Dear Kid Whisperer,

I follow your advice when raising my three children, so I know what I am doing in the mornings with my kindergartener isn’t the right thing to do, but I’m not sure what will work. I spend a lot of time encouraging her to eat her breakfast in the mornings before school, but no matter what I say or do, she eats so slowly. I know I shouldn’t be getting angry about it, but I still yell. What do I do? –Brook, Troy, Ohio

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Dear Kid Whisperer,

I recently married and now have a 14 year old step daughter. She’s a good kid. We get along, and she seems to like to me. The problem is that she continually tries to monopolize my time and attention. If she is in the room with me, she is all about trying to continually talk to me to the point where it makes it difficult to interact with anyone else around me. She will follow me around the house as well. I am not sure how to respond in a way that will be good for the both of us. My mom, who is a big fan of yours, keeps telling me to contact you.  Can you help? –Rachel, Dayton, Ohio

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Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have a generally well-behaved 12 year old son, but I feel like I have to say everything fifteen times to get him to do anything. I don’t know if this is because he is purposely disobeying me or just absent-minded, but I am exhausted by the amount of times I have to repeat myself. – Mary, Dayton Ohio

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Dear Kid Whisperer,

I’m at loss. My four year old is either emotionally damaged, a pessimist, or I’m doing something wrong. Every now and then he says things like “Nobody loves me”, “I’m a bad boy”, and “Nobody wants to play with me”. I don’t know what to do or say. I’ve tried reasoning with him and explaining things. I’ve tried telling him how many people love him. I tell him that he isn’t a bad boy, and that sometimes other kids like to play by themselves or with other kids. I even tried ignoring or saying something along the lines that it was his problem and/or he needs to figure out himself. It makes me either so sad or so mad when he says things like that. Please help. –Carol, New York, New York

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Dear Kid Whisperer,

I am the mother of a 17 year old boy. He has his license. I am totally uncomfortable with him driving with anyone else in the car. I just see how he acts with other people around him when he’s not driving. He’s not horribly irresponsible, but he’s (and I love him) goofy and immature. He whines and complains that I am not being reasonable. He says that I am the only parent who has this rule. I’m a single mom, so I don’t have anyone to bounce this one off of, and I’m thinking about changing my rule about this. Do you think I should? –Joan, Centerville, Ohio

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Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have a concern with my five year old son. About a year ago, he started refusing to hold my hand when crossing the street and when walking in parking lots. I try to convince him to hold my hand but nothing works. I don’t want to be the kind of parent who yells at their child or forces them to do things, but I worry about his safety. He has run away from me in the parking lot a couple of times recently. What should I do? –Shannon, Louisville, Kentucky

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Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have a question about mealtimes. I know that you believe in allowing kids to suffer natural consequences. When it comes to offering kids new foods and they refuse, would the natural consequence just be missing that meal? – Erica, Honolulu, Hawaii

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Dear Kid Whisperer,

I have just started going to your website and I have tried a couple of your suggestions with my five year old. They work. I am having a problem with bedtime, however. Even though he has an 8:00 bedtime, it is usually at least 9:30 before his mother and I can get him in bed because we are bargaining and bribing him to go to bed. Help please. -Garry, Indianapolis, Indiana

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