Your preteen daughter is a raging mess of hormones, which means she might be overly sensitive, dramatic and moody.

Being a successful parent helps develop qualities in children such as honesty, empathy, self-control, self-reliance, cooperation, cheerfulness and kindness, and instills in them the motivation to achieve, according to author and Temple University psychology professor Laurence Steinberg.

Kissing is a form of affection, and many children kiss others because they want to show their love. Children enjoy being kissed because it means that someone cares about them.

Approximately one million teenage girls give birth in the United States each year, according to KidsHealth.org. In addition to the physical risks and financial difficulties, teenage moms experience significant social changes as well.

If you are a parent, chances are you fall into one of four parenting categories: permissive, uninvolved, authoritative and authoritarian. The permissive parent, the least demanding of the group, tends to be highly responsive to his child's emotional needs.

When you discover your son wearing female clothing, including skirts, tights, heels and even panties, it can be a shocking experience. You worry that if your son is a cross-dresser, he has a mental problem or sexual perversion.

Ear infections are one of the most common childhood illnesses, affecting as many as 50 percent of all children before their first birthday, Boston University School of Medicine professor of pediatrics Jerome Klein reports on the UpToDate website.

Many children and adults have nervous habits that can cause physical harm. Deliberate cheek or tongue biting might fit into this category. There could be a physical cause for this habit, it may occur from nervousness or a youngster might bite the inside of her mouth accidentally.

It's easy to establish parental authority with small children who rely on their parents for basic care. The role of a parent becomes less defined when the child in question is actually a young adult.

Noticing black gums on your child can be frightening, but there are many possible causes. In general, milk ingestion isn’t a direct cause of black gums, but it may contribute to periodontal disease that involves the gum line.

During pregnancy you may notice a variety of changes to your skin. Some people may comment on the sudden glow on your face, a positive transformation reflecting your inner joy. Other changes, such as stretch marks, acne and varicose veins, represent the unwanted effects of pregnancy.

In 2004, about half of all U.S. children could expect to still be living with both their biological parents by the time they reached age 15, according to the Social Science Research Network.