"Plan For The Worst-Case Scenario" — Parents Of Teens Are Giving Advice On How To Raise Them In This Day And Age, And It's So Important

Recently, a post I saw connected the fashionable "Life Pro Tips" Reddit leafage caught my eye. In it, idiosyncratic amandaredandfreckled asked, "What's your champion proposal for parents [with kids] entering the teenage years?"

They continued: "I person a 13-year-old son. I cognize determination volition beryllium plentifulness of teenage debauchery successful my future. What's your proposal to grip immoderate communal hurdles?" People had immoderate beauteous great, constructive answers; so, I decided to share. Here are immoderate of the best:

1. "Relax astir the tiny things — similar hair! I don't attraction what their hairsbreadth looks like, oregon what magnitude it is, arsenic agelong arsenic it's clean. Take them connected errands with you; they ever extremity up talking successful the car, and you're giving them beingness skills. Listen erstwhile they privation to talk, and speech backmost successful a conversation, not a lecture. If they'll speech to you astir Pokémon, they'll besides speech to you astir the large things, too."

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2. "I often punctual myself that expanding independency and wanting to bash things their mode is portion of increasing up. I besides person to punctual myself that I’m trying not to rise my girl to beryllium a people-pleaser (doormat) similar me. So erstwhile she's surly and doesn’t privation to bash stuff, I respect her close not to person to grin and beryllium a bully miss 24/7."

3. "Apologize. You, arsenic a parent, are human. You marque mistakes, it happens. When you do, and it affects your child, apologize to them. Teenagers are astatine a hard juncture successful their improvement wherever everything is changing, everything is much hard and complex, hormones are going wild, and they are going to marque mistakes, too. If you are holding them to a modular of behaviour to relationship for their mistakes (and you should), they request to spot that it's a two-way street. You indispensable beryllium the illustration of holding yourself to the aforesaid behaviour standards you expect from your children."

4. "Lead by example. Set tenable rules and archer them you expect them to travel them — past expect them to beryllium broken. Guide them along, but they person to commencement taking their ain path, too. Be determination to enactment them backmost connected way erstwhile needed. They're gonna fuck up, instrumentality it successful stride. Try to marque it a learning acquisition for them."

5. "Make your location the halfway of activities for your child's group. In this way, you get to cognize his friends and tin justice their behavior. For the terms of a fewer pizzas and brushed drinks, you tin summation invaluable intelligence."

6. "Use car clip arsenic a clip to person casual conversations. Eye interaction is difficult, which makes for a much non-judgemental situation. I've had immoderate large insights into my kids' thoughts connected drives to aquatics signifier oregon the market store. Also, support the vigor debased erstwhile hauling a radical of kids. It's astonishing astatine times what you volition hear."

7. "Be the parent. Don't beryllium acrophobic to accidental no, oregon acceptable limits. It's a clip for kids to grow their horizons, but kids request to cognize wherever the boundaries are and wherefore determination are limits."

8. "Learn to inquire questions. Teens person a batch to say, but a batch of the time, they don't privation to perceive your advice. For example, my girl volition travel location and say, 'I was stressed retired today.' Instead of going disconnected connected however she doesn't recognize existent accent oregon however it’s not that large a woody oregon she needs to larn to relax, I've learned to conscionable inquire a tiny question to punctual her to speech more. 'And past what happened?' is simply a large mode to amusement you’re funny without laying down judgement."

9. "Be open, don't marque your kids support secrets. Strict parents marque sneaky kids."

10. "What took maine by astonishment with some of my boys was their level of anxiousness and withdrawal. They were specified gregarious, carefree kids, and it changed rapidly astir seventh grade. I don't consciousness similar I handled that precise well, and I privation I could person done it better. And by doing it better, I mean creating a healthier situation for two-way communication. I would person asked them routinely, 'Is determination thing you privation to speech about?' and past SHUT UP and listened, with compassion and without judgment."

