John's Articles
Benefit of the Doubt
Posted on 9/3/2013
The statute of limitations has expired concerning the following tale, so I can finally tell it. In October of my now 40-something year-old son Eric's seventh-grade year, he informed me...
Read MoreGrandparent Boundaries
Posted on 7/30/2013
Q: Our daughter and son-in-law have consented to be the guardians of our first grandchild, due in a few months. In preparation for this momentous event, we want to understand what our boundaries...
Read MoreYelling - Not Good for Parent or Child
Posted on 7/16/2013
"I'm a yeller," she said, she being the mother of three young children. "No," I replied, "you're not. There is no genetic predisposition toward yelling, and no biochemical or...
Read MoreDealing with Electronics
Posted on 7/2/2013
I often hear real-life parenting stories that evoke two equally strong feelings: on the one hand, sorrow; on the other, gratefulness. I am saddened to hear these stories, always told to me...
Read MoreMy Son Hates Me
Posted on 5/14/2013
Q: I went into my 17-year-old's bedroom to wake him this morning. After some urging, he eventually got up and then told me he hated me. What is the appropriate consequence for this sort of...
Read More21-Year-Old Needs Walking Papers
Posted on 2/26/2013
Q: My husband and I have a 21-year-old daughter from his first marriage. She was suspended from college for bad grades and is waiting out her time until she can go back. Meanwhile, she works for...
Read MoreLast Chance for Major Change
Posted on 2/5/2013
Q: Our 17-year-old is a highly spoiled underachiever. As a junior in high school, he's failing two classes and borderline in the rest. We know that his problems are largely due to our parenting...
Read More3 Year Old has bedtime problems
Posted on 1/22/2013
Q: For the past several weeks, our just-turned 3-year-old has been waking up and coming into our room at all hours of the night with the usual excuses. He's scared, hungry, thirsty, lonely, can't...
Read MoreNine year old Refuses to go to her room
Posted on 1/15/2013
Q: What should I do when my 9-year-old daughter loses all of her privileges because of her misbehavior but refuses to go to her room? I tried to physically force her, but she put up too much of a...
Read More7 year old twins fighting
Posted on 1/8/2013
Q: How can we help our 7-year-old twin girls stop fighting? They constantly provoke and antagonize each other. We thought this was just normal sibling conflict, but it seems to be developing into...
Read MoreKindergarten Behavior
Posted on 12/18/2012
Q: Our son started full-day kindergarten in September. For the first three months he had no problem with his behavior at school, but for the past few weeks he has gotten in trouble for talking,...
Read MoreAdult Child: What to do?
Posted on 12/11/2012
Q: We have an adult child who doesn't want to grow up. She quit college after two years and moved across the country. As we anticipated, she's having difficulty supporting herself. In fact, she...
Read More12-Year-Old Girl Running in Circles
Posted on 8/16/2011
Daughter is running in circles - literally Q. Our 12-year-old daughter seems driven to run in circles. For years now, often many times a day, she will suddenly start jogging in a big circle...
Read More11-Year-Old Girl Obsessed with Getting Dirty or Wet
Posted on 8/9/2011
Backpack full of trouble? Q. Our 11-year-old daughter is obsessed about getting dirty or being wet, to the point where she won't leave the house without carrying a backpack with a change of...
Read More5-Year-Old Girl Neediness
Posted on 4/5/2011
I'm-growing-up list for neediness Q: My daughter, who is 5, relies on me far too much. All through the day, she asks me to do simple things for her like get her a glass of water or help her put...
Read More4-Year-Old Girl Correcting Older Sibling
Posted on 2/15/2011
Q. Our 4-year-old daughter is constantly correcting her 9-year-old brother. She tells him - to use a recent example - that he's making noise when he drinks something, then proceeds to show him how...
Read More10-Month-Old Boy Bangs Head
Posted on 1/25/2011
Parents should roll with baby's rocking Q: Our first child, a 10-month-old boy, bangs his head on the headboard of his crib when we put him to bed. He doesn't cry or exhibit any distress, but...
Read More12-Year-Old Girl Using Baby Talk
Posted on 12/14/2010
Stop the baby talk Q: When she is happy or receiving a lot of my attention, my 12-year-old daughter often speaks in "baby talk." Examples: "I wub you" and "You my mommy." When she's in one of...
Read MorePreteen Boy Melancholy Issue
Posted on 11/9/2010
Parents can't 'fix' disposition One of the defining beliefs of this technological age is that with enough ingenuity and perseverance, any problem can be solved. It's a misbelief, actually,...
