


How to Talk to Children About Calamities
How do you give really bad news to children? What should you say when a natural disaster hits or when someone important dies? How can you parse a divorce for a child—or bankruptcy or foreclosure or drug addiction or crime? This world has so many kinds of adversity....
When Your Child Is Out of Control
“My child is out of control!” I have heard this heartfelt cry so many times from parents who are frustrated at not being obeyed. But the problem is not simply a matter of exacting compliance. Let’s start by considering the complaint. When you say “out of control,” you...
More Lighthearted Ways to Manage Your Child’s Behavior
Below are more ways of improving your children’s behavior without bringing out the big guns. As with the last batch of suggestions, these defuse tension by relying on a sense of humor, which gets you results without resentment. In the Doghouse Sometimes it’s...
Lighthearted Ways to Manage Your Child’s Behavior
It’s great when parents can correct a young child without provoking tension, conflict, and a power struggle. One way of doing this is to use some form of playful humor to make your point. Some of the examples below work well in families with several children. ...