Good Inside with Dr. Becky - The Parent-Teacher Conference Survival Guide

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

In this episode, Dr. Becky shares a vulnerable moment at home when her son confesses his schoolyard transgressions—just as she prepares for his parent-teacher conference. She walks us through a play-by-play of what happens next, offering valuable insights into how to navigate these conversations with our kids and their teachers.Do you also have a kid who is 0% people pleasing? Then you won't want to miss "Why Is Everything a Battle?" Dr. Becky's Live Workshop on Power Struggles, Defiance, and Strong-Willed Kids happening on Thursday, Apr 17 from 01:30 PM - 02:45 PM EDT. RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3RqW7nUGet the Good Inside App by Dr. Becky: https://bit.ly/4fSxbzkFollow Dr. Becky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbeckyatgoodinsideSign up for our weekly email, Good Insider: https://www.goodinside.com/newsletterOrder Dr. Becky's book, Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be, at goodinside.com/book or wherever you get your books. Plus, check out her new children's book, That's My Truck!: A Good Inside Story About Hitting.For a full transcript of the episode, go to goodinside.com/podcast.Today’s episode is brought to you by Ritual. You know that feeling when you’re going a million miles an hour, jumping from one thing to the next? You’re trying to finish an email when you remember the laundry’s still in the washer, your kid is shouting about needing poster board for a project due tomorrow, your pone won’t stop buzzing, and—oh, great—you forgot that tonight is parent-teacher conferences. Sometimes, life is just… a lot.Stress doesn’t have an off-switch. And we can support our body’s natural response to it. That’s why I love Ritual’s Stress Relief, featuring BioSeries technology. It’s designed to work with your body to help manage everyday stress.If you feel like daily stress is taking a toll on your body and mind, you might want to give them a try. Get Ritual Stress Relief and save 25% on your first month at ritual.com/goodinside.This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. Recently, I’ve been on the road spreading the word about my new children's book, That’s My Truck: A Good Inside Story About Hitting!. I’m so grateful and excited to be on this book tour, connecting with our community in person. And it’s also true that being away from home can feel hard. That’s why I love Airbnb–I can find and book a place that feels just a little bit more like home away from home, somewhere I can come back to at the end of the day and recharge. Something else I love about Airbnb is that you can become a host while you’re away by offering your home to someone traveling to your town!  Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/host.

Here's one thing I want to begin with. I think a lot of us worry that our kids' bad behavior anywhere, and especially heightened at school, is some reflection of our parenting. And then when our kids struggle behaviorally, emotionally, academically, to some degree, we're not even responding to their struggle as much as to our need to feel like a good parent through them having better behavior. And then whatever they're struggling with kind of becomes a pawn in our game that we want to prove to everyone

we're amazing parents. And so we need them to act better on the playground or learn how to read or figure out some peer dynamic in a group situation. I think today is going to give you insight on all of that and you'll learn a little bit more about how things played out in my tricky parent-teacher conference. I'm Dr. Becky and this is Good Inside. We'll be back right after this. You know that feeling when you're going a million miles an hour, jumping from one thing to the next? You're trying to finish an email and then you remember the laundry still wet, and then your kid is shouting about needing poster board for the project due tomorrow,

your phone won't stop buzzing, and oh great, you forgot that tonight is parent-teacher conferences. Oh great, you forgot that tonight is parent-teacher conferences. Sometimes life is just a lot. Stress doesn't have an on-off switch. And we can support our body's natural response to it. This is why I love Rituals Stress Relief, featuring BioSeries technology. It's designed to work with your body to help manage everyday stress. It contains ashwagandha, L altheanin, and saffron, which combined can help us feel calmer, happier, and less overwhelmed by everyday stress.

Ritual uses clinically studied traceable ingredients so you know exactly where they come from. Plus, as a B-Corp, they're committed to both people and the planet. If you feel like daily stress is taking a toll on your body and mind, you might wanna give them a try. Get Ritual Stress Relief and save 25% on your first month at ritual.com slash good inside. My younger son came home and ended up sharing a ton of bad behavior he had at school. And I'm gonna tell you, it was legitimately bad behavior.

Here's what I wanna do. I wanna walk through everything that happened between us while it's still fresh in my mind, because I think a lot of us have this model of kind of coming down harshly on our kids, or we have to punish them in order to get better behavior. But now that I'm just a few days out, I see how this whole arc made such a big difference

and I wanna talk through every part where I'm gonna end up giving you stuff that's gonna make you laugh, is gonna really relate to the day-to-day in your home, and might give you permission to kind of interact with your kid in just a way that feels slightly better to both of you and ends up being more effective.

