Q. As our children are growing up, I wonder if I’m a good mother. Do my husband and I do the right things and make the right decisions? Do we spend enough time with our kids? Do we give them too much or indulge them without merit? How can I get beyond this self-doubt?...

Q. My wife and I have a difficult time getting our children to bed at night. They fuss and whine about bedtime and make excuses to get up after being put down for the night. Getting the kids to bed is taking a toll on us; we try to get them to sleep early enough that...

Q. I would really like to send my son Nathan, age 10, to summer camp this year. I had a great experience attending YMCA camp when I was a child, where I was able to connect with some of the nicest, most popular girls in school. My shy, timid demeanor disappeared and a...

Q. I’ve been divorced from my ex-husband for five years. Our daughter Avery, 15, spends every other weekend and a month during the summer with her father. During the last five years and even before the divorce, my ex-husband has been angry with me and seems to take it...

Q. My husband and I tend to be unhappy about many things, including the state of our government, our relationship, our jobs, etc. However, we very much want our children to be happy. How can we model happiness for them when we feel unhappy most of the time ourselves?...

Q. My husband John and I seem to disagree about everything, including whether or not to hire a babysitter for our two kids. John says that date nights by ourselves would help our relationship, but I refuse to let someone else watch our children. Since we have become...

Q. Our son Tyler is 11 years old; he’s smart and does well in school, but he doesn’t seem to think he does well enough. He’s unhappy when his work isn’t perfect. His father and I don’t ever tell him he isn’t doing well enough; it seems like he has self-imposed...

Q. Family holidays are a real challenge for me. My siblings and their spouses talk non-stop about their children’s accomplishments and wonderful personalities; they don’t seem to pay much attention to anything else. Unfortunately, my kids haven’t achieved many...

Q. In many situations, my friend’s son Travis gets very anxious, then blows up or starts crying uncontrollably. He is best friends with my nine-year-old son and often spends time at our house because his mother is dealing with some problems with Travis’ father, her...

Q. My grandchildren, ages five, 10 and 14, stay with us for several days on occasion. When they’re here, they don’t pick up after themselves or help us in any way. I decided to start paying them for picking up their things and helping their grandmother, and proposed a...

Protecting kids from sexual abuse 2012-07-29 Author: Dr. Betty Richardson  Q. There’s so much in the news about child molestation; I read recently that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. Do you have any...