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- Advice & Tips for Parents of Teens
Talking with your Teenage Girl without Arguing? Absolutely!
- What Our Teenage Girls Deserve
When my daughter was a pre-teen and teenager I would watch so many of her friends and classmates go through experiences similar to mine and my heart would just sink! I would always do whatever I could for them but, I could never undo what their paren - Teenage Daughters and Their Friends
Our teenagers deserve the same level of unwavering commitment and time that they have always had from their parents. They aren't done growing, learning and developing. Your guidance and strength is needed now more than ever!
Teens are Definitely Worth all the Work
Teenagers are amazing to me. When you look in their faces you can see promise and curiosity. They have every opportunity to do anything they want with their lives. They are smart and eager and the world is theirs for the taking! It’s inspiring to see that much hope and adventure just waiting to unfold.
Our job as their parents is to teach them what they need to know to be happy, adjusted, well rounded, productive adults. It is also our job to keep them safe. Safe from external forces and from themselves. I’m not implying that parents micro-manage their kids, only that you take the steps necessary to assure that your child has every opportunity to succeed. Success as it’s being used in these hubs means to have peace in your life, happiness that your choices are your own, strength to reach for your goals, and the self empowerment and confidence to make your life everything you want it to be. Teaching these lessons is a challenge to say the least especially since most of us are struggling with them ourselves.
These hubs will hopefully help guide you through the maze so your teenager can have everything you wanted for her when she was born.
DO
Listen to your daughter! Be interested in the social and school stuff that’s going on in her life. It is an extremely important time in her life and she will need some guidance navigating the social maze while staying on task with school work. Make sure there is time when you are physically and emotionally available to her. (in the car, or while making dinner, etc) She will open up and when she does, don’t dismiss what she says because it doesn’t seem important to you. Her world is still pretty small and the experiences are all new. All the kids at this age are trying to figure out how to relate to each other and it’s very hard and confusing. This is a great opportunity to let her know how you feel about situations that come up for her as well.
- Teenagers: How much Freedom is too Much?
If teenagers were mature enough and responsible enough to make good choices on their own, they would be on their own. They are still considered children for a reason. There are many important lessons they still need to learn and they need your protec - What Our Teenage Girls Deserve #6
As our kids get older sometimes we get the feeling they aren't paying attention to us old people anymore but nothing could be farther from the truth. Our kids look to us for acceptance and affirmation just as much as they did when they were in the se
DON'T
Argue with her. You are the adult. When you get into a screaming match you have instantly put the two of you on the same level and lost already. Teenagers (and some adults) frequently get defensive and angry when they get caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Don’t let her project her guilt onto you and suck you into an argument. Inevitably this will just leave you feeling guilty and the cycle will continue. It’s a rollercoaster you don’t want to ride. They also use emotional outbursts as a tool to manipulate you or guilt you into giving them what they want. Set the boundary or consequence that’s necessary and walk away. Let her know that if she can’t talk to you without being disrespectful or crying/screaming then she should go to her room and calm down and the two of you can talk about it when she’s ready. You have to set the standard of what behavior you will tolerate. She will learn a lot from this! 1) she will learn that when she express’ her anger/frustration or sadness without ‘freaking out’ she will be heard and taken seriously. (fits don’t work) 2) she will learn how to set those boundaries for herself and reduce the chances that she will allow friends/boyfriends to yell and scream at her. It is a tremendous lesson she will carry through life.
