Children and Firesetting: What Should You Do?
The recent story of the mother who had her 5-year-old mock-arrested for setting fires made the many misconceptions about children and firesetting clear to me. I empathize with the fear and frustration this mom must have been feeling, but how she handled the situation was, in my opinion, not the best way to deal with this very dangerous behavior. Children who are preoccupied with fire and firesetting may have many reasons for this type of acting out. They may be angry and looking for attention. Some set fires as a cry for help in a family...
read moreKhloe: Keep Using Birth Control!
Kris Jenner is reportedly pressuring daughter Khloe Kardashian to have a baby pronto. OK, I know it’s the new sexy Hollywood thing to be pregnant. It’s like “pregnant and hot” is the new “skinny!” I mean, when you look like Claudia Schiffer, Kourtney Kardashian and Kendra Wilkinson, I can understand the urge to bare your belly on the cover of Vogue or Us Weekly. The problem is, ladies, that babies only stay inside for nine months — and then you have a lifetime of love and commitment to impart. Your...
read moreLiving after Loss: The Travolta Family
It’s hard to move on after losing something so precious. I should know: I lost my son. I was happy for the Travolta family after learning that Kelly Preston is expecting her third child. The death of a child is devastating and unimaginable for most parents. For John, Kelly and Ella, the loss of Jett will not be fully healed by the birth of a new child — and I am sure they aren’t expecting it to do so. Nothing except time makes the wound from this type of loss hurt less. The pain in your heart as a parent never fully goes...
read moreDads Suffer from Postpartum Depression, Too
More than one in 10 fathers become depressed after the birth of their child, and their postpartum depression is linked to a greater risk of the mother developing depression in that period as well, according to a study published Tuesday. Dr. Michelle Golland, clinical psychologist and momlogic contributor, says, “Interestingly, men’s hormones change both during and after a pregnancy. Their testosterone levels go down, and their estrogen levels go up. We don’t really know why the hormones shift in men, but researchers...
read moreEek! My Son Wanted to Use a Pink Baseball Glove
I recently got a lesson in gender politics from a 9-year-old. Our son, Asher, has recently started to play baseball in a local league. He is 9 years old, and this is a big deal because my son was never interested in sports — to his father’s pain. You see, Michael (my husband) was a big baseball player. He had dreams of going to the major leagues, and probably could have — if his parents had been more directive after high school, instead of allowing him to simply party it up in Margate, New Jersey. If only they had forced him...
read moreDads Who Are Disgusted by Childbirth
I have often said to the couples in my practice that it may be the most difficult time in history to be a father. I believe this because our generation of men had a lot of expectations thrust upon them, but didn’t really have a “movement” to define the change they have experienced as men, husbands and fathers. It’s not that I don’t think the changes are positive, but let’s face it: It doesn’t make them any less challenging. When I think of my own husband, I realize that he is expected to be manly and...
read moreCameron Douglas: Is Fame to Blame?
In asking the judge for leniency in his son Cameron’s drug-trafficking trial, Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas said that his own fame was to blame. Can living in the shadow of a parent’s spotlight be hazardous to a child’s health? On Tuesday, the younger Douglas was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of heroin possession and conspiring to sell crystal meth. In a letter to the judge, dad Michael Douglas wrote, “I have some idea of the pressure of finding your own identity with a famous...
read moreRunaway Mom Left Husband and Toddler to Start a New Life
Tiffany Tehan — the married mother of a 1-year-old who was reported missing on Saturday — was found safe last night in Miami Beach,Florida. She shockingly told police that she left with Tre B. Hutcherson to “start a new life.” After police officers requested she do so, Tehan called her parents and husband to assure them of her safety. “Just to know my little girl is safe is all I needed,” Tehan’s father, Chuck Tabor, said at a press conference today. Tehan told police that she plans to return to Ohio...
read moreWhat?? Some Men DON’T Want Sex?!
Why are people so shocked when husbands don’t want to have sex? It is not such a shock to me. I see it in my office a lot. I see men who are just as tired and exhausted as us women — and being too tired is one of the first reasons why the sexual desire of men can decrease. However, this contradicts our cultural beliefs about men and sex. The myth that men will have sex anytime, anywhere –and with anyone — is simply untrue. The myth about women “having a headache” and trying to get out of sex as often as...
read moreSwinging Married Couples — A Good Thing?
It seems like swinging is the new black. But before you judge swinging married couples, it turns out their behavior may have some benefits. I keep hearing about married couples who “swing” — and I don’t mean at the park! Maybe it began with Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique sharing with Barbara Walters about her “open” marriage. I have also had my share of clients disclosing that they swing within their marriages. So I started to wonder if all this swinging could possibly be a good thing in a...
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