Okay, let me jump in. So last week at the beginning of the week, I said to two of you and ends up being more effective. Okay, let me jump in. So last week at the beginning of the week, I said to two of my kids, you know, parent-teacher conferences are coming up. So curious what I'm going to hear from your teacher. I honestly didn't even think much about it. Generally, to be honest, my kids have very good parent-teacher conferences. Well, I guess that stuck with my younger one in his head. I think that was on a Monday.

It was on a Thursday. I get home from work right away. My son pulls me into his room. Now this is a kid who fashions himself very independent, very strong. I come home from work and he's like, whatever. I don't care. He really loves to think about himself as capable and he's not kind of so comfortable with his vulnerability and kind of maybe needing help from other people. Okay, that's a little bit of backstory.

He pulls me in and I can tell he's really upset. He even starts crying again with this type of kid, very rare. We sit in his bed and this is what he says. Mom, okay. I need to talk to you. I think I've been so excited about vacation coming up. At this point, I'm like, oh boy, I've had some bad behavior in school and I need your

help. Okay, just pause and let's take a moment together to almost imagine your kid saying, and what I want you to do in the mental image with your kid is I want you to pause the moment and remind yourself something like, do nothing, say less. I have time. Go slow.

Between us, as we pause this movie, the thing that really did strike me, and maybe I've trained myself to think this way, I just, I can't remember the last time this kid came to me saying he needed my help. It's always like he'd avoid a story, or he would say something in a funny way. He was really vulnerable.

He was clearly desperate for my help. I mean, he dragged me into his room. I also just happened to love that I'm excited for vacation. Like he was already kind of coming up with a narrative to explain all this bad behavior. I thought very creative, A plus on that. Now, what did I have the urge to say before anything else? I don't know, some version of a lecture. Bad

behavior in school, what's wrong with you? Well, tell me, what have you been doing? Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, am I gonna hear from your teacher? So either come down harshly, kind of add my own anxiety to clearly his state of discomfort, or just rush past any of the details and jump right into a solution. I was on my game, not always the case, but I was on my game, and I used what is truly one of my favorite lines to say to anybody when they come to you in a state of distress.

I'm so glad you're talking to me about this. Okay, I'm gonna do this a lot. I'm gonna pause and share my thought process and then get back into the story. So my son's seven. Here's what I know about all kids and I can promise you definitely my seven year old because he is, you know, he has got that rebellious streak.

Whatever happened in school, like that is going to be way less serious than the kind of stuff this child is going to get into in his teenage years. I just know it. Not because I wish for him awful behavior. No, but he's not such a people pleaser. He's a third kid. He loves to kind of try things.

He doesn't have a lot of fear. And either way, even if he was a kind of more people pleasing kid, all kids can do all things. And what I really care about with my kids is that their body encodes. When something bad happens, I can go to my mom. Not when something bad happens, I want to run away from my mom, hide it from my mom. I want them to know my mom is the first person

I want to talk to for help. Not my mom is the last person I hope finds out about this because I'm going to be in trouble. Now, we confuse that with permissiveness. If one day my kid, I don't know, is like drinking at a young age, I'm not going to be like, high five, I'm so glad you came to talk to me. Let's take shots to celebrate. Zero.

Okay? But if my kid is drinking at an early age, you better bet I think I'm going to be more helpful in figuring out what's going on and helping them have better behavior than their like, I don't know, totally irresponsible 16 year old friend who I'm guessing has zero bits of helpful advice to help my child get out of a struggle. So that's my goal. It really is.

And I know it has a long-term view and it's so different, but our kids are encoding patterns of how things feel with us. And those patterns and feelings will have more of an impact on what they do when they're older than what we say to them. You can talk to me about anything. Their body's like, oh, I remember a lot of things that ended up feeling worse. I'm not talking to my parent.

I'm not going to go against my body's lessons. Okay. That line, I'm so glad you're talking to me about this. I really believe it's just one of those lines we need to like put in our back pocket and practice. Practice to the mirror even when your kid's not there so you have a greater likelihood of saying it. I'm so glad you're talking to me about this.

Now I'm gonna walk through it. After that, I just really like hugged him. He was really, I think he was looking at me like this, like kind of like, am I gonna get a hug or am I gonna get a lecture? I think we can looking at me like this, like kind of like, am I gonna get a hug or am I gonna get a lecture? I think we can all think about those moments in our childhood. We're like, what's coming?

