the Validation Tooltips for Spry extension will convert spry validation errors to tooltip windows to prevent the error shifting the form element on the page:
Validation Tooltips for Spry
To add hints to your page, you can add a spry tooltip, go to Insert -> Spry Tooltip
you can add a reset button t the form by going to insert -> Form Button. select the newly added button in design view, then go to the property inspector and set the Action to reset Form.