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It may seem like five minutes ago that you brought your beautiful baby into the world, and the sleepless nights felt like they would last forever, and here you are in a blink of an eye as a parent of a teenager, scratching your head in confusion about where the years have gone.
As parents we can testify, parenting is not an
easy job. Being a parent is, however, many things; a privilege, an
adventure, a time full of intense emotions, but never an easy task. However
you parent your kids, you probably feel like you are doing it wrong, you
will feel guilty about things you didn’t do, and guilt about things you did
do, but that’s all part of the crazy journey of parenthood. When all is
said and done, everyone is trying their best, and everyone’s circumstances
are different.
Once your kids get past the baby stage, the toddler stage, and beyond you
may be feeling somewhat more settled in the world of parenthood, and you may even be
ready to give yourself a pat on the back, but then it happens; your child becomes a teenager, and suddenly there are a whole different set of issues and worries to deal with.
The teenage years are hard work, but they are also fascinating. Seeing
your child grow up so quickly before your eyes and seeing the kind of adult
that they are developing into can make your heart sing with pride. At other
times you may be tearing your hair out! I am deep in the depths of parenting teens with a 13 year old and a 17 year old. Here are a few tried and true tips which you
may find useful as you navigate your way through the
teenage years:
Keep Communicating
Communicating with a teenager is not always easy; sometimes the most you
will get back is a grunt if you are lucky.
Keeping the lines of communication open to maintain the relationship
between you is so important. There will be times where they don’t want to
be around you, let alone talk to you, which can be hard to accept. There
will be times when they live in their bedroom, only emerging when they are
hungry and want to be fed. However, if they know that they can talk to you
when needed if any problems or worries arise, it can be a great reassurance
to them, even if they don’t show it!
Safety First
A great source of worry for many parents is their teenager going out and
about on their own. Whether they are catching the bus to school or hanging
out with their friends or driving on their own (ugh!), parents want to know where their kids are and what
they are doing while they are out and about.
Although they are likely to roll their eyes and mutter under their breath
at the whole ‘stranger danger’ talk, you may feel better reiterating
aspects of it, and to ensure that they are streetwise before heading out on
their own.
If you are seeking some extra reassurance when your child is out on their
own, you may want to discuss with them the idea of getting a tracking app
for your phone. Look into getting the
best parental control app for android so that you know where your teenager is while they are out and about.
Mental Health Tool Kit
Being a teenager nowadays is tough, there is just so much for kids to think
about and so many different messages that they are bombarded with each day.
Social media forms a big part of the pressure that many teenagers face,
along with stereotyped ideas of physical perfection, extra pressure from
school work… the list goes on.
With teenagers facing many more pressures than teenagers did even a couple
of decades ago, it makes sense to give them the tools that they need to
keep their mental health in balance in this crazy, modern world. One of the
biggest ways you can help with this is by building their self-confidence so
that they are confident in who they are and more resilient to external
pressure from their peers.
Mindfulness is a useful tool for everyone to use in their daily lives. Introducing your teenager to mindfulness will provide them with a skill that they can continue to use throughout their lives. Mindfulness can also be a useful way of helping kids to cope with exam stress. Tools such as mindfulness are an excellent way for kids to find a place of calm, no matter how crazy the world around them may be.
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