Guest Post – Open Communication is the Key to Raising a Teen
My life has been busy with raising a teen, writing and more writing. I feel blessed to be able to work at home and I can’t think of myself being anywhere else. Sometimes life just gets in the way and other priorities get pushed to the back burner. I know that’s okay because life and family take precedence over my work life.
I have to admit it’s hard raising a teen. I’m grateful I have a teen that is mature for her age and more mature than her peers. It has always been that way since she was just a wee one, but like any normal teen, she has her thing…mornings aren’t really her thing nor is breakfast (sometimes) or going to bed at a certain time or cleaning up her room. Yeah, typical teen things. I’m grateful. She’s a great kid and an honour roll student.
We have a good relationship; we communicate and she tells me a lot of things about school, course planning, friends and boys. All those boys! She has a good head on her shoulders, she’s intelligent and she makes good life choices.
As a Mom, I feel for other kids. They blaze, cut themselves, skip school, get poor grades, hang with the wrong people and get bullied online. They lack self-esteem and confidence and have tons of insecurities. Where are the parents? I know they are both working because they have to. It’s not easy to live on one income in my area. I’m not preaching to anyone on how to raise their kids especially teens, but parents have to be involved in their kids lives. They have to lay down boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not and there has to be consequences if those expectations aren’t met. They have to help boost their kids’ self-esteem and confidence levels. They need to be loved and supported in these difficult years of being a teenager. Forget YOLO (You Only Live Once) and swag right now because that can come later. Getting your kid to understand that is another thing, but when you give them guidance, you’ll get better results than telling them what to do.
Encourage your kids to get involved in school sports or clubs where they will find like-minded peers who are striving for the same goals. Being good at something and getting compliments from it will help your kids gain confidence and self-worth.
A parent’s job is never done. My lap is too small for my daughter now, but my heart is always big enough to wrap around her while she still has room to breathe.
Sophia McIntyre is offering two free eBooks on raising teens titled “Raising Teens: Dealing with Bumps in the Road” and “Talking the Talk: Communicating with your Teens”. You can grab them both on her website at www.workathomespace.com/ebooks.php.
