Image via Wikipedia Raising teenagers is never easy. Dealing with acne woes, breakups, rebellious behavior and so many other unpleasant situations cannot be anything but tough. While it’s true that parents are more often than not at the receiving end of their children’s’ teenage blues, the kids themselves often end up victims of these trying years. A singular perspective is never helpful and parents need to understand that they have to reach out to their children who will keep withdrawing from them, it’s only natural. In this stage of their physical and mental … [Read more...]
Defensive Driving For Teenagers – Not All Battles Are Fought Face To Face
Image by LevelTen_Colin via Flickr Insisting that your teenaged child should attend a defensive driving course before laying his or her hand on the car may seem like common sense to you. On the other hand, your teen may be violently against such an idea. For starters, the idea or suggestion hurts your small teenager's big ego. Secondly, there is an implied suggestion that the you do not think your child is good enough. This can shake the overconfident approach that teenagers invariably adopt. Thirdly, you are an adult and will be seen as imposing your view and this will never … [Read more...]
Parenting – Punishment Or Reward?
Parenting - the most important job you will ever do and yet there are no guidelines, no manual and no exact right way to do it. There are classes on parenting, but any parent who has raised a child from infant to adulthood knows that classes do not even begin to scratch the surface, and even if they did, new issues come up daily, making parenting classes obsolete once that child is potty trained. It would be wonderful to have a manual. You open a book, read the part where it tells you what to do and it works. There are self help books, but they do little more than console us … [Read more...]
Discipline – What Works Best?
No matter what the experts say, the same type of discipline is not right for every kid, because every kid is different. It would be great if all kids were cut from the same mold. All parents would know how to handle the difficult situations, everyone would be able to use the same advice and same punishments for wrong doing. We would all be able to follow the manual. That will never happen. Only the parent knows their child. If you are engaged caring parent, who only wants what is best for your children, you will be the proper disciplinarian. Loving your children harder … [Read more...]
Parenting The Child With A Disability
One of the hardest things for a parent to deal with may be a child who has a disability. Disabilities can range from severe medical and physical disabilities to slight twitches, to serious mental retardation, to socially inept children who suffer from minor forms of Autism. Having a child with a disability is an extremely stressful situation for a parent. These kids do not fit into our mold. Even if you have had a child or several children before the child with the disability, you are thrown the new curve. What to do now? One of the first things you should do is learn … [Read more...]
Preparing Your Child for Your Upcoming Engagement
Children react to new situations and experiences differently. Some children might jump into things with both feet, while others might take a while to adjust. This is why if you are a single-parent who is looking to get engaged soon to your significant other, you need to plan ahead in order to ensure that your child is comfortable and ready for you to get married. After all, your child is one of the most important things in your life, and if they are uncomfortable with your significant other, it could lead to potential problems in your relationship. Here is a look at some tips on how to make … [Read more...]
Keeping Tabs On Your Teen
Teens today can communicate with each other every minute of every day. The telephone hanging on the wall in your house may as well be a plant holder. They don't need that. They have more communication devices that Captain Kirk had on The Enterprise. They can call their friends, they can text, they can e-mail or Skype, they can communicate through a social network or even a gaming site. With a laptop and a cell phone, a teen has the capacity to communicate with anyone, at any time, anywhere, including not in this country. While this technology is amazing, without proper guidance, it … [Read more...]
Nurturing The Parent/Child Relationship
Every parent knows that the way they relate to their child changes constantly. You would not relate to a newborn infant the same way you would relate to an adolescent getting his heart broken for the first time. The most important thing for a parent to remember is that no one knows exactly when the rules will change. The parent who thinks that the constant attention a newborn needs is so time consuming, need only wait a few short years until they are coaching every team of every sport the child wants to participate in, making phone calls to every other parent of every other child on the … [Read more...]
Driving A Car To Impress Others – Shortcut To Major Accidents
Why does your teenager child want to use the car? Is it because he or she wants to travel to a specific destination in the shortest time possible? Is it important to travel comfortably? Or does the child simply want to show off in front of his or her friends? If it is the last reason, then you have ample reason to worry. The process of showing off and impressing friends and peers may quickly proceed from driving the car to sharing the car. Every additional teenager in the car increases the risk of accident by a significant percentage. Just keep track of all the horrific accidents that you … [Read more...]
The Utter Destruction of Peace: Kids Sharing a Bedroom!
If you can only imagine the terror: it's like throwing a wrench into the workings of a well-oiled machine. Children sharing a bedroom generally isn't a difficult issue—unless your kids previously had their own rooms but must now share one! You're in for some frustration. Let's say you're in a cozy apartment where you apparently have had to downsize--nothing bad. Your two boys now reside in one room. What do you do? Well, you pleasantly break it to your little heathens and design the room as such to benefit their enjoyment. A large enough bedroom with the space to effectively split in two … [Read more...]