No parent has mastered parenting. Learning how to cope up with the challenges of being a good father to our children is a continuous process. But among the most difficult phase of parenting is when our children are already in their teenage years.
During teenage and puberty, our children experience physical and emotional changes. Because of these many changes, we have to give them good guidance so they can pass through this stage without issues.
How can we do this? Fathers 4 Progress Inc. has these strategies for you. If these do not work well, get enrolled at a fatherhood training center in Bronx, New York.
Give them Freedom
If we put our children inside a cage, they would want to get out of it desperately. On the other hand, if we set them free and let them fly, they would explore the world and know how bittersweet life could be. Once they experience rough moments in their lives, there would be two possibilities- they would come running or stay away from us.
As fathers, we should be open to them. We should earn their trust so that they would not have second thoughts in asking advice and help from us when they need it.
But, Draw Limits with your Child
Despite the freedom we should give our children, we must also agree on concise and clear terms with them. We should set rules- what they could do and what they should not. We have to demarcate the lines and emphasize to them that we are still their parents. They should respect us if they want to be respected.
It would be helpful to sit with them and discuss these. Let them know the boundaries of their freedom and the things you expect from them.
Use Consequences
As teenagers, our children would love to try new things. They would love to maximize their limits and even do things beyond the boundaries. So what shall we do when they break the rules?
We have to use consequences. But these consequences should fit the rule that they break. For example, if they break their curfew, we could order them to come home earlier than the curfew next time. If they break a major rule, we can withdraw some of their privileges. We should let them understand that every right that we give them comes with a duty.
Be Firm and Consistent
Whenever we get wise on our children, they will start to learn to be wise against us too. Once they decipher our weakness as parents, they would try to hit on that weakness and manipulate us. When we start to get in with their pleas easily, they would remember that and not learn from their previous mistakes. Hence, we should discipline them and be consistent with the consequences that we impose on them.
No matter how difficult our struggles with our children would be, we should never give up on them. We should still continue to guide them.
Leave a Reply