Read More2-Year-Old Boy Throws Items at Others
Posted on 7/27/2010
Got a 2-year-old who throws? Give him the gate Q. Our son is a month from being 2. We're concerned about his throwing. During a recent dinner out, he threw a fork that whizzed by a lady's head,...
Read MoreYounger Children Playing Poker with Older Child
Posted on 7/13/2010
Dealing with poker Q: What do you think about a 13-year-old child playing poker with my kids, ages 8 and 9? Even though they weren't using money, I didn't think it was age-appropriate, so I...
Read More14-Month-Old Boy Bath-Time Fear
Posted on 3/30/2010
Quelling bath-time fear Q. My 14-month-old was taking baths just fine until about a month ago when he became enraged because I wouldn't let him stand up in the sink. Ever since, he becomes...
Read More4-Year-Old Boy "Watch Me" Requests
Posted on 3/2/2010
Watch mom going batty over 'watch me' requests Q. Shortly after our second child was born a year ago, my 4-year-old son began asking me to stop what I'm doing - usually something with the baby...
Read MoreBoundaries Make for Happy Kids and Parents
Posted on 12/15/2009
BOUNDARIES MAKE FOR HAPPY KIDS AND PARENTS I have long maintained that the happiest kids are also well-behaved and vice versa. That assertion is supported by common sense as well as research...
Read MoreTrain Children to Behave in Public
Posted on 9/15/2009
RESPECT YOUR FELLOW DINERS - TEACH CHILDREN TABLE MANNERS "I feel a column coming on, " my wife said, doing her usual read-my-mind thing. It was another superb nine o'clock in the morning in...
Read More6-Year-Old Boy Spitting
Posted on 7/21/2009
OLD CURE FOR STUBBORN KIDS From the Great Ideas Department: A veteran teacher writes that she had a 6-year-old male student who spit constantly during recess. ( I wonder from whom this child...
Read More3-Year-Old Girl Not Wearing Clothes
Posted on 1/20/2009
CALL ON 'THE DOCTOR' TO GET A TODDLER TO WEAR CLOTHES I never cease to be amazed at how easy it is to solve potentially large behavior problems with just a little imagination. Case in point: a...
Read More5-Year-Old Girl Being Cruel to Disabled Sister
Posted on 11/18/2008
CRUELTY MEANS TOUGH RESPONSE IS IN ORDER Q. How should we deal with a 5-year-old girl who joins with two other girls at the bus stop in calling her 7-year-old disabled sibling a wacko? Talking...
Read MoreChildren Love to be Ignored
Posted on 11/11/2008
CHILDREN WOULD PREFER TO BE IGNORED Here's something you already know, but don't know you know: Children love to be ignored. Mind you, I'm not talking about neglect. I'm talking about ignored,...
Read More6-Year-Old Boy Interest in War-Like Games
Posted on 10/28/2008
INTEREST IN WAR-LIKE GAMES NOT UNUSUAL FOR BOYS Q: My happy 6-year-old son has started incorporating death and war-like games into his play. He has never been a mean-spirited child, but his dad...
Read More4-Year-Old Boy's Inappropriate Talk
Posted on 5/13/2008
TRY A LITTLE HUMOR TO COPE WITH TODDLER'S 'NASTY TALK' Our almost 4-year-old son has taken to saying nasty things to us. Last night, for example, when my husband was reading him a bedtime...
Read More5-Year-Old Boy Won't Sit Still
Posted on 2/12/2008
5-YEAR-OLD WON'T STOP ANTS-IN-PANTS DANCE Q. Our son just turned 5 and is a really good kid except that he won't sit still. It's driving me nuts. When he talks to you, he is constantly moving....
Read More3 - Year - Old - Child Controlling Parent
Posted on 11/20/2007
Don't let child control you Q. My 3-year-old is a control freak. She's usually agreeable and obeys the first time more often than not. However, she often attempts to control her...
Read More4-Year-Old Boy Who Asks Nonstop Questions
Posted on 7/24/2007
CHILD'S CURIOSITY GETS OUT OF CONTROL HERE'S A WAY TO LIMIT QUESTIONS TO THOSE THAT REALLY NEED ANSWERING Q: I have a 4-year-old son who starts asking questions when he gets up in the...
Read MoreDeal With Misbehavior Before It Occurs
Posted on 7/17/2007
CLEVER MOM TURNS ORNERY 2-YEAR-OLD INTO A CALM HELPER Over the years, I have repeatedly encouraged parents to "strike while the iron is cold" concerning problem behavior, meaning the best...
