The Parenting Paradox

Love and Limits in an Age of Challenges

How to hold love and limits together when parenting feels impossible

Parenting today can feel like walking a tightrope: trying to stay loving without losing your limits, and setting boundaries without breaking the bond. Many parents find themselves exhausted by conflict, unsure whether to push harder or soften more, afraid that either choice might do damage.

The Parenting Paradox offers a compassionate, evidence-based way forward by showing how love and limits don’t have to compete. Drawing on real-world stories and practical strategies, psychologist Tamar Sloan shows why love alone isn’t enough, limits alone don’t work, and how the presence of both creates meaningful change—even in the most entrenched and challenging situations, from anger and aggression to anxious avoidance.

Whether you’re raising a child who won’t listen or one who won’t speak, The Parenting Paradox is for parents who are tired of the battle but still deeply longing for connection and who want a way forward that doesn’t mean abandoning boundaries, expectations, or themselves.