Relationships
Sharing the Work of Parenting: What I Learned By Giving My Partner Some Room
What I learned when I stopped hovering and started giving my partner some room to be the parent they always were.
Relationships
The Dad Who Just Doesn’t Want to Dad
A mom asks for advice about her husband who doesn’t help with their son and has difficulty when her toddler acts, well, like a toddler. She’s concerned about now and the future.
Education
Inspire Your Daughter’s Inner Engineer
How spending quality time together with their fathers inspired girls to pursue interesting career paths in the auto industry.
Parenting
Things Not To Say To Your Kids. (And You’re Probably Saying Them)
There’s some common phrases (used by most parents) that can have a negative impact on kids. But with a little effort, we can all stop saying them.
Relationships
How to Handle Kid-Hogging Grandparents
When do super-involved and loving grandparents cross the line to monopolizing and need boundaries? Yes, that can happen.
Pregnancy
A Delivery Room Stand-Off
Ah, the politics of the delivery room guest list. An expectant mom needs help on setting boundaries with her overbearing mother-in-law.
Big Kid
This is the Way the Break Ends: Both Bangs and Whimpers
I thought I was ready for my college freshman to spend Winter Break with us, but I really had no idea what we were both in for, I guess.
Big Kid
Rules For When Your College Freshman Visits During Holidays
Getting ready for your college freshman’s first (or first longer) return to home? There’s much for which to be thankful, starting with having a game plan.
Parenting
Memories of Growing Up with Black Girl Hair
Have you seen this wonderful video of a Black father tending to his daughter’s hair? Black hair, it’s political and personal.
Big Kid
College is Looming, But Will We Kill Each Other First?
Oh, those halcyon final days of high school when… your college-bound teen knows everything and you’re just stupid. Yeah. Um. Take a deep breath.
Big Kid
Why Are So Many More Teens “Gender Fluid” Now?
A reader asks what the deal is with “gender fluidity” among teens; why is it on the rise, and how should we respond to it?
Big Kid
Confessions of a Recovering Naggy McNaggerson
A lifetime of nagging my children in the name of “helping” is coming to a close, because we all need me to back off. It’s hard, but I’m working on it.
Big Kid
How Much Privacy for a Tween/Teen?
Today’s question is about teaching kids the value of privacy without violating theirs… except sometimes they don’t get that privacy, right?
Big Kid
Mom & Teen Daughter Bonding… Over Thrifting? Yes!
My daughter shares my love of bargain-hunting, but I don’t think she knows that she’s my best bargain yet. Lucky me!
Food & Home
The Tao Of Strawberries (and our favorite recipes)
It’s strawberry-picking season, and that means bonus time with my teens and all my favorite, yummy recipes. Viva la strawberries!
Big Kid
Tuning Into Your Kids’ Taste in Music
But that’s how I feel about my kids. I really don’t care if they like my music. They spent years listening to me play Aretha, Luther Vandross, The Rolling Stones, etc. and if they one day said, “Hey, Mom? Can you put on that one AC/DC song?”, that’d be great. But I certainly don’t expect it. Just like they don’t expect me to say, “Hey, kids? Can you put on that one Tyler, The Creator song?”
Big Kid
Mother/Daughter Communication By Any Other Name
Talking with my teen daughter can be fraught, so I’m taking the back door on communication whenever I can. Every little bit is a win.
Big Kid
Independence For Lunch, One Way Or Another
Challenging my teenager to manage her own school lunches is giving me palpitations, but it’s time and—one way or another—she can handle it.
Big Kid
All He Wants For Christmas Is A Princess Toy
A family member wants to gift her nephew the princess toys that he wants for Christmas and with which his immediate family doesn’t allow him to play. What can she do in this sticky situation?
Relationships
When Daddy Leaves
A heartbroken new mom needs advice on navigating her co-parenting relationship with her former partner.