If you’re expecting a baby, you might think you’ve prepared your family adequately for the big event, but wait – have you prepared your pet? Don’t laugh; it’s important if you want your dog or cat and the baby to become good friends, Here’s what a nationally recognized animal trainer suggests: • Be sure your […]
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Adolescence represents one of the most difficult stages in human development. The teenager needs desperately to leave his childhood behind and enter fully into the world of adults — but often feels the pull of childish impulses and desires, and the security of his old life keeping him from making the big move toward psychological
Outside the home, you must count on consequences for doing the teaching. As your teenager experiments, she’ll learn to take responsibility for her decisions and actions. Speak up only if your adolescent is going to do something dangerous or illegal. Otherwise, let the school of hard knocks take over. If your teen has bad work
Teenagers need house rules; written ones will cut down on misunderstandings. Since you own the house and run the house, you make the rules. • First, you have to decide whether or not to loan out your car, bicycle, camera, radio, TV, clothes, and so on. If your teenager breaks something, she should repair it
The main work of adolescents in our culture is to become psychologically emancipated from the parents. The teenager must cast aside the dependent relationship of childhood and gain control of his life. This process is characterized by a certain amount of normal defiance and rudeness. Emotions run high and mood swings are common. The following
Good communication with a doctor is vital to a person’s health and can be a challenge in the self-conscious teen years. But you can help your teen in several ways: 1. Urge him/her to be honest with the doctor. Doctors have heard just about everything and aren’t likely to be shocked. Honest answers can be
The excruciating big talk about the facts of life, or an embarrassed silence? This is a problem many parents share. And, while sex education ideally starts with honest answers to a child’s first questions at a very young age, it is not too late to start talking now. Forget about the “big talk.” This is
While most New Year’s resolutions are made to be broken, you and your teen might resolve, day by day, during the coming year, to improve your relationship with the following resolutions: 1. We will listen to each other. Each of us has a right to a point of view, a right to be heard, even
Even though the shopping days may have dwindled down to none, even though your family may already have opened a variety of gifts, there is still one more Christmas gift you can give your teenager today that can make this holiday special. The best gift you can give your teen today is some special time
It can be a shock to discover that your teen is having sex. You may feel anxious, angry, disappointed, and distressed, and wonder “What do I do now?” Here are some suggestions: • First, take time to collect your thoughts. Calm down if at all possible before discussing the matter. Lashing out at your teen
