My son, Zander Teplitsky, is currently living in the Netherlands while attending college at Maastricht University. Zander and his girlfriend, Emma, recently came home to visit over summer break, and we've shared so many interesting conversations.

Zander joins me today for a father-son conversation about our relationship and how we cultivated our relationship through honesty, communication, and appreciation. We discuss how we continually inspire and motivate each other and why Zander inspired me to start a podcast. We discuss why it's important for parents to cultivate a level of friendship with their children, the qualities Zander believes helps our relationship thrive, and how communication, honesty, and appreciation helps build trust and respect between parents and their children. We also discuss how allowing your children to make mistakes helps cultivate a sense of freedom while enabling them to learn and grow independently as well as how Zander developed his positive outlook on life and his perspective on the world.

"We try really hard every day to be as present with each other, and as loving, and as honest as we can." - Zander Teplitsky

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• How Zander discovered podcasts and why he inspired me to start podcasting.
• The qualities of our relationship that Zander believes helps it thrive.
• Why I believe parents can - and should - cultivate a friendship with their children.
• How communication and honesty help develop trust in your relationship with your children.
• How building a foundation of appreciation with your children impacts their willingness to respect your boundaries.
• Why Zander proactively tries to let go of negative or judgmental thoughts of himself or others.
• The importance of cultivating appreciation early in your relationship with your children.
• How allowing your children to make mistakes cultivates a sense of freedom.
• How Zander developed his positive perspective on the world and its future.
• How attending the International People's College impacted his perspective on the world.
• How our family helps each other reframe our thoughts and emotions.
• The recent family conflict we had and how we worked through it.

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Let's Talk About It!

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Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

Relationships! Let's Talk About It is produced by Auxbus. You can create your own great podcast - faster and easier - at Auxbus.com