Hi Meg,

I am a relatively new father to our 19-month-old daughter and our brand-new son.  My wife and I are currently reading your books and have found them tremendously resourceful.

My wife is absolutely beautiful in all ways. Unfortunately, my wife comes from a household where her father was physically and verbally abusive. Although he provided (financially) for the family, that marriage ended in divorce when my wife was in later teenage years. Now my wife is almost 25 years old and she has several siblings who are growing up and I can see they have different problems – some of which are stemming from the absence of their father; confidence, overeating and boyfriend issues are some of the problems.

How can I, as the brother-in-law, help my brother and sister-in-law’s (all of which are in high school and community college) cope with relationships and trust issues?  They all live in North Carolina while my wife and I live in South Florida.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much,

Dad Wanting To Help

Dear DWTH,

Children who grow up with an abusive father deal with many issues that continue to bother them well into adulthood. Here are…