Does your married life feel like it is on the skids lately?  It may very well be on the skids, which means it is headed towards divorce court.  But how can you really tell if you are on the right track?  What can you do if you are heading in to dark and choppy water? 

Following is a list of things to take inventory on in your marriage.  Do you agree on some, all or none of these issues?

Somehow this article caught my attention. Because it’s a question I need to find answer to...

“Shall I send my daughter to a public school or private school or home school?”

There’s a debate in great length going on at The Washington Post’s On Parenting column. Stacey Garfinkle posed the question to the floor.

It’s an interesting topic indeed. Some replies that I find worth mentioning are:

The night before, I lost my temper. I felt so helpless and useless.

My daughter made a big fuss before she slept. I lost my control. I ran out of ideas how to talk to her in a friendly manner so that she could listen to me and lie down.

On the other hand, I was worried if I was not stern enough, soon there would be another spoiled child in this world.

I felt so bad and guilty for losing my cool and the punishment I imposed on my daughter.

I got to do something to improve my poor parenting skills.

I was wandering in a bookstore the following day. As I was browsing at the shelf of the "100 Must-Read Titles," one book really stood out from the rest. As if the book was yelling at me and said, "Pick me up. You need this."

Moms and dads who both offer lots of support and reassurance when their young children express negative emotions may not be doing them a favor, new research shows.

Studies in four- and five-year-olds found that the children whose parents reacted with differing levels of support to their emotional setbacks were actually more emotionally mature and handled conflict better, Dr. Nancy L. McElwain of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her colleagues found.

"It's good to give your child some support, but also at the same time some space to manage the problem," McElwain told Reuters Health.

Parents' reactions to a child's negative emotions play a key role in social and emotional growth, McElwain and her team point out in the current issue of Child Development.

Most research has focused on how mothers interact with children, McElwain and her team note. To look at the role of mothers and fathers together, the researchers conducted two experiments, one evaluating children's emotional understanding and the other investigating friendship quality. Parents of children in both studies filled out questionnaires designed to measure their level of emotional support.

Full report: Too much support may hamper kids' development

I just came back from visiting my parents and in-laws over the weekend. My wife and two young kids were with me.

On a normal day, the trip takes us 4 hours. But due to heavy traffic, it took us 6 hours to reach and 8 hours for the round trip respectively.

One would admit that a 6-hour (or 8-hour) trip with kids is no easy task.

In hindsight, I was amazed at myself how I survived the LONG road trip with my two young kids tagging along.

This was not the first time we traveled that far. But this was the longest.  

It dawned on me that maybe it’s useful to share with you what my wife and I did that helped us pull through the trip.

Please note that we are no experts in road trips. But with our own experiences traveling long distance with kids in a car, we learned some useful tips along the way.

The use of acupuncture before and during surgery reduces patients' post-operative pain as well as the need for pain-killing medication, researchers said on Tuesday.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina analyzed the results of 15 clinical trials on the effectiveness of acupuncture -- a practice that originated in China of inserting thin needles into specific body points.

They concluded that it is valuable for pain control in surgery patients.

The 15 trials showed that patients getting acupuncture before or during various types of operations had significantly less pain afterward than patients who did not get acupuncture.

These patients also required less morphine or other opioid pain medication after surgery, which reduced the side effects like nausea and vomiting from these types of drugs, the researchers said.

Full report: Studies find acupuncture cuts post-surgical pain

Harry Potter might have waved his wand and cast a spell, but author J.K. Rowling sat down and cheerfully signed 1,600 books for schoolkids on Monday as she launched her first U.S. book tour in seven years.

"This is an amazing treat for me," Rowling said of the mass book signing and reading for cheering Harry Potter fans who gave her a pop star welcome in Los Angeles.

"I really miss being able to interact directly with the readers. Everyone keeps saying, 'it must be so onerous. Doesn't it hurt your hand?' But, honestly, that's the bit I really enjoy," Rowling told reporters.

The 42-year-old British author said that after 10 years of writing to a deadline, she now felt as if she was on vacation and has not yet started writing the promised Harry Potter encyclopedia that fans around the world are awaiting.

Full report: J.K Rowling launches U.S. book tour with mass signing

I always try new weekend activities with my children. I want them to have weekends that are different from the rest. One more reason is to let them expose to different kinds of activities and see what they prefer.

One of the weekend getaways that my whole family loves is hiking.

