Back to School: Remember, dads especially, this is not about you.
I love this advice from @goodschoolsguide Managing Editor, Melanie Sanderson.
She says they talk a lot in the office about how parents find it really hard to look at their child's schooling without using the lens of their own childhood experiences.
She urges us all to be less emotional, and less desperate to live out our dreams through our children.
Do you see much of this? I remember talking to a mum who told me that while her husband was away her son begged her to allow him to stop playing rugby, because he hated it.
The most important thing I've learned from raising my kids is that we need to get to know the person they are, not superimpose our own needs on to them. It's also very hard to do this!
Her point reminds me of @drlucyfoulkes most recent brilliant book, Coming of Age, How Adolescence Shapes Us. In it she talks about how incredibly powerful the teen years are forming how we think, and the intense memories that continue to impact our self-image.
My interview with Melanie Sanderson will be coming out on Wednesday. If you'd like to hear more of psychologist @drlucyfoulkes deeply insightful observations about mental health, and how we manage teen phone use, that interiew can be found via the link in my bio or www.teenagersuntangled.com
The rugby pitch or the cricket square might be the best in England, but your son might not be into those things like you were.
So let's remember it's about them and it's very, very hard to put aside your own experiences of school, because they're so formative, aren't they, and they really do show this.
We've all got such vivid memories, but as much as you can try and park that and really think about what it is that makes your your son or daughter, tick.