The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically I

154 The Explosive Child

sion until the circumstances are more ideal. Do you think

Alycia would have been able to delay the discussion?”

“She still would have cried in the backseat,” the mother

said.

“ Well, we can’t keep her from feeling what she legiti-

mately feels about her birthday plans being changed. But

we can give more thought to whether delaying the discus-

sion has the potential to lead to a more productive out-

come.”

My husband won’t do Plan B. Any advice?

There are a lot of adults out there who fear that their
concerns won’t be heard or addressed. So they head straight
for Plan A when they have a concern. Why are there a lot of
adults who fear that their concerns won’t be heard or ad-
dressed? Because there are a lot of adults who were raised
with Plan A as children and their concerns were neither
heard nor addressed! Adults who are perpetuating the cycle
by using Plan A to ensure that their concerns are heard and
addressed often need to be reminded that their concerns
will be heard and addressed with Plan B as well. Then they
need guidance on doing Plan B well.

But my husband says Plan A worked for him.

Maybe it did. Lucky him. But apparently it’s not work-

ing for his child. If his child is lacking important thinking