Brooke

My son has started telling me he doesn't love me when he gets in trouble and just randomly. Even if it is his dad who is disciplining him, he will tell me he doesn't love me anymore. I know he is just trying to push my patience, but it still hurts to hear that. I do my best to be a good parent and have fun with him every day. I don't let him get away with things, and discipline him when needed.

What should I do or say to him when he tells me that he doesn't love me anymore? I have tried telling him that it is not nice to say that and I ask him if he would like it if I said that to him. He says he wouldn't like that, but then he starts saying it again. I try not to get upset in front of him but its getting really hurtful.

He is 5 years old and will start kindergarden this year.

How do you choose to discipline your children? What do you do? Does it work better than other things you have tried?

And the big one, how do you feel about spankings? Do you use them? Why or Why Not? Where you spanked as a child? Did that affect your choice?

I am the mother of two, 5 and 8. Recently our kids have responded to talking about how something they are doing is making us feel. We have a "warning" system that gives them 1-2 chances to stop and then they get a time out. We get on their level and ask what they have done wrong and tell them how it made us feel. So far they have been responding Our family has gone through a lot and they have been testing us at every turn. Other family members say this will only work for so long, so we are looking for other ideas to incorporate to keep the peace that we have right now.

My husband and I are about to rent our first home together. The house we rented is in need of some minor repair such as paint on the inside and outside of the house, fixing some of the floor boards, and some yard maintenance. Our landlord gave us verbal permission to paint the inside of the home. My question is does the repairs we agreed upon need to be in our rental agreement?

My sister has never been the best mom to my 12 year old niece who lives with her father. My sister used to leave my niece with random people and basically emotionally abused her. Normally my niece visits my sister over the summer, but this year my niece (who I've alway been close with) chose to visit me due to some past things my sister had done to her. my niece has always been confused about some things that went on with her mom when she was younger and had heard stories of her mom from multiple people so when she got here she naturally had a lot of questions as well as some of her own negative views on her mother. Ilsitened to her questions but mostly answered that it was a hard time for her mom and to just love her mom. Well my sister asked my niece about the things we had discussed when I drove her out to visit my sister, and my sister backfired by saying hurtful things about me to my niece and told her she shoud never visit or speak to me. After which my sister sent me with two of her other kids ages 2 and 4 for three weeks. Now my sister won't even call to talk to her kids and is being totally stand offish.

So I guess my question is should I confront my sister about the things she said about me? I feel very angry and upset, but my sister is the kind of person who will never admit a mistake. She will also use her kids as a tool against me and won't let me se or speak to them if I really piss her off.

My daughter just turned 8. For the last 2 months we have be having a lot of issues with her and using the restroom. She has been peeing in her pants, refusing to wipe after using the restroom, and constantly smells like poop. I thought something was medically wrong so I took her to the doctor, but she came out with a clean bill of health. I have bought her books And explained to her the importance of personal hygiene and how to keep herself clean, but it doesn't seem to get through. I'm afraid she is going to give herself some kind of infection or the kids at her school will start making fun of her. I have bought her wet wipes for the restroom and she won't use them. Does anyone have any ideas of what is going on or what else I can do to help her out?

I have a 110 lb great dane mix named Poker. Today, Poker was lying with my husband on our bed and when I came into the room, Poker acted normal and waged his tail. I then patted on the edge of the bed asking Poker to move so I could get in. He immediately started showing me his teeth and growling at me. I told him in a stern voice "No Poker" and he stopped. So I patted on the bed again, and he did the same thing with his teeth and growling. I then pointed to the door and told him to go on and he growled of me and ran off the bed and went outside. Then about 2 hours later, my french bulldog walked by Poker and he started showing his teeth and standing the hair up on his back. He also did this to our english bulldog. Poker is 7 years old, and is generally very well behaved and friendly. He is not the "alpha" dog in the house and has never been aggressive towards me or the other dogs before.

