This is such a great book. I love the sample conversation that shows the dos and the don’ts. You start by talking about feelings, which is a BIG topic, especially with toddlers and teens. What are a few top basics that we might remember and practice?  It’s stressful when our kids express Negative Feelings to us. We don’t want our kids to feel angry… disappointed… frustrated! Our tendency is to explain to our kids why they shouldn’t feel that way, it’s not that bad, you’re overreacting. The counterintuitive truth is that it actually makes kids (and, in fact, people!) feel better when someone acknowledges their negative feelings.

It might be helpful to try this approach out on yourself, before trying it on your kids. Imagine that you come home from work and say to your spouse: My boss is such a jerk. (And maybe you use a stronger word than “jerk”) He screamed at me in front of all my coworkers for not finishing a report that he gave me to do at the last minute, with no time to complete it.”

How would you feel if your spouse replied, “Hey, calm down. You’re overreacting. I’m sure it’s not … Continue reading..