Or 
In the last circumstance, a parent told me that her student came home and told her about rock and clay problems. The mom said the lesson even hit home with her, and she now finds herself thinking about whether a problem is a rock or clay. This got me to thinking that this might be a great concept to share with all my parents. All of us are going to have problems, and all of our children are going to face problems. This concept can help!
All problems can be divided into one of two categories: Rock or clay.
A rock problem is similar to a rock in that no matter how much we push on a rock, it is not going to change. For rock problems we focus on just feeling better about the problem. We can do this by getting our feelings out through talking, writing or drawing, and by doing fun things that take our mind off the problem. Examples of rock problems include divorce, death, moving schools--things that children don't have any control over!
A clay problem is similar to clay or playdough in that we can push on clay and change it into something else. So a clay problem can be "fixed" in some way. For clay problems we focus on trying to find a solution to the problem. Examples of clay problems might include forgetting your homework, or having a fight with a friend. For these problems, we might try to bring in our homework the next day to get partial credit, or try to talk out the problem with our friend.
So next time your child has a problem, help them to decide if it is a rock or a clay problem! It's a concept that the smallest of children seem to understand. Hope it works for you as well as it has worked for me in the counseling office!
