Parents, imagine a state law had just been enacted that prohibited you from praising, critiquing, or even acknowledging anything about your student that would be listed on a college application. Your child’s grades, test scores, awards, number of community service hours completed—mention them to your kid or to anyone else, and you’d be officially breaking the law.
What would you talk about with your student?
What would you say when talking about your student?
When you assessed your own success as a parent, what criteria would you use?
Try it for a week. Or even just 24 hours. See what happens. My guess is that it will lower stress and change your conversations for the better.