According to Dr. Robin, there is nothing that's worth losing the relationship that a parent has with their child—not a divorce, job, move, lifestyle choice…nothing. If you're a parent who has lost touch with your son or daughter, whether they are still young or all grown up, Dr. Robin urges you to do what you can to reach out and reconnect. "It's letting your kid know that nothing that happens—nothing that they've done, nothing that they've said, nothing that comes in between you and them—will ever keep your love from them, will ever block the access that you have to them or they have to you," she says.

Dr. Robin says parents can avoid the rifts that sometimes separate families with good parenting. Own up to your mistakes and admit when you've been wrong, she says. "[Being a good parent] looks like taking full responsibility for your actions, your language, the distance, the disrespect that you possibly showed them," Dr. Robin says.