Did something bad. Am I gonna get a hug or am I gonna get a lecture? And so I didn't really say too many other things. I did, I just gave him a hug. I'm so glad you're talking to me about this. Look, we're going to hear the details. He was kind of hyperventilating. Like, it's okay. I'm here. We have time. You don't have to say anything. Just let me give you a hug. I wanted his body. Our body encodes movements. Like, I'm so upset. I'm nervous. I have this thing. And what I wanted his body to remember is there is a possibility of connection and relative safety in that moment.

Kind of calm down. Then he started telling me more. This is what he said and he kind of spilled it all out. He's like, okay, well, I'm really talking to my friends on the rug. My teacher hates when I do that, I'm really talking to my friends on the rug. My teacher hates when I do that. I've been talking to my friends on the rug. Okay. I've been calling out in class. And he goes, and I've been rushing all of my, he goes, I've been rushing my work. He's in first grade. So I'm dying to know what he's been rushing.

So I said it like reading, writing, math, then he just goes, all of it, all of it, mom. So I just kind of mirrored back, okay, so it sounds like you've been talking to your friends on the rug, you've been calling out in class, oh, and you've been rushing all of your work, oh. Sounds like a lot of stuff. Then he added this kicker, and today, my teacher hates when we run in for

recess to try to be first, but I just really wanted to be first. And I ended up kind of pushing and elbowing this other kid who also wants to be first. That also happened today. It's like, okay. Okay, so here's all the information. Now here's what I did. Again, what did I want to say? That better all stop tomorrow. That better all stop tomorrow. But one of the things I've realized is how much when we set up our kid to go from here to here with anything, our kid just gets stuck. Because I know for me, if I went to

someone, I was like, I can't speak any Spanish. And they were like, well, you should be fluent tomorrow. I'm like, well, I'm not even going to start learning Spanish. Like, that's impossible. That's so far from where I am. Right? Plus, I know my kid. He likes to feel in control.

Right? And I know if I was like, well, you better be better tomorrow. I just know he's going to hear that voice tomorrow. And he's like, well, how can I feel independent? I know I can continue doing all those things like just totally backfires. So here's what I said, both because I know my kid likes to feel in control, but also because I want to set him up for success. And I really didn't mean this. I said, look, first of all, again, I really think I can help you with this. First of all, again, I really think I can help you with this. And we're not going to work on all of it at once.

We're just not because we can't go from here to here and it's just too many things. So I want you to pick one thing. Talking on the rug, calling out, your work, recessed behavior, I want one thing to work on. That's it. I really sold it. He goes, I want to work on all the things. And this was like a little, I was like, no, I just think that's like really too many, sweetie. I don't want you to have like all the things. One thing is like,

okay, I want three things. I go, what things? You know, he goes, okay, I want talking on the rug, calling out in class and rushing my work. Right? No, here's what's so interesting. When we say to our kids, here's what you have to do. We separate the conflict. We own the part of them that wants to get better. And guess what? They have to own the other part, which is I kind of just want to keep doing what I want to do and I don't care if I get in trouble.

What's really interesting in this conversation as I look back on it is I owned, let's just make really slow progress. Now, let's just do like one tiny thing. Again, when you split the conflict and you own that part, it almost made sense that my son was like, no, I want to improve across the board. And I'm almost like, fine, right? Totally shifted.

So we started with talking on the rock. Now, me being me, I still just, I always get caught because I feel like I have really good ideas. Like I really feel like I have really good ideas and just wanna share them with my kid, even though again, then there's almost a bad split. I have the ideas and he has to own the rejection of the ideas.

But I started with saying, I have a good idea. Why don't you just kind of turn your body away from your two really good friends in the class? To which he said, mom, we sit in a circle. Like I can't just turn my back away. Which is interesting, I don't even know that. So I just said to him, oh, I didn't even know when you're describing where people were sitting

that you sit in a circle. Thank you for telling me that. I didn't even know that. What do you think? So again, I'm kind of giving him ownership and he's like, wow, my teacher, you know, during quiet time when we're doing quiet reading, there's always kids saying my teacher's name,

trying to get her attention. And my teacher does this sign and then he kind of showed me the sign. It was something like this, like, I think pointer and pinky up and thumb was kind of holding the other two fingers and the sign was going back and forth. And he said, maybe I should give that sign to my friends.

