Recently I passed a boy of six or seven walking alongside a policeman. I’m not sure what conversation preceded this comment from the boy—“My dad is super fast!!!”—but the admiration for his dad was so evident.  As I walked on, I found myself wondering whether...

This is an old expression. It occurs when someone notices that you’re being quiet or seem to be off somewhere in your thoughts. People inquire because they are interested in you and like to be in conversation with you.  Cindy, my wife, asks, What are you thinking...

…who will notice and be affected by it? Ever notice how you can have a great life on Tuesday and wake up in a funk on Thursday? You can get a bit off your game without really knowing why.  Sometimes, you are not even fully aware of it until someone asks if you...

  “Lisbeth, can you define the word friendship for me? “ “It’s when you like somebody.” “Sure, but what is it that makes you like somebody?” She shrugged. “Friendship—my definition is built on two things,” he said. “Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there....

I remember attending a class on parenting when my kids were in junior high school. One of the conversations that has stayed with me was about problems. It resonated with the entire group of parents when the workshop leader said: Good kids have problems. Good parents...

A couple of times a year, I encounter a parent telling a small child who is upset, “Use your words. Tell me what you want.” This is a wonderful practice. In the moment, it helps the parent find out what the child wants or is upset about. Longer term, it establishes a...

Spend some time reflecting on your family relationships, and you can usually find ways to enhance them. Here are some points that might help you reflect on the relationships that matter to you: Your experience of life—your well-being—is affected by how your...

This came to me from Jill, a participant in a recent workshop:  “I was going to down the road of parenting by force and manipulation and was wondering why my four-year-old wasn’t being very responsive. I just figured resistance was normal. “For example, John would lie...