Family Almanac with Marguerite Kelly

Get Marguerite Kelly's latest advice and view previous columns

A touchy preteen needs a full physical before she gets therapy
A preteen with a temper probably needs talk therapy, but she should visit a physician and maybe an allergist first.
 
A talented child, her jealous siblings and her broke parents
(The Washington Post, August 7, 2012; 10:59 AM)
 
Avoiding the summer slide
(The Washington Post, July 31, 2012; 10:21 AM)
 
An aging mother and her estranged daughter
(The Washington Post, July 24, 2012; 9:57 AM)
 
Family Almanac: Dad’s secret son
(The Washington Post, July 16, 2012; 2:37 PM)
 
How a stay-at-home mother can handle her controlling husband
(The Washington Post, July 10, 2012; 3:11 PM)
 
How to monitor an online ‘friend’
(The Washington Post, July 2, 2012; 10:14 AM)
 
Advice for potty training a reluctant boy
(The Washington Post, June 27, 2012; 10:14 AM)
 
Setting fair limits on an over-texting teen
(The Washington Post, June 12, 2012; 3:25 PM)
 
What every college freshman needs to know
(The Washington Post, May 22, 2012; 4:47 PM)
 
A ‘lazy’ teenager really isn’t
(The Washington Post, May 15, 2012; 4:58 PM)
 
How to know if your child has a learning disability
(The Washington Post, May 8, 2012; 1:56 PM)
 
Good relationship between your child and her birth parents
(The Washington Post, May 1, 2012; 8:23 AM)
 
Potty-training a stubborn 3-year-old
(The Washington Post, April 24, 2012; 8:59 AM)
 
How to protect your child from bullies
(The Washington Post, April 17, 2012; 9:34 AM)
 
Ideas for filling an empty nest
(The Washington Post, April 10, 2012; 11:01 AM)
 
How parents can prepare their kids to fly alone
(The Washington Post, April 3, 2012; 9:57 AM)
 
Advice for feeding solid foods to a baby
(The Washington Post, March 27, 2012; 9:44 AM)
 
Is it time to break up with your mom?
(The Washington Post, March 20, 2012; 11:29 AM)
 
Helping a child with the transition to middle school
(The Washington Post, March 12, 2012; 9:30 AM)
 
How to tell a child that his pet has died, and other teachable moments
(The Washington Post, March 6, 2012; 10:40 AM)
 
How to keep a homebody kid occupied
(The Washington Post, February 28, 2012; 8:26 AM)
 
Training a 10-month-old baby to sleep through the night
(The Washington Post, February 21, 2012; 2:02 PM)
 
Dealing with a mother who shares secrets and then lies about it
(The Washington Post, February 14, 2012; 9:16 AM)
 
Helping a child who’s averse to good hygiene
(The Washington Post, February 7, 2012; 12:16 PM)
 
What to tell kids about an alcoholic relative
(The Washington Post, January 31, 2012; 8:07 AM)
 
Facebook humiliation: The wrong kind of punishment for a child
(The Washington Post, January 24, 2012; 8:54 AM)
 
How to deal with a divisive stepson
(The Washington Post, January 17, 2012; 8:15 AM)
 
A fearful 7-year-old who needs professional help
(The Washington Post, January 9, 2012; 9:23 AM)
 
Keeping a toddler in her bed
(The Washington Post, January 3, 2012; 11:21 AM)
 
Helping a kid who keeps losing things
(The Washington Post, December 20, 2011; 10:07 AM)
 
Holiday gift guide: toys and games
(The Washington Post, December 13, 2011; 12:37 PM)
 
How to help kids think outside the box
(The Washington Post, December 7, 2011; 9:08 PM)
 
When a teenager loses her father and shuts down
(The Washington Post, November 28, 2011; 11:48 AM)
 
When a grown daughter is mean to her mother
(The Washington Post, November 21, 2011; 10:47 AM)
 
Soothing a crying child
(The Washington Post, November 15, 2011; 6:22 AM)
 
Helping mom stay independent
(The Washington Post, November 7, 2011; 12:16 PM)
 
When you think parents are neglecting their child
(The Washington Post, October 31, 2011; 12:38 PM)
 
The college grad who won’t grow up
(The Washington Post, October 24, 2011; 2:58 PM)
 
Family Almanac: Is one close friend enough for a teen?
(The Washington Post, October 17, 2011; 11:16 AM)
 
Family Almanac: Helping a moody mom
(The Washington Post, October 10, 2011; 10:17 AM)
 
Calming a child’s fears
(The Washington Post, October 3, 2011; 3:14 PM)
 
Divorce advice: Deciding how soon to separate, and how to tell the kids
(The Washington Post, September 27, 2011; 9:15 AM)
 
When a girl doesn’t want to play with her friends
(The Washington Post, September 19, 2011; 10:24 AM)
 
Advice on a quirky child
(The Washington Post, September 12, 2011; 5:30 PM)
 
A wife worries her husband won’t be a nurturing father
(The Washington Post, September 7, 2011; 5:56 PM)
 
Terrible twos times two: Advice on how to get unruly twins to behave
(The Washington Post, August 29, 2011; 2:20 PM)
 
Should parents buy a Nintendo DS for a 9-year-old?
(The Washington Post, August 22, 2011; 1:30 PM)
 
How to stop a toddler from biting
(The Washington Post, August 15, 2011; 3:42 PM)
 
How to help a 5-year-old be more confident and socialize
(The Washington Post, August 2, 2011; 9:18 AM)