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Style Magazine

Family Challenges

Sep 30, 2008 05:00PM ● By Super Admin

When a new school year starts there are often new challenges for families with kids of different ages and stages. Families with younger children scramble to balance the independent and the dependent needs of their little ones; while new “empty nesters” sometimes discover that they have neglected their marriage for years. The solutions to these challenges aren’t always the same for every family, but they do require sensitivity and connection to the individual needs of each person. What challenges are you facing this year?

Q: Our son is now a sophomore in college and I’m itching to do something different with his room. Is it too soon to convert it or do you think it’s OK?

A: Yes, it is your house, but consider how such a conversion can be done in a way that is sensitive to your son’s feelings. In converting his old room, try to leave something that will maintain the feeling that it was once his room, at least until he finishes school. College students who live away from home usually look forward to home visits and he will probably be sleeping there again. However you plan to change his room, consider his unique temperament and how it may affect his transition from the nest into the world.

Bob Parkins lives in Folsom and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He can be reached at 916-337-5406 or <a target="_blank" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.

For more Q & As, be sure to pick up this month's copy of Style-Folsom El Dorado Hills edition. Click on the "Get Your Copy" link on the bottom of this page for some of our newsstand locations. Or, to order a copy of this issue, please email Gloria Schroeder at [email protected], or call her at 916-988-9888 x116.