My Teenager Did Not Drive Me Crazy Today! Here's Why

In these days and times it is tough to be a teenager. Never before have kids had so many options for getting in trouble. As hard as it is on them it may even be harder on their parents. With more and more parents working outside of the home all day kids have more time to do something wrong and parents have less time to find out about it.

When you do find out it can drive you crazy trying to understand why it happened and what you should say to them . You may even think your teenager is out to get you. Along those lines is all of the things you can not control 100% of the time. Teaching your kids the difference between right and wrong has never been harder.

The internet is sending mixed messages. So is T.V. At school they are faced with peer pressure that has never been greater. Drugs and alcohol use among teenagers is at an all time high. Sex and violence is all around them. When they make mistakes, how can that not drive you crazy.

The first thing that to understand is there are other parents in your situation. There are many parenting groups available to you that you can turn to for advice and just someone to talk to. The internet offers many great discussion groups that you can join for free and go online to ask questions and interact with other parents going through the same things as you.

Because you are the adult it is important that you learn to manage your own feelings and not let them become another negative in your kids life. Yelling and screaming at them is not going to do either one of you any good.

Along those lines you must make sure you are not doing the things you tell your kids not to. Alcohol and drug abuse is wrong at any age and if you are doing it you can not expect your kids not to. Do what I say, not what I do, will not work with a teenager.

One final point to remember is you are a parent to your kids first and their friend second. You will have plenty of time to be their friend after they grow up. Offering discipline now when they need it will pay off in the long run for both of you. Raising good teenagers is not easy, but being able to say my teenager did not drive me crazy today makes is all worthwhile.