Baby might not bring troubled siblings together
Your husband should respond to him clearly: "We'd love to keep in touch, but in order to be a friend to our family, you will have to be a friend to ALL of us. You need to communicate with your sister."
Cutting you out of the loop is not the path to reconciliation. Otherwise the dynamic is only one of manipulation and capitulation.
Dear Amy: You recently wrote about the danger of guns in houses. I realize that I have no idea of how to counsel my elementary and middle school kids on what to do if they are in a house where someone brings out a gun.
Clearly, I want them as far away as possible from the gun, but telling them to leave the house and go to a nearby stranger's house doesn't seem like great advice either. Do you know any good guidelines?
-- At a Loss
Dear At a Loss: You should talk to your children realistically about guns. Tell them that guns hurt and kill people every day and children are killed and hurt more than others when guns are present in someone's home.
Very young children are capable of firing a gun accidentally if they find and pick up a gun. Accidental shootings are the most common way for children to get hurt.
Tell your children that if they see a gun, these are the steps they should follow:
Stop what they are doing.
Don't touch the gun.
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