Dare to Let the Children Plan Your Vacation

Parents should model good decision-making for small children and give them a small but growing role as they go through school, says Dave Anderson, a clinical psychologist with the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit mental-health organization in New York City. He advises parents to progress through “I do, we do, you do” stages of coaching from childhood through the teen years, with a goal of instilling independent decision-making skills.