She’s 13 (14 in 10 days) and has been learning English since she was 10. She watches English movies and TV shows without subtitles and fully understands them, has English conversations with adults and mostly uses English sites. Our first language is nothing like English, it’s much more similar to Russian. She wants to learn more languages now – like French, German and Spanish, but I’m not sure if she really is that good at learning them. What do you think?

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We are relatively new foster parents who have only had one placement so far (7 months and on going). We were chosen as adoptive parents for a toddler sibling group which is just what we want but now I’m so scared about what it will be like with 3 little ones and how can we possibly get these kids who we don’t know and who don’t know us to be like family. We haven’t met them yet so it is hard to even imagine.

Any foster or adoptive parents of non newborns, do you have any advice?

I’m thinking it is important to remember that we are the adults and we are guiding these children so we need to act like the adults, not like we don’t know what we are doing.

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Mom and Dad met in college. Both dropped out. They both cheated. Dad has new girlfriend. Mom didn’t like that. Mom tried to keep family together in controversial manner. Dad reacted violently. Mom and Dad are refusing to call one another and haven’t talked since June 08. Dad feels Mom always made sure he saw kids and should continue (phoning, visiting). Not sure what Mom feels but, suspects she may just want a phone call with some explanation and some show of intimacy. Dad not willing to call Mom because he feels she makes it too much about her – - but willing to go to their house and pick them up for weekend. Mom and kids live with grandma. Dad lives with new girlfriend. Girlfriend is responsible, has okay relationship with Mom and kids, and has been a party to Mom and kids staying overnight in the past. Girlfriend now only willing to have kids overnight (tired of the drama). Dad willing to take children on outings as well but, will not go alone (fear of incarceration) and will not go with Mom (tired of drama and what he considers to be selfishness).

Looking for advice for all three parties. Not looking for angry responses. There are children and adults suffering here. All parties are in need of insight from caring individuals.
Unmarried couple, Dad unable to use legal system, female children

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This is a case of the child coming before the spouse, (girl/boyfriend). Is it ever ok to intentionally ignore the needs of a the spouse and put the child so far ahead that the child sleeps in the parents bed (With only 1 parent in the bed with them) or take the child on a night out that was meant for the adults even though there was a babysitter?
I should also note that there is nothing wrong with putting children first. Only need answers for the question above.

REMEMBER: This is not a question of who comes first, that has been established.

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My son (Chris) is 14 and has Asperger’s&Tourette’s, our insurance company has decided to no longer carry his psychiatrist in their network.
In looking for a new psychiatrist, there aren’t any.
All of them in our area only see adults.
So…I call the insurance company and ask them who I’m supposed to take my child to, and get the run around.
"Let me transfer you to so and so"
So and so transfers me to someone else, they transfer me to someone else, and so on and so on. At the end of it, I’m still no closer to getting him help.
With his previous doctor no longer in network, he is no longer on his medication. His tics are becoming very intrusive to his daily functioning. He can’t even carry his lunch tray across the cafeteria. (His current tic is a jerking of his right shoulder)
Anyone have any suggestions? Advice? Knowledge? Anything would be much appreciated.
No Shriner’s anywhere close.

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I have an 18 year old who just started college thiis year, and I must say, I am blessed in that she has always been very focused and very involved with her studies. Even throughout high school, she never gave us any problems. We always raised her to be respectful and to do the right thing. As well as to speak up for herself when she feels she is being disrespected. In her earlier days of schooling, she encountered a number of teachers and school administrators in public school, who were very rude to her and some of the other children. And, whenever there was a problem, my husband and I both went up to the school. So, she learned very early on that just because someone is older than you are, and in a position of authority, it does not mean that they will always do what is right. However, you must understand that we instructed her to be "in order". And, that children should not challenge, correct or disrespect adults or their elders.

Now, she is 18 and a young adult. She recently joined a program where she was assigned a mentor. She felt that she was disrespected by her mentor, and she communicated that and, the mentors attitude is that she does not feel she is on the same level as she, because she is the older adult. But, the law recognizes you as grown at 18. And, my daughter is very well spoken and knows how to communicate without being disrespectful. Me, being a parent, whenever someone disrespects my child, I feel like they are disrespecting me. But, I know that in order for her to gain the necessary confidence and experience in dealing with difficult people, I have to allow her to stand on her own two feet, I know that I am not alone and that there are many parents out there in Yahooland that have encountered some of the very things that I have mentioned.

My question is this: Because she is 18 and a young adult and dealing with this difficult person, if it were your child, and you realized that they still were not getting respected, would you get involved? or just allow them to handle it on their own, and deal with the consequences? I would love to hear your response and to have you share any of your experiences.

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My daughter and her friends are all big readers of the Twilight novels.

For current readers of Twilight, can anyone offer me some idea of why you find the books so intriguing? What is it about them that makes them such a hit?

For parents or other adults familiar with the stories, what are your thoughts about why these books are so popular?

In the interest of disclosure, I’ve read all the Anne Rice stories. I feel pretty familiar with the romanticized vampire myths, but these Twilight stories sound like they might be addressing different dimensions of the myth.

All thoughtful replies are welcome. Glib comments will be ignored/blocked.
Hey, thanks for all the great responses. These are great!

I appreciate the perspective of the young readers who find the books so appealing. One word of caution, however. You don’t need a book to confirm that feeling ordinary is normal. Everyone feels ordinary because none of us is a movie star/rock star. That’s normal.

On the flipside, we’re all amazing creatures with powers and abilities beyond our wildest dreams…we just need some time to practice being who we are in this world in order to discover ourselves enough. That’s called being human.

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You’re dealing with two issues here:

one is religion of course
and the other is parents raising their children (adults over minors)

What is your view on parents making their children attending religious fuctions; preferably if the child is not willing to attend them?

Do parents have the right to control their kids on this matter or does the child have some sort of a say, or the right to refuse the religion of the parents?

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You’re dealing with two issues here:

one is religion of course
and the other is parents raising their children (adults over minors)

What is your view on parents making their children attending religious fuctions; preferably if the child is not willing to attend them?

Do parents have the right to control their kids on this matter or does the child have some sort of a say, or the right to refuse the religion of the parents?

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At a restaurant you will hear loud belches and farts omitting from a table w/o parents reinforcing to either leave the table or at the very least to say "excuse me". Instead, these fool parents join in and make light of the situation with fart jokes.

Daughters and sons alike have vile, filthy mouths in which they not only keep to the inner circles of their friends when no adults around but openly share with adults, disrespecting all and many times most of all their parents.

Younger and younger are children exploring each others bodies, mostly due to the fact that many parents feel compelled to keep up with the latest fashions, making our children look like thugs and prostitots instead of little gentlemen and ladies.

Call me a prude, but how on earth can you be proud of raising such creatures?

Why does it appear that more and more often parents are raising their children to be trashy

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