By Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For generations, tough childhood experiences have been swept under the rug by phrases like these. Oftentimes, the reason why is simple: many families simply did not know how to talk about their kid’s negative life experiences. Families may assume (or hope) the bad experience wasn’t a big deal and that by minimizing talk of it, the problem will go away.

Also, learning how to parent differently than how you were raised is challenging. We do what we know, often parenting the way we saw our own parents do, even if unintentionally. If “toughen up” was what you heard when you had a terrible experience as a kid, it’s surprising how quickly it can sometimes come out of your mouth as a parent.