Conversation starters to get past the generic “I’m fine” response and learn more about how your family is feeling.

I am not a foster parent. I am an adoptive parent and an adoption professional. I am licensed for foster care only for the purposes of adoption. The children that entered my home had already been in foster placements and came to us as a new family member. Each mom and each dad, all the siblings and even the pets, have made an impact on my child and I am forever grateful to foster parents and the work they do!

My husband and I have always been devout Catholics and we have been very engaged in all aspects of our religious practices. My husband just recently announced that he does not want to be Catholic anymore and has started to attend a local non-denominational church. At first, I thought it was just a phase, but he is serious and wants nothing to do with Catholicism. We have two children, ages 6 and 8, and he wants all of us to attend his new church. I have no intent on denouncing my Catholicism and I am just heartbroken at this divide in my marriage and in our family. I am not doing well with this. I don’t know how our marriage will make it through this.

A four-week journal to share positive notes with your family each day.

A 31-day calendar with daily activities for strengthening family well-being.

A resource sheet explaining warning signs to watch for and 10 steps to supporting your child’s mental health.

We all have good and bad mental health days. When our mental health suffers, it affects our ability to think, feel, and act. Any one of us can experience a mental health crisis and crises can be triggered by certain events such as job loss, school pressures, or a break-up; death of a loved one; financial insecurity; medication changes; physical, sexual, or verbal abuse; or trauma.

My 12-year-old son is insatiable about wanting things. He has so many interests, he wants everything, and he asks for items nonstop. No matter how many times we talk about this, he continues to want, want, want. This level of want doesn’t seem normal. I worry about his ability to control himself and how it will affect him when he is older. What can I do to reign this in?

Some of my friends don’t believe in the vaccine. As a result, I feel like I am in a limbo when it comes to moving on to a new normal. How do I maneuver this situation?

Travis, a smaller than average middle-schooler, with flaming red hair and plenty of freckles, was staying with us while his father was receiving treatment for paranoid schizophrenia.