By Sarah Chana Radcliffe
Your “look,” your critical remark, your unpleasant tone - sometimes it’s hard to hold back... Your child is naturally sensitive to your displeasure - often far more than you know. A small amount of your parental negativity - even though well-justified - can pierce deeply into his or her heart. Be generous with your good word and extremely limited with your negative feedback.
How to Get Your Spouse to Accept Your Parenting Advice...
"Do you think such & such might help?" is a great question to ask a spouse who is having trouble gaining the cooperation of a youngster. In fact, it works FAR BETTER than giving a directive like, "You can't do what you're doing - you need to do such & such!" People don't like to be told what to do. They're more likely to benefit from your wisdom/knowledge/experience when you tentatively offer it than when you authoritatively command it.
