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The Easiest Way to Earn Respect
I hear parents complain about their “disrespectful” kids all the time. Here’s my question in reply: When you lose your cool with them and say and do things you regret, how quickly do you apologize? Some folks actually tell me they don’t apologize, ‘cos that would communicate “weakness.” Others tell me they’ll […]
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Apologies can stink
Last week, during a White House press conference, two men got into a heated argument in front of, well, everybody. Afterwards, in an effort to…
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“Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word”
Elton John sang it so eloquently. It’s a sad, sad situation, but parents and married couples know just how absurd it can become. Offering up a good, old-fashioned apology is one of the most difficult things in all the world. As a parent, I’ll admit it: I’ve done the forced apology thing. “Tell your sister […]
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The Thing Most Remembered: A Lesson for Dads
Last week I had the privilege of spending some wonderful quality time with my kids. As a dad of a 4 and 3 year old, our time together is usually spent doing something active on the floor like rolling around or wrestling. The truth is, I am trying really hard to wear them out so […]
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The Testy and the Tested
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 By: Hal Runkel, LMFT Testing our spouses is something we all do. “You’ve been really testy lately.” That’s what my wife, Jenny, told me this morning as she dropped me off at the airport. “Testy.” I guess that means she hasn’t really appreciated my recent reactive responses. My short, terse replies. My […]
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Mistakes
We all make mistakes. Especially in parenting. When you make a mistake the best thing to do apologize. It’s good for your kids to see that you are human and it’s builds a relationship with your child. So many times I have had to say: “You know, you are right-I was WRONG.” There […]