I have never had any issues with this dog before. He was my dog before I met my husband, so he is usually protective of me. I don't want to give him away, but I have a child and don't want to risk it. Is there anything I can do to prevent this kind of behavior? Is there anything I should do as far as discipline if it happens again?

My son turned four in January. Currently his "chores" consist of making his bed, cleaning up his room, helping fold and hang his clothes, and clearing his plate from the table when done eating. He also likes to help me out when I am cleaning the house. My mother thinks that I do not give him enough responsibilities around the house. My mother-in-law thinks that I ask him to do too much. What are some things that a 4 year old can handle doing? I feel like my son has enough to learn and the things I ask him to do are not out of the question.

I am 21 years old and currently engaged to a man who is very good to me. He is the perfect guy in almost every aspect and it is hard to picture my life without him. However, he has 2 children, ages 4 and 7, from his previous marriage. I love his kids, however, my family is constantly reminding me of my age and how tough it will be. Their biological mother is not involved, so I have taken on the role as Mom to them while my fiance is working and at school. At first this was an okay situation, but now I am starting to question whether or not I made the best choice for me. I went from going out all the time and getting to do what I want, to pretty much a stay at home mom. I do not want to hurt these kids or my fiance, but I also don't want to feel like I am constantly loosing who I am to make him and his kids happy. I know if there weren't children involved I would be ready to marry him tomorrow, but the fact is there are children who complicate the situation. I understand my fiance comes as a packaged deal and there is no changing that. Are there any suggestions of what I can do to stop feeling like I might be making a mistake marrying this man?

I have a 4 year old son. About 2 weeks ago he went and stayed with my mother in law for 4 nights while my husband and I attended a wedding out of town. He came down with strep throat and was unable to sleep. My mother in law told him he was just having bad dreams, and that he should come stay in bed with her and my father in law. Now that my son has been home with me, every night at around 3:45 am, my son calmly gets out of bed and tells me he is having bad dreams and asks to get into bed with my husband and me. Before this he has always slept through the night. At first I allowed him to lay with me then took him back to his own bed, but I ended up not getting very much sleep with him in our bed. So now I get up and hug him and put him back in his own bed where he goes right back to sleep. When my mother in law found out I was not allowing him to stay in bed with me, she was furious. Telling me I am affecting his feelings of safety and comfort. I think he developed a bad habit at her house and now I am dealing with the consequences. So my main question is should I be allowing my son to sleep in my bed during these so called "bad dreams?"

So, I have a 7 year old daughter who wants to dress up as a "colorful witch" for Halloween, and when my mother in law found out she freaked out and read to my daughter from the bible saying that she would be evil if she dressed up as a witch and that my mother in law would not want to be with my daughter if she was dressed that way. She absolutely devastated my daughter and made her feel insecure and very upset about her choice. I ended up ordering the witch costume my daughter wanted, and now my mother in law is saying she can not go to the Harvest Festival at our church dressed that way. I personally feel that Halloween is just a fun holiday for kids to dress up as anything they want. My mother in law is so worried about her religious beliefs that she pays to send our daughter to private Christian school and gets upset whenever we let her watch, read, or do anything unrelated to Christianity. My mother in law is currently involved in my kid's life more than I would prefer do to the fact the my husband and I are currently working and going to school. So I guess my question is how do I tell my mother in law to back off and let my kid use her own imagination without being judged and made to feel like an outsider and at the same time respecting my mother in laws opinion?

I just got a new hedgehog a little less then a week ago. She is about 4-6 months old At first she was very friendly and playful. Then two days ago I noticed she was having diarrhea, I chalked it up to being on a new kind of food different from whatever she had been on. I have been feeding her Blue Buffalo brand kitten food (the highest quality according to the pet store). Now tonight she will not come out of her ball, and has not moved since I put her back into her cage. Her breathing is very fast and does not seem to be normal. We plan on taking her to the vet tomorrow, and contacting the pet store tomorrow as well, however is there anyone who has had the same or similar experience with their hedgie? She is like my baby and I am very concerned for her. :(