My son Eric is a teenager. He’s generally a good kid, but we often have “discussions” about a variety of issues. For example, he thinks that a grade of “C” is average and therefore good enough (when I know he could do better). He doesn’t believe that a 16-year-old needs a curfew, or that clean clothes belong in a drawer and not on the floor.

The other day, his Dad had to leave pretty early for a business trip and said goodbye at around 6am. Later in the day, Eric was surprised to learn that his Dad had left at all, and claimed that we should have known that anything we said at that hour simply wouldn’t sink in.

Strictly to help us out, and to provide a visual aid, he drew this flowchart.

I suspect it might work for other parents of teenagers as well!