Q: I have a seven years old son. He is an intelligent child but when it comes to studying, he begins to cry. Because of this, I am forced to scold him and cut down his play time to make him do his school work. He is also a fussy eater. He prefers to swallow rather than chew. Please help me out.

A:Parents and teachers seem to be on the same side, with the child fighting his battle all alone! If you cut down his play time for school work, he is going to resent it all the more. Perhaps one of the parents should be doing some task, while the child is working on his lessons and be in the same room, exchanging comments and being companionable. The same goes for eating. Eating should be combined with social and cultural aspects. There is no harm in letting the child have soft foods, if he is not happy with hard-to-eat items. You may to start thinking of parenting as a rewarding job, that of helping the child grow happy and healthy. If you treat it as a household chore, both child and parent can be frustrated.