Tag Archives: grown-up

Who is in Charge?

Who is really in charge in your household? While most families wrestle with authority and structure, for a single parent family it can be a bit more ambiguous than normal. If our children go between houses or we have been through a particularly tough time, the boundaries can get confusing. A child may have taken on more of a “parenting” role or if your former spouse made all the rules and had most of the authority before a separation or divorce, there may be a void now. As single parents, we do need to get control and make sure we … Continue reading →

Are You Reacting Like a Grown-Up?

We talk about response and reaction here as parents—particularly how to respond to our children’s most challenging behaviors. Recently, a mom confessed to me that she had to learn how to have strong enough boundaries and respond to her child “like an adult”—to her, this meant not responding in kind to her child’s emotions: yelling back when he yelled, being petty or pouting when he acted that way to her. I think she is right in that it comes down to boundaries. Our relationships with our children can be so close and intense that we can have a hard time … Continue reading →