APSGO Parenting Blog
Dear Helen For several months we have been implementing your suggested plans with our daughter, an incredibly bright thirteen-year-old who was, until now, seemingly bent on self-destruction. We have a long way to go, but because things are so much better around our home, we feel very hopeful about her future and our sanity! Our question is not really about our daughter but about us. When we explain to friends and family what we are doing, they seem skeptical. The general idea seems to be that we don’t have any rules and our daughter is ‘getting away’ with all sorts […]
by Sue Kranz (from APSGO News Fall 2007) Ask anyone what they expect from their relationship—whether that be with their teen, their spouse or their boss—and they will usually give you a list of what they believe the other person should be doing. It’s highly unlikely anyone will say, “Aah, yes, here’s what I expect from myself.” I’ve lost track of the number of times parents have asked me, “But shouldn’t I have expectations?” Of course you should. Absolutely. You should expect only the best, and you should have only the highest standards—for your own behaviour. “What will the neighbours […]
Dear Helen, I have a fourteen year old son who earns money by doing chores around the house. This week we had an agreement that he would clean out the garden shed and organ- ize the gardening equipment and other odds and ends. He completed the work and although he took a lot of time to get it done, I was satisfied with the job he did. In the mean time however, I got a call from the school that he had skipped several classes. I haven’t paid him yet. He had asked that I pay him on the week- […]