Dear Mr. Dad: My two-year-old daughter constantly wants me to stop what I’m doing and look at her—especially if I’m in the middle of doing something. I try to be encouraging, but it seems to me that a lot of what she’s doing isn’t terribly special. I’m concerned that if I get excited about every...Continue reading
Drug and alcohol abuse in children is mostly preventable through education and parental support. Yet thousands of teenagers, are forced to enter substance abuse treatment each year. How can you help you child avoid this? Talking with them about the risks of drug or alcohol abuse can help inform them on things they may or...Continue reading
We’ve known for a while now that, pound for pound, as a group, infertile men aren’t as healthy as fertile men. It started with research showing that infertile men have higher rates of cancer after infertility than fertile men. Then, it became clear that infertile men harbor more disease than fertile men. The latest data suggests...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: My husband and our boy-girl twins love to wrestle, but I’m worried that all that physical activity and getting revved up will make them—especially our son—see violence as acceptable. Should I be concerned? A: Not at all. In fact, the evidence supports the exact opposite conclusion. In their book, The Art of Roughhousing, Anthony...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: My wife and I are getting divorced. She has filed for sole custody of our two children, ages 2 and 4. I’ve always been avery involved dad and my wife knows how important my kids are to me. I asked why she’s asking for sole custody and she says that her lawyers...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
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