Read More6-Year-Old Not Very Affectionate
Posted on 6/19/2007
SON DOESN'T WANT A KISS? THIS IS NOT A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE Q: Our 6-year-old son, who was a 30-week preemie, does not receive affection very well - only when initiated by him, which is not...
Read More7-Year-Old Drama Queen
Posted on 6/5/2007
WOEFUL 7-YEAR-OLD NEEDS HELP TO END HER SELF-PITY PARTY Q:Help! My 7-year-old was the happiest baby and toddler, but then around 4 developed a "victim" personality. "No one listens to me"...
Read MoreToo Big For Their Britches
Posted on 5/8/2007
HAVE YOU LET YOUR CHILDREN GET TOO BIG FOR THEIR BRITCHES? When I was a child, my parents found frequent reason to tell me that I was a small fish in a big pond. Sometimes, to keep me on my...
Read MoreCannot Talk an Aggressive Child out of Misbehaving
Posted on 4/17/2007
YADA-YADA DISCIPLINE DOESN'T WORK WITH AGGRESSIVE CHILDREN In a recent article on co-sleeping - the peculiar practice of sleeping with one's child or children to facilitate "bonding" - I made...
Read More8-Year-Old Motormouth is Loud and Constantly Interrupts
Posted on 9/12/2006
HOW TO CURE A 'MOTORMOUTH' Q: Our 8-year-old son has had some self-centeredness issues that we've been working on since he was a toddler, the latest manifestation of which is excessive, loud...
Read MoreBaby Needs Structure, Routine; The Discipline Can Come Later
Posted on 5/2/2006
Q: Is it possible to discipline a child below the age of 2, and if so, how? A: If by "discipline" you mean teaching and enforcing proper behavior, the answer is no. Discipline of that sort is...
Read MoreChildren Interrupting Adult Conversations
Posted on 11/2/2004
HOLDING PRACTICE SESSIONS CAN HELP A CHILD IMPROVE MANNERS Judging from reader response, my recent column on children interrupting conversations - or I should say, parents letting children...
Read MoreInappropriate Language
Posted on 10/19/2004
WILL SOAP CLEAN UP A DIRTY MOUTH? Before I write this column, journalistic ethics require that I make two disclosures of personal experience: My first-grade teacher washed my mouth out with...
Read MoreChildren Interrupting Adult Conversations
Posted on 9/20/2004
PLEASE, TEACH YOUR CHILD NOT TO INTERRUPT ADULT CONVERSATIONS LEARNING TO WAIT RESPECTFULLY IS VITAL TO GOOD MANNERS EDITOR'S NOTE: For space reasons, John Rosemond's column did not run in...
Read More3-Year-Old Asks for Food When Upset
Posted on 8/3/2004
PARENTS: YOU ARE SMARTER THAN KIDS SOLUTIONS TO CHILDREN'S DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS CAN BE CREATIVE BUT SIMPLE Good ideas department: On my Web site (www.rosemond.com), I recently fielded a...
Read More3-Year-Old Wakes Up Grumpy
Posted on 8/3/2004
More Good Ideas Department: The parents of a 3-year-old boy were troubled that their son always woke up sullen and grumpy in the morning - every morning. They tried everything they could think of...
Read More4-Year-Old Constantly Asking Questions
Posted on 7/20/2004
TEACH CHILD WHEN NOT TO ASK QUESTIONS FINDING OWN ANSWERS IS IMPORTANT STEP IN LEARNING HOW TO THINK Q: I am a teacher of 4-year-olds in a private pre-K program. In my college child...
Read More24-Month-Old Runs Away From Parent
Posted on 5/4/2004
CAN'T OUTRUN THAT 2-YEAR-OLD? OUTSMART HER Q: When I call my 24-month-old daughter to come to me, she takes off running like a bat out of you-know-where. She obviously thinks it's a game...
Read More3- and 2-Year-Old Toy Cleanup
Posted on 2/17/2004
TOY LIBRARY' AIDS KIDS' CLEANUP Q: When it's time for my two children, ages 42 and 24 months, to clean up their play messes, they frequently don't do as I've asked, and I can't figure out what...
Read More2- and 3-Year-Old Have Issues Sharing Toy
Posted on 1/13/2004
Q: The park in the center of our neighborhood is full of parents and children of all ages every afternoon. My 3-year-old daughter is having a problem with a much smaller 2-year-old. Often my...
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