Religion & Spirituality
Are you in the trenches of parenting irritable adolescents? Do you ever wonder "Who is this and where is my kid?" In this episode, Brenda speaks about the psychological and physiological changes happening during the adