Why Your Strong-Willed Child Might Be Your Greatest Teacher
You Are Not Alone Let me tell you about Maya. She came into my office one rainy Tuesday, practically vibrating with exhaustion. “I love my daughter more than life itself,” she said, eyes brimming with both tears and defiance, “but some days I feel like I’m raising a tiny lawyer who never, ever rests her […]
The Secret Language of Sibling Rivalry
The Secret Language of Sibling Rivalry I was sitting with a mom once—let’s call her Sarah—who looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks. She told me, with tears in her eyes, that she couldn’t understand how two children she’d raised in the exact same home, with the exact same love, could be at each other’s […]
What Nobody Tells You About the ‘Easy’ Child
You Are Not Alone I’ll never forget the look on Maria’s face when she finally said it out loud: “I feel guilty for worrying about Ella. She’s not the problem — her brother is.” Maria had come to therapy to talk about her 10-year-old son’s explosive meltdowns, but three sessions in, she whispered something […]
The Truth About Tantrums Every Parent Misunderstands
The Truth About Tantrums Every Parent Misunderstands Last Tuesday, I watched a mother in the grocery store do something extraordinary. Her four-year-old was mid-meltdown — tears, flailing arms, the whole performance — because she’d said no to a candy bar. Instead of giving in or dragging him out, she knelt down, took a breath, and […]
How to rebuild family trust after an argument
Last week, a parent sat across from me, eyes brimming with tears, and said, “I yelled at my daughter. I really yelled. And now she won’t even look at me.” She paused. “Did I break us?” If you’ve ever felt that stomach-dropping moment after a heated argument — the silence that feels louder than the […]
The Technology Rule That Saved Our Family Time
The Technology Rule That Saved Our Family Time Last Tuesday, I watched a dad in my office break down in tears. Not because of some major crisis — his kids were healthy, his marriage solid. He cried because he couldn’t remember the last time his 10-year-old daughter had looked him in the eye during a […]
The Generational Shift Nobody Prepared Us For
The Generational Shift Nobody Prepared Us For Last week, a father sat across from me in my office, shaking his head with this exhausted half-smile I’ve come to know well. “My parents raised five kids without breaking a sweat,” he said. “They didn’t worry about emotional regulation or screen time limits. They just… parented. And […]