I once had a family come in with a teenage boy that was out of control, spoiled, with no respect.

How could he not be that way?

The next two stories explained it all to me.

This was a wealthy family. The parents had sent there son to get some money out of the ATM machine with their card. Then they forgot about giving him the card. Three months and twenty five thousand dollars later they asked him about it.

Now, my first thought was I would like to get to the place in life where I did not miss twenty five thousand dollars for three months.

The story continues though. When they came in, they had already bought him a brand new car which he totaled. And then they bought him another brand new car.

After working with them for several sessions, he totaled that car and then they bought him another one. I told them that if that happened again, I would fire myself from the case.

Sure enough, it happened again. And sure enough, I fired myself.

Crippled by one missing word

In my view, I could not participate in a situation that was crippling this boy and the parents were not willing to change it.

The parents were crippling this boy for the real world by leaving out one simple word.

That word is no.

Visit ParentingYourTeenager.com for tips and tools for thriving during the teen years. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 5 day e-program on The Top 5 Things to Never Say to Your Teenager, from parenting coach and expert Jeff Herring.

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