How to be an 'Awesome Parent' to your Teen

Befriend your teen, and you’re an embarrassment. Parent them, and now you don’t care about them! There’s just no winning with teenagers! Or is there? For tips to parent teenagers, and be considered ‘awesome parents,’ click here.Being a parent of teenage child is a real challenging task. One moment your teen is your friend and claims to need you and the other moment he will ignore you and be completely involved in his own world. While this may leave you confused about whether you should behave as his friend or parent, don’t fret! You are not alone! Every parent with a teenager goes through the same dilemma. However, if you want to be your teen’s friend, you still have to be an awesome parent. Although it may seem to you that your teen does not need you, children need their parents at this age more than ever. You might also think that he is not listening to you, but in reality, he considers your actions, opinions and values when making decisions, all the while hiding behind the facade of indifference. Your teenager will suddenly have a busy schedule what with studies becoming more difficult, friends becoming more judgemental, and peer pressure becoming a huge stressing point in his life. You subtly spend time together and actually listen to him to know what is going on in his life and develop a good relationship with him. In this articleFriend or Aloof Parent?Be actively interested in his life.Confidentiality is vital.Talk to him when he is ready.Schedule family time.Share things with your teen.Friend or Aloof Parent? The trouble is that when parents act as a friend, kids may feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. On the other hand, if parents impose restrictions and create boundaries, there is a fear of making your adolescent rebel even harder in opposition to your authority. Your child may distance himself from you and not bother to ask for your guidance or opinions even when he needs it. So, what you need to do is tread the middle path, in order to avoid embarrassing your teen and sharing a good relationship with him. Be a friend when he needs one, but don’t hesitate to demonstrate that you’re the parent and your word needs to be treated as such. Your child has the potential to be a far better friend to you, than your real ones and vice-versa! Build a good relationship with your teenBe actively interested in his life. Even though you find that your child does not ask you to arrange for the get-togethers and parties for his friends, you should know who are his friends and if possible, meet their parents. You should be aware of what your kid is doing and who he is with at the moment. Confidentiality is vital. If your child shares with you anything, you should keep it with you and guide him only if there is a need. Never talk about him at his back because he will not share with you anymore. Do not criticize his friend unless there is a serious issue.Talk to him when he is ready. Avoid arguing with your child because both of you might get emotional and end up saying something that you do not mean. Talk to your child when both of you are in a rational mood, rather than when you are in the heat of the moment. Listen to your teen’s emotions and point of view. Talk to him like the adult he is, instead of a recalcitrant child to subtly teach him the conversation skills that will be expected of him in the future.Schedule family time. Make sure you have some time set aside to have one-to-one talk with your teen. Everyone has a busy schedule and you can insist that you both take some small set of time from your busy schedules to have each other’s undivided attention. The best time is to sit with him when going to bed at night and talk to him for some time before saying good night. However, be sure to be reasonable and explain why you want to spend time with your child rather than just saying “because I said so.”Share things with your teen. Your teen is old enough and understands a lot of things that are going on in the world around him. Don’t just insist that your teen should share his day-to-day life with you. But bridge the generation gap by sharing your day with him. This may encourage him to share bits of his day with you. Talk to your teen and discuss his emotions, thoughts and future plans. Let him understand the stressful circumstances you encounter each day, which will make him realise that you handle more than he knows daily. Before you know it, your teen will begin to ask for your opinion with his dilemmas. Remember, it is your responsibility to help them learn things about life and keep him safe and secure so that they get into the most successful adulthood possible. Try to have at least one meal in the day together and try to find an activity that both of you enjoy together.Does your teen get embarrassed with you? Do you find it difficult to connect with your teenager? How can you bridge the gap between your child and you? Discuss here.

Befriend your teen, and you’re an embarrassment. Parent them, and now you don’t care about them! There’s just no winning with teenagers! Or is there? For tips to parent teenagers, and be considered ‘awesome parents,’ click here.

Being a parent of teenage child is a real challenging task. One moment your teen is your friend and claims to need you and the other moment he will ignore you and be completely involved in his own world. While this may leave you confused about whether you should behave as his friend or parent, don’t fret! You are not alone! Every parent with a teenager goes through the same dilemma. However, if you want to be your teen’s friend, you still have to be an awesome parent.

Although it may seem to you that your teen does not need you, children need their parents at this age more than ever. You might also think that he is not listening to you, but in reality, he considers your actions, opinions and values when making decisions, all the while hiding behind the facade of indifference. Your teenager will suddenly have a busy schedule what with studies becoming more difficult, friends becoming more judgemental, and peer pressure becoming a huge stressing point in his life. You subtly spend time together and actually listen to him to know what is going on in his life and develop a good relationship with him.

Friend or Aloof Parent?

The trouble is that when parents act as a friend, kids may feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. On the other hand, if parents impose restrictions and create boundaries, there is a fear of making your adolescent rebel even harder in opposition to your authority. Your child may distance himself from you and not bother to ask for your guidance or opinions even when he needs it. So, what you need to do is tread the middle path, in order to avoid embarrassing your teen and sharing a good relationship with him. Be a friend when he needs one, but don’t hesitate to demonstrate that you’re the parent and your word needs to be treated as such. Your child has the potential to be a far better friend to you, than your real ones and vice-versa!

Build a good relationship with your teen

Be actively interested in his life.

Even though you find that your child does not ask you to arrange for the get-togethers and parties for his friends, you should know who are his friends and if possible, meet their parents. You should be aware of what your kid is doing and who he is with at the moment.

Confidentiality is vital.

If your child shares with you anything, you should keep it with you and guide him only if there is a need. Never talk about him at his back because he will not share with you anymore. Do not criticize his friend unless there is a serious issue.

Talk to him when he is ready.

Avoid arguing with your child because both of you might get emotional and end up saying something that you do not mean. Talk to your child when both of you are in a rational mood, rather than when you are in the heat of the moment. Listen to your teen’s emotions and point of view. Talk to him like the adult he is, instead of a recalcitrant child to subtly teach him the conversation skills that will be expected of him in the future.

Schedule family time.

Make sure you have some time set aside to have one-to-one talk with your teen. Everyone has a busy schedule and you can insist that you both take some small set of time from your busy schedules to have each other’s undivided attention. The best time is to sit with him when going to bed at night and talk to him for some time before saying good night. However, be sure to be reasonable and explain why you want to spend time with your child rather than just saying “because I said so.”

Share things with your teen.

Your teen is old enough and understands a lot of things that are going on in the world around him. Don’t just insist that your teen should share his day-to-day life with you. But bridge the generation gap by sharing your day with him. This may encourage him to share bits of his day with you. Talk to your teen and discuss his emotions, thoughts and future plans. Let him understand the stressful circumstances you encounter each day, which will make him realise that you handle more than he knows daily. Before you know it, your teen will begin to ask for your opinion with his dilemmas.

Remember, it is your responsibility to help them learn things about life and keep him safe and secure so that they get into the most successful adulthood possible. Try to have at least one meal in the day together and try to find an activity that both of you enjoy together.

Does your teen get embarrassed with you? Do you find it difficult to connect with your teenager? How can you bridge the gap between your child and you? Discuss here.