Stop Rescuing, Start Raising: How to Build Capable Kids with David Thomas & Sissy Goff

They're back! Beloved counselors and bestselling authors David Thomas and Sissy Goff join Arlene to talk about their new book, Capable: How to Teach Your Kids Strengths, Skills, and Strategies to Build Resilience. After 30+ years of counseling, they're sounding the alarm on a generation of kids who are increasingly averse to risk, effort, and discomfort.

What if your child doesn't want to be capable, preferring convenience and entertainment instead? David and Sissy share practical tools from the book that will help you spark motivation and build resilient, capable kids (even when your kids are resistant). Whether your child is a toddler or a teenager, this episode will help you prepare your children for life and its challenges. This is such a needed conversation for today's family.

2:14 What counselors are seeing after 30+ years: a generation avoiding discomfort

4:06 What to do with kids who say: "I don't want to be capable"

10:03 "Don't do for your kids what they can do for themselves"

10:41 Support vs. challenge equation: which one are you?

15:08 Trusting God and your own intuition over the apps

19:28 Screens, social anxiety, and the word "awkward"

21:34 "My job is not to make you happy — it's to develop your character"

25:10 Role-play: what to say when your kid refuses school, camp, or a new friend

28:09 Capable starts in the Costco cart

Connect with David & Sissy and get their book, Capable: How to Teach Your Kids Strengths, Skills, and Strategies to Build Resilience at raisingboysandgirls.com.

Instagram: @raisingboysandgirls and @sissygoff

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How did Arlene's kids adapt to not having phones, video games or social media? Watch the free video, Screen Kids: In Their Own Words.

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