DEAR ABBY: My 11-year-old niece sometimes calls my 7-year-old son fat, which hurts him to the core. He's very close with his cousins, and we get together a lot. I have talked to my sister on numerous occasions about it.
My son knows it's not OK to make fun of how others look, and he doesn't understand why she says these mean things to him. She's old enough to know better. I don't know how to get through to my sister that this behavior should be reprimanded when she doesn't seem to care. -- FED UP IN WISCONSIN
DEAR FED UP: Your sister's parenting skills appear to be questionable. Because she refuses to teach her daughter consideration for the feelings of others, or reprimand her when she's cruel and hurtful, see less of the two of them and spend more time with the other cousins.