When talking with your teen about their future, it can be difficult to find a common ground. However, there are a few ways around that which can make it easier to discuss things with your child.
For instance, when teaching your child about their future, why not discuss the various jobs they may be interested in? You might bring up travel nursing careers to those that are interested in the medical field or jobs with a veterinarian for those interested in animals. There is no limit to what you can discuss and by finding this common ground, it will be easier to have …
[Read more...]
Talking with Your Teen About Their Future
Communication and Compassion: Addressing Substance Abuse
It was once the easiest of exchanges: words were traded across the breakfast table; smiles were offered; and the days were born to gentle communication. Now, however, only silence reigns. Your teen has forgotten his own tongue, has shaped himself to a grimace. He doesn’t whisper secrets. He doesn’t offer laughter. Instead he just ... stares. It’s a causal dismissal, and far too worrisome.
There was a time when your child’s most pressing obligation was to find clothes -- such as Dereon pants -- worthy of his schoolyard adventures. Now he's withdrawn, unwilling to ask for …
[Read more...]
Are You Ready for a College Pick?
There comes a point in a teenager's life when the questions about college begin to swirl about the family dinner table. This is the perfect opportunity for Mom and Dad to swing into action. The goal is to walk that fine line between telling your teen where they should go and letting them decide where they're going to spend the next four years of their lives. Here's a quick tip for the parental units: do an Internet search for "Top Ten Party Colleges." Print out the list, but keep it in your back pocket. Only activate it if your kid begins to lean in the direction of one of those party schools. …
[Read more...]
Teens and Driving: Be Cool
Just as the title says, when it comes to teens and cars, be cool. You cannot let them see how out of control your emotions are when it comes to your teenager and driving. This is an incredibly scary time for you both and the most exciting for your child. He or she will be counting on you to gain the confidence they need to drive safely.
Teaching your child to drive can be fun if you can control your fear long enough to enjoy it. Your child is smart and capable of driving, you have to have faith that your child will pick it up as quickly as you did. You can start off simply, for …
[Read more...]
Teens and Self Discipline
A teen after puberty has a massive amount of hormones that course through their veins and saturate their brains with feelings of selfishness, sex desires and freedom. These are usually the only things that their thoughts can be associated with. The “Now, Now, Now” mentality is so prevalent, that you might consider de-spoiling your child. This is not how to do things. They cannot help their overbearing need to have everything, “right now”. So what do we do? We teach. As parents our jobs as teachers never ends.
Example: Your child comes home from school, “Mom! I need …
[Read more...]
Making the Grade In College
Freshman college students are going to be overwhelmed with new experiences and opportunities. They'll be on their own for the first time which for many means having to deal with all the basics of laundry and feeding themselves. There also won't be a mom or dad standing over their shoulder making sure they do all their homework. What happens next in their lives is on them. Fortunately, they won't be in this alone. Most everyone else in the freshman class will be going through the same types of experiences. There can be great comfort found in shared "woes."
However, the challenge facing …
[Read more...]