Families & Relationships

Helicopter parents’ are so 20th century. Say hello to the ‘snowplow parents

$500,000 to get your kid into an elite college? Not cool. But when last week’s news about Operation Varsity Blues came out, psychologists and parenting experts recognized it for what it was: just the latest outrageous example of bad parenting they’ve been observing for decades.

A Family’s Truth About Marijuana Depends on the Family

Reporting on five families with wildly divergent ideas about what to teach their kids about marijuana, from no tolerance to offering to roll the joints and make nachos.

The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In

Parents’ use of smartphones and laptops — and its effect on their children — is becoming a source of concern to researchers.

Grandma’s Gifts Need Extra Reindeer

Some parents struggle with how to keep well-meaning loved ones from overdoing it with gifts for the children.

After the Breakup, What About the Lake House?

A couple’s tale of lost love has a familiar arc, and an epilogue that has become increasingly familiar as well, as unwanted houses become prisons rather than cocoons.

Words to Live (With a Roommate) By

The new book “I Lick My Cheese and Other Real Notes From the Roommate Frontlines” documents the absurdity of cohabitation.

At Army Base, Stork Landed With the Airborne

There has been a sharp increase in births at Fort Bragg in North Carolina after the return of thousands of soldiers.

Parent Shock: Children Are Not Décor

When a couple has invested in a pristine, high-style home for grown-ups, the transition to making that home child-friendly can be hard.

A Holiday Medley, Off Key

Millions of adults in interfaith marriages face the December dilemma: the annual conflict over how to decorate homes, how and when to give gifts and which rituals to celebrate.

Happy Divorce

When Chanukah begins next week, Randy Fuerst and Susan Arnold will mark the Jewish Festival of Lights with the same beloved traditions they’ve enjoyed since they married in 1983.

Couples: Love–And Marriage?

Living with your boyfriend is fun. It also can be practical, meaningful and a sign of deep commitment. But as if to confirm the fears of nervous parents around the country, a new study in the Journal of Family Issues says that couples who live together are much less likely to wed than they used to be.

Moms and Nannies: A Complicated Relationship

Ever since mothers were admitted to the professional classes, as a long line of books tell us, their lot has not been an easy one: they’re overworked, stressed and exhausted.

Study: A Downside to Day Care?

A new study finds that children who regularly attend day-care centers develop more behavioral problems in kindergarten than those that don’t. What’s a parent to do?