My tip this week is: Let Them Be Kids! >>Listen

A woman who attended my workshop took me aside to tell me about her son and his friend. They are 15, and the friend was dealing with some really upsetting issues at home. He felt comfortable and safe at her house and she and her son had taken this boy under their wings. What she found remarkable was that in his overly stressed state, he found refuge in the simplest video games from his youth.

She explored this further and began to closely observe more of her son’s friends. More on Let Them Be Kids! 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #137

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Try a New Tack >>Listen

Have you ever noticed how invested we get in our way of doing things? I hear from thoughtful parents who have the best of intentions, people who think about how they can support their teenager’s growth and development in regards to their schoolwork, their social lives, their participation in sports etc. What becomes difficult is when what they are doing doesn’t work. Admitting that requires them to recognize that something needs to change, maybe even that they were wrong. This can be difficult because they are invested in the choices they have made, and those choices reflect their best intentions and beliefs. But all parents need to remember that there are times you need to discard your current strategy and try a new tack.

Here are a couple of examples of what I mean: More on Try a New Tack - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #136

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Seek Your Teen’s Input >>Listen

I want to share something I read with you that stopped me dead in my tracks. In their book Stories of the Spirit, Jack Kornfeld and Christina Feldman tell this story: A family went out to a restaurant for dinner. When the waitress arrived, the parents gave their orders. Immediately, their five year old daughter piped up with her own: “I’ll have a hot dog, french fries and a Coke.” “Oh no you won’t,” interjected the dad, and turning to the waitress he said “She’ll have meat loaf, mashed potatoes, milk.” Looking at the child with a smile, the waitress said, “So hon, what do you want on that hot dog?” When she left, the family sat stunned and silent. A few moments later the little girl, eyes shining said, “She thinks I’m real.”*

In how many ways do we as parents do exactly what that dad did? More on Seek Your Teen's Input - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #135

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Traditions Matter >>Listen

As we enter into the holiday season once again, I’m reminded of a time a number of years back when my then sophomore-in-high-school daughter made a comment that surprised me. She said “There is only one Christmas album to play when we are putting up the tree - it has to be Nat King Cole.” I actually hadn’t even realized that that had become a tradition in our home; I guess the music that we played when decorating the tree didn’t have much importance in my mind. But clearly it had become an important tradition to my daughter.

I have my own favorite traditions too. More on Traditions Matter - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #134

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Try a “Loose Lead” >>Listen

I have mentioned in previous 2 minute tips that we have recently welcomed a new puppy into our family. I must confess that I’m smitten with my 6 month old Lily. This tip comes from something I learned in puppy class that, believe it or not, has direct relevance for parenting teenagers.

I’m not an experienced dog trainer, so everything I’m learning about training my puppy is new and interesting. More on Try a "Loose Lead" with your Teenager - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens # 133

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Reconnect with the Joy of Being a Parent >>Listen

I recently ran a workshop called The YOU Factor where parents of teenagers examined how their attitudes, beliefs and approach influenced their relationship with their teens. There were many rich moments, and one that stuck out to me was at the end when the participants were sharing their major take-away from the workshop. One mom said “I want to reconnect with the joy of being a parent.”

Parents of teenagers do sometimes lose the sense of the joy and wonder they felt as they marveled at their children they were young. More on Reconnect with the Joy of Parenthood - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #132

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Encourage empathy >>Listen

I participated recently in an interesting talk show on BAM Radio Network about teenagers and their brain development. The host of the show spoke to Barbara Strauch, the author of The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids. One of the points that Barbara made was that as teens’ brains develop, their empathy increases. Have you noticed this in your teen? Why is empathy important?

Teenagers do develop an increasing capacity to be empathic, and this is important on many levels. More on Encourage Empathy - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #131

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Not all Situations are Win-Win >>Listen

Amber and her friend Kelsey lied to their parents. Instead of going to the local party where they said they would be, they went to a boys fraternity party some distance away. Kelsey drank a lot of beer and got very sick. Amber, who had not had anything to drink, called her mom to come and get them because it was clear that Kelsey could not drive them home.

The two girls begged Amber’s mom not to tell Kelsey’s parents what had happened. More on Not All Situations are Win-Win 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #130

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Nothing to Excess

Believe it or not, this advice is from ancient Greece. At the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the ancients selected two special inscriptions to be prominently placed at the front of this magnificent and significant temple. One of the inscriptions was “Nothing to excess.” I find it fascinating that human beings centuries ago chose to remind themselves of the very same advice that is relevant today.

Some parents today worry that your teenage son spends too much time playing computer games, on Facebook, or engaged in screens of all kinds. More on Nothing to Excess - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #129

Hi – Sue Blaney here with your Parenting Tip from Parenting Teens Info.com

My tip this week is: Listen to the Veterans >>Listen

Hindsight is 20/20, they say. And raising teenagers looks very different when you look back upon it than when you are immersed in it. I encourage you to ask your friends and family members about the lessons they learned when they were raising their teens. Good open-ended questions can yield some very helpful insight. Questions such as “What is the biggest lesson you learned when you were raising your teens?”  Or “If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?”  I have asked these questions and gotten some very interesting answers.

One such comment that still resonates with me came from a friend of mine who upon her daughter’s high school graduation said “If I had the chance to do it over again I’d be more of an advocate and less of a judge.” More on Listen to the Veterans - 2 Minute Tip for Parenting Teens #128