Q: My daughter, who is in twelfth grade, is now applying to seminaries for next year. She very much wants to go to Eretz Yisrael, but I don’t know if…
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Positive Parenting
Seeking a Seminary
Adult Sibling Conflicts
Q: I know that you usually write about issues having to do with children of a younger age, but we are still parents once our children marry and leave the…
Managing in Mesivta
Q: I have a 14-year-old ADHD son in a regular, local mesivta who fortunately spent all his younger years in a mainstream elementary school. We have always had Rebbeim and…
The Challenge of Dealing With a Difficult Mother-in-Law
Q: I’ve had difficulty dealing with my mother-in-law since I first got married nearly 15 years ago. She is a Holocaust survivor who is still embittered and wants all her…
Consenting to Compromise
Q: I have been married close to 13 years and since the beginning it has been a turbulent marriage. Our marital issues have recently intensified, as my husband’s erratic behavior…
Calming the Combat Zone
Q: As I look back upon Yom Tov, I feel like I spent far too much time refereeing fights among my children. This began before Yom Tov, when it came…
Starting the New Year Afresh
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…
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…