Parenting involves setting boundaries to ensure safety and validating a child's emotions, which go hand in hand. Boundaries require setting limits, not just giving commands, while validation acknowledges a child's emotional experience. The job of parenting is not making a child happy but ensuring their well-being.
As a clinical psychologist, Becky Kennedy works with parents to raise good kids. She’s best known as Dr. Becky on Instagram, and has been called the "Millennial parenting whisperer" for good reason. Becky and Adam challenge the widespread belief that it’s a parent’s job to make their children happy, talk candidly about the surprisingly difficult task of setting and maintaining boundaries, and dig into the science and practice of helping kids (and adults) deal with the ups and downs of life. Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts