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I once found myself witnessing a pretty heated conversation between a son and his mother.  Well, it wasn’t really a conversation, as the son was making little effort to try to understand the mother’s point of view.  Instead, he just kept repeating his complaints, his point of view, and trying to dominate his mother into seeing it his way. I …

What is “cool”? We know “cool” when we see it, and it is considered in most cultures to be a valuable trait. But what is it? Many people have looked at this and there is no clear answer. But what do cool people all have in common? In your mind go back to secondary school and picture the “uncool” kids. …

Perhaps this should have been tip number one. Playfulness is how children learn best.  Sometimes we focus so much on the problems that we forget how to find the fun. Now of course some things are serious, and sometimes there is no place for flexibility.  But if when interacting with your child you have the option of finding the fun, …

“The event doesn’t matter…it’s what happens next that matters”. If parenting is the gradual disappointment of children, then ruptures are unavoidable.  In fact they are a good thing.  As it is through 1000’s of ruptures and repairs that a child discovers that there is no fear of disappointment, a key part of learning how to hate well… “You annoy me, …

This third tip requires you to watch a 60 second YouTube video here.  Parent often want to talk with me about boundaries and consequences.  There are numerous possibilities, but the best one to use comes at the end of this video. Chapter 9 of my book gives some ideas about helpful consequences too.  Although I use the term “punishment” above, …

Have you ever tried to calmly address an issue with your child? And suddenly find yourself in a heated argument about something that has nothing to do with what you were initially trying to achieve. Going off on a tangent or changing the topic is a great strategy to get you unsettled, not follow through, and drags you into saying …

Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone for their kind words of both support and constructive criticism of the newsletters and videos I have created over the past year or so. I’ve had a few people ask if I could give some practical tips that work.  I’ve also had feedback that people particularly like it when I use a story …

Judgment. Have you had the experience of thinking a particular thing for a long time, and then your child challenges it and you realise you were wrong? A couple of weeks ago I was talking with my teenage daughter and the idea of judgment came up. As we were going back and forth about the idea, I made the statement… …

Dear Parent: This is the letter that I wish I could write. This fight we are in right now. I need it. I need this fight. I can’t tell you this because I don’t have the language for it and it wouldn’t make sense anyway. But I need this fight. Badly. I need to hate you right now and I …

Focus on what you want I was working with a 16 yo recently and he had been making major gains. He was a great kid and had lots of the stuff that would typically be attractive to others. Yet he found friendships difficult and often felt on the outer. He identified in our sessions that he was too easily disappointed …