Recently, a viewer wrote me with an excellent question. Her son had picked up the dreaded F-word and, much to Mom’s chagrin, proceeded to share his new, sure-to-shock term with friends. Continue reading { 0 comments }
Posts From: Ask Annie
Recently, a viewer wrote me with an excellent question. Her son had picked up the dreaded F-word and, much to Mom’s chagrin, proceeded to share his new, sure-to-shock term with friends. Continue reading 
Dear Annie,
My almost 6-year-old kindergartener daughter complains that I "always want her to be the best in the class." She doesn't like it if I correct any of her homework, which I am required to review and sign. She also doesn't like it if ask her if she understands something she is singing. (I ask her that because she goes to an immersion school and learns in another language.) Is it me? Is it her? What can I do to change myself and/or how I interact with her?
~Lisa
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Dear Annie,
My husband and my 21-month-old son are on opposite schedules. Our son’s day is the typical toddler’s: awake from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. with a nap from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. With my husband’s second and third shift obligations, there are whole days where they don’t get to see each other.
I have horrible guilt that our son doesn’t get to see his father (I should probably mention that Daddy was in school and home all the time with our son for the first year-plus of his life). What can I do first to get over the sadness that baby usually only gets to see Daddy for 20 minutes a day? And do you have any ideas on how I can find more time for us to spend as a family?
~Dana
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Dear Annie,
My soon to be four-year-old daughter has started having horrible tantrums. This has never been an issue before. They are worse when she’s tired. She can’t seem to calm herself at all. Again, she’s always been a great self-soother. Over the summer we had a great deal of change in our lives (moving, grandma fell ill, I had to be away a lot) but that was several months ago. Is this a developmental thing or a hold-over from an over-stressed summer? How the heck do I deal with it? I don’t want to give in, but at the same time I worry about drawing too hard of a line.
~Lisa
Dear Lisa,
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Dear Annie:
My 7-year-old has trouble making friends. He tries to make friends, but other kids pay him no attention. And in all seriousness he is a nice child. He never argues with other kids, he’s not bossy, etc. I don’t understand, and it crushes me to know he plays alone every day. How can I help him? ~Kari
Kari,
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Dear Annie,My 23-month-old daughter is very energetic and creative. Her vocabulary is very clear and I am very grateful to that. Because of her excellent speech comes her constant talking and woo haha I admit it gets overwhelming especially when she repeats mommy a thousand times. I love when she talks because I know she is learning but how do I prevent myself from going over board? Its odd that I enjoy her talking but at the same time her constant talking which does not stop is getting to me. So enough said how do I prevent myself from going crazy?
~Michelle
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Tips for Supporting Teens with their Applications
Dear Annie,I have a 17-year-old daughter who is applying to college. She’s a great kid, but I’m really worried that given how competitive it is these days to get into a good school, she isn’t going to be able to get all her strengths across if she writes her essay herself. What’s your advice?
Melissa
Dear Melissa,
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Dear Annie,My five-year-old son has just started kindergarten, and his teacher tells us he has trouble completing all of his work. She said that she knows he is very smart and knows how to do the project but it takes him longer than the other kids to finish assignments. We notice this at home also when he is doing homework. He knows the answer but acts like he doesn’t know or just stares at the paper. What can we do to help him besides encouraging him and could this be something wrong with his thought process?
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Dear Annie,My 8-month-old baby will only fall asleep while nursing, making it almost impossible to get her to sleep in her crib. I am not against co-sleeping but I’m worried that it’s not safe, and I really want her in the crib for naps. Is crying it out my only option? Thanks!
Kelly
Dear Kelly,
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Dear Annie,
When my son was young, I had this perfect vision of his future teenage self and all his friends making our house the place to "hang out." Now that he’s 12 and quite popular, he only wants to go to other people’s homes. The last time his friends were over, I felt like I was intruding or embarrassing him every time I stuck my head in his room.
Kate
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