Ashish told me about an Indian Australian girl he dated remotely. She is overweight, but Ashish was extremely confident he could make her work out really hard and lose weight. Similarly, I was confident that I could control my kids’ screen addiction, diet, exercise etc. In reality, self-will is the dominant force. Coaching is conditional on the motivation of the student.

Confidence is generally a good thing, but unrealistic, naive confidence is the seed of MY deep pains. Confidence about how much influence you have over a family member is usually overconfidence. Overconfidence in parenting is common.

Many parenting cliches suggest that parents have the authority to influence (yes) and POWER (no) to control (no) their young children’s behavior, habits. Well, the only things that control children are prisons and mental institutions. (In contrast, schools and hospital wards do not have control.)