Q: As the new year gets underway, I find myself looking back at past years and thinking about how I’ve been as a mother. I think my patience has improved…
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Positive Parenting
Starting the New Year Afresh
Too Much Therapy?
Q: My 7-year-old daughter has been mandated for a variety of services by the Department of Education, and my husband and I have different opinions about whether she should use…
The Power of Positive Reinforcement
Q: As we begin the school year, I am taking a look back at my previous attempts to improve as a parent, and I see that my lack of consistency…
Struggles of Sandwiched Child
Q: We are the parents of seven children, bli ayin hara, and feel that our second child is kind of losing his identity, being sandwiched in as he is between…
Family in Turmoil
Q: Dear Shira, My family situation is quite unstable now, and it seems like my nine-year-old son is like a sponge soaking up all the negativity that is going around…
Our Son Doesn’t Have Friends
Q: Our 12-year-old son is a lively child, but somehow making friends doesn’t come easy to him. It’s a funny thing, because boys will come over to our house to…
My Son Wants to Join the Army
Q: Dear Shira, We have a 14-year-old son who is entering mesivta, and he talks about joining the IDF as his ideal. He loves reading books on World War…
My Son Feels Second Class
Q: My 9-year-old son, who is now in third grade, has had learning problems since pre-school. The issue wasn’t so much that he was a behavior problem; rather, he just…
Sleep-Away Camp Challenges
Q: My 12-year-old daughter is in sleep-away camp this summer, and she seems to be having “teenage” issues, even though she is still only a pre-teen. She has decided that…
Divorced-Dad Conundrums
Q: I am a divorced man with both teenage and younger children. My ex-wife, with whom I have joint custody, is not frum at this point in her life, and…
A Falling Out Among Friends
Q: I have a 10-year-old son with ADHD. He takes medication and is doing well in the special school he attends. The school has students with learning and behavioral…
Divorce Problems
Q: I was married to my husband for 13 years, having had problems with our relationship for the majority of them. For years before the actual divorce, I had my…
The Neighborhood Clique Is Excluding My Daughter
Q: My 9-year-old-daughter has been having conflicts with the other girls on the block and it’s become a major issue. It seems that certain girls get into their own exclusive…
Defusing Fighting Between Siblings
In our previous column (June 3), we focused on the problem of a child having an overbearing nature and how to work with this type of child. The issue of…
Older Sister Manipulates Younger Ones
Q: During the week we read Parashas Kedoshim, my children were discussing the idea of nekamah (taking revenge). It was particularly relevant to two of our daughters, who often take…
An Almanah Seeks Guidance
Q: I am a mother of three children, and I lost my husband about four years ago. Two of my children have special needs — our daughter with her emotional…
My Child Has Low Self-Esteem — After All My Efforts!
Q: Before I married, I vowed that I would make sure that my children would have good self-esteem — by seeing role models in my husband and myself. I was…
Different Chinuch Wave Lengths
Q: We are the parents of five children, the oldest of whom is a 15-year-old girl, and I’m coming across a major difference in the way that my husband and…
Brothers in Conflict
Q: I’m writing to you about my two oldest sons, ages 12 and 14, who have an ongoing negative relationship with each other. My wife and I divorced about four…
The Importance of Learning to Conform
Q: Our 14-year-old daughter has unfortunately been acting up in school in recent months. One issue is that she’s been just a little bit too chutzpadig when speaking to school…