We are lucky to get to know about a local Hash Harriers club through a friend. And this club organizes hikes/runs once a month for young participants.

For the first-time hiking that I joined, I felt so good after the walk. It was my first since many years back. It’s good to get connected to Mother Nature again after all these years.

My elder daughter was delighted, especially when she got a chance to play in a stream. Even though she was hesitant at first, but now she can’t wait to jump into the water when she sees one.

Likewise, my younger son dared not to even come down and walk for the first trip. He held tight to me throughout the journey. Now, when I carry him, he asks me to let him down on the trek and go into the stream.

Compared to the first trip, my kids have “improved” a lot.

Potential dangers such as child abduction and sexual assault lurk in every possible place where our children spend most of their time. The recent case of an eight-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered sent a gruesome message to all parents and guardians of children.

Yet, many still are still rather careless about their children's personal safety. I still see parents leaving their children behind in corners of the shopping malls and children sitting in a shopping cart outside the shops. Children walking to the neighbourhood shops on their own.

Having two primary-age daughters, I have always emphasized personal safety rules to them before and after school.  When a hypermarket opened next to my daughter's primary school, I immediately went to the principal and volunteered to conduct personal safety sessions for the girls in this primary school. I presented workshops on building self-esteem, learning to be assertive, learning how to stay safe and the good and bad touches.

Even the campaign on personal safety has its limitations if parents do not take the responsibility to help their children. Parents need to take an active role in protecting their children from abduction and exploitation. You need to constantly supervise your children and be alert to their needs. You can reduce their risk of becoming victims of heinous crimes by listening to them and teaching them about personal safety.

A Curious George doll bought at Toys "R" Us was found to be tainted with 10 times the legally-allowed lead level, and vinyl lunch boxes and backpacks also had high amounts of lead, the nonprofit group Center for Environmental Health said on Wednesday.

The Curious George doll found with high amounts of lead was made by Marvel Entertainment Group Inc, the Oakland, California-based group said in a statement. A Marvel spokesman said he was unaware of the advocacy group's finding and had no immediate comment.

Full report: Lead found in toys, backpacks in U.S. stores

It's about time my preschool daughter, J, is ready to play board games. So I had an excuse to buy a set of 14-in-1 board game package the other day.

J was so excited when I presented her the package. She couldn't wait to play.

Since she's still young and that was probably the first time she played a board game, Snakes and Ladders would be a better place to start.

My wife and I were playing with her. Initially, I thought J had beginner's luck because she almost won the game.

But, as in everything, the game had ups and downs. J suddenly dropped to the lowest among all. Thanks to the snakes.

You can find lots of great parenting tips on the Internet. But the problem is only if you know how and where to find. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.

When we decided to take on this project, we thought it would be easy. Boy, how wrong  we were! This project took more time than we originally thought.

After a few rounds of searching online, we have found some excellent parenting ebooks. And they are free. It’s impossible to cover every parenting topic but we did our best to find ebooks that cover the most important topics.

Now we have done the legwork for you and the only thing you need to do is to enjoy the ebooks while sipping your favorite drink.

A lousy marriage might literally make you sick. Marital strife and other bad personal relationships can raise your risk for heart disease, researchers reported Monday.

What it likely boils down to is stress — a well-known contributor to health problems, as well as a potential byproduct of troubled relationships, the scientists said.

In a study of 9,011 British civil servants, most of them married, those with the worst close relationships were 34 percent more likely to have heart attacks or other heart trouble during 12 years of follow-up than those with good relationships. That included partners, close relatives and friends.

The study, in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, follows previous research that has linked health problems with being single and having few close relationships. In the new study, researchers focused more on the quality of marriage and other important relationships.

"What we add here is that, 'OK, being married is in general good, but be careful about the kind of person you have married.' The quality of the relationship matters," said lead author Roberto De Vogli, a researcher with University College in London.

Full report: Study Ties Marital Strife, Heart Disease

It's our heartfelt gratitude to have Leo Babauta in this interview.

Leo is the author of the wildly successful ZenHabits. His blog is currently ranked Top 100 by Technorati. Leo has achieved this feat in less than a year -- a success only many can dream of.

Leo writes about getting things done, family, personal finance and productivity tips. He has written many popular articles and well read by a large number of followers.

In this interview, the father of six talks about balancing work and family, parenting and bonding with children. He also touches on challenges and mistakes he has as a father.