Q
Our nine-year-old daughter has developed a habit of storing food in her backpack. We’ve also found several bagels in her dresser. We’ve explained why it’s wrong to waste food and said that she should return uneaten items to the fridge, to no avail. She is otherwise a very kind, thoughtful child who helps choose her lunch each morning.
Q
My preteen daughter was the victim of a sexual assault. No sex took place, but the man touched her. I am happy to say that the man who did this was arrested and will be tried. But how do I go about talking to her about this? Social workers and psychiatrists are not available in the isolated community where we live.
Q
Although we stress the importance of honesty, our 12-year-old daughter is continually lying — even about the most trivial of transgressions, like taking her brother’s video game on a sleepover without asking first. When she’s caught in a lie, her first line of defence is to cover it up with another lie.
Q
Our 11-year-old daughter will not go anywhere, other than school or the sitter’s, without us or her 13-year-old sister. She tells me she’s not comfortable attending a birthday party or even visiting a friend’s house by herself. However, if I take her to these events, she has a wonderful time.
Q
This is my 11-year-old daughter’s first year in junior high. Although nothing is really different, she has begun complaining that she doesn’t want to go. When I ask her what’s wrong, she says only that she doesn’t like what they are doing in gym. Moreover, this past weekend she didn’t want to visit her dad. (We’re divorced and have had shared custody for the past four years.) Her father and teacher are also at a loss to explain what’s going on.