Can one live peacefully and in the moment in the midst of homework meltdowns, sibling squabbles, and digital media battles? Marriage and family therapist Susan Stiffelman does more than say “yes,” she shows how, helping parents identify the triggers that take them out of rational and into bribes or threats and recognize when their own marriage, health, or job issues are hurting their relationship with their kids. She then shows how to nurture — or perhaps initiate — the kind of connection that leads kids to want to talk to parents. While Stiffelman is a lifelong innovator — she taught herself Hindi at sixteen, began mediating decades before it was commonplace, and has traveled around the world with her son — her techniques are decidedly down to earth and her tone the one of someone who understands the walk she talks.