The Defiant Child: What James Lehman Understood About Power, Responsibility, and Family Life (opens in new tab)

The child is eleven. You have asked him three times to put on his shoes. He is standing in the hallway delivering what appears to be a TED Talk on injustice. The shoes remain unshod. The school bus is coming. Somehow the discussion now involves his sister, last Tuesday’s punishment, your tone of voice, and an incident from 2024 that nobody else remembers. You begin to suspect that your child could successfully argue a parking ticket before the Supreme Court. The shoes remain untouched. Parent...