Does your child refuse to take responsibility for anything? Or maybe your teen plays the victim card and is a pro at turning around an argument so that you feel like you're the one to blame. You may not realize it, but your child has thinking errors that justify them getting their way—or getting out... Read more »
Passive-aggressive resistance is when kids learn to develop power over you by resisting you. It's the opposite of aggression: instead of threatening or yelling at you, a passive-aggressive child simply doesn't answer you. He ignores you. The behavior looks like this: Your teen just walks into the house, goes upstairs, and doesn't say anything. When you... Read more »
Arguing with kids often seems like a losing battle—and it is. No matter what you say, your child has a smart comeback that pushes your buttons or leaves you speechless. And worst of all, when your child is angry, nothing is fair, and it's never their fault. In any argument, your child might set different... Read more »
Does your child ignore every consequence you give him? James Lehman can help with 10 specific ways to make consequences work—even for the most resistant child. When kids are faced with something unpleasant, they'll often act like it doesn't matter to them. When your child says, “I don't care,” or seems unaffected when you give him... Read more »
Kids who are getting high, stealing, shoplifting, and acting out are making bad choices that may affect them for the rest of their lives. If your child is making these bad choices, it needs to change. But, unless something dramatic happens, people stay on the course they set during adolescence. And if the course of... Read more »
How do you know if your child is going through an adolescent phase or if their out-of-control behavior is here to stay? "Every teen goes through this," you tell yourself. But in the back of your mind, you wonder if your child's disrespect, acting-out, and destructive behaviors are normal. When you're a parent, it's troubling and... Read more »
Is your child failing in school? Maybe he started out full of enthusiasm, but now his grades are slipping, his attitude is bad and he seems to be falling through the cracks. If your child has hit a slump midway through the school year, you are not alone. James Lehman has some advice for you... Read more »
As a parent, if you aren’t the boss in your family, the lines of authority can become blurred very quickly. When your children are unsure about who's really in charge, they often act out, engage in risky behavior, or become extremely bossy and patronizing as a result. And eventually, you start to resent them because... Read more »
Even before you become a parent, you start forming ideas about how you’ll raise your child. You get advice about it from all sides—your own parents and family, your friends, and books by so-called experts tell you "the rules" of good parenting. But most people soon find out that some of these techniques are simply... Read more »
You'd do anything for your child, but you feel guilty about admitting the truth, even to yourself. The truth is, sometimes you don't like your child very much. It's a secret that many parents of acting-out kids share but rarely confess to anyone. When parents say they don't like their child, I think that dislike almost... Read more »