Small win, big win. First of all, what a small win, he has something to do. Big win, I said to him, oh, you're really thinking about how to solve that problem. Why is that a big win? I would love my kid when they're older and they're struggling to have the self-talk of, I'm someone who can really think of solutions to solve that problem. Why is that a big win? I would love my kid when they're older and they're struggling to have the self-talk of, I'm someone who can really think of solutions

to my own problems. That's way better than thinking my mom always has the best ideas. So he said, okay. And then he said, and I've been calling out a lot. And I said, I wonder what would help you in that moment not call out. Now I'm a big fan of mantras, right?

Mantras take a moment where something's hard and they just give us one specific thing to focus on. Now, this was really interesting, okay? Because I said to him, I know kind of a mantra that would help me, okay? And he said, well, what would help you? And I said, waiting is hard and I can do it. Waiting is hard and I can do it.

And he just said, I don't think that's it for me. But okay. And then what's really, really nuts is he said something to me that I think I shared with him over a year ago and haven't repeated since. It goes back to those moments when you think you're delivering a gym and then you think, oh, that didn't land because my kid asked for pretzels, but they do take it in and service

it a year later. Because I have a theory about why kids call out at least sometimes. And I had shared it with him, I think when he was struggling a little bit a year ago. And he said, I think what I need to say to myself is I know the answer. And it's okay if my friends don't know that I know. See, we have a sidebar. I think that when a kid knows the answer to a question, some kids love everyone else to know, oh, Alex knows the answer.

Alex is so smart. And if I call out, everyone knows that I know the answer. And if I don't call out, people don everyone knows that I know the answer and if I don't call out, people don't know that I know the answer. There's almost like an insecurity there. And his self-talk was literally a reflection of something I said to him a year ago, but he surfaced it. So we then did a mini role play.

We really did. I'm going to tell you the whole story. I said, okay, I have an idea. How about I'm you and you're the teacher and you ask a question and I am going to kind of like say the mantra to myself. I'm going to try my mantra, your mantra, see which works better for me. He said, okay. So he said to me, who knows what one plus one is? And I went like this, oh, oh, oh, oh. And then I said, waiting is hard and I can do it. And of course he yelled at me, you don't say it out loud mom, you're saying it out loud.

I said, oh, you're right. Okay, I'm gonna say it to myself, right? And I said it to myself and I said, say it again but I'm gonna try your mantra. And then I said, I actually like the waiting is hard one personally. And then he said, oh, how about now you're the teacher and I'm the student.

Kids will actually engage in this kind of role play if you often reverse it first. Because now it's not something I'm making my kid do, it's kind of play. So I said, okay. So I said something like, again, two plus two is blank. And he raised his hand and he, unlike me, didn't say it out loud.

And he said after, I don't like the waiting one. And maybe really, he really does know himself that it's not about waiting for him. It's about him needing to build enough confidence to know that it's okay if other people don't know that he knows the answer to everything. So we did that. And then we got to rushing and rushing through his work. And this was a really fun one together. So we were talking about this, like, what would help you? And he wasn't sure. And I just said to him, do you remember the tortoise and the hare? Do you remember the tortoise and the hare? And he goes, yeah, because I know he knows that story.

I said, what is the thing that's kind of the lesson at the end that everyone talks about? And he's like, oh, right, they say something. And I was like, yeah, what is it? And he's like, I don't remember, I don't remember. I said, okay, I could give you a clue. I'm gonna give you the acronym. And I said to him, SASWTR.

Made a kind of, he's like, oh, what does that stand? Couldn't get it. I said, do you want me to give you the first word? Because yeah. And I said, SASWTR, first S is slow. Remember, S-A-S-W-T-R, first S is slow. And then he lights up, he goes, oh, slow and steady wins the race, right? But then it became this kind of inside joke

where we were saying to each other, S-A-S-W-T-R. It's like, I'm gonna say that to myself, I'm doing my work. Okay, I have this whole conversation. I gave him a hug. I actually just ended how we began and said, again, I'm just so glad we're talking about this. I'm so glad you came to me. Next morning, I kid you not, before we get on the bus, he says to me, Mom, SAS WTR today, right? And his sister goes, what? And he just goes, nothing, nothing. I think

it felt all of a sudden kind of like this inside special connection between us. And it was, it's almost like through that acronym, he was saying, this was actually a moment of learning. That felt good to me. I think the word that comes to mind the most to summarize this whole intervention, I'm going to pause because I want you to think. If I had one word to summarize this way of intervening, which Becky even herself would not do all the time, we all get reactive, we all need a do-over, but if there was one word, what would it be? And there's no right answer, okay?

