Category Archives for "Parenting"

0 How kids can resolve the generation gap

Tanni asks: What should children do to reduce the generation gap between adults and children?

That’s a fascinating question. Lots of our readers probably don’t know the term “Generation Gap.” It showed up in America in the 1960s when people noticed that parents and kids were disagreeing about way more things than ever before. Of course there’d always been disagreement about things like homework and chores, but now the young people were listening to music their parents couldn’t Continue reading

0 How to resolve lying to your parents.

Lehshan asks: I’m feeling nervous right now. I’m lying to my mother all the time. I didn’t enroll in my summer class. What should I do?

Okay, let me be clear. I have a very long nose. So I’m not making fun of anyone’s nose when I say that the wonderful old story “Pinocchio” really had it together, with the idea that when you tell a lie it just grows bigger and bigger till it’s as clear as the nose on your face. Your job, if you’re dealing with having lied, is to somehow stop it, and resolve the problem, so you can move on from it.

See, dogs don’t lie. We don’t know how to. So we never can get caught in one. We get caught at other things – digging out of our yard, disobeying, stealing food off the Continue reading

0 What new challenges do today’s five-year-olds face?

Sonia asks: Can you tell me what the challenges are, that have to be overcome by today’s kids of 5 years of age and above?

Wow, Sonia, that’s a huge question! I mean, there are a ton of things that most five-year-olds have overcome: most of them have learned to walk and talk and use the toilet and a lot of other more detailed things. But the answer to your question is: Everything Else! Kids 5 and above have to learn social skills and multiplication; how to ride a bike, drive a car, and analyze history; what to do on a date and how to write correctly in the subjunctive tense (okay I’ll be honest, this dog has absolutely no idea what the subjunctive tense is; it’s just something I Continue reading

2 What to do when your parents disapprove of your boyfriend, especially after he’s hit you.

Bunny Asks: I am sixteen. Last May I had a baby. Yes I know it was wrong and everything, but the father and I really love each other – we have now been together for nearly 3 years… So the problem comes in with my parents… I don’t know what to do about them. They forced me to do adoption 🙁 I wanted to keep him… and so did my boyfriend. We were ready to take responsibility for our actions. Then about 3 mouths after his birth my boyfriend and I had a big fight, and he left bruises on me. My parents never asked me if I was ok, they were just glad cause they thought he was out of my life. We broke up for 7 months, till he realized what he had done. He’s the type of guy that actually learns from his mistakes, he felt so bad about it. We really love each other and really take our relationship seriously, but my parents won’t let me see him, and I can’t take it any more! I have been so depressed lately I don’t even eat. I’ve tried asking them if I can see him, but they won’t budge!!!! Please help!! (and i don’t mind if you post this, I have nothing that I am ashamed of.)

Hi Bunny –

I’m so very very glad you wrote me. You are dealing with a gigantic number of issues here, and some of them are as big as you’ll ever deal with in your life, so it’s terribly important that you talk about all of them.

I’ll offer what I can, but the first thing I want you to do is to PROMISE me that you’ll find someone professional you can talk with about all these. No advice website (written by a dog or anyone else) can replace real talking with a real professional. I’m a big fan of therapists, but if there’s something you’d prefer (a religious leader, a teacher) that could be okay too. If you’re still in school, they probably have a counselor or someone who could help, or at least someone who could point you toward someone who can. If you don’t know anywhere else to look, let me know what city or town you live in, and I’ll do some research to see if I can help find someone for you.

But in the meantime, let me suggest a few things. Okay, first, you say, “it was wrong” to have a Continue reading

0 How to find friends your age online.

biros_littlemoon asks: I have a “HOTMAIL” account , but I don’t have many friends there. How can I make friends my age on Hotmail? I am 8 years old.

Hi biros_littlemoon –

Thanks for writing, and for joining my Pack!

I’m not sure I can help you much with your question, though. As I understand it, Hotmail is just a server on the Internet, kind of like a phone company. So it’s not really a way or place to make friends.

There are online groups where you can make friends, often with people with shared interests (like you just became a friend of mine!), but this is something you should definitely be very Continue reading

0 How to deal with a child not listening to you and throwing tantrums.

Jhonny asks: I have a seven year old boy. My problem is that he does not listen to me at all. Whenever he gets up after sleep, he cries a lot for no reason. I am really fed up. For every single thing he throws tantrums. Please help…

Hi Jhonny –

Thanks for writing me about your seven-year-old, and all the trouble you’re having. Being a parent is such incredibly hard work, at the best of times. And at the worst, it’s just about impossible!

So there are a lot of things I can suggest, but first, I should say something here. Now I’m about as great a dog as has ever lived. I’m kind and thoughtful and well-behaved and considerate and I just make Handsome’s life better all the time. But before this, I was… well, I was just Continue reading

0 How it feels when you move or change your home

Nasim asks: Have you ever wanted to change your home?

Hi Nasim –
Well, there are two ways I could read your question. Do you mean have I ever wanted to move into a different home, or have I ever wanted to do changes to the home I have now? Although the answer is kind of the same.
If it’s the first, then my first answer is YEAH!!! When I was a puppy, I spent about five days and nights living in a dog pound, and I wanted to get out of Continue reading

0 How to find a long-lost best friend

Wisky asks: I was having a best friend, but now I am not in touch with her; what should I can do to contact with her?

Thanks Wisky!
You know, I’m not sure if you mean that you and your friend have just lost contact, or if something bad happened to your friendship. If it’s just that time and distance have separated you, then you’re in luck – all you need to do is to sniff her out. Do you know where she is? If not, you’ve got something great that no one had until about ten years ago, which is the Internet. If you did a search for her, you might be able to find out where she is (if you don’t know how to do that, just ask a parent or older friend to help you). You could also do the “old-school” method by phoning Information and asking them to help you her.
But if it’s the other way, if something has hurt your friendship, then I’ve got to admit: this is one of those areas that we dogs just never Continue reading

1 Fun things for kids to do on a bus trip

Bow Wow asks: This saturday me and my friends are going on a trip,in a bus…how can we have fun inside the bus?

Hi Bow Wow –

Well the easy answer is that the most fun thing you can do on a bus is
to bring a dog along! Or better yet, lots and lots of dogs! Just
imagine how fun a long bus trip could be if you had, I don’t know, 67
puppies running around! It’d be great! They’d be playing, licking
everyone, nipping at your ankles, tug-of-war-ing, all great for the
first ten minutes or so. Then they’d start… uh oh… throwing
up… and Continue reading

1 Why we get so hurt by those we love.

Duaa asks: “Why sometimes do we feel hurt by our dear ones and cannot smile? What to do then?”

Oh Duaa, I wish I had an easy answer for that!  The more we love someone, the more they can hurt us.  That’s part of what love is – when we open our hearts to someone, we let them in, with all their faults.  So if someone we love tends to say harsh things when they get angry, those mean words will hurt us more.  And if someone we love tends to pull away when Continue reading