Divorce/Custody
John's Most Recent Articles
What Should Single Mom Do About Disrespectful Son?
Posted on 6/7/2022
Q: I’m a single mother with a 13-year-old son. His father, whom he sees infrequently, has PTSD from battle experiences. My son has anger toward his father, but I can’t get him to talk about it....
Read MoreDiscipline Differences Between Divorced Parents
Posted on 5/10/2022
Q: We see my husband's 9-year-old son every other weekend and two weeks in the summer. He has major issues in school with both behavior and doing his work. He's well behaved when he's with us, but...
Read MoreOn Chores, Discipline, Potty-Training
Posted on 3/29/2022
Q: When I give my 5-year-old daughter a chore, she does it, but all the while she is muttering under her breath, huffing and puffing, and so on. Do I discipline that behavior or just let her...
Read MoreHandle Split Custody Parenting Issues With Grace
Posted on 9/14/2020
Q: My 13-year-old son’s grades and overall respect for me and other adults – teachers, in particular – began going downhill last year (eighth grade), even before the shutdown. He began school this...
Read MoreFather's Visitation With Child Should Be Allowed
Posted on 1/15/2020
Q: Our ten-year-old granddaughter lives with us. We have custody of her but her father, our son, is now asking us for visitation privileges. I probably don’t need to tell you that both he and his...
Read MorePlaying War Games Not Unusual for Young Boys
Posted on 10/22/2019
Q: My normally happy 6-year-old son has recently started incorporating death and war-like games into his imaginative play. He isn't and has never been a mean-spirited child, but his dad and I just...
Read MoreOne Reason Why Marriages Go Bad: Postnatal Marital Amnesia
Posted on 12/12/2018
Just about every marriage has its share of bad times; then again, some marriages simply go bad. The reasons for the latter include abuse, adultery, alcoholism (and other forms of chemical...
Read MoreExchange Arrangements Stressful to Pre-Teen Daughter
Posted on 9/12/2018
Q: I am reading your book “The Well-Behaved Child” and have a question that it doesn’t address. I am a single mom with children from two different fathers. One of my ex-husbands (my son’s father)...
Read MoreKeep Facts About 'Donor Dad' Mum Until Child Is 15
Posted on 10/25/2017
Q: My son just turned 5 and is starting to ask various questions about parents including why some people have two parents and he only has one. About two months before he turned two, his "donor"...
Read MoreCustody Issue: Teen Acts Aggressively Towards Mother
Posted on 1/12/2016
Q: My ex-husband and I have pretty much fifty-fifty custody of our 15-year-old son, who has become infected with his father’s disrespect for me. When he’s with me, he makes it very clear that he...
Read MoreRecent Questions
POST-DIVORCE PARENTING ISSUES
Posted 1 week ago
Some allegations that my daughter made about me to her school counselor and obviously and the allegations that were given to me in the report it states that my children’s father was coaching them....
Read MoreKeep It Simple
Posted on 7/13/2022
I’m a single mother of a 2.5 year old. Her father has never been in the picture at all. She’s starting to notice other kids have a dad and she doesn’t. How do I explain his absence to her and...
Read MoreDIVORCED DAD RUNNING THE USUAL SCAM
Posted on 7/2/2022
My 17 y/o daughter is from my first marriage. divorced when she was 3. Her stepdad and i have been married since she was 5. Long and short? We have done all of the parenting, all the tough...
Read MorePOST-DIVORCE VISITATION ISSUE
Posted on 6/6/2022
I have recently been divorced and re-married. Since our custody arrangement was decided by me and my ex-wife, the court did not decide on that. Since my new wife has a daughter and my son, who is...
Read MoreDrama feeds high conflict
Posted on 5/22/2022
I’ve spent the last 9 years of my sons life recovering from domestic abuse perpetrated by his father who has very narcissistic tendencies and defending my son, learning to ignore hurtful comments...
Read MorePARENT ALIENATION
Posted on 4/14/2022
What are the best ways to deal with parent alienation? To help the teenage child in the middle? Any specific podcast? Books? Any advice on this topic would be appreciated. In this situation the...
Read MoreBe the Mean Mum!
Posted on 4/11/2021
My 8 year old son has came back from spending the weekend with his dad and dad's family. He said I’m a strict mean mum because his 8 year old cousin has an iPhone, TikTok and YouTube channel...
Read MoreIt's All About Leadership and Love
Posted on 1/25/2021
Hello, we are over in the UK, back in full lock down, schools closed. I struggle with consistency, tiredness and forgetfulness. Even worse I feel humiliated and pathetic because I struggle with...
Read MoreGrandson Needs to be Held More Accountable
Posted on 1/15/2021
I just pulled an old John article out of my drawer that I have had for years. It was about how therapy can be detrimental to a child and rarely works. Also talked about kids emotions and feelings...
Read MoreRespect isn't Optional
Posted on 12/26/2020
Hello- I am so glad I subscribed to Parent Guru! I love reading all the questions/answers!! So I have a 9 year old son and unfortunately his father and I have divorced. I moved (with my son)...
Read MoreTopics Covered
- ADHD and other disorders
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- Discipline Methods (e.g. time-out)
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- Socialization/Social Skills
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- Step-Families
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- Teenage Issues
- Terrible Twos
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