You're your kid's partner, not the person who's pulling all the strings.

We have forgotten that those skills on the more positive side of human nature have to be taught, have to be modeled, have to be practiced.

We never get to see that our kid is capable of solving problems on her own. We never start to build up the faith that they can actually do it.

Solutions can't be imposed. That just fosters resentment.

The vast majority of things parents and kids get in conflict over are highly predictable. We're disagreeing about the same expectations the kid is having difficulty meeting every hour, every day, every week. Because it's predictable, we can have these conversations proactively. That is very hard for people.

Kids are overprogrammed these days.

The idea that we can take this lump of clay and mold it into a form of our choosing is absolutely ludicrous.