There's no quiz, but I'm going to share with you the one word that comes to mind for me. Trust. Trust that I have a good kid under a whole range of bad behavior. Trust in myself that I could help figure this out. And I think one of the biggest things we lose access to when we're in a moment of panic and parenting is trust in time. Like I don't need to react a certain way. Like, well, you're getting your iPad taken away. And then my kid goes, no.

And then in some ways I'm like, I trust that this is gonna change because my kids screamed in reaction to my random punishment. Like we almost trust our kid's immediate reaction about a consequence more than we trust how something feels or ourselves or a process or time. I have time to figure this out with him. I trust that I have skills that I could teach him. I trust that. I have my own experiences where

I know I have some bad days in weeks and then can get back on track. I trust that. And maybe at the core of everything we do here is just, I have a good kid who's having a hard time. I trust that. I think sometimes we need permission to lead with trust instead of control. And it feels bold and uncomfortable because most of us in our hard times, people led with control, not trust. And I think we remember it feeling awful and not helping, but it's seared in our body as what's familiar. And it's always hard to go against what's familiar.

And I know for me at various points in my life, the thing that's helped me shift to something that's unfamiliar and therefore uncomfortable, but a little bit more in line with my values is honestly just having someone model it for me. Seeing it, oh, people do that? Oh, that's a possibility? And so there's no major lesson here.

There's nothing you have to do. There's no homework. I guess my wish for you is just to kind of take in this story, not as a sign of how you have to parent. Trust me, if my son would have caught me on another day, it would have been lectures and screaming and power struggles and just, I would have been lectures and screaming and power struggles and just, I would have been telling you a different story.

It just happened to be one of those moments. But what I want you to take in is the possibility of one day doing it a different way. I want you to take in that you, when you were younger, deserve to have moments more filled with trust than control. And I want you to take in that if this kind of feels right and good to you, I trust that you'll get there. So one last note, parent-teacher conferences are coming up.

Yes, my son is working on a bunch of stuff. And yes, there will be moments that I anticipate. The parent-teacher conference will be messy and imperfect. And the teacher will share some of these behaviors. ["The New Children's Book"] Recently, I've been on the road spreading the word about my new children's book. That's my truck, a good inside story about hitting.

I'm so grateful and excited to be on this book tour, connecting with our community in person. And it's also true that being away from home can feel hard. This is why I love Airbnb. I can find and book a place that feels a little bit more like home away from home. Somewhere I can come back to at the end of the day and just recharge. Something else I love about Airbnb

is that you can become a host while you're away by offering your home to someone traveling to your town. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. ["Dreams of a New World"] bnb.com slash host. Then we had the conference. And here's one of the things I've really given myself permission to do over the years. And I'd say looking back on earlier parent-teacher

conferences, I think I didn't do it. I think I had some type of faking good. I need to prove to this teacher that my kid is perfect and that I'm a really good parent and I kind of did that by trying to kind of conceal certain things or kind of cross my fingers like I hope they don't bring it up. But I think the thing that shifted and relates to my mindset of I have a good kid who's in a hard stage or I have a good kid who has tricky moments or I have a good kid who's not a perfect kid is if I really embrace that, then I want to unearth some stuff in the parent-teacher conference.

Because if I look at the teacher like another coach and we're both kind of coaching the same kid, well, we want to have the same information. And I want to know the things that they're working on with my kids so I can be aware of how that might show up at home. And they have to know the stuff I'm aware of with my kid at home so they have a filter on when it might come up at school. And so I think I just went in with that kind of, let's just have it all out.

And honestly, the first question I got at the parent teacher conference was some version of, hey, just wanna check in with you first. How are things going? What do you notice? And then they actually said, anything you've been hearing about related to school. My husband and I kind of looked at each other

and we kind of had the car ride to talk about our approach. And we just put it all out there. And we just put it all out there. And we actually put it all out there, not in a panicked way, but kind of with the same love for my good kid as I had when he told me all of his kind of transgressions, kind of said, look, we'll start out by saying, we have heard that it's been like an especially tricky week.

