Some of the parents experiencing family problems are solved by a specific tweak to their parenting repertoire. For many of the other parents, the real challenge before them is their inability to co-parent cooperatively. Until the 1950s, it was safe to say that there was one parenting expert in the home, and it was usually mom. Nobody wants to launch their kids successfully while ejecting their partner from the equation, but that is exactly what is happening. Enter the eighties and nineties, when fathers were officially invited to take a more active role in the raising of the kids and were not only expected to accept the invitation but to participate enthusiastically and with 100" commitment to the job. The author's experience working with families suggests that the intention behind the invitation is often where the seed of misunderstanding and conflict began. Inviting fathers to help out meant different things to different moms.