Social Issues (fighting/arguing with friends)

John's Most Recent Articles

The Blessing of Being Unpopular

Posted on 8/16/2023

When my daughter Amy entered middle school, she looked two to three years younger than most of her female peers. That was a blessing to me, of course, but from Amy's perspective, it was a curse....

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We Shouldn't Always Shield Our Children From Pain

Posted on 6/6/2023

The depraved excepted, parents do not enjoy making children unhappy. Nevertheless, sometimes it is in a child's best interest that parents - while not deliberately trying to induce unhappiness -...

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'The Doctor' Prevails Again

Posted on 1/17/2023

Regular readers of this column are no doubt familiar with my imaginary friend, The Doctor. I often call upon him to solve behavior problems of various sorts concerning young children. Well, The...

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Don’t Just ‘Settle’ Dispute, Solve It

Posted on 5/3/2022

Q: Our sons are six and four. When their same-age cousins, come over, they all go down into our basement to play. Invariably, within thirty minutes my youngest comes upstairs crying because his...

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Cure for Kid Who Hits

Posted on 10/26/2021

A 4-year-old – I’ll call him Popeye – had a habit of hitting other children in his preschool program. His teachers tried various approaches, including rewarding him with a treat on days when he...

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Recent Questions

Mom Concerned About Neighborhood Playtime Discord

Posted on 8/18/2024

I have four children in elementary school. They play with a neighborhood boy that is a few years older—so the neighbor boy is the oldest. I don’t get involved with their play, but I do...

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Micro Mom-Ager Neighbor

Posted on 3/30/2024

We live on a street where there are a lot of kids. My boys, 9 and 11 years old, are outside all the time playing and my house tends to be the place where all the kids play. If my kids or other...

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6 Year Old Boy Can Put Bully To Bed

Posted on 9/12/2023

Good afternoon, my 6yr old son is being bullied in kindergarten. Day 1 a little girl came up to him, randomly and said she didn’t like him, the following week she did the same, and also said she...

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Five Years Old: The Age of Fine Whine

Posted on 9/21/2022

My youngest, who is 5 years old, is feeling left out, saying the neighborhood kids don’t want to play with him. However, I don’t blame them! He is very whiny, tattles constantly, and doesn't share...

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Natural Consequences Are EffectiveTeachers

Posted on 7/9/2022

My 9 year old boy frequently acts like a baby and very odd in a socially unacceptable way like a feral child. When leaving his friends he will say “bye friends” in a silly voice. He also was...

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It's Not About the Makeup: Time for a Garden Kick

Posted on 3/20/2022

15-year old daughter very obsessed with make-up. Used our Amazon account to buy makeup Products without our knowing till I looked up order history. Took away all her makeup products, went...

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Perfect time for a reset

Posted on 1/18/2022

Our 9yo girls currently rule the roost. They speak to us flippantly, complain constantly, whine and pester after receiving a "no" answer, expect others to fetch/carry for them, ignore directives...

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Shy 7 Year Old

Posted on 12/31/2021

My 7 year old first-grader has trouble joining into social situations. He plays well with his 5 year old brother, but with peers, he goes off on his own, and will tell stories to himself (I...

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Adopted Daughters Crave Adult Attention

Posted on 10/28/2021

Daughters want too much attention from adults, and are too touchy with them. We have two adopted daughters, ages five and six. Both seem to want an unnatural amount of attention from adults....

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Who Are You? (And what have you done with our daughter?)

Posted on 10/26/2021

Since June 2020, my daughter (who is now 14) has become someone I no longer recognize. When school was closed due to COVID-19, I made the terrible choice and let her have her phone 24/7, which has...

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