Category Archives: Parent/Teen Relationships

Making Your Holiday with Your Teen More Peaceful

As the holidays approach, many of us feel a mixture of excitement and anxiety. While holidays have the potential for fun and special memories, they also have the potential for stress and family conflict that can take the joy out of the season. If one of the reasons for your holiday anxiety is because you dread your teen’s possible behavior,

Read more

How to Improve Communication with Teens

Almost every adult wants a magic formula that will make conversations with teens easier. There actually is one, but it’s likely not what you expected or want to hear. Communication with teens always improves when we practice active listening. Most of us aren’t as good at listening as we’d like to think. Hearing someone talk is different from concentrating on

Read more

Helping Teens Cope During and After a Divorce

Approximately half of marriages fail in the United States. This is a difficult statistic to swallow and maybe more so for the children whose lives are impacted. No matter what the marriage situation was at home, no matter how the divorce is handled, no matter where the children fall in the transition – divorce turns a child’s world upside down.

Read more

The Importance of Healthy Parent-Teen Relationships

The adolescent years are a difficult transition as teens still need close connections with their parents, but are also in the process of developing more independence and creating their own identity. There can be a push-pull effect in the parent-teen relationship. Teens might ask for your advice and then roll their eyes when you make a suggestion. They might launch

Read more

Vacationing with Teenagers

Summer is rapidly approaching, and many of us are considering vacations. The only problem for many families is that parents aren’t sure they want to spend an entire week traveling with an eye-rolling, attitude-copping teen. Don’t bail yet! Traveling with your teen can be a great experience, if you just follow a few guidelines: Let your teen have input. From

Read more

When You Don’t Agree with a Caregiver of your Children

If you’re someone whose tweens or teens are being taken care of by other adults – whether that’s an ex-spouse every weekend, a neighbor while at work, or a grandparent for a trip – then you’re well aware of the stress and tension that can occur from different styles in caretaking. It can feel frustrating when another adult disregards your

Read more

You Can Be a Good Parent and Still Have a Troubled Kid

Our society has some strong stereotypes about the “type of parent” who raises a teen who is a troublemaker. Our culture implies that kind of kid must belong to a parent who doesn’t care or doesn’t spend enough time with their kid or is abusive or doesn’t make their child feel loved or is too permissive. And, the idea makes

Read more

How Parents Can Set Children Up for a Healthy Adolescence

Many parents look toward the teen years with dread. They hear the horror stories of back-talking, eye-rolling, and rebellion, and wish they could just skip the whole thing. If you’re in this category, we first encourage you to read our previous blog, Reasons to Be Thankful for Teenagers, because there are some real upsides to teens that are often overlooked!

Read more

Never Assume the Reason Behind a Teen’s Bad Behavior

When teens behave badly, it can feel infuriating! Parents are bound to feel frustrated when their teen acts defiant, withdrawn, aggressive, or unmotivated. We might feel that our teen is ungrateful, entitled, disrespectful, or that he/she hates us. While these are perfectly natural reactions, we are missing an important key. Don’t guess or assume that your teen is acting out

Read more

Holiday Giving for Teens in a Global Supply Crisis

The gift giving season for the holidays is in full swing. Unfortunately, many families are finding this year’s shopping to be more difficult than usual. The pandemic has caused inflation to climb and wreaked havoc on supply chains around the world. As a result, finding affordable gifts in time for the holidays will not be easy. Today’s blog offers some

Read more

The Importance of Acceptance to Teens

All of us struggle with self-doubt from time to time, but adolescents especially struggle with acceptance due to their lack of maturity and perspective, as well as their search for their own identity. In fact, in their drive for independence, teenagers can seem to reject parents while still desperately wanting acceptance from them. Research shows significant links between a teen’s

Read more
« Older Entries