My eight-year old son is anxious about meeting people. He used to be very shy at six, but we slowly got him out of his shell. But after the lockdown, he has again become very timid and reserved. Please help!
— Leena Saha, Kolkata
Many children are experiencing difficulty in interacting with peers and friends after almost […]
-Sue Atkins I am a parent of a three-year-old who is overwhelmed by the infodemic around me. How do I stay well-informed about the pandemic while keeping anxiety in check? I am so nervous and scared all the time that I fear I’m passing my anxiety on to my child and husband.
— Shalini K, Chennai
(Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012))
For the past few months, my 13-year-old daughter is having a hard time falling asleep. We have tried many sleep inducing palliatives such as playing quiet music, reading books, no TV or […]
Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
My 11-year-old son has a short attention span and cannot concentrate on any activity for more than 15 minutes. I find it hard to motivate him to finish his homework. Please help! […]
– Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
My 14-year-old daughter doesn’t speak properly with me. Every conversation ends with her becoming angry, irritated, and agitated. It’s not about one particular issue. She feels I don’t understand her […]
– Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
Of late my four-year-old daughter is making a fuss about eating her vegetables. She throws tantrums including throwing away her plate. I can’t understand what has caused this change in […]
– Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
My son is 11 years old and still wets his bed during night time. I ensure that he goes to the toilet before he sleeps and have also made him […]
– Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
During the pandemic lockdown, my son has lost interest in academics. He is in class XI and despite my best efforts he shows no motivation to pursue schoolwork seriously. Please advise.
– Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
My two children are bored with online school. I believe their full potential is not being realised, as they do limited study, with no sports and co-curricular activities. How can I […]
– Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
Schools may reopen soon. My elderly in-laws live with us and we are worried there is a risk that our children may catch the Covid-19 virus in school and infect them. […]
(Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012))
I gave birth to a baby boy six months ago and since then my elder child who is ten years old, has been behaving strangely. She has begun to throw tantrums, won’t […]
– Sue Atkins is a UK-based internationally recognised parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author of Parenting Made Easy — How to Raise Happy Children (2012)
Ever since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in March, my teenage daughter is experiencing sleeping difficulty. She wakes up many times during the night, often screams and runs into my […]
During the past three months and still continuing lockdown, my teenage son (14) has become very careless about personal grooming. He doesn’t comb his hair or brush his teeth regularly. He wakes up just in time to attend his online classes. How do I motivate him to practise basic personal hygiene? — Darshina Moorthy, Mumbai
What’s the right age to have the necessary good and bad touch talk with children? Recently, my child’s school announced that it was organising such a talk for kindergarten children. — Roshni C, Chennai
Although children are most vulnerable between the ages of seven and 13, there are sexual predators who target victims as early as […]
My 14-year-old son gets sweaty palms before an exam. The condition became so intense before a recent exam that he soaked through ten tissue papers. How can I help him? — Riyanna Kapoor, Mumbai
Medically, the condition of excessively sweaty palms is known as palmar hyperhidrosis. It can be caused by emotional stress and/or the body […]
My six-year-old daughter still throws tantrums. I thought she would outgrow them after four years, but they continue. The scene of the tantrums is usually outdoors, in a supermarket or someone’s house. It’s becoming very difficult to manage her outbursts. Please help. — Priya Tucker, Pune
Tantrums come in all shapes and sizes. Older children can […]
My husband was recently diagnosed with fourth stage cancer. The doctors say he is likely to live only for another six-eight months. We have two boys aged 15 and 13. I am in a dilemma whether I should reveal the news about their father’s imminent death to them. I feel they are too young to […]
My son (11) has always been a slow learner. All his development stage markers have been delayed. He has considerable difficulty in putting down his thoughts on paper to write essays. Because of extreme stress, of late he has started throwing violent tantrums when writing. He tears up the paper and starts throwing things. I […]
My teenage daughters keep their wardrobes untidy and messy. Their main excuse is that they don’t have time to clean-up, as one is preparing for the class X board exams and the second for professional entrance exams. Should I insist on their tidying up or wait until their exams are over? — Prameela Rao, […]
My 16-year-daughter has been mischievous from young age. There was rarely a day when we didn’t get complaints from her school teachers and friends! But ever since she turned 15, she has become quiet, withdrawn and reticent. She is good at her studies but I am disturbed by this sudden behaviour change. Is this normal?
