One of the most important goals to have may well be the goal to create the life you want without preventing other people from creating the life they want.

Attitudes of optimism, of "let them be", and of joy in watching and helping another life develop and blossom will help parents relish their parenting role and will provide the resilience necessary to navigate turbulent times.

Demonstrating faith and optimism in the child or adolescent's ability to work things out in their own time and in their own way can be very difficult but it is possible to do this while also offering assistance.

Sometimes offering support and making yourself available when the child or adolescent is ready to talk can be the most helpful you can be.

Prioritizing listening to their child or adolescent is extremely important. It can be very hard to listen to someone who is upset or troubled without offering advice or suggestions or otherwise telling him or her what to do.

One of the premises of parenting might be that the job of parents is to teach their kids to get along without them.

Once parents have a clear idea of their important parenting goals, beliefs, and values, they can then think about specific situations and identify the outcomes they would like to achieve in these situations. How can you be the parent you want to be whether or not your children are behaving as you would prefer?