As a parent, your child is going to view you as the center of their world up to a certain age. All of your plans will include them in some way, and it seems like your family is one tight-knit unit for the longest time. This time doesn’t last forever, though, and your child is going to grow up and want their independence as they start to become a teen.
This next stage of parenthood isn’t the end, however. You are going to need to adjust your approach to parenting as your child starts to become their own person, but it is easier said than done. Check out the advice below to see if there is anything you can do to help make this process easier.
Personal Space
The most common misconception about parenthood often states that you grow further apart from your child as they get older. While this clearly isn’t true, it can feel like this is the case at a certain point in time.
Your child is going to reach an age where they do not need your constant care and attention. Unfortunately, they might still lack the skills to express this sentiment in the most polite manner. The important thing is to recognize this change and respect their wishes. It might be a little complicated at first, but after some time you’ll begin to pick up on signs and patterns. Also, it is important to remember that this attitude isn’t permanent. Every child or teen goes through a distant period when they are figuring themselves out.
Physical Space
While it is important to give your child some space emotionally, you may also need to prepare your life for the physical changes. A teen doesn’t just get taller, they somehow know how to occupy as much room as humanely possible. Whether that is with the objects they accrue or the friends they bring home, a teen’s home is never empty.
You can prepare for this dramatic shift by moving things around in the home. Sometimes a teenager needs their own bedroom, especially if they have been sharing with a younger sibling for a long time. Furthermore, your child is going to be a lot more socially active, which means you might need to think about investing in a 7 seater electric SUV. These larger cars are fit for your teen and their friends and aren’t as expensive as they once were. If you are concerned about the price, visit Compare to get an idea about how much these types of vehicles generally cost.
You might not be able to afford a home extension or even enough money to re-arrange the house. However, a small change to the size of your car can make a big difference to your world.
Communication
It can be tricky to communicate with a child on the best of days. They are never fully aware of the consequences of what is going on around them, therefore their actions and responses aren’t always ideal. A teenager is going to gain a better idea about the consequences of their actions, but that doesn’t mean that communicating with them is going to be any easier. In their world, they know what is best as they have newfound knowledge of the world around them.
That is why you need to be tactful about how you communicate with your teenager. You can’t ask them to do things the way you did when they were a child. Instead, you should approach them with suggestions. They are not really sure of their own mind at this point which means that decision-making comes with an additional dose of conflict. If you need them to do a task, make them think as if it were their idea and they will happily oblige.
However, this level of communication should work both ways. Make sure that your teen is aware that you are receptive to their ideas too so that they know that you still respect them.
Embrace Their Independence
As time moves on you are no longer the sole source of entertainment for your child. You used to be able to arrange games, trips out, or even just switch on the T.V to occupy your child. However, now they are more likely to want to spend time with their peers and socialize with more like-minded individuals. This is all part of growing up, but you mustn’t view this change as an act of spite.
In fact, you should view this as a positive transformation. A young teen needs boundaries, but also the room to fly. While it is a difficult balance to achieve, you still need to find the ability within yourself to trust their judgment. There are going to be times where they still need you to guide them, so try to remain on hand in the event of a crisis. However, until then you can have fun doing all of the things you may have missed out on when they were young.
Know That Their Routine Will Change
The average adult human is fine on eight hours of sleep per twenty-four hours. It doesn’t matter when we get our shut-eye, which means that we can train ourselves to go through the perfect sleep pattern at a time that suits our nine-to-five work lifestyle. However, at the age of thirteen, this pattern changes.
A teenager’s body goes through so much during puberty that their natural body clock needs time to accommodate. Therefore, between the ages of around thirteen and seventeen, our natural eight-hour sleep pattern is most effective during the hours of 3 am and 11 am. As you can see, this makes getting up for school at 7 am mighty difficult for the average teen. It turns out they weren’t staying out late just to bug us, it is just because this is when they have the most energy.
There isn’t much that you can do as a parent to change this sleeping pattern. However, you can be more lenient with this knowledge, and give your teenager the benefit of the doubt if they choose to have an indulgent lie-in on the weekend. The rest of the world might not understand why they are so tired all the time but at least now you do.
Trust The Process
In the hundreds of thousands of years that parents have been raising teenagers, it pretty much always works out in the end. The journey from teen to adult is going to be full of trials and tribulations. They may argue, get into a spot of trouble at school, and even threaten to leave home on occasion; however, this is all part of growing up.
The most important thing for you to do as a parent is there for them. In the end, they will appreciate you far more as a parent and evolve into the adult they are destined to become.
Conclusion
Nobody ever said that having kids was going to be easy, but that is half the fun. Be honest with yourself and you will find that you are more equipped to deal with the changes of adolescence than you realized. Thankfully, it only lasts for a few years.