My daughter has just completed her Plus Two (science with maths) but did not get admission into the college of her choice. She is not very happy with the other options available and wants to take a gap year. Will a gap year help her or will it be a disadvantage? — Shyama C, Bangalore
I’m a teacher in a school which has recently enrolled a few children with special needs. We want ‘normal’ children to interact with them but time and again, their attitude towards children with special needs is callous and insensitive. Even my own daughter recently called one of them “weird” even though I have been counselling […]
Our family is facing a temporary financial crisis and my husband has asked us to reduce household expenses for two months. My 11-year-old son has misunderstood the situation as dire and has become non-communicative. Should I consult a professional counsellor? — Preethi Chaddha, Chandigarh
For children, money-related and concepts such as “reducing expenses” are abstract and […]
My 17- year-old daughter’s class XII board exam results were not up to my husband’s expectation. Now she is preparing for college entrance exams. During her preparation, which is supervised by my husband, if she slips up, he yells at her and reminds her of her poor exam performance. I cannot change my husband’s attitude […]
My 13-year-old daughter wears thick spectacles for myopia. She hates wearing them because she is ridiculed by her classmates and is insisting on undergoing corrective laser surgery. But friends tell me that such procedures should be performed only after an individual crosses the 18 years age threshold. What’s your advice? — Balakrishnan Nair, Kochi
My seven-year-old son stammers. I was advised to wait and watch. But it has only become worse. We are trying speech and language therapy sessions but there’s little improvement. My son too is becoming frustrated. Please advise. — Shruti Prasad, Bangalore
Stuttering aka stammering is a speech disorder which affects 5 percent of children. But most […]
My six-year-old daughter is cheerful and friendly with children in the neighbourhood. But in school she is shy and reserved and doesn’t make new friends. Is there any way I can help her overcome her introversion?— Vinola Thomas, Trivandrum
Young children need time to blend into a new peer group. Typically, a child’s development process involves […]
My daughter is in class V but is already talking about “being in love with” a boy in her class. She is also experiencing “love failure” and gets depressed when he doesn’t talk with her. I am shocked with this disclosure and want to give her a good beating and knock some sense into her. […]
I was informed by my son’s school that he has dysgraphia. He is in class I. I think this is too early a stage to make this diagnosis. He does experience some difficulty holding a pencil but I’m wondering if the school is jumping to conclusions too soon. Should I consult a child psychologist or […]
My 14-year-old son is being bullied in school as well as on social media by few of his classmates and some senior students. So in effect, it feels like he is being bullied 24/7. He has become more aggressive. How can I help him? — Sheetal Malik, Pune
Bullying is a very complex problem and as parents, […]
I recently got so mad at my children for incessantly playing computer games that I flung their Sony Play Station 4 against the wall. My husband believes I have trouble with anger management. But this is the first time that I have had such an outburst. Is there any way I can make up and […]
My husband has a transferable job and we keep moving cities every two-three years. It is difficult for my 12-year old son to adjust in school as he takes time to make friends. I feel his life is becoming unstable because of these frequent transfers. How can I help him adjust and make friends faster […]
I have two daughters — the older is in class VIII and younger in class II. My older daughter is very possessive about her young sister. When we go out, she always hovers around her and stops her from playing with friends including cousins. When I intervene, she throws tantrums and is very tiresome. Do […]
My nine-year-old son sucks his thumb while sleeping, watching television and/or when he is trying to concentrate on tasks. I have received complaints from his school teachers but I am unable to motivate him to drop this habit. — Lakshmi Reddy, Vishakapatnam
Thumb sucking is one of the hardest habits to break in children because it is […]
My 14-year-old son, now in class IX, was very academically inclined and performed above average until class VII. Last year though, he became tardy and does only last-minute study, his average exam score has come down to 50 percent. Please advise. — Benetta Lobo, Bangalore
Adolescence is a period of intense physical and psychological change, a time […]
My 14-year-old son plays on his smartphone and/or PlayStation late into nights. I have taken away his PlayStation but his sleep problem persists — he falls asleep late at night and consequently doesn’t get enough rest. How I can help him follow a healthy sleep routine? — Lakshmi A, Chennai
Recent research indicates that gadget addiction […]
My 14-year-old daughter is furious because I have denied her a smartphone until she turns 16, even though most of her friends own one. She uses our home computer — placed in the dining room — to access the social media. I worry that buying her a phone will mean unlimited access to the Internet. […]
My son, who is in class VIII, is anxious all the time. He worries about everything and is anxious if I am not home when he returns from school. Moreover, he keeps asking questions about death, poverty, crime, etc. Do we need to see a counsellor? — Sheela K, Chennai
In adolescence children experience major physical, […]
The Delhi High Court has refused to impose a blanket ban on smartphones in schools stating that it is an “undesirable and unworkable” approach. Justice .....Read More
- Reshma Ravishanker The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has formed a committee for integration of Artificial Intelligence into education in line with the .....Read More
