All Parenting Articles

A little boy rushes into the living room and runs into his mother's arms. "Oh, mama," he says, "a great big brown bear chased me all the way home from school." "Now, dear, I've told you before not to tell tall stories like that," his mother says. "But it isn't a story!" the boy insists. "If you don't believe it, you can look for yourself. Read more...

Having children improves life satisfaction in people who are married, but not for those who are unmarried, researchers in Scotland found. Dr. Luis Angeles of the University of Glasgow said the finding challenges previous research that increasing numbers of children do not make people any happier, and in some cases the more children people have, the less satisfied they are with their lives. Read more...

Q: Dear Debt Adviser, My son, I am ashamed to admit, did not pay back his student loan in a timely fashion, so now 15 percent is being taken from each paycheck and he is having a difficult time meeting the rest of his obligations. The lender will not negotiate. Is there a way around this for him before he goes under? He wants to pay it back, just not so much at a time. -- Pam A: Dear Read more...

Many parents say honesty is the best policy, but many parents lie to their children and many children notice, U.S. and Canadian researchers say. Gail Heyman, professor of psychology at the University of California in San Diego, Diem Luu, a former UCSD student and Kang Lee, professor at the University of Toronto, asked parents to report on lying to their children to promote appropriate Read more...

It has been known for a long time that women who leave it late to have children run the risk of increased infertility, but rarely have the dangers been put in such stark terms as it was recently by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) in the UK. The RCOG commissioned a study group to examine the impact of later motherhood, a phenomenon that is present in nearly every Read more...

Many parents worry about what the future holds for their lazy sons. I want to assure these parents that there is light at the end of this very stormy tunnel. I have come across many cases in which sons who were at war with their parents eventually called a ceasefire, grew close to the old folk -- and even became model citizens. All of this, I believe, has something to do with the Read more...

Rosemary Fitzpatrick (45), from Belfast, U.K., a practice manager with Knox & Clayton Architects in Lisburn, is Mom to nine-month-old Rachael. She says: "I suppose I haven't become a Mom until my 40s because I just hadn't met anyone that I wanted to start a family with. I met my husband Graham quite late and we lived together for a couple of years and got married when I was 40. Read more...

A husband and wife are having an elegant dinner to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. The man leans forward and says softly to his wife, "Dear, there is something that I must ask you. It has always bothered me that our sixth child never quite looked like the rest of our children. "Now I want to assure you that these 50 years have been the most wonderful experience I could have Read more...

You probably have heard that the parents in the reality series "Jon & Kate Plus 8" have decided to divorce. In a recent People magazine interview, Kate Gosselin described the reaction that her twin girls, both 8 years old, had when they were told about the divorce. She explained how both girls reacted differently to the news, with one calmly replying that she knew it was going Read more...

Teens tend to fare better when they live with both biological parents, but when parents frequently argue, young adults can fail to thrive, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Kelly Musick of Cornell University says when their parents argue, teens are significantly more likely than other teens to binge drink and tend to smoke, and their poor school grades are similar to those of their peers who Read more...

WASHINGTON -- A new survey suggests the generation gap in America is the largest since the 1960's. According to the Pew Research Center poll, American adults from young to old disagree increasingly today on social values ranging from religion to relationships. The survey being released Monday highlights a widening age divide after last November's election, when 18- to 29-year-olds voted Read more...

Much to the chagrin of today's parents, adult children are moving back home in droves. They're called "boomerang kids," and unlike their free-spirited counterparts of the 1960s, they tend to be more closely tethered to their parents. The culprits: mounting credit card and student loan debt. Add the high cost of living in some areas, and you have three compelling reasons why Read more...

After raising three kids of their own, Brenda and Bob Broschart decided it was time to give back and help children facing a difficult time of transition. Though Brenda and Bob, in their late 40s and 50s, "could be off doing their own thing" they decided to become foster parents. That was nearly two years ago and the Broschart family, of Northumberland, Pa., has had 15 different Read more...

Dear Dr. Betty, I'm very upset because my son has only been married for about six months and is ready to call it quits. He and his wife both have very bad tempers. There is much jealousy on her part because of things that happened before she came on the scene. What advice should I give him, or should I just let it go and stay out of it? They have a beautiful 19-month-old son and I don't want Read more...

WILKES-BARRE, Penn. -- At age 56, Pittston resident Debbie Destefano is raising children again -- her three grandchildren, Evan, 13, Haley, 6, and Samuel, 1. Ms. Destefano, who works fulltime for Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania, joined about 250 people who attended the Northeastern Pennsylvania Intergenerational Coalition's third annual conference for grandparents raising their Read more...

Teens who have a strong relationship with parents may start drinking later, lessening their risk of developing alcohol problems, Swiss researchers said. Lead author Dr. Emmanuel Kuntsche of the Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems in Lausanne, Switzerland, said past studies suggested that the age at which teens start drinking is a key factor in whether they Read more...

The pregnant woman showed up at the medical center in flip-flops and in tears after walking there to save bus fare. Her boyfriend had lost his job, she told her doctor in Oakland, Calif., and now she wanted to abort what would've been her fourth child. "This was a desired pregnancy -- she'd been getting prenatal care -- but they re-evaluated expenses and decided not to Read more...

Meet your new boss. She's about the same age as your oldest child. Feel your heart drop into the pit of your stomach about the same time that your jaw lands on the keyboard? Welcome to another wrinkle in the continuing saga called maturity! Traditionally, the workplace reflects the natural progression of professional development. Even into our 40s, our superiors are often older than us, while Read more...

A father asks his 8-year-old son if he knows about the birds and the bees. "I don't want to know!" the child says, bursting into tears. "Promise me you won't tell me!" Confused, the father asks what's wrong. "Oh, dad," the boy sobs. "When I was 6, I got the 'There's no Santa' speech. At 7, I got the 'There's no Easter Bunny' speech. Now that I'm 8, Read more...

For Diane Matheson, the financial breaking point of keeping her teen in technology was the $360 her daughter spent to download music and horoscopes onto her cell phone. For "Ellen," who is too embarrassed to use her real name, it was back-to-back cell phone bills totaling $1,100 for her teen daughter's text messages and excess minutes. Back when today's parents struggled to join Read more...