Balance Your Parenting Act with a little (or a lot) of objectivity! Are you one of those parents who turns a blind eye to possible trouble… sort of like those people on the 6 o’clock news where all keep their doors unlocked and when there’s a home-invasion beating and robbery, they say "this never happens in my neighborhood"? Troubled teens don’t just pop up out of the clear blue sky.

If negative events occurred when they were toddler to 5 years old, those things need to be rinsed out while they’re 6, 7, 8. When there is ‘waiting until they’re teenagers to try and handle it’ or ‘hoping they will grow out of it’, it’s a good bet that the pain they’ve been living with for most of their lives will cause them to act out in unsavory ways. They are now bigger and can harm themselves AND OTHERS dramatically.

For example, just because boys tend to be quieter does not mean there is nothing much going on with them. Have a look at this segment on The Today Show where Rosalind Wiseman is interviewed about the study she’s done on boys and published in her new book MASTERMINDS AND WINGMEN. A few quick stats: "for every 100 girls ages 6 to 14 with a learning disability, there are 160 boys with such learning problems, for every 100 girls ages 15 to 19 who commit suicide, 549 boys do! 100% of shooters are boys!

Wake up! Be alert! Put your glasses on! What do you see? Is all truly well? Heed the tips Ms. Wiseman gives in her interview. My favorite: "No grilling". She has a separate ebook just for boys also. Make a point of listening to your teen whenever it is they decide to talk or at least let them relax a while at home before you dive into ‘discovery’. Listen with your whole body and resist the urge to judge and advise. That’s a tough one, I know, but do it anyway.

So tell me, is your parenting act balanced?