Tag: problem-solving

How well does your child cope with adversity, cope in difficult situations and learn from disappointments? In other words, how resilient is she? We often think our job is to protect our children from tough situations, but in fact, our protection is only protecting us. We don’t want to deal with their anger, sadness, and fear our kids may feel. In many cases, we were not allowed these feelings as children so we don’t know how to manage our children’s feelings. It’s easier if they don’t have them.

Ron and Patty had only one big problem in their 25-year marriage. Unfortunately, because they never resolved how to handle the "chores" issue, they were constantly bickering. Despite 25 years of heated discussions, they hadn't made much progress. Like most couples with a thorny issue, they were still trying to decide whose problem it was, and the mere fact that they were still arguing about it made them even madder.

At least once a week Ron and Patty would each present "evidence" to indicate that they were the one doing most of the work around the house. Secretly, they each hoped their spouse would finally realize the errors of their ways and apologize for the inconsiderateness. Of course, this never happened.