My boy with two homes
For 16 years, between the time I split up with my son's mother and the time he left school and moved in with me full-time, I was what might be termed a quarter-time dad. Although I was a parent to …
Category: Parenting
Helping stepparents avoid the big mistakes
As anyone who’s been a stepparent can attest, it can be challenging, frustrating, confusing, and rewarding. And all that work deserves a little recognition. So, in honor of National Stepfamily Day (bet you didn’t know it’s today!), we reached out …
Psychiatric experts assess parental alienation
The American Psychiatric Association has a hot potato on its hands as it updates its catalog of mental disorders — whether to include parental alienation, a disputed term conveying how a child's relationship with one estranged parent can be poisoned …
What to do when your children reject you after divorce
Few events are as devastating as your children rejecting you after divorce. Sometimes it seems as if nothing you do can get through to your children. The following steps may help guide you through this time. Take care of yourself …
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Parenting, Part II: First weeks can be tough for college kids
A couple million sets of U.S. parents just realized a dream: They sent sons and daughters off to colleges. Most immediately set their sights on a new dream: attending graduation ceremonies at those colleges. But right about now, some are …
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Surviving hard economy in Michigan, more dads stay at home
Each morning, Paul Ikonen of Waterford bids his wife good-bye as she leaves for work at Mutual of Omaha in Novi. He then turns his attention to his own job, where he answers to a boss who is both demanding …
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The children who have two homes
It is Friday afternoon and Ned and Nancy Flaherty are being picked up from school by their mother, Kathleen. They look much like any other family. Nancy, 11, is chatting about swimming and Ned, 13, is complaining about homework. But …
A Kid's Guide to Divorce
Do you know someone whose parents are divorced? Are your parents divorced? Chances are that you can answer yes to one — or maybe both — of those questions. And you are not alone! Read on to find out what …
How to take on the task of being a stepmother
There are so many stories about the evil step-mom and/or the step-kids who try to run her off. So what are you to do? It would be much easier if there was a one size fits all manual to becoming …
Ever-evolving technology requires parents to be vigilant about children's participation in social media
Do you know where your children are? There's a chance that everyone else does, thanks to the ever-growing number of mobile phone applications that can pinpoint a cellphone user's location. One of them is the new Facebook Places feature. Some …