We know this, here's how we heard about it's been like an especially tricky week. We know this. Here's how we heard about it. And actually, this conference, it couldn't have been better timing because we want to share some of what we see at home and how we approach it there. We'd love to hear a little bit more detail around some of these stories at school and hear what's going on

from your perspective. And what a great time to come together and brainstorm about how we can all help my son. And I think that kind of set the tone for a lot of what came next because it was clear we were teammates. It was clear there was no kind of avoiding the truth. There was no desire from our part. We kind of named this intention, this intention to work together and unearth things and think about some concrete strategies that we could kind of both do at home and at school to help my son with kind of the

core struggle he was having. And then we got into a lot of it. And I think, you know, the other thing that happened in the conference that really stood out, which was so helpful for me to hear, you know, my son has these wonderful teachers, is they really did say to us, look, these are moments. Like, these are moments we see these kind of difficult behaviors. This is not who your son is. And maybe, you know, I had, you know, in my presence, two teachers who were also able to separate identity from behavior.

But I think because we started out as teammates and we reduced defensiveness, and I was so open about what I already knew was happening in terms of my kids' struggle, they didn't have to escalate anything in terms of, oh, well, they didn't have to escalate anything in terms of, oh, well, this is how he always is and you have to take things seriously. No one had to establish that because I wasn't trying to hide something. I wasn't trying to fake good.

I wasn't trying to paint my kid as perfect. And so that makes someone else a lot less likely to say, yeah, your kid's having all these issues and your kid's the problem kid because we kind of started out in the same page mentality. And so the conference was a fruitful one. It was really a great conference. Now, does that mean it was great as in,

oh my goodness, I have a perfect kid? No, was it great in terms of, oh my goodness, that was definitely the easiest conference of the day? Probably not. But I guess how we feel and how we name our feelings has a lot more to do with how we unconsciously define those feelings than we realize. And I think to me, when my kids are young,

I try to define great as holding my kids identity, who they are, separate from what they do. And then actually almost wanting to hear about some of the things my kids struggle with when they're younger. So I have an opportunity to work on things before the stakes are a lot higher. And so by that definition, the conference was great. Although not without its moments that I had to kind of take a deep breath, remind myself of that kind of mindset.

I have a good kid, is going through a hard stage. And not without some kind of tricky feelings, because of course me too, it's just easier to hear your kid is perfect, my favorite kid in the class, they never do anything wrong, and that is definitely not what the conference is all about. Okay, let's be honest.

The kids for whom parent-teacher conferences are most challenging are kids prone to defiance, stubbornness, and kids in general who are just super strong-willed. Yes, this is my child I told the story about. This is probably why I'm so excited to do a brand new workshop on defiance, to give us a reframe about what's really going on and to come up with a plan for how to move forward in a way that's effective and actually feels better for everyone. More about this in the show notes or at goodinside.com. So here's a question I get all the time from parents.

How honest should I be with my kid's teacher about the challenges I see at home? I think the first thing before answering this question is just figuring out what is my goal of my conversation with my kid's teacher. I think we could answer this. Is my goal to help the teacher understand my kid and almost have like a leg up. Like if my teacher can know things that I already know about my kid

and I can share things that maybe have worked or haven't worked or even places we're stuck, I'm kind of giving the teacher like a fast forward in terms of knowledge. Is my goal something very different? If my goal, and this is why it's helpful to name it, because I think when we say it, it sounds ridiculous, even if it is our unconscious goal, and this is why it's helpful to name it, because I think when we say it, it sounds ridiculous, even if it is our unconscious goal,

is my goal for the teacher to think I have a perfect kid and a perfect family where nothing ever goes wrong. Well, then you have an answer to your question. How honest should I be? Probably not very honest, because if you're honest, then your kid, like any other kid, is going to look like a normal kid who has stuff that they're great at and stuff that they're really working on. I guess I'd ask you to try on, and maybe it's just for a month. I always love the idea of trying to commit to something for a very short term.

You don't have to try on for your kid's whole academic career or being honest with the teacher. No, no, no. That's a huge commitment. I wouldn't ask you to do that. But if you tried it on for a month or a week or a day or a single meeting and if you were able to say to yourself the fears I have that this is going to make the teacher look at my kid in an even more negative way. What if I just recognize those fears and I kind of put them on a shelf and right behind they can sit on that shelf and we'll keep them there for you. You can take them back if they're useful. But for now just put them to the side because too often when we don't put our fears to

the side, they dictate what we do instead of allowing ourselves kind of the freedom to experiment. And so what would it look like to be really honest? First of all, you can name that this is new for you. I would actually do that to a teacher. Hey, in the past, I haven't always been honest with teachers about everything my kid is struggling with at home. I think I've been nervous about that.

