Parenting teens can be so fruitful and so frustrating all at the same time. One minute, you feel like you’re making real progress in your parenting, and the next day, you wonder if your teen has been raised by wolves for the last twelve years!
It is a time of confusion, tears, anger, and rejection…and that’s just for the parents!
Teenagers are strikingly similar to toddlers because of the reconstruction and rewiring of their brains. Up until this point, their brains have functioned in a way that is age-appropriate for a child. But now, their brains need to be rewired so that they can function in a way that is age-appropriate for an adult. It’s an extensive remodel!
The parenting methods you’ve always used in the past, probably won’t work at all anymore. One method that worked today, probably won’t work tomorrow. And when the government shuts down the entire country, grounding your teen doesn’t do much good. Teenagers need us to be sensitive and firm all at the same time…not easy, but possible. I know this because my dad mastered it.
Parenting teens is difficult because they need more guidance than they think they do, and they also need more freedom than we might think they do. The need firmness on rules, compassion on teen social issues—because whatever it may be, it’s a BIG deal! And they’re not wrong for thinking it’s a big deal, they have teen brains—and they need us to take a step back and allow them to make some decisions on their own. (Whoa! Preaching to myself right now!)
It’s hard. It can be done. My goal is to give you many ideas that have worked for me, and also for you to share ideas that have worked for you! Let’s help each other out. After all, I don’t know of a parent yet who can say, “I got it all right.” Instead, let’s focus on progress, not perfection!
RElated: Respect Your Teenager?