Hi,

Before becoming a mom, I don’t think I ever experienced such intense terror or fury or joy. Because being a parent involves a lot of emotion, I’m going to answer some of your questions about parent feelings. Thanks to the reader who suggested that! Please let me know what you think.

Next week, I’ll send another 2-min video about kids.

Check out Open Door for Parents webinars HERE.

Warm wishes,

Q: I feel mean saying this, but I really don’t like this one friend of my kid. My son is 9. This friend is rude, and he talks back to adults. He’s also not that nice to my kid. He teases a lot, throwing out insults, then saying, “Just kidding.” Frankly, I don’t want his bad influence rubbing off on my son, but my son considers him one of his best friends. To make things even more complicated, this kid is a neighbor, so he’s over all the time. Is there anything I can do to discourage this friendship?

This is a very frustrating situation! Part of you is probably tempted just to forbid your son from playing with this kid. But another part of you probably recognizes that this could cause more harm than good.