I'm really trying to do something new this year because I'm guessing in your seat, having more information just helps you show up in a way that's more supportive. And I know we're all on Team Ryan, whatever your kid's name is. So I would name that. Naming in any situation that you're nervous about doing something new helps the other

person understand your stumbles, right? Or sometimes you might have a new tone if you're trying out something new, and now they can say, oh, this is the first time Becky has been honest with the teacher, so no wonder it's a little awkward. And it almost holds you responsible to do the thing. You're going to be a lot more honest in a conversation if you started the conversation telling someone you're trying to be honest,

then if you just try to do it, and then you might notice a teacher's gaze or something in their face, and you might overinterpret it as, oh, this teacher all of a sudden hates me or hate my kid. And then all of a sudden you might go back in the direction again of those fears. But if you've named it upfront,

that's a lot less likely to happen. So I guess my answer is instead of just how honest should I be? I would say, well, what am I trying to accomplish? What have I tended to do? Is that working in terms of that goal? And if it's not, what would it be like to experiment just one day, just one meeting,

with pushing myself in the direction of honesty and sharing information? Here's another question that is really, really poignant. But what do I do if I disagree with the teacher's assessment of my child? This is so important, and my guess is gonna happen, like often. So number one, let's just start with a

framework. Again, the glasses we wear and you might be thinking I don't wear glasses but we all kind of wear glasses. We all have glasses that are on at all times and they basically kind of dictate how we interpret things that are ambiguous. Most things are ambiguous, right? And so let's just notice those glasses. One set of glasses that a lot of us tend to wear, and we can get into it maybe later, this is something that I would need more time, but it kind of comes from a place

where that used to be adaptive in our early years and maybe no longer is. And that set of glasses is some version of, people are kind of out to get me. Or people think negatively about me and my family. And if you even have that set of classes on, you're more likely to interpret a teacher's negative comments about your child as, oh my goodness,

this teacher hates my child. Or, oh my goodness, my kid's gonna get kicked out of school. I've had this conversation with so many parents, oh my goodness, the teacher is telling me that basically my son, my daughter, doesn't get along with peers and there's no way they're going to get to first grade. Oh my goodness, my kid is behind in reading. I think they're going to get kicked out of the school. Oh my goodness, my kid is having a behavioral issue and they're going to get sent to detention

for the rest of the year. And I'll ask questions. And those bigger themes weren't said, but our mind goes there so quickly. If you assumed that teacher's feedback about your kid was not about who your kid is or whether they belong in class or whether they're smart or whether they're nice, if you just assumed that is not what a teacher ever means, just as an assumption.

And instead, a teacher is trying to give me very specific advice so we can problem solve together. Number one, you're just gonna be less likely to interpret a teacher's comments as meaning anything so big and global about your kid. And number two, you're going to feel more grounded. Okay, so that's number one is just your mindset. Assume your teammates. Step two, if you notice that the teacher is talking to you in a way that provokes your own defensiveness. And in a way, this is a shift. We're not saying the

teacher is talking to me in a way that is mean about my kid. We're actually saying, the teacher is talking to me in a way where I notice I'm getting defensive. I just wanna tell you difference. In the first, we're really focused on the other person. On the second, I'm actually really focused on noticing my response. Because now from that place, you're going to be able to communicate a lot more effectively.

If I interpret the teacher's words as a sign of the teacher just doesn't like my kids, I'm probably gonna respond like this. That doesn't happen at home at all. I don't really know what you're talking about. There's really like a distance. There's kind of an unconscious way of saying, we're not in the same team.

You don't get my kid. You don't get me. I don't really like you very much. And all of a sudden it gets adversarial. If instead I'm aware of, whoa, I'm noticing I'm getting defensive, I'll probably say something like this, hey, I know we're in the same team here,

and can you just say that in a different way? Because I'm noticing I'm trying to kind of justify the behavior in my head, and I know that's not gonna be productive. Or you could just say, hey, I notice I'm kind of feeling defensive about my kid as we and I know that's not gonna be productive. Or you could just say, hey, I notice I'm kind of feeling defensive about my kid as we're talking, that's not gonna be productive. So could you say that in another way

so we can have just a more effective conversation? I know we're both on the same team here and we wanna proceed along that way. I'm only able to say that because I'm noticing my urge to be defensive, which won't happen if we're obsessed with noticing all the different kind of things that are wrong about a teacher and how they communicated. Now, the last thing I want to say here is it's amazing how conversations with a teacher can go if you really set the stage of being teammates right at the beginning.

