Around adolescence, children increasingly pull away from their family as their primary hub of emotional and social development, and lean more on peers. This phase does not mean parents should also pull back — we need to be visible and available to our teenage children

Your first step is to take time to reflect on his anxiety. How long has he been experiencing it? Do you know what might have triggered it? It is OK if you do not know the answers, as his behaviour can still be addressed without identifying the root cause

It should be possible to discuss your different approaches to parenting as a conversation, but if it becomes heated, decide who will speak first (by flipping a coin) and agree that each of you will have five uninterrupted minutes on the matter

I’m already dreading the trip. What would you suggest?

Transitions are not easy for young children to manage, so they often struggle with ending one fun task (playing on the playground) and doing something not so fun (going home for lunch/nap, etc)

This new puppy is a new baby of sorts in your family, and like any new baby, it is taking up a lot of your time, attention, and energy

Weddings can be overwhelming for children. A big part of what makes them and similar events so difficult for them is that the day starts early with much waiting and sitting around

Your son might never love being at the beach, but you can slowly, respectfully, and with play start to make it more tolerable

Friendship is such a big part of life that when it proves difficult for us, it can overwhelm everything that is going well in our lives

The combination of lack of sleep, difficulty with peer interaction, poor and inconsistent engagement in school and his general lack of responsiveness to your efforts to get him there on time makes me wonder about his mental health status