5 Parenting Tips To Manage Preteens & Tweens

Teens are at an age when they are coming to terms with lots of changes in their lives. Hormones, changing bodies, the importance of peer groups, increased academic pressure- these changing activities can exacerbate mood swings and outbursts. As parents, we often find ourselves in a confusing situation, as we too are coming to terms with our kids growing up and trying to adopt effective parenting tips to assuage the situation. Give them their space, don’t overreact, and don’t be clueless about their lives either: here are 5 effective parenting tips that will help you manage your growing children better while still keeping intact your own sanity!

Open Conversation - The best parenting tips will always tell you that nothing comes close to clear communication. In a time where outbursts and misunderstandings are too frequent, clear communication is a perfect tonic for such problems. Dedicate a time of the week to have an open and honest conversation with your teen to understand where they are at, emotionally and mentally. For your teens to share their thoughts, you need to create a secure atmosphere so your kids can vent their feelings and thoughts to you. Lend a listening ear, not a judgmental one, to their problems, empathize-don’t react and make sure that you respect their privacy if they want to let certain things remain confidential. Maintaining a solid ground of trust is one of the most important parenting tips.

Healthy Boundaries - Maintaining healthy boundaries with your teens is key to a healthy relationship. As kids grow up, they learn to be more independent and it might seem that they are drifting away from us. A parental guide to dealing with boundaries with your teens is imperative. This does not mean that you need to be completely clueless about your kids’ lives, but it also does not mean that your kids need to share every tiny detail of their lives with you. The best parenting tips encourage parents to respect their child’s autonomy and privacy, acknowledge that there are some healthy barriers that are necessary, but make sure that you frequently communicate and establish yourself as a dependable person they can come to with their problems!

React Responsibly - Often times, parents are very overwhelmed by the rapid changes in their kids and this gets the best of us and we end up screaming or lashing out at our kids. It is true that sometimes our reactions get away from our control, but we need to understand that extreme reactions can alienate our teens further away from us. Just like we teach our kids to think before reacting, we need to be stellar role models for the same. Good parenting tips would include that if your teen has done something wrong, reprimanding is good, but screaming does more harm than good. Sort the situation with them by actually making them understand where they went wrong, instead of shutting down the problem by screaming.

Insist On Family Time - While it’s true that teens become more dependent on their peer groups for emotional and mental support, a teen needs to feel loved and supported by their family as well. Insist on having a meal together every day. Get to know your teen, understand their interests and hobbies. Ince your teen knows that you are making a genuine effort to understand their world, teens will freely open their world and minds up to you. Judging or arguing with your teen can only make matters worse. Take some time to indulge in their hobbies and make a family event out of it. If your teen loves to bike, make a family outing out of it, by insisting on taking them out for a weekend bike ride every now and then.

Set A Healthy Example - One of the most effective parenting tips for parents of teens is that to set healthy patterns in teens, parents themselves need to set the stage. Want your teen to be well-behaved at social functions? Emulate this behavior at home with your partner, as teens still have impressionable minds and they pick up on cues very easily. Don’t argue with your partner in front of the kids, don’t use your phones or take calls during meal times with the family, encourage having conversations during meal times- all this can set to become healthy examples for your teens to imbibe in their own personalities.

Over and above these, if you’re seeing other personality traits such as rigidity and stubbornness developing in your child, here are some tips to deal with stubborn children. Having said that, these are simply suggestions we’ve gathered which may be of use to you. Bear in mind that each child is different and hence, tailor-make your approach while dealing with them.