Tips For Parenting Teens

All right, I am not an expert in parenting but I am a mother of two teenage boys and a preteen girl AND I have been teaching teenagers since 2001. I did write earlier on parenting tweens but haven't talked about the teen years. There seems to be an endless supply of parenting advice for newborns and toddlers but what about the wild ages of 13-18? What to expect when you're...a parent of teens?  This is what I would say:

Preparing to Parent Teens in Today's Culture

Suddenly I find myself approaching the next stage in parenting: the teen years. I enjoy teenagers and spent five years getting a degree so that I could teach them science (biology in particular). However, there is fear which comes from the fact that I remember myself during those years. I was a hard-working student, had a part time job throughout high school and was quite responsible overall but I still had an "experimental" side to me and I didn't have to deal with the whole social media aspect that kids nowadays do.

When Someone Calls Your Child a Hurtful Name

Have you ever had someone say something mean to you? What about to your child? I used to think I would give that person a piece of my mind but my thoughts have changed on this – I approach it a little more gently and try to see both sides. I am not saying verbal attacks are okay, because they are not, and if an adult ever said something harmful to a child I would be all over it with that power imbalance. Harsh words need to be recognized and dealt with, however, there are several reasons why it occurs and knowing them could help us when we approach that situation. Here are four examples that I am familiar with...

A Look Into What It's Like to Parent Teenagers

I often feel like I'm in the sweet spot of parenting with kids ages five to eleven. They are all potty trained, sleeping through the night, can get their own food, I have eyes on them most of the time and they go to bed without too much complaint...life is good! I know what kind of teenager I was (responsible with an attitude and a bit of a wild side) so I'm slightly terrified of this upcoming stage of parenting. I asked my friend Melissa who is the mother of four, with two being teenagers, some of her thoughts on this stage. Here she has given us a look into what it's like to parent teenagers. Are you ready?

Watch Your Holiday Favourites on YTV

When you find something that all of your kids can agree on without fail, you grab on to it! For us there is a unanimous appreciation for snacking on freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, playing school, having chicken pot pie for dinner and watching YTV. This TV channel is the most watched in our home and they have stepped it up a notch for the month of December.