By Mom of 7 and 9 year olds
My daughter, Beth, is 9 and very strong-willed which can lead to intense emotional outbursts. I tend to try and take away her hurt feelings. I’m going through a divorce and my Child’s Advocate has advised me to stop doing this because it isn’t helping my daughter.
She recommended Cynthia Klein for parenting support.
A key skill Cynthia is teaching me is how to not rescue my daughter and instead listen to her upset, so she can get through it, know she can handle hard feelings, and think better afterwards.
I had a great opportunity to practice this new skill with my daughter on the phone while at her dad’s house. Beth called me very upset because she tried out for the school play and only received a small, non-speaking part.
As my daughter cried, rather than trying to make her feel better, which is the communication block of placating, I responded with empathetic phrases.
Here are examples of what I said. “It must be really hard when your friend gets a big part and you only get a small part.” “You wanted a big part and you only got a small part.” “You practiced so hard and you are disappointed that you didn’t get a big part.”
After a while of continuing to express herself in response to my empathetic phrases, Beth started cheering herself up by seeing the good of being in the play even with a small part. It was amazing. Beth acknowledged that she was an understudy and that another good friend got the same small part as she did. She was also excited about making the sets. The next day she was happy about being in the play.
In the past I would have tried to cheer her up with statements like, “”Even a small part will be fun”. “Maybe you’ll get a bigger part next time”. “You should be happy for your friend”.
These attempts at making her feel better only made her mad at me. Cynthia has taught me that placating gives my daughter the underlying hurtful message that she doesn’t have the right to her feelings and that she can’t handle discomfort. This is why she would get so angry at me and I wasn’t helping her deal with her life. I was instead teaching her that she wasn’t capable.
I was thrilled to see how I could change my response to her upset and make such a big difference in how she responded to me and felt about herself. Thank you so much Cynthia.
Learn quickly by taking a class with Cynthia. Go to her website for class listing: bridges2understanding.com
2018 Cynthia Klein, Bridges 2 Understanding, has been a Certified Parenting Educator since 1994. She works with parents and organizations who want more cooperation, mutual respect and understanding between adults and children. Cynthia presents her expertise through speaking, private parenting coaching sessions, and her book, Ally Parenting: A Non-Adversarial Approach to Transform Conflict Into Cooperation. She works with parents of 5 – 25 year-old children.
To learn how Cynthia can help you solve your specific challenges, contact Cynthia at bridges2understanding.com, , or 650. 679.8138 to have a complementary 45-minute discovery session. Why keep suffering? It’s time to change!
Copyright © 2026, Cynthia Klein, All rights reserved. Please contact Cynthia to use any of her blog post.
About Cynthia Klein
Cynthia Klein’s mission is to contribute to World Peace and building healthy family relationships is the place to begin. As a parenting expert for over 30 years, parents have learned from Cynthia how to communicate more effectively as an ally rather than an adversary. Her unique Family Harmony System teaches parents of 5 and older how to have open dialogue, solve problems together, support one another, and build mutual respect. Cynthia is the author of Ally Parenting and the video-based self-paced program Win, Win, Win, Parenting. She has presented over 700 talks and coached hundreds of parents privately towards greater family connection and harmony. To learn more about her services of coaching and speaking, contact Cynthia Klein at , visit her website at bridges2understanding.com.
