The Politics of Birthday Parties
On the death of the small at-home party, the etiquette of sibling tagalongs, and other kids’ birthday party conundrums.
On the death of the small at-home party, the etiquette of sibling tagalongs, and other kids’ birthday party conundrums.
Solutions for when your child wants a name brand item that you simply can’t afford.
My estranged parents want to build a relationship with me and my infant twins. But they still don’t want to accept my partner as a mother to our sons. I find this unacceptable. I need your advice.
A mom finds herself and young family pulled into her husband’s family’s cycle of emotional and verbal abuse. She needs practical advice on how to save the relationship with her children’s grandparents, if that is at all possible.
Fun idea or seventh circle of social awkwardness hell?
It’s not our business. Don’t interfere. These are the things that we say to ourselves when we don’t intervene.
A reader asks how we deal with teens and the specter of poor teen decisions about drugs and alcohol and parties.
A new mom-to-be is not only growing her family but contemplating growing her financial responsibilities by helping her aging parents. Her husband is not on board with the latter. She needs our objective opinions and advice.
The holidays are around the corner and my relationship with my husband’s family is a mess. How can I fix this? Should I fix this?
Are all grandparent relationships worth saving? CAN they be saved? Advice on how to protect your child from heartbreak caused by grandparents not showing up.
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?
How to handle situations when you disagree with your own family members over parenting choices. When it is worth making it an issue and when to let it go.
Is it a terrible idea to take a toddler to a family member’s funeral? What other choice is there for a grieving out-of-towner?
A babysitter is stuck in an sticky situation. Her toddler babysitting charge has behavioral issues that his mom refuses to address and it’s negatively affecting her own children and animals. Since the toddler is a friend’s child she’s having a hard time knowing how to proceed.
The knife-edge between encouraging my teens to self-advocate and stepping in while I still can is a precarious one, especially in a world that’s unfair.
A newly pregnant woman feels as if she is being forced to make some very big emotional and logistical decisions given her recent pregnancy news and her father’s terminal cancer diagnosis. But does she have other choices?
Help! My future SIL-to-be has poached my favorite boy option baby name. But, I’m not pregnant. Nor even married into the family yet. So, what’s the baby name etiquette for dealing with this sticky situation?
A family moved into a fantastic neighborhood with a built-in playgroup for their kids. But the entire family (including the kids) are social outcasts after the father more than crossed the line with his angry outburst. Can the relationships be saved?
What to do about overstepping parents, in-laws and other assorted assvice-givers during the stressful first months of parenting.
Where’s the line when someone else’s child is misbehaving?