Tips to Help Bond with Your Teen

When our children are young, they come to us, it seems, innumerable times throughout the day, wanting to share something with us. An idea they had, a discovery, questions about life. Sometimes these visits aren’t so helpful or desired, like when we’re on an important conference call or having… private time with our spouse.

But we should savor every interaction we have with our kids because they eventually grow up to be teenagers and want nothing to do with us!

Okay, not exactly. But kind of. This is why we must work hard to keep the bond and channels of communication open with our teens.

If you feel you’ve lost the connection with your teen, here are some ways to form a bond:

Listen

When your teen does speak with you, really pay attention. Teens are notorious for communicating things that don’t match up with the words they are using. Read between the lines and pay close attention to body language.

Create Rituals

Right now, it’s about quality, not quantity. You won’t be able to get all of the time and attention you want. So figure out little rituals and ways to connect. That may mean hitting the golf range on the weekend, going out for pizza night, just you and your kid, or having a spa day at home.

Support Their Hobbies

Your child begins to recognize their unique gifts and interests in the teen years. So you must take an interest in what they love to do. Make time in your schedule to go to their game or band concert. If they like mountain biking, go biking with them. Support their hobbies as much as possible.

Ask Them to Teach You Something

Nothing will give your teen more pride and confidence than illustrating they know something you don’t. It could be something as simple as showing you how to set up a Tik Tok account, order something off of Alexa, or something more complex like how to play the guitar or build a robot.

Your kids will be out of the house before you know it. Take the time and make the effort to bond with your teen now.

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SOURCES:

https://www.ahaparenting.com/read/tips-bond-close-teen

https://www.parents.com/kids/teens/questions-for-teens-to-help-you-bond/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/surprising-tricks-to-help_n_6278070