Paws to Consider: Choosing The Right Dog For You And Your Family I’m Counting to 10 … Hope and Humor for Frazzled Parents How to Have a Happy Marriage When You’re Busy Being Parents What Our Words and Actions are Really Telling Our Children Ten Talks Parents Must Have With Their Children About Drugs and Choices Laughter is the Best MedicineHeart Murmurs Giving Your Heart a Scare? Children and Anger When Should My Child Brush His Own Teeth? Raising Responsible Children Standing Up for Your Child Reading to your Baby Parents and Discipline Potty Training on Vacation Eating Healthy for Your Kids 60 One-Minute Family-Builders 60 One-Minute Memory Makers Understanding Teenage Depression |  |
 |
|
Suddenly They’re 13 or The Art of Hugging a Cactus A Parent’s Survival Guide for the Adolescent Years Introduction Most youth between thirteen and sixteen are unpredictable. Trying to figure out their behavior is like riding a roller coaster blindfolded. You’re never sure exactly which way you’re going: up, down, sideways, or in circles! One minute they act so mature, and a couple of hours later their actions remind you of the toddler years! Actually a teenager is similar to a toddler except now they have hormones and some even have wheels! The adolescent years have been described as a period when youngsters don’t talk to the family, live in the clutter they call a room, and come out three times a day to eat and grunt at the family. Adolescence is a stage of life when children seem to want little contact with their family, but idolize their friends. No wonder parents compare trying to love a teenager to hugging a cactus! In fact, many parents look forward to parenting an adolescent about as much as they would to hugging one of those prickly plants! As you read these excerpts and Suddenly They’re 13, imagine that you, we, and other parents are sitting in a room together discussing our adolescents. Some of the parents are almost through these years so their experiences tell us a lot about the times that lie ahead. You, like the Arps and the many parents who have participated in our parenting support groups over the years, need a plan for getting through the years ahead. Your plan may not be the same as ours. Our goal is not to give you a program, but to share with you some principles that worked for us and to tell you that these years may actually be the best years of all! We call these principles the "four Rs": regroup, release, relate, and relax. The four Rs will help you develop a better relationship with your adolescents, one that will last throughout the teen years and into adulthood.
| ||
 | ||
