One day when my son told me he bought something he wasn't supposed
to, I looked at him and said I was very disappointed in him.
He
began to cry. I hadn't yelled or gotten upset, rather, in a normal
tone of voice I looked at him and said, "I'm very disappointed in
you." Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would provoke that
reaction in my son. When I asked him why he was crying, he said,
"Those are the worst words you could possibly say to me." I asked
him to explain and he told me that I was always supportive of him
and never asked too much of him, so for me to say I was disappointed
in him was a terrible blow. That was the day I realized my son
respected me.
