Manhood today is maligned and misunderstood. Some believe maleness itself is inherently destructive and should be eliminated. In his book, The End of Manhood, John Stoltenberg says that the notion of manhood “is a sham, a trap, and those who would redeem it are kidding themselves, for manhood is a mask, incompatible with truly human selfhood.” Others...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: I’m a new dad and have been reading to my baby. But I’ve started to notice that most of the parents in children’s books are moms. There are some books where dad is the main parent, but most of the time we’re not there at all. My wife says that the media...Continue reading
I’ve written a lot about male anger including two books, The Irritable Male Syndrome and Mr. Mean: Saving Your Relationship From the Irritable Male Syndrome and a recent article, “Are You Living With an Angry Man?” I recently received an email from Ann Silvers, author of Abuse OF Men BY Women: It Happens, it Hurts, and It’s Time to Get Real About...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: I’m thinking of giving my 18-month-old my old iPad. She loves playing with it and I think she should have her own. My husband disagrees. What do you think? A: I’d hold off for a while. There’s a lot of information out there on technology’s effect on children, but very little on toddlers...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: My 13-year old son told my husband and me that his gender identity is “non-binary” and that he wants to start using different pronouns—“they” and “their” instead of “he” and “him.” We asked whether that means he’s gay, but he just laughed and said that there’s a big difference between gender identity...Continue reading
The Case of the Month is an actual patient of The Turek Clinic They sat down in front of me, both a little giddy about the idea of having another child. “I have boys and she has one too. We’d like to have one more, hopefully a girl,” he said. She nodded in agreement. They were...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: This may sound a little stupid, but I’m not sure how to be a more involved dad. I work a lot and my wife is a stay-at-home mom. She seems to have everything under control all the time, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a role for me. What can...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: My 8-year old still wets her bed at night. She’s really embarrassed about it and doesn’t want to have sleepovers, either at our home or—especially—anywhere else. She’s really stressed about it, which I imagine is just making the problem worse. How common is it for an 8-year old to be wetting her...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: My husband and I have always tried to emphasize good study habits to our 13-year old daughter. But no matter what we say or how many times we say it, she goes into her room, closes the door, and plays on her phone or texts her friends instead of doing her homework....Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad. We have an almost two-year old who keeps us pretty busy. Recently, though, my wife has been talking about having a second child. I’m honestly not that thrilled about the idea. We barely have enough time to take care of ourselves and our baby. How are we supposed to add a fourth...Continue reading