Do you find yourself in a constant state of questioning your parenting skills because you are always met with a angry look or the rolling of eyes or the constant screaming and slamming of the bedroom door by your teen? Knowing the pitfalls to avoid can help you get through these teen years more effectively.
Pitfall #1: Not Letting Go of Control
Giving your teen age-appropriate choices can give your teen a sense of pride and confidence to help in their growth into adulthood. One such choice could be allowing your teen to choose their extracurricular activities which gives them opportunities for growth and achievement and allows them a sense of responsibility. This can be a tough thing for parents to let their teen make their own choices but parents need to realize that in order for their teen to grow into a productive and responsible adult letting go is a step that must be taken. Parenting classes can help give parents specific direction in appropriate ways to allow your teen to take control of various situations that directly impact their lives.
Pitfall #2: Constantly Correcting and Nagging your Teen
Giving your teen correction is a necessity in making sure your teen knows right from wrong but constantly correcting every thing your teen does or nagging them about things that you want done can cause even more of a rift between you as the parent and your teen. Teens tend to have a very different sense of priorities then parents do. While parents have the ability to see the bigger picture and know things from experience, teens tend to see things from a different perspective.
Parenting classes teach parents that the teen’s priorities are more in the way of the math test they have tomorrow, the prom dress they have been eyeing, or the boy or girl they are currently swooning over, and these don’t line up with what the parents see as priorities. Knowing this is half the battle, as a parent is you can recognize the differences in perspectives and be more appreciative of things your teen does good or right then you can avoid many of eye roll and door slamming moments.
Pitfall #3: No Connection with your Teen
Teens have a tendency to pull away from even the most important parent relationships when they hit those terrible teen years, but as a parent you should strive to keep those lines of connection and communication open. Parenting classes teach parents to find ways to keep connecting to your teen, even though sometimes it may take doing so through their way of communication, such as through technology or a favorite hobby for your teen. These make take a little extra work and initiative from you as the parent but the reward will be well worth the effort.
Avoiding these 3 pitfalls can make your life with your teen much better and can help keep your relationship with your teen more enjoyable and interactive.