Navigating Different Parenting Styles by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: My husband and I share the same values and goals but we parent differently and I’ve noticed when we are both with the kids they act up more. I get extremely stressed out – partly because he gets annoyed easily at regular kid stuff (being loud), and partly because he is less vigilant about safety than I am … [Read more...]

Preschooler Lying by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: My 3-year-old daughter has been telling lies lately. Outlandish ones and small ones, often for no apparent reason. My husband and I disagree on how to handle it, but both are afraid of this behavior getting worse if we don’t curb it. … [Read more...]

Launching Your Teen by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: My daughter is a bright, respectful, ambitious 16-year-old who just will not to do some of the basic things she’s going to have to do when she’s at college in a couple of years. She takes school seriously but if we didn’t wake her up in the morning she’d miss her first class entirely. She wouldn’t be caught dead looking … [Read more...]

Sibling Rivalry by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: My kids are 12 and 14 and do not get along. They bicker all the time and sometimes it gets physical. They’ve always been this way and I’ve never found a good way to make it stop for long. It’s incredibly frustrating but also sad – I had hoped they would be good friends like my older sister and I are. Is there anything I can do … [Read more...]

Introducing Your New Partner to Your Kids by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: After divorcing my husband a few months ago, I met a really wonderful man who I want to introduce to my children. I’m sure there are right ways and wrong ways to go about this and I want to set them up for a good … [Read more...]

Preschooler Sleep by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: Help! My 3 year-old won’t let me leave his room when it’s time to sleep. He keeps coming out and won’t settle into bed unless my husband or I are in there with him. Sometimes it only takes 10 minutes for him to fall asleep but sometimes it’s longer and we often fall asleep ourselves. We haven’t been able to figure out what the … [Read more...]

In Defense of Roughhousing by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: I’m a mom of two young boys who seem intent on killing each other. Every time I turn around they’re rolling around on the floor in a tangle or jumping on each other. I feel like I spend half my time warning them to stop or pulling them apart. My husband tells me that they’re “just playing” and he even initiates it … [Read more...]

Talking to Children About the Meaning of Holidays by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: My young daughter uses “Christmas” to refer Santa and getting presents. She hollers, “I see Christmas!” when we pass lights on trees or pictures of Rudolph. I don’t want her to go through life knowing only the commercialism of the holiday. But we’re not very religious and we don’t go to church … [Read more...]

Teaching Gratitude During the Holidays by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: I have two kids (3 and 7) and as we enter end of the year holidays I start feeling uncomfortable that they act entitled to a lot of gifts. I have to remind them to say thank you and they are incredibly annoyed when I push them to write thank-you notes. I don’t want to get preachy with them because I know … [Read more...]

Activity Transitions by: Lepage Associates Psychological Services Q: My child is almost 3 and suddenly having a hard time with transitions. My little one will fret before going to a very much loved activity saying, "I do not want to go there!" for a full 30 minutes before, then is enjoying it so much when I arrive to pick up and thus does not want to leave with me at the end. I'm a little … [Read more...]