{"id":187,"date":"2021-07-25T15:01:11","date_gmt":"2021-07-25T19:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/?p=187"},"modified":"2021-08-02T13:33:11","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T17:33:11","slug":"parenting-teens-is-my-sweet-spot-it-may-not-be-yours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/2021\/07\/25\/parenting-teens-is-my-sweet-spot-it-may-not-be-yours\/","title":{"rendered":"Parenting Teens Is My Sweet Spot – It May Not Be Yours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Without meaning to, I may have suggested that parenting teens is all unicorns and roses. It\u2019s not.

Parenting teens is my sweet spot. I know it\u2019s not the same for everyone, but it\u2019s the stage I\u2019ve found easiest and most rewarding. While there\u2019s much I loved about the baby phase, babies really don\u2019t do much. I got excited when my toddlers learned something new \u2013 I could almost see the lightbulb go off as things clicked, but I found the challenges of explaining things to three and four year olds to be tiresome. Elementary school brought the ability understand the rules of being part of a civilized society, which was nice, until they started \u201cBut so-and-so\u2019s mom let\u2019s her ____.\u201d

It\u2019s true that the middle and high school years are hormone- and drama-filled years, but they also included issues I felt better equipped to deal with (maybe because I remember them better). They are also the years that I was best able to relate to my kids \u2013 we\u2019ve shared interests, had meaningful conversations and taught each other new things.

I\u2019m not a perfect parent. I\u2019ve screamed and tantrumed. I\u2019ve hidden in the bathroom to cry. I\u2019ve had sleepless nights wondering how I failed and what I could have done differently. My kids aren\u2019t perfect. They\u2019ve <\/em>screamed and tantrumed. They\u2019ve slammed doors (until we threatened to take them off the hinges). They\u2019ve told me they hate me.

Unlike younger kids, teens have the intellectual capacity to understand rules and consequences. They can see a cause-and-effect relationship even when they need it clearly spelled out. That being said, their brains are still developing and at times, seem to not be working at all. They say and do dumb things, are impulsive and often act as if the world revolves around them. These years are tough.

But, like all other stages, there are glimmers of hope \u2013 we get previews of the person our children will eventually be. I am a glass-half-full person. I choose to look not only at, but also FOR the good. I haven\u2019t always agreed with my kids, but I don\u2019t know anyone with whom I always<\/em> agree. To be honest, I\u2019ve always loved them, but I haven\u2019t always liked them.

Yes, teens are challenging. They look and sound like adults; it\u2019s tempting to expect that they make responsible decisions. (It\u2019s also normal to wonder how they will survive on their own.) But teens are still kids who still have a lot to learn (even though they think otherwise) and need our guidance. Like other stages, it\u2019s a balancing act. The secret to sanity is to pick your battles – carefully.

I’ve seen the ugly side of the teenage years and learned a lot: No two kids are the same. What works with one may not with another. How \u201ceasy\u201d a child is at one stage is not indicative of how they will be at any other stage. While parents have tremendous influence, we don\u2019t get to call all the shots as they get older. Some things are simply out of our control and we have no choice but to have faith and let go.

Parenting is tough \u2013 no matter how old your kids are. But being a teen is also tough \u2013 possibly more so than any other age and possibly more today than ever before. Parenting teens is MY sweet spot \u2013 it may not be yours, but I hope you find inspiration and support here as we all find our way through \u2013 to the other side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Without meaning to, I may have suggested that parenting teens is all unicorns and roses. It\u2019s not. Parenting teens is my sweet spot. I know it\u2019s not the same for everyone, but it\u2019s the stage I\u2019ve found easiest and most rewarding. While there\u2019s much I loved about the baby phase, babies really don\u2019t do much. I got excited when my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-parenting-teens"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/129018783_904108156791089_6628859522061217746_o.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions\/220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/lifeontheotherside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}