How to Make Your Teenage Children Feel Accepted
It isn’t easy to be the parent of teenage children. It’s a complicated stage, in which they only think about themselves and their friends. Sometimes, parents feel there’s a communication barrier they can’t overcome. Therefore, they’re unable to communicate with their kids.
Usually, people think it’s only a stage and that it too shall pass. However, it might be the perfect moment to work on communication and to bond with your teenage child.
Your teenage children need you
They won’t tell you they need you, because they’re building their identity, and they want to show you that they’re self-sufficient. But, in fact, they need you just like they always have. It’s very important to be empathetic and patient with teenagers, in order to prevent them from thinking you’re confronting them.
At times, parents tend to feel threatened, because they think they’re losing control of the situation, and that they and their teenage children are drifting apart. This is because teenagers often stop sharing their experiences, and parents feel excluded. As a result, parents feel stabbed in the back…
In addition, parents tend to think their children are hiding something from them. But, the truth is that teenagers are struggling inside and fighting their own battles. Adolescence is a stage of important transitions, and thus they need you to be by their side.
It’s essential that you make your children feel they can trust you. This way, they’ll feel you listen to them and you accept them. Remember that teenagers are trying to find out who they are and how they fit into this world. Therefore, they need you to talk to them in a kind way through simple and motivating words.
Talk to you teenage children and make them feel comfortable
To do this, you can try new methods. How do teenagers communicate most of the time? They usually choose social media platforms, like Facebook, even if it’s easy to contact their friends face to face.
Text messages are vey popular, too. Teenagers write to each other even if they’re sitting together in class or a few feet away in the yard. And they also write to each other after saying goodbye at the end of the day.
Even if certain things seem to be difficult for adults, they should communicate with their teenage children in a way that makes them feel comfortable. By doing this, they may promote better communication.
Once you break the ice, you can suggest to continue talking face to face. If you send a Facebook message, make sure you hit the message button, and don’t write on their wall, where everyone can see it.
This would mean a total shame for your chil dren, and things would get worse. Even if what you wrote isn’t important, no teenager wants to be seen interacting via Facebook with their parents.
Spend time together
Take your time to be with your children. Remember that there’s nothing more important than what’s happening right now. It’s very difficult for teenagers to turn to their parents. So, if this happens, respect their moment.
It might be a banal subject, but they’re leaving the door open for new conversations.
Whenever they come to you to talk about something more important, ask them if there’s anything else they would like to discuss. And, make sure they understand you’re available for them to talk about anything. Moreover, let them know you enjoy spending this time with them.
Create moments to connect
Since teenagers are always going out with their friends or spending time in their rooms, it might be really difficult to connect with them. If you need to talk to them or you just want to spend some time together, try to come up with new ideas.
Many parents make the mistake of focusing too much attention on their teenage children, inviting them to do different things together. Unfortunately, during this “awkward” stage teenagers may think their parents are patronizing them and that they don’t need their help.
Try to revert the situation by telling your children you’re the one who needs them. You could ask them to help you choose a new outfit, or even carry out a task you’ve been postponing because you find it emotionally difficult. You can also try to open up with them about a subject you’d like discuss.
As a result, they’ll feel that you treat them like adults and that you appreciate their opinions. Besides, they may even feel they can help you in your daily life.