By Sarah Chana Radcliffe
A child's heart is full of worries. Who can your youngster turn to to share pain, stress, confusion, fear, sadness or hurt? Your child needs someone safe to talk to. Will that be YOU? If you practice non-reactivity, you have a higher chance of being that special person in your youngster's life. "I could tell my parents anything. They always supported me." If you want to be that kind of parent, practice listening more than talking, waiting more than impulsively responding, staying quiet and measured rather than becoming emotionally charged and asking more than telling.
Is it YOUR fault that your child has been stealing from his classmates?
When things aren't going well for your child, it is all too easy to accept the blame. "If only I would have done this or that differently, then this wouldn't be happening." In fact, the myriad of factors that determine your child's behavior, health and emotional status cannot be whittled down to the actions that you, as a parent, have taken or not taken. Human beings are WAY more complicated than that. Go ahead and take responsibility for the human errors that you've made, but do NOT take responsibility for where your child finds himself at this moment in time.
