Question
My 7 year old daughter has a 160 IQ but has been cleared of ADD, Asperger's etc. She is characteristic of many children in the Q & A, defiant, disrespectful, angry, a screamer etc. and brilliantly capable of extreme manipulation based on her smarts. These issues manifest at home and at school. I have been divorced from her dad since she was 18 months and he does not physically see her, but once in a while he will Skype with her. Simply, he chooses not to be in her life. She has expressed extreme anger with his absence, and the way he avoids her most direct questions about why he doesn't see her. She also wishes she and others would die when she does not get her way. Is this absent father/manipulation situation one where you would recommend counseling to deal with her grief? I'm ready to kick her out of the garden, but I've also been convicted personally by the advice you have given other parents and will be implementing changes to improve my wimpy parenting as well.
