Recently, a friend with young children asked how my husband and I ‘grew such well-behaved kids’ (now age 10 and 15). My mind immediately went to the moments when they aren’t so well behaved, the moments when we, as parents, have the option of telling our children what to do and asserting our power as the heads of our houses by giving consequences when requests aren’t met.
My husband and I work best when we approach situations with empathy, work collaboratively and hold a consistent set of expectations. We attempt to actualize these values when parenting.
