Help! My Child Turned Into a Teenager

Ask, Listen and Help – the TEENAGE YEARS

Parenting teenagers is hard. Very very hard. Let’s be honest, being the parent of a teen comes with a multitude of emotions and energies and sometimes even eruptions. The parenting job is difficult but don’t lose sight of the fact that being the ‘actual’ teenager is most definitely the biggest challenge. When your world is full of people, places, parties and possible school work it’s a busy mind to endure. This busy mind needs nurturing to ensure a healthy outcome in the end. There will most definitely be bumps in the road of the highway of teenage years and that is exactly what you need to know them as. They are just bumps. They don’t define us and they most definitely don’t last forever.

This blog comes in three parts. The parts are defined by your teenager working through the tricky years of healthy relationships.

A healthy relationship with their crew
A healthy relationship with you
A healthy relationship with themselves

The Healthy ‘Crew’

Working as a team to build on the best bits of these healthy relationships is the key to the wellbeing of a teenager. Find your family a GP that you trust. Preferably one that has a comprehensive knowledge of the combination of mental and physical health of teenagers. Also work hard to find your teenagers ‘crew’. This ‘crew’ is a group of friends and family in the life of you and your teen that love you both unconditionally and are there to support you in your teen highway road trip. Keeping your teen as a constant part of the ‘crew’ keeps them grounded. It makes them aware that life is bigger than them and other people around them care about them and want the best for their future. Even if all they get on the phone is a grunt, it is ‘the crew’ that will rally if needed. It is also this ‘crew’ that your teen will respect and listen too if any life crisis comes their way. Get to know your teens friends and trust your instincts!

Part 2 & 3 to come shortly.