How to talk to your teenagers
I've discovered the secret...well, two secrets....
There are two secrets to having a discussion with your teenagers, who are rarely at home and when they are either have an electronic device in their ear, in front of their face or are watching TV.
One way is to text them a conversation...yes, even if you are in the house with them, although I try to promote face-to-face, so I avoid the in the house texting.
The other way is to drive them somewhere (they are always requesting rides anyway...might as well get something out of it). You ask one or two questions and before you know it, they are talking in whole sentences to you. Of course you can't ask any probing questions because they clam right up. You start with the non-important questions and then as they start talking, they don't even realize you are asking other questions that any other time they would not answer.
The key to this is not to have two of your teenagers in the car at once because then it becomes a let's-make-fun-of-how-uncool-mom is session. You become of the butt of their jokes, which is a good technique for getting your teenagers to agree with each other and stop fighting...that is another lesson in the secrets for parent's handbook.
There are two secrets to having a discussion with your teenagers, who are rarely at home and when they are either have an electronic device in their ear, in front of their face or are watching TV.
One way is to text them a conversation...yes, even if you are in the house with them, although I try to promote face-to-face, so I avoid the in the house texting.
The other way is to drive them somewhere (they are always requesting rides anyway...might as well get something out of it). You ask one or two questions and before you know it, they are talking in whole sentences to you. Of course you can't ask any probing questions because they clam right up. You start with the non-important questions and then as they start talking, they don't even realize you are asking other questions that any other time they would not answer.
The key to this is not to have two of your teenagers in the car at once because then it becomes a let's-make-fun-of-how-uncool-mom is session. You become of the butt of their jokes, which is a good technique for getting your teenagers to agree with each other and stop fighting...that is another lesson in the secrets for parent's handbook.
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