The word validation has been cropping up everywhere I turn for the past two weeks. It’s something that I’ve struggled with for years. I always thought empathy and validation were essentially the same thing. I tended to be pretty good on the empathy front so I assumed that my empathy was in fact validating my […]
Last week I felt like everything I did for one of my kids was met with sarcasm, frustration, or anger. The typical jokes we had between us, the acts of kindness I did, and every time I seemed to open my mouth it was met with a snarl of “you never…” or “you always…”. […]
The phone had been silent for several days and Shannon began to worry. Silence usually meant something was going on that her daughter didn’t want her to know about. Silence meant whatever was happening was something that her daughter knew she wouldn’t approve of. Silence meant this chasm would widen, the earth would give way, […]
A friend and I used to joke about our spiritual gift of driving when our kids were teen. Hauling kids from school or activities can be a great opportunity to connect with them. However, sometimes our teens can take advantage of our generosity. Several years ago, I had a mother share with me her dilemma. […]
As 24 year old Annie stood at work bored and waiting for the close of her shift at the local mall to end, she thought the next hour couldn’t come soon enough. Snow was supposedly swirling outside with the anticipation of another few inches and all she could think about was curling up at her […]
“Mom, why can’t Dad see things my way?” Tim angrily retorted. “I get so frustrated with him sometimes. I feel like he’s always preaching the same sermon and it’s his way or the highway.” “Why do you say that?” Mom attempted to help Tim verbalize his anguish hoping to lower his frustration. “No matter what […]