Now let's see a messier example of real-life Plan B over a different, common household problem - homework - which may well be the #1 cause of meltdowns in homes around the country and beyond!



While that example didn't flow quickly or easily, all three ingredients were again present. The father was working hard to keep his cool and understand his daughter's concerns. He then had to prioritize what to work on before sharing his concerns and inviting her to collaborate on some potential solutions. The good news is that even messy Plan B tends to be better than clean Plan A! Like most difficult problems that Plan A hasn't solved in years, this problem wasn't solved the first time around using Plan B, but now father and daughter are on the same team working on it together on it and moving in the right direction. You may be thinking that this example took a while - six minutes to be exact! I think we would all agree that is time well spent on a chronic problem like this.

Plan B helps adults pursue their expectations and reduce challenging behavior while improving their relationships with kids. Perhaps the best thing about Plan B though is that just the process of using Plan B to solve problems with kids teaches many of the skills found on the Pathways Inventory. But Plan B is hard! It takes work, patience and practice.

Click the arrow above to move onto some of the most common things to look for when Plan B isn't going well.