Telling vs Asking
What’s the difference between telling and asking? I’m a teller by nature. It seems easier. Maybe just more efficient, really. I tell my child what to do and then she does it. I tell her the answer to the question…
“You have chubby little legs!”
We can joke about it now. Mostly. But, at the time, I saw it as one of my worst parenting moments and I worried I’d wrecked my daughter forever. There she was, a sweet fourth grader who I’d done my…
So You Killed The Cat….Now What?
“Do you think we should tell the kids what really happened? What they don’t know won’t hurt them, right?” We received this question when a parent accidentally ran over the sleeping, aging family cat. What would you say if they…
How Do I Get This Behavior to Stop?
The first dad was angry I answered his phone call and heard a wide assortment of issues. His son was hanging out with a group of friends the dad did not like at all. He’d caught his son stealing, lying,…
Stay Curious During Tough Conversations
I remember a tough conversation I needed to have with our third-grade son, Daniel. I wasn’t very happy about the company he was starting to keep. His behavior was getting worse as he hung out with what I concluded must be…