My 3.5 yo daughter is a very determined, assertive leader. Very different from my son. Slowly I’m learning to channel that big girl energy. However, I get really annoyed (maybe even triggered) with her anger. She feels it in her whole body, makes faces, her body gets stiff, etc. Lately she has been hitting us with whatever object or her hand…hard.
My son refuses to practice his piano. How do I help him?
In yesterday's call one of the questions had to do with not wanting to do a piano recital. This also happened to my son recently. The difference here is that from the first time I asked him if he wanted to do the recital he said NO.
I asked why and it was because he felt scared to perform in front of so many people, that he would feel embarrassed.
Another thing that worries me is that he doesn’t like to practice. He just goes to class, which he enjoys, and seems to memorize and remember what they teach him in half an hour once a week without ever practicing.
My 4yo is picking up negative behavior from friends. How can I shift this?
My son is disrupting the class and it's becoming an issue. How do we manage this?
Today my husband got this message from the homework club teacher:
“I'm having difficulties with your son in the homework club. He's very smart, works quickly and is an amazing reader. The issue is that he's loud, silly and constantly distracting the students. The kids in my class have asked me to make him stop talking because they can't focus.”
Would you have advice as to what to say to our son and the teacher?
How do I help my school aged son manage his big feelings?
My son has always been a highly sensitive kid that is highly aware of everything and everyone around him but I have noticed that as he is getting older he keeps looking for more validation from the outside and I really want to help him change this because it is a struggle for him whenever he does not get this.
My almost 5yo daughter is not eating at school. How can I help her?
About a month ago, my almost 5yo daughter had major issues around not going to school and extracurricular refusal. On top of being sick with a cold, she has also started refusing lunch at school (no matter if it's indoor/outdoor).
She is getting more and more upset even when she is asked to sit at the table now.
Do you have some ideas on what we can try to encourage her to eat with friends in school again?
How do I help my tween son channel/ work through his emotions in the healthiest way possible?
I have a question about my tween and anxiety. I have noticed that my son bites his nails and fidgets with something in his hand, and now I’ve noticed he bites the side of his mouth. I think it is increased anxiety from an increase in school work/ expectations/ longer days in school.
What is the best course of action to take?
What type of responsibilities should a soon to be 8 year old have?
Is it ok to allow my daughter to call her friends after she's done with homework?
During weekdays, if my daughter is done with all of her schoolwork, is it appropriate to allow her to call her friends?
Part of me wants to say yes, she has earned the social time. But part of me wants to say no, as sometimes I feel like she rushes through homework or practicing piano just to get to the call. And perhaps the time at home is an opportunity to work on other things, since she got social time during the school day… Or has she?
My daughter has started obsessing over the idea that she is fat. What is the healthy way to approach this?
We had a playdate incident and would like to understand my daughter's big feelings.
We had a little incident at a playdate recently. We met another family at the park for lunch. My daughter doesn't know the little girl all that well, but she had a lot of fun on the playground with her. We went on to ride the train at the park and she said she wanted to sit alone (vs with her friend). I said, “oh honey, let's sit with our new friend” and she said no. There were limited seats so the other mom sat with her daughter and son in the front row seat (it was a quick shuffle). My daughter had a fit because she wanted to sit in the front and kept saying "no one is listening to me." She and I ended up sitting together a few seats away from them and she kept saying "they are so mean, they are so stupid, I am never playing with them again, I just want to scream so badly."
Should I have just taken her home right after the train ride?
Why does she get particularly stuck around the “no one is listening to me” scenarios?
My 7yo daughter was singing an alarming song she may have learned from a school mate. How do I handle this?
This morning was kind of alarming. As both girls are getting ready for school, I hear my 7yo daughter singing in a calm voice but all of the sudden the song is saying "I hate myself therefore I want to kill myself". In a "la,la,la" sort of way...
I asked, “Did you make that song up or did you hear it somewhere?” She says that she heard two boys at school singing it and it stuck in her head. I asked if the teacher said anything and she said no, but I don't know if she even heard it.
Did I have the wrong approach to this?
Should I have said something different and if so should I bring this subject up again?
I don't know if I should mention this to the teacher, the parents of these boys or what. Help!
I'm having a hard time connecting with my tween son. Help!
My almost 7yo is experiencing daily wetting. Is this normal?
My soon to be 7yo son is still experiencing daily wetting. There really have not been any changes lately that could give us a clear answer to what could be causing this and he seems to not notice until his pants are already wet and then he runs to the bathroom. Sometimes we ask him to use the bathroom and he says he does not want to and 5 min later his pants are wet. What do we do?
We went from crib to toddler bed and now bedtime is a nightmare! What do we do?
We moved my soon to be 3yo daughter to a toddler bed because she would climb out of her crib.
She was doing pretty good about not getting up when we put her to sleep but now it has become a NIGHTMARE. She will not stay in her bed when put down and she wants us to stay in the room or else she gets up and walks out of her room.
With this new resistance she literally takes two hours to fall asleep - yesterday she fell asleep at 10pm.
What should I do?
School drop off has become very difficult. What do we do?
My 5.75yo daughter has started to develop some really big separation anxiety since returning from winter break. She has experienced a couple of transitions with a new nanny, and I went out of town last weekend. But now I am back and today was 25 minutes of crying at school for my goodbye. Each day seems worse and worse. What do we do?
What am I missing when talking to my 10.5yo daughter about body image?
We are going away without our children. How do we handle this?
My husband and I plan to go on a trip together for 10 days without the girls. We want to prepare them and ourselves in the best possible way. How do we do this before we leave? When do we let them know it's happening? What should we do while we are gone? How do we join back after we arrive home in the best way?
My almost 6yo is talking back and saying "no" a lot. Help!
My oldest, about to turn 6, is getting really loud with us. A lot of fresh, back talk, a lot of ‘no’ , whining, etc...
I know it is normal, and we are remaining consistent and calm the best we can. But I am wondering if there are any books on “talking back”. It is difficult to explain and I am wondering if some stories would help. Ideas!?
I am having very difficult mornings with my child. How do I make this better for us?
I feel like I am losing my cool with my child during the morning routine in particular . In the past, I’ve mentioned my child’s difficulty following instructions, transitioning, inattentiveness etc...
Our morning routines have been the same with small tweaks for years. I have been very regimented and routine oriented. This school year, kindergarten, in particular, is a major issue with getting ready. We try and problem solve together and we come up with good plans, but they are short lived. I know she probably can’t help it, and I want to support her and not be mad! How do i do this?