Deciding What Not To Say

The older your children become, the more you may find that holding your tongue is one of your most powerful parenting tools! Equally important as deciding what to say to your children is deciding what not to say.

For example, when my daughter was in high school she practiced gymnastics 25 hours a week. This meant by the time she got home and finished her homework, it was often pretty late. Instead of going right to bed, she’d often play a game of Spider Solitaire on the computer with her dad. She loved having this special time with him.

I bit my tongue to avoid a mini-lecture about how late it is and how I think she should go to bed. Instead I just wished them a good night and went to bed myself.