Sometimes a child labeled 'difficult' is just expressing a healthy need for independence. But in other cases, the label is actually too mild. Adults can be violent, irresponsible, indifferent to the harm they do others and typically that behavior begins in childhood.
Not all such children are potential criminals, but they share some of the characteristics - refusal to fully accept reality, poor impulse control, lack of empathy, disrespect for the rights of others and a range of destructive...

Parenting

A fundamental fact for almost all children is that eventually they grow older. But, sadly, not all grow up. If an individual is to have a hope of a happy life, a large amount of independence is essential.
Independence, here, does not mean never needing another person, nor creating every value that one needs - physical, intellectual and emotional - without any involvement from others. Life alone on a desert island would be harsh and dreary. But it does entail a significant amount of independence...

Parenting

Knowing when to require a child to obey and when to let them take the consequences of an independent choice is always a tough dilemma for parents. One pair of ideas that can help them are the twins: natural consequences and logical consequences.
Natural consequences are the reality-determined effect of some choice a child has made. Burning a hand on a hot stove is the most obvious and extreme example. No intervention on the parent's part is needed to show the child the connection between...

Parenting

Not surprisingly, emotions run high when discussing the choice. Advocates will stake out a position and cling to it tenaciously, seeking to find flaws in arguments for alternative choices. This, too, isn't surprising since the different camps typically have radically...

Parenting

All parents wish they could shelter their child from grief. No one wants a child, with limited experience and understanding, to have to suffer through the loss of a beloved dog or the death of a treasured parent or grandparent.
But real life does include the possibility of such things and children grow up healthiest when they're taught to face reality. How they confront facts can be influenced, positively or negatively, by what they observe from their parents, along with their parents words....

Parenting