Maintain Focus and “Work the Problem”

“Work the problem, people.”
– Gene Krantz, NASA Flight Director, Appolo 13

When it seems like everything has gone awry, a natural tendency is to spend time trying to figure out (and get angry about) what landed your child in his current predicament. Whatever the challenge (time crunch due to procrastination, lost assignment, absentmindedly missing a deadline), try and maintain focus on the task at hand and work through the problem. The heat of the moment is usually not the right time for “whys” and “what-ifs.” In a less stressful moment, when the assignment is completed and handed in, you and your child will be in a much better place to discuss what happened and ways in which he can avoid getting himself in that situation again.