Honestly, think about it in a workplace. It's very, very similar, right? Think about if you're having a little bit of a heated conversation with a manager, but from the start, one of you says, hey, before we even start this conversation, I just want to establish something. We're on the same team.

We both want the best for, and then I would name your child's name. When you start that way, it's much harder to get to a place where things feel incendiary. And it's much easier to get to a place where you actually get to the heart of the issue and actually do work together.

Because I really do believe all parents and all teachers, they really do internally want what's best for a kid. And as long as we can kind of set up a moment in a way that feels kind of on the same team, the conversation will probably proceed along that route. Next question. What do I do when I keep hearing from the school that my kid is not on task?

What exactly does that mean? And how can I talk to a teacher about it? Okay, this is a term that I have to be honest. There's something about the term that doesn't quite resonate with me, so that's maybe what's going on for you. And at the same time, I know this is a very popular kind of school term, so let's break it down. I think when school says a kid is not on task, they're kind of saying a kid is not going through the flow of activities and all the transitions along the lines of kind of our expectations. So for example, let's talk about younger kids. Being on task might mean being able to sit in a circle and not always poke the kid next to you. Being on task for a slightly older kid might mean

my kid is not able to wait in line and they struggle with any place in line except if they're the line leader, older. My kid is not on task might mean, oh, when we ask a kid to be quiet and do some in-class work, they tend to get distracted or they don't finish the kind of homework sheet in the allotted time.

So on task, I think kind of means there's a gap between our expectations of where we want a kid to be and the behavior a child is actually showing. Now, why don't I love this term? Well, I think in general, I probably don't love things that judge a kid by an overt behavior because I personally am a lot more interested in, okay, what is the behavior telling us? What is the story underneath? What is, as a lot of you know, one of my most favorite questions, what is the MGI? What is the most generous interpretation?

What is the most generous interpretation of a kid poking a classmate at circle time or not waiting in line unless they're the line leader or not kind of showing that they're capable of getting through an in-class assignment in a quiet way? In all of those kind of explorations, I wouldn't personally want to talk to a parent about whether a kid is on task or not, but I might say, hey, I'm observing this, right? So I'm making this up. I'm observing that Taran is having a hard time sitting quietly in the rug. One of the things we'd really love to work with Taran on

is figuring out how to kind of regulate his desire to be silly and move around, and how can we work with him to get that done? Here's something we're working on at school, and hey, it would be great to jump on the phone for five to 10 minutes, because we wonder if this is showing up at home as well, and we have some ideas of how you might practice some of this at home.

That really resonates with me. I think what happens for a lot of parents is they get an email just saying, Taren isn't on task during library time, because he's always poking the other students. And then a parent is kind of left spiraling like, oh my goodness, I have a bad kid and my kid who can't be quiet during library time

is never gonna learn how to XYZ. And then, oh, my kid is gonna get kicked out of school. And then they see the teacher and they're kind of waiting like this, waiting to hear, oh, sorry, your kid can't go to the school anymore when really it's a smaller thing. That hopefully doesn't become a bigger thing if we actually get to the root of it

and help kids build the skills that they're missing. So I guess my one way of moving this forward is if you've received that message, we can help get to the root of it by just leading with curiosity instead of defensiveness. How does that sound? Well, it might be writing back, hey, it sounds like circle time's a problem. It would be great to get on the phone for 10 minutes and figure out what's really happening.

We both know Taran is a good kid who must be having a hard time, and I'm looking forward to talking this through so we could figure out what we could do at home and at school to help him out, right? Same thing with work, right? Oh, seems like Tarn's having a hard time focusing on math for that eight minute in class silent math work project. Hmm, I wonder what's getting on his way. I hear it's been hard. Would you be able to set up a brief meeting

or can we dig into this more over email together to figure out what's going on? Is it really the math? Is it the focusing? Is it not getting attention from other kids? Is it struggling and not knowing how to ask for help? Let's talk that through together because I feel like if we get to the root of the issue, both at home and at school, we can work on things to help Taryn do better in that moment in the classroom. So I think that phrase on task, we can really break down what is actually going on. And if you don't know, that's okay. Activate your curiosity. Remember, you have a good kid who's having a hard time and you and the school can really work together as teammates to figure it out.

and you and the school can really work together as teammates to figure it out. Do you want to learn more about how we're celebrating being an inconvenient woman at Good Inside? Tap the link in show notes or head to goodinside.com for more. Today's episode is in partnership with Airbnb and Ritual.