11. "Others person bully comments, but I'll add. Hug them arsenic overmuch arsenic they volition fto you and archer them you emotion them adjacent more. I person 2 college-aged girls. They volition spell done things that you volition ne'er perceive about. Some of it whitethorn beryllium truly disastrous to their life. You showing your emotion ever gives them a location basal to enactment their heads."

12. "Buy much food. Whatever magnitude you're thinking, that's not enough. Teenagers, boys successful particular, but each teenagers successful general, are bottomless pits successful however overmuch nutrient they tin enactment away. Especially truthful if they play immoderate carnal sport. I person seen posts wherever a teen puts distant a afloat container of 50 pizza rolls and past asks what's for dinner. That is not an exaggeration; I was a teenage lad years ago, and tin corroborate this is accurate. They are growing, utilizing their energy, and are voraciously hungry."

13. "Along this vein, if you person girls and boys, PLEASE effort not to constabulary what your girls are eating portion encouraging your boys to devour due to the fact that they're 'growing boys.' Teenage girls are increasing too. I cognize this whitethorn look similar a no-brainer, but a batch of radical don't adjacent recognize they're doing it...but the girls will, and they'll ne'er hide it. There is nary request to remark connected their nutrient intake unless you genuinely deliberation it's unhealthy."

14. "You are not your child's friend. You person to enforce limits adjacent if they 'hate you' for it."

15. "Lead with emotion and bounds and show societal media/technology access."

16. "Make definite to ever bargain him the champion gaming PC disposable arsenic good arsenic the newest games. This way, you won't person to interest astir girlfriends/sex/drugs. The downside is that you person to interest a batch much astir his grades and hygiene! Jokes aside, PLEASE KNOCK AND WAIT earlier you participate his room. Thank you."

17. "Positive reinforcement. When you drawback them doing thing right, fto them know."

18. "Don't halt hugging and kissing him, and telling him you emotion him. This is the property erstwhile a batch of radical halt showing their boys carnal affection. They request it, adjacent if they complain. And men who are touch-starved inevitably person a weird narration with sex, affection, and women."

19. "My friend's mum told her this, and I volition ne'er hide it: nary substance wherever you are, nary substance what clip of day, nary substance if you are drunk oregon precocious oregon otherwise, you tin ever telephone maine to travel and get you and you volition ne'er beryllium successful trouble. We were ever beauteous safe, but we knew if we ever recovered trouble, we ever had a harmless idiosyncratic to telephone who would travel get us."

20. "I talked to my kids upfront, candidly, astir smoking, drugs, drinking, commencement control/safe sex, and galore different subjects. I recovered they were much comfy during those discussions if we were riding successful the car, due to the fact that they didn't person to look astatine me. We didn't spell for a thrust specifically to person a conversation, but I'd bring things up successful the car depending connected what was happening successful their lives."

21. "Hug them and archer them that you emotion them each azygous day! My begetter did neither my full life; I wasn’t going to bash the aforesaid to my sons. They would rotation their eyes and not hug backmost during that super-fun property from 13 to 19 years. Now that I’m old, my friends and household are ever amazed that my sons travel implicit to maine to hug maine and archer maine that they emotion me. They bash the aforesaid happening with their sons."

22. "Your kid is going to bash the anserine happening you told them 100 times not to do. Don't nonstop nudes? They'll bash it. Don't portion underage? They'll bash it. Don’t enactment your joystick successful the blistery tub jet? They’ll bash it. Have a program successful spot for however to grip it erstwhile it happens. WHEN, not if. Plan for the worst-case scenario."

23. "They are their ain abstracted person. Don't effort to unrecorded vicariously done them. Support accordingly and effort to minimize judgmental comments."

If you person immoderate proposal of your ain astir raising teenagers, consciousness escaped to crockery each your champion tidbits successful the comments! Or, consciousness escaped to usage the anonymous signifier below.

Please note: immoderate comments person been edited for magnitude and/or clarity.