Ellen Galinsky Quotations

We are seeing a workplace in transition, shifting from models that served the needs of the 20th century to those that serve the needs of the 21st century--and most of these changes that make work 'work' for employers and employees appear to be here to stay.

What this finding reflects is the dissonance of today's reality and yesterday's old ideas. There's the assumption that family for women detracts from work while for men it supposedly enhances their viability and stability.

Yes, all kinds of things can happen when you're the boss.

No one had ever asked young people about the issues they face growing up. I don't think this changes the fact that adults need to be in charge; I'm not asking children to run the families of America. . . . But their insight about their lives is actually fairly interesting input into our lives.

Most of these changes that make work really work for employers and employees appear to be here to stay. In no case was there a statistically significant decrease in flexibility now offered.

You can have a policy, but there can be a culture against using it. The culture is where the rubber meets the road. It's actually what happens to people, regardless of what the policies are.

When it comes to negotiating leave, find out what your company's practices are and what kind of bad and good experiences your boss has had. An organization's response is going to be shaped by their prior experiences.

This study is a clarion call for all of us -- companies and individuals -- to look at how we're working.

When children are in environments that are stressful, neglected, violent, that affects formation of the brain, and can have lasting effect.

Try to understand what they think and expect so, if they've got some outrageous expectations like you're supposed to know everything when you walk in, we can help and say, 'No, that's not true. School is place for learning.'

When you feel pressured and pushed, when you feel not respected, when you feel tension at work, when you feel the work that you do isn't of real value, that leads to overwork. Sizable portions of the U.S. work forces have these feelings.

The reason I think it's gaining momentum is because of natural-disaster preparedness.

What Fred is so wonderful at doing is to help children understand those fears, but not to say, 'They don't exist; Oh, don't worry, it will all be fine.' That doesn't really acknowledge that the child is afraid.

People who have good jobs in supportive workplaces are more committed. They're more loyal, they're more likely to stay with their own jobs, they're more likely to give their all to their jobs, to care about their company succeeding.

It's the ceaseless demand. Those are the things that affect your mood and your energy.

In the real world, people are moving in and out of the labor force.

The impact is, people are either wanting not to advance, or are leaving for jobs . . . that are more manageable.

Cultural expectations shade and color the images that parents-to-be form. The baby product ads, showing a woman serenely holding her child, looking blissfully and mysteriously contented, or the television parents, wisely and humorously solving problems, influence parents-to-be.

Parenthood brings profound pleasure and satisfactions--the unparalleled pleasure of caring so intensely for another human being, of watching growth, of reliving childhood, of seeing oneself in a new perspective, and of understanding more about life.

In a study that I just did, I found that it was older children, not younger children, who felt that they didn't have enough time with their parents.

The colicky baby who becomes calm, the quiet infant who throws temper tantrums at two, the wild child at four who becomes seriousand studious at six all seem to surprise their parents. It is difficult to let go of one's image of a child, say goodbye to the child a parent knows, and get accustomed to this slightly new child inhabiting the known child's body.

It gives us more flexibility, so we can do more, but it also creates the expectation of the instant response. It can take away your sense of control over your time.

In families children tend to take on stock roles, as if there were hats hung up in some secret place, visible only to the children. Each succeeding child selects a hat and takes on that role: the good child, the black sheep, the clown, and so forth.

Child care is an invisible part of the economy.

There is nothing intrinsically better about a child who happily bounces off to school the first day and a child who is wary, watchful, and takes a longer time to separate from his parents and join the group. Neither one nor the other is smarter, better adjusted, or destined for a better life.

If you never allow your children to exceed what they can do, how are they ever going to manage adult life - where a lot of it is managing more than you thought you could manage?

Understanding child development takes the emphasis away from the child's character--looking at the child as good or bad. The emphasis is put on behavior as communication. Discipline is thus seen as problem-solving. The child is helped to learn a more acceptable manner of communication.

Often, when there is a conflict between parent and child, at its very hub is an expectation that the child should be acting differently. Sometimes these expectations run counter what is known about children's growth. They stem from remembering oneself, but usually at a slightly older age.