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No More Mr. Nice Guy
It is not “nice” to be so agreeable all the time that you disappear, leaving no one with the privilege of getting to know the real you. (John & Linda Friel, The 7 Best Things Happy Couples Do) Those who know me personally know that I’m not really big on “nice.” I don’t really strive to […]
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Parenting begins with Pause
The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mother and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is the best after all. (Dr. Benjamin Spock) I’ve often said that the real mission of ScreamFree Parenting is simply to help parents […]
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Learning Thru Sorrow
“We would never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.” (Helen Keller) A day spent with your children, when everything goes right, is a beautiful thing. Surely you’ve had one of those days, right? You know…everyone can find their socks, no one hits their sister, all your kids […]
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TBT: Children Training Parents
“Parents learn a lot from their children about coping with life.” (Muriel Spark, British novelist) The other day, at my son’s football practice, a car alarm started sounding. While the owner was trying to fix the problem, the adults furrowed their brows and shook their heads at the interruption to the business at hand. The […]
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Growing pains
People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children. (Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes) It is so easy for us adults, feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of adulthood, to forget how difficult it is being a child. Whether age 8 or 18, it can be just plain hard to be a kid. […]
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Fitting in, or standing out?
The young always have the same problem–how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another. (Quentin Crisp) We therapists can sometimes overcomplicate things. Perhaps it’s our painful experience with the complex family dynamics of our clients. Or perhaps it’s our need to […]
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Climate Change?
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather.” (Goethe) Upon first glance, this might seem like a self-absorbed statement. I suppose you could read it this way, if it weren’t for […]
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TBT: Convincing, or Convicting?
“If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see.” (Henry David Thoreau) Is it true that we should teach our children right from wrong? No question about it—yes. I just think that we should do it […]
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Mentor or Tormentor?
“The line between tormentor and mentor is oftentimes very thin.” (Anonymous) I hope all of us have had mentors we cherish, whose guidance came to us in a spirit of love and from a belief in our abilities. Unfortunately, I know most of us have also had mentors we didn’t ask for, whose advice came […]
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Parenting is Not for Extra Credit
“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he’d learned in seven years.” (Mark Twain) This is a rather famous quote, one that’s been used countless times by […]