Dear Mr. Dad. I’m marrying a woman who has two teenagers from her previous marriage. This is my first marriage and, although I like her kids, I’m a little worried about how I’ll do as a stepfather of teens. Any suggestions? A: About half of all marriages are remarriages for at least one of the partners,...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: My beautiful son was born just a few weeks ago and I’m overjoyed. But my wife is a different story. She’s very down in the dumps, barely eats, and has no energy. I know that giving birth took a toll on her, but I’m worried. What should I do? A: About 70% of...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: I’m a little old fashioned, but I believe in manners. When is the right time to teach them to children? A: In the early stages of parenthood, we don’t care much about manners. Our infant’s loud burps (and other bodily sounds) usually elicit laughter, and as kids learn to speak, we consider their...Continue reading
I’m an angry male. O.K., I’ve said it. There is a lot to be angry about. Gun violence continues. Too many of our children live in poverty. Our environment is deteriorating. We are heating the planet beyond its capacity to support human life. Our country is divided. The political system is broken. Families are falling...Continue reading
I’m a therapist specializing in helping men and the families who love them. I’ve been seeing people for more than 40 years, but it has only been in recent years that I’ve come to recognize the importance of the absent father wound on the lives of men and women. When I was five years old, my mid-life...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad. I’ve got 12-year old boy-girl twins. I’ve already noticed that my relationship with them has changed, but I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to stay involved as they enter the teen years. What do they need most from me and how can I gently steer them in the...Continue reading
How do you handle risk? Some believe it’s part of the game of life, found everywhere in different doses. Unavoidable but often knowable. Others fear its existence, preferring the familiar and secure. As Oscar Wilde said: “It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.” Where do you stand on risk? Take...Continue reading
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” Dr. Seuss I’ve been asked to report to the fertility community about where we are with man-made sperm. Although we’re not where we’d like to be, it is certainly not for lack of trying. Around...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: Almost every day, I see people behind the wheel talking on cell phones, and to be honest, it scares me. How big a problem is this and is there anything we can about it? A: Distracted driving is a huge problem. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, https://www.nhtsa.gov), there are three...Continue reading
Male primary school teachers have become an endangered species. While pre-school and kindergarten gender disparities are worst, where women comprise 97.7 percent of teachers, elementary and middle schools aren’t significantly different. Between 1987 and 2012, the percentage of male teachers declined in every measured period, falling to 23.7% of all teachers. The future gender uniformity was exhibited in a...Continue reading