Toddler
On Sleepovers & the Silent Treatment
Sleep deprived parents are divided on whether their young toddler is ready to sleep over at his grandparents’ and it’s led to marital strife.
Money & Work
To Budget Or Not To Budget
A mom needs help talking to her husband about her wish to get at budgeting and financial planning. How can she start this conversation with him given that it’s a charged topic for both of them?
Postpartum
Post-Baby Foodshaming
A new and breastfeeding mom is being food shamed by her husband for her increased appetite and postpartum body. She needs help on talking to him.
Relationships
Single Mom: Where Is The Love?
How do you know when you’re in love with someone? Kristen Chase ponders what that means after years of failed relationships and marriages.
Relationships
On Motherhood and Marriage Regret
Kristen Chase talks about motherhood and marriage regret, and how giving ourselves permission to step outside the box might be the key to personal happiness.
Relationships
Disagreeing on Number of Children: Dealbreaker?
A young bride-to-be is distressed because she wants to have four children and her fiance wants two, maybe three. Should disagreeing on family size be a dealbreaker?
Parenting
Setting a Romantic Example for Your Children
I hope that someday my children find life partners who make them happy. I hope that I’m setting a good example for them to figure that out, too.
Big Kid
Hello Teenagers, Goodbye Romance
Having teenagers in the house is a solemn death knell of romance for the parents. And they’re not even sorry about it, either.
Parenting
Breaking the Couch Potato Habit
Ideas for filling that post-kid-bedtime block with activities OTHER than falling asleep in front of the TV.
Parenting
Housework & the Stay-at-Home Parent
What’s a fair and realistic division of household responsibility when one parent stays home and the other works outside of the home?
Your Life
The Mother-In-Law From Under the Sea
Another day, another horrible sea-monster of a mother-in-law. How to handle a difficult mother-in-law and preventing bad repercussions on your marriage.
Pregnancy
Pregnant & Abroad
I’m pregnant and live overseas, but want to come home for my third trimester and the birth…with or without my husband.
Food & Home
When Dinnertime Becomes a Dinnersaga
My husband is a terrific (yet overly ambitious) cook. So we’re eating dinner at 9 p.m. — or even later. There’s got be a way to streamline the family dinner process!
Baby
Sleep Training Wars
My husband is adamant we should sleep train our 4 month old; I say she’s still too young. Who’s right?
Baby
Update: When Daddy’s Been Drinking
An update from one of our most memorable Advice Smackdown columns: The pregnant mom faced with a husband in rehab on her due date.
Baby
When the Stay-At-Home Parent Is ‘Doing It Wrong’
My husband stays home with our baby but lets him sleep all day…so he’s awake all night! How do I fix this without sounding accusatory?
Relationships
Happy Mother’s Day (To Me, By Me, From Me)
My husband lost his mother several years ago and won’t put any effort into Mother’s Day…but I’m a mother now too!
Health & Safety
When Your Parenting Dealbreakers Are Different
My in-laws are absolutely, fundamentally untrustworthy caretakers for my child. But my husband is insisting we let them babysit while we travel overseas! What do I do?
Pregnancy
The Second Baby War
I want another child and he doesn’t, at all. Can this relationship be saved?
Pregnancy
When Daddy’s Been Drinking
My husband is an alcoholic…but if he goes to rehab he’ll miss the birth of our child. What should I do? We have some advice.