Dear Sue, Our son lives at home rent-free. His father and I pay for his car and insurance, and although he has a full-time job, he squanders every cent he makes. He’s also borrowed money from us, but whenever we… Read More »Doing to, doing for, and doing with
By Sue Kranz What’s a parent? And who gets to decide? In other words, who writes your job description? I’m stunned by the number of parents who explain, “But my teen says it’s my job!” Expectations include, but are not… Read More »Your responsibility to your teen
By Sue Kranz I’ve never yet met a parent who welcomed frustration. In fact, most of us would rather do whatever it takes to prevent our kids from experiencing frustration. And so we minimize how they feel: “It’s not that… Read More »The Gift of Frustration
by Sue Kranz “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” This experiment tests whether or not that’s true, or whether our words − and perhaps even our thoughts and indifference − actually have an… Read More »The Rice Experiment
by Sue Kranz In the last article, I shared ways to get a clean kitchen, and mentioned there’s a difference between compliance and cooperation. What I’ve learned over the years is that, while parents say they want compliance, they’re seldom… Read More »Compliance versus Cooperation
In this episode, Kim Olver interviews Choice Theory parenting coach, Sue Kranz. Kim Olver: “Sue is a phenomenal parenting coach, having raised six children of her own as a single parent and is now weighing in on some stellar ideas for… Read More »Sue Kranz Parenting Podcast on Life = Choices with Kim Olver
Dear Sue: My 15-year-old has been in trouble at school for vaping, smoking marijuana, skipping classes, etc. Often we take away her freedom when these things happen, which seems to have an impact at the time; however, the behaviours keep… Read More »Dear Sue – School troubles and partying
By Sue Kranz What is frustration? Frustration is the feeling we have when what we’re experiencing isn’t what we want. Frustration comes from believing we’re helpless, powerless, or have too little control in our lives. And it stems from trying… Read More »Stop frustrating yourself
by Sue Kranz Like many parents I’ve worked with, when things were at their worst at home, I was anything but a helpful role model to my teens. For some reason, I thought what I said and did to them… Read More »How to be a role model
By Sue Kranz In his book Choice Theory, William Glasser discuses 7 habits that bring people closer to us and 7 habits that push them away. While my focus here is on our relationship with our children and teens, as… Read More »7 Ways to push your kids away