While the line between showing teenagers you care and embarrassing them in front of their friends can prove difficult for parents to walk, its important that they do so," Christine Vander Weilen, a clinical therapist and a mom to 8- and 13-year-old girls, said in a Sept. 12 article in Wisconsin's Post-Crescent newspaper.
The Post-Cresent article, by Lisa Strandberg, emphasized the many ways in which parents can use small gestures in order to make big differences in their ability to maintain healthy lines of communication with their children:
- The key to showing appropriate affection lies in determining what works best for your child. Like adults, teenagers respond to different expressions of love.
- Some may respond to hugs and kisses, while others respond to quality time or words of affirmation.
- Discovering what type of affection they prefer is all part of helping them establish their own identity, and enjoying their development into young men and women.
Labels: parenting tips, communication
Posted By: Aspen/CRC