Happy Families Blog

Dear Dr Justin, I have a question on chores. At present – we all pitch in on a Saturday morning, empty washing baskets, tidy the lounge/bedrooms. We almost always encounter a lot of ...

It seems that Australians have more or less made up their minds. Kids need nothing more than a good spanking from time to time to learn life’s lessons. In fact, according to our Prime Minister, ...

It’s time to ‘fess up. If you were cleaning up your child’s room and saw their diary – open – on the desk, would you take a peek? How about if you signed into the computer and discovered ...

Puberty creates some interesting challenges for teenagers and their parents. One of the most ‘interesting’ of these challenges is the crazy rush of hormones that can drive our teens boy- or ...

We’ve all had those days as a parent – the ones where we wish we could go into our bedroom and hide. Or drive to the nearest airport and catch a plane to… hell, anywhere! Just so long as it’s ...

One of the toughest tasks for parents of teens is teaching their adolescent children to resist peer pressure. Why? Because saying ‘no’ when everyone else is saying ‘yes’ makes a teenager ...

Ask any parent how they’re going and you’re likely to hear some variation on “busy”, “flat out”, or “run off my feet”! Life is busy, and all that busy-ness is building stress. ...

We all love to be praised. It feels good. It makes us feel as though we’re doing something right. Praise is when we make positive statements to our children about who they are or what they’ve ...

Hi Dr Justin. I think I have an issue with my 6yo daughter. We were a Defence family and until last year moved around frequently. She ended up at some pretty bad daycare centres (I believe they ...

 “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want.” This has been the cry of the vast majority of adolescents for decades as they have tried to figure out who they are and what they’re about. ...