by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Mentoring, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Personal Strength, Strong for Parenting
The other day I was sitting in the waiting area of my dental clinic, along with seven other people. One of them was a woman in her mid-30s who was holding a small dog in her lap. I was amazed at how quiet and well-behaved the dog was. But a dog in a dental clinic? How...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Encouragement, Parent-child Communication, Parenting, Parenting Books, Personal Strength, Teen Success, Uncategorized
Being a parent means doing hard things on a regular basis. In other words, raising a child to be a happy, successful, independent adult will require you to engage many aspects of character strength. Likewise, to succeed in life as an adult, a child will also have to...
by Dennis Coates | Parenting, Parenting Books, Personal Strength, Strong for Parenting, Teen Suicide
You’ve probably heard it said that being a parent is the hardest job in the world. Children are a joy, but they surprise you and challenge you to do things you didn’t know you’d ever have to do. Often just getting through a day can be a major achievement. You have to...
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Behavior Change, Personal Strength, Self-Esteem, Teen Success
I remember an incident in which my two sons were playing together outside. One got mad at the other and it came to blows. In retrospect, I understand that a contributing factor was their underdeveloped ability to exercise empathy. That was then, over 40 years ago....
by Dennis Coates | Adolescence, Parent-child Communication, Parenting Blogs, Personal Strength, Strong for Parenting
Someone said to me recently, “Nearly all the problems of the world would be solved if human beings were more empathetic.” It was such a bold, broad thing to say that I really had to reflect on it for a while. Ultimately, I found the statement hard to...
by Dennis Coates | Critical Thinking, Education, Parenting, Personal Strength, Self-Esteem, Strong for Parenting, Teen Culture, Teen Success
Children are miracles. Loving parents know this. But kids start out life innocent and only learn what they observe and they’re taught. And these days, slogans such as “Black Lives Matter” are visible everywhere. When required to declare race on a...
