I live in a country where it is perfectly acceptable to yell at and hit your kids. I practice non violence with my kids, and it's incredibly hard to watch my friends yell at their kids, but I've had to either accept it or isolate my children. Needless to say, I live with a lot of cognitive dissonance in my life.

One of my mom friends is having a hard time now. She's almost due with her third child, meanwhile her first child is having problems in first grade, and today told a teacher to "f off". My friend is beside herself and turning to me for support, saying she doesn't know what to do.

I can play the supportive friend role, but I wonder if I'm missing an opportunity to connect with her about physically disciplining her children. My understanding is that most Moms will never respond well to critiques of their parenting style. Is there any delicate way to approach it?