...One day when my daughter was in sixth grade, the two of us were riding in the car when she spoke up and interrupted my monologue, "Daddy, please quit talking about houses and buildings. I don't want to hear about them any more. It makes me not want to be an architect."...I wanted to motivate Summer by sharing my own enthusiasm about architecture, but from our conversation in the car, it was obvious my approach wasn't working. If the idea of being an architect genuinely appealed to Summer, why would she threaten me with giving it up as a way to shut me up?...

Tags: communications & discipline