If your goal is to have a great deal of learning going on when you work with a difficult child, there is only one guaranteed way to ensure this—you need to learn all you can. But isn’t that backwards, since the child is supposed to be doing the learning? Not necessarily. Troubled children can be excellent teachers in understanding, expressing patience, learning compassion and developing unconditional love. Where else can you learn all this from another person, and it won’t cost you more than your time and some grey hair. Use this article to gauge how much you are learning in the relationship and then take the Personal Contentment Inventory at the end. (6 pages)