village, even if it makes me uncomfortable at times.
Pregnancy
The Etiquette of Baby Shower Guest Lists
An expectant mom is being pressured to have a postpartum baby shower by her husband’s family and friends. What are her alternatives?
Big Kid
Special Needs, Yes Indeed: Find Your Family’s Tribe
When you’re parenting kids with special needs, finding another family who gets it is invaluable, for both kids and parents.
Parenting
It Takes A Village (And Some Cheesecake)
Parenting, much like clutter, will suck up all of the available space in your life if you let it. Don’t just find your Village, participate in it (without the kids).
Your Life
How Do You Break Up With a Friend?
Do I owe her an explanation for why I’m done fighting for our friendship? Or can I just ignore her until she gets the picture?
Postpartum
The Postpartum Visitors of Doom
How do you tell your friends and family that you need your privacy and to maintain your sanity during the first weeks after the baby is born without being rude?
Big Kid
New School, Friend Blues: Navigating Lonely Tween Trouble
A reader wants to know how much is too much when it comes to managing new friendships for her tween after switching to a new school.