Parents. We all have em. We love them. We fight with them. They are awesome. They are annoying. These are all emotions which come to a teenagers mind when someone asks about their parents. The truth is parents are here to help you no matter if it’s learning how to ride a bike or if it is helping you throughout high school. There are many great articles about parenting tips in which adults teach parents who read these articles, how to parent their teens. I find this extremely ironic because teenagers should know what they want and can tell you when you go overboard with the whole parenting thing. That is why this article is different. Since I am a teenager I can relate to what is going through your teens head when they roll their eyes at you. Here are three parenting tips which all parents should implement into their “parenting” system, from a teens perspective.
Make sense.
“Well I’m your dad, that’s why!”, or “Because I’m your mom!”. If you are a teenager, you can probably relate to these statements. As teenagers start another step of their lives in teen hood, they tend to get smarter and sometimes that means that they can outwit their parents. Parents, on the other hand, for some reason which goes past my comprehension, can never agree that their child has just outsmarted them and that they are wrong. They end up pulling the, “I’m your parent card” on you instead of admitting that they are wrong. This is why making sense is the first one on the parenting tips list. To all the parents out there, next time when you use the parent card to dodge the logic your child used, try to make some sense. If you know that the child is right, then agree with him. This will not just show your superiority but also will help your relationship with your child.
Don’t be hypocrites
Your parents are always there to look out for you. But sometimes they go overboard and tell you not do something which they do themselves. And when you tell them that they are being hypocrites, they come up with the “I am a parent” excuse. A tip I have for all parents is that you are their role models so if you do something which they shouldn’t be doing, instead of telling them to stop doing that thing and being a hypocrite, you should stop doing that thing. From a teens perspective, the teenager gets really confused when you tell them to stop doing something which you do.
Understand your teens gestures
Understanding your teens gestures is key to making a better relationship with them. Now, I do understand that sometimes when teens do gestures such as eye rolling or shaking their heads, they mean something else, but from a teens perspective, we don’t always mean harm. Also there are many different gestures but eye rolling is the most used by teens which is why it is the only one on this list. If you are a parent, there is no way you haven’t experienced this gesture, but before you scold them think about this. When teens are in arguments with their parents and have no power at all because their parents either use the parent card on them or become hypocrites, the only way they can express their feelings is through eye rolling. Usually, when teens roll their eyes, they are really tempted to say something because they want to defend themselves. So, next time before judging your teens gesture of eye rolling, ask them what they are wanting to say or actually feeling.
As I’m wrapping this article up, I understand that I’m being totally bias towards my fellow teenagers but in fact I think I am also opening up a new side. A teenagers side from a teens perspective. Obviously, you are the parent and you should know when parenting your teen is really necessary but now you know what your child is feeling when you are arguing with them. Hopefully, next time you think before pulling the “I am your parent” card on your teen.