You came here for the bedtime problem, or a child who hits, or the child who won't talk to you. You wanted to be told what to do. You read three pages and nobody told you.
This page says why, and where to take those questions.
01
What you won't find
How to handle a tantrum, a bedtime or a screen.
What your child is feeling.
What a child needs at any age.
How your child will turn out.
Whether you are a good parent.
02
Why
This library's method looks at what may be happening in one adult, and that adult is you. It has no way of seeing your child.
It also does not state what other people feel as if that were a fact. That holds for children more than for anyone.
03
Where those questions go
A pediatrician.
A licensed family therapist. When Therapy Is the Right Door may help with choosing.
Your child's school, for what happens there.
04
If you are afraid
If a child is in immediate danger, contact emergency services. If you are afraid for a child, or afraid of what you might do, a page is not enough, and licensed mental-health care is the right door.
If the person you are afraid of is another adult in your home, that is not a parenting question either.The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233. If tonight is an emergency, call or text 988 (US). This library is not that door.
05
What you will find
What a parent's own reaction can show, on What Your Reaction to Your Child Can Show You.
Four moments looked at from the parent's side: the meltdown, not being able to play, the mess and needing them to be okay.
Two more pages from the same side: hearing your own parent in your voice, and what stays yours when your children notice you changing.
The method under all of them is subtraction.
Where the section starts is on How to Be a Kid Again.