Search Results for: blog saying no to unreasonable expectations

How to Say No

As I mentioned earlier, I’m feeling bad about having said no to a few commitments this week. I love my friends, and enjoy helping them, and don’t like to feel like I’m letting them down. But sometimes, you just have to say no. Sometimes you’re over-committed, sometimes it’s just something you don’t want to do, sometimes you just can’t fit it into your schedule. Still, all those reasons don’t necessarily make it any easier to say no — especially when it’s a friend doing the asking. Here are some tips to help make it a little easier to say no. … Continue reading →

A Child Discovers the Power of the Word “No”

For many parents, it can be quite disturbing when their two year-old discovers the word “No”—she says it with such gritty determination. She soon says it all the time, whether she really wants what is being offered or not. My second daughter learned to say the word “No” and then came up with her first “sentence” at the same time: “My do it.” Her determination to be both independent and in control of her life was amazing and exhausting. While she had been somewhat stubborn from birth, when she started to master language, she could be downright contrary. Why does … Continue reading →

Saying “No” to Unreasonable Expectations

We do not have to do it all. There, I’ve said it again (I know for a fact that I have stated this mantra before). As single parents, we might be tempted to get roped in to trying to meet other’s unreasonable expectations—we are so determined to do a good job and juggle our responsibilities that it may not dawn on us that we are being asked to take on too much or expected to take on inappropriate problems, tasks, or situations. This is where we have to learn how to just say “No.” I know full well that it … Continue reading →

They Are Not Miniature Adults

Now that my children are nearly grown, they can sometimes do darn good impersonations of adults—they can be practical, level-headed, and display a great sense of humor. But, they are not adults yet, and I do not think the tendency to expect children to act like miniature adults is isolated on teenagers—it can be tempting for us parents to have the unreasonable expectations of our children at all sorts of ages and stages. Without even realizing it, we may be expecting them to act older than their years. Sure, sometimes they surprise us, sometimes they delight us with visions of … Continue reading →

When it isn’t What You Expected

Let’s be honest, most of us entered parenting with some set expectations—we had an idea of what our child or children would be like, what family life would be like, and we probably even imagined what sort of parent we would be. It does not take long for most of us to get jerked out of our fantasies and into the real world and then we begin facing the fact that things are just not turning out as we expected… There are really only two things we can do when we are faced with discovering that life as a parent … Continue reading →

Are You Happy with the Level of Connection?

What do you wish was going better with your child? I think as parents we often think that our kids go through phases and we just have to take things as they come. Often life gets in the way and we start to feel like we are losing our connection with our child or that we don’t really know or understand what is going on and we just have to live with it. We don’t! If there are areas in your relationship with your child that can stand improvement, you can identify them and make efforts to bring about some … Continue reading →