Parenting

OTTAWA — Omar Abouzaher remembers going to the bank with his daughter so she could make her first deposit into an account that was opened for her when she was just a toddler.

The festive season can be a stressful time for anyone.

Last week, a mother wrote to ask what to do when both parents aren’t on the same page. “My husband and I don’t agree on a lot of parenting issues. We frequently argue in front of the kids about discipline and I know that isn’t the right thing to do.

Last week, a grandmother wrote in with a question about her preschooler grandson: “My daughter and her husband have a boy who is 3 1Ú2 and a new baby girl. The little boy is precocious, outgoing and fairly naughty.

I knew we were doing something right when my kids starting quoting the more tame Monty Python skits at each other. “It’s the machine that goes ping!” Alex announced as the text-message bell on my cellphone went off one night.

Last week, a dad asked for help dealing with the overpowering influence of video games in his son’s life. “My son is in Grade 2 and it seems he’s been immersed in video-game culture since he was in kindergarten.

Coffee break at Crumsby’s Cupcake Café in Oak Bay means customers leave strollers and pink-tired bicycles outside while they relax indoors over plastic trucks and building blocks.

Recently, a grandparent wrote to ask for help with her haircutting-phobic grandson: “Our four-year-old grandson absolutely refuses to go for a haircut,” she wrote. “It’s always been a struggle, but he’s taken it to a whole new level.

A child taught that he's in charge of his own body uses that power to refuse a flu shot