Bruce Feiler on “You’re not the boss of me!”

"The Secrets of Happy Families" author Bruce Feiler offers this magic bullet to avoid confrontation over this childish quip — a solution that makes everybody happy.

by: The GreatSchools Editorial Team

Here’s how 4 other parenting experts say to respond…

Sh*tty Moms
That sass will not be tolerated, say “Sh*tty Moms” co-authors Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Ann Zoellner. Here’s their take-no-prisoners advice for such disrespect. Format: Video (1:28)

Richard Weissbourd
The Parents We Mean to Be author and Harvard psychologist Richard Weissbourd advises parents to use this comment as a moment to step back and reconsider what’s gone amiss.
Format: Video (0:59)

Gabor Mate
A statement like this, says the best-selling co-author of Hold On to Your Kids , suggests there’s a disconnect between parent and child that needs mending. Format: Article

Adele Faber
Adele Faber, co-author of How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, offers an approach for mutual problem solving, even with young kids. Format: Article

About the author

The GreatSchools Editorial Team

GreatSchools.org is a national nonprofit with a mission to help every child obtain a high-quality education that values their unique abilities, identities, and aspirations. We believe in the power of research-backed, actionable information to empower parents, family members, and educators to help make this happen. For 25 years, the GreatSchools Editorial Team has been working to make the latest, most important, and most actionable research in education, learning, and child development accessible and actionable for parents through articles, videos, podcasts, hands-on learning resources, email and text messaging programs, and more. Our team consists of journalists, researchers, academics, former teachers and education leaders — most of whom are also dedicated parents and family members — who not only research, fact check, and write or produce this information, but who use it in our daily lives as well. We welcome your feedback at editorial@greatschools.org.