Posted on 5/5/2020
No rational person would argue that the smaller the class size, the better, right?” asked the radio talk show host. “I think I’m a rational person,” I said, “and I can offer proof...
Read MorePosted on 4/28/2020
In his November 1863 address at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the men who lost their lives on that battlefield had done so in order that “government of the people, by the people and...
Read MorePosted 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 MorePosted on 11/26/2019
After a recent talk in South Florida, women came up to me in droves asking, “How much should I help my children with their schoolwork?” That not one man asked the question...
Read MorePosted on 11/19/2019
Okay, it’s time to set the record straight, confront the gorilla in the proverbial room, call a spade a spade, and so on and so forth. I recently published a column on “The...
Read MorePosted on 10/29/2019
The Portal. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, the gateway to an alternative universe that lures, then traps the unwary in its nefarious web of illusion, where things are...
Read MorePosted on 10/2/2019
Q: We held off giving our oldest daughter a smartphone until she was fifteen, the age at which we allowed her older brother to have one. We read your column weekly in our hometown newspaper and...
Read MorePosted on 7/23/2019
My recent column pertaining to a 12-year-old who told his parents he’d thought about suicide several times over the past six months stirred a fair number of folks to respond. Feelings toward the...
Read MorePosted on 7/16/2019
Q: We recently discovered that our 12-year-old has been visiting pornography sites of all sorts on the Internet. When we caught him red-handed, he began crying and said he is addicted. Apparently,...
Read MorePosted on 6/11/2019
Q: Our 14-year-old (he’s going into the ninth grade at a public high school) has taken up with a bunch of kids that we don’t exactly approve of. They have reputations as troublemakers and at...
Read MorePosted 4 weeks ago
My 11-year-old son is obsessed with screens. If we tell him to do something while he is on his phone or iPad he huffs and puffs or we are told, “in a minute." Then he only gets 2 out of 3 chores...
Read MorePosted on 6/27/2020
I am a single mom with only one child, my 15yo son. He has recently started saying that he "isn't hungry" at dinnertime, or will "eat later", and says he doesn't want to eat with me. He often does...
Read MorePosted on 6/23/2020
My spouse recently died at home under hospice care. He had been ill for 5 years. Our grandchildren live close and have been partially living with us since they were born. We all are devastated. I...
Read MorePosted on 6/15/2020
My 14 yr. old son had sleep over with classmate. During the evening the boys contacted an older boy & arranged to meet him to buy edible marijuana. After the adults went to bed, they left the...
Read MorePosted on 6/14/2020
Are you familiar with the term 2e kids? Or twice exceptional? Our 10 year old son appears to fall into this category. He is at above average intelligence, but his emotional iq is lacking and a...
Read MorePosted on 6/2/2020
15yr old daughter is only happy if everything is going her way. If something doesn’t suit her she ignores the family at dinner and on picnics And other family outings. But when her friend comes...
Read MorePosted on 6/1/2020
Is it ok to go through your material with our 12 year old son listening? It seems like he would understand better this way?
Read MorePosted on 5/22/2020
My 11 year old daughter gets upset when I correct her and calls me names in her heart not aloud; but she later tells me those rude things and apologises. (The most recent name she called me...
Read MorePosted on 5/2/2020
My 14 year old got a phone for christmas this year much to my regret. We put guidelines and restrictions in place to monitor her. I have her phone after bedtime and in looking at her texting...
Read MorePosted on 4/16/2020
I want to know how to establish boundaries with my 15 year old female teenager about the boyfriend. What resources do you recommend I read?
Read MorePosted on 1/8/2015
This is an entertaining and informative talk on understanding and managing even the most petulant of today’s teenagers. The talk was recorded live before an audience in San Diego, CA and is based...
Read More