Sue is a parent mentor, child behavioral specialist, household harmony transformer, and author (Secrets to Parenting Without Giving a F^ck). She's worked with parents for 20+ years helping them end tantrums, sidestep power struggles, eliminate back-talk, neutralize sibling fights, and build a lifelong relationship of trust with their kids. For anyone who has kids or has interacted with kids you know those are some heavy claims. We can debate if parenting is the hardest job in the world, but I would argue it is likely the most complex. There are so many challenging aspects of trying to raise a young human, who you are responsible for but can't fully control, when you are still trying to figure out life yourself. 

Sue started in a beautiful place though, to explain why she thinks she's "cracked the code" of parenting. She stated her most important value as "self-awareness" because she believes the only way to do this impossible job effectively is to have an extreme level of awareness about yourself, your kids, and your situation. That awareness allows you to balance the job of instilling your wisdom and experience into your kids, without trying to control them or adding your baggage onto them. We talked specifically about some of the concepts from her book, like "parenting in advance", "partnership parenting", and approaching your kids as "adults in training." 

It was really interesting to hear the insights and the lessons she's learned from being a mom of four, with an active military spouse. What I enjoyed most though, as I always do, was pressure testing Sue's approach and concepts. She was the type of guest who was totally game to debate and explore her ideas. We even hit head on the "elephant in the room", of balancing the humility required to have true self-awareness with the confidence and conviction required to write a book and claim you've figured out the best approach to parenting. Is it possible Sue really has the answers and other parents who see it differently are just getting it wrong? A huge thanks to Sue for being so open to discussing these topics, bringing so many insights to the conversation, and exhibiting, in real time, what self-awareness looks like.