The society is slowly decaying, and parents are too depressed to do anything about it.
In fact, parents today are so consumed with hard economic times that they rarely pay attention to them.
And these teens end up doing crazy things like engaging in unscrupulous s3x and drugs!
With that being said, here is how you can help your children and experience the best out of their teen years!
Know How They Wind You Up
Teens know how to hit every annoy parent button going. Work out what triggers you and work on yourself before you engage with them.
As a rule of thumb, if you wouldn’t talk to a colleague at work like it, then don’t speak to your child like it.
Your aim is to help them become successful adults and that’s a process that should start from birth – even as young children, you want them to be able to communicate effectively to get what they want, be strong-minded, confident and capable in the big wide world.
So you need to be their role model. And that’s not easy when they are hitting your buttons.
Understand Why They Moan
Maybe you wonder, “Why do they grunt – they communicated better when they were 7!”
Teens are learning to be who they are (and there’s plenty of adults who still don’t know!) So don’t expect them to behave the same as they did when they were little and cute.
If you get grunts and groans at suggestions of things to do, it’s not them saying “That’s the worse idea ever;” that’s them questioning “Is it okay to be me? To do this? To live like this? To want this?” They are questioning:
Where do I fit in the world?
What do I want to do?
What should I train to be?
Will I have to move town?
How will I cope?
Respect their Privacy
Things are changing and they need space to work out what that means; just as you want to desperately hold on to the cute child that used to run home from school and want a cuddle and to tell you all about it.
When their door is shut, respect that – knock before you go in. Don’t fear something sinister is happening in there.
It showcases you respect their space. These little unsaid things will start to speak in a positive way to your teen.
Likewise, you want them to respect your privacy and quiet time – and my children are far more respectful of me as I’ve given them more respect. Which leads us on to…
Remember That No Conversation Is Off Limits
While that may feel daunting and possibly even a little icky for you, if you aren’t prepared to answer their questions when and how they need them answered they will go online – and 31% of children have shared a fake news story.