Q: "I don’t want to share my room with Benjamin. He’s 5 years old. He’s messy and I’m always supposed to watch him. Do I have to?" (Krista, age 7)

A: Sharing a home with a new brother or sister can be really annoying, especially if you became an instant “big” sister and now you have to watch him. I can tell you don’t want to have to do that all of the time. Krista, maybe you can talk to your Dad about this and he and your Stepmom can make some changes, so you don’t feel you have to watch him all of the time. Maybe they can help you come up with fair rules so you can get time alone in your room and time when you don’t have to watch him. Sometimes parents set new rules and they think everyone will be OK with them, but you might want to tell them that you aren’t happy with these. Then maybe you and Dad and Stepmom together can come up with some rules that could more fair.