Q. I’m the mom of three children—two boys ages nine and six, and a four-year-old daughter. I wonder if I am unreasonably consumed by fear and anxiety about my kids’ safety and well-being? This issue is starting to be a source of friction…

Q. When I was growing up, we had a “chore chart” on the wall of our kitchen that listed all the housework each child in the family would do during the week. But my kids have no time for chores because they are completely consumed with their…

Q. My 13-year-old daughter is begging me to be allowed to date. She claims all the other kids in her eighth grade class are allowed to go out with their boyfriends and girlfriends, and she is the only one who isn’t permitted to socialize…

Q. My dad is in his late 80s and has been in steady decline since my mom passed away a few years ago. My sisters and I all moved away from our hometown and our only brother, who lives just down the street from our father, is his primary…

Q. We’re only a month into the new school year, and already we’re off to a rocky start with my son’s second grade teacher. Each day when I pick my son up from school, I find myself on the defense as “Miss Brown” complains about my son’s…

Q: What’s with babysitters these days? I have hired at least a half-dozen teenaged girls in the past two years, and the issues that have arisen have led me to conclude that it’s not worth the trouble for my husband and me to go out for an…

Q. Whenever we ask our 13-year-old son what he wants to be when he grows up, he says, “All I want to be is rich.” Our son’s fixation on money and materialism bothers us. He never talks about how he’ll achieve his goal of wealth or what…

Q. How do you suggest defending against the culture’s assault on childhood when it comes via an “inside job?” My soon-to-be-ex-wife previously saw and resisted it, but in recent years she has pretty much given into it rather than fight it.…

Q.Recently, a boy at my daughter’s Catholic high school revealed to his lunch table buddies that he is gay. The group was caught off guard, but not surprised. After a few days, the novelty of this news wore off and the general feeling on…

Q. My husband and I are in our early 30s, and he grew up playing and enjoying video games. It’s a hobby he has continued, and now he and our sons, ages 11 and nine, spend hours in the evening and on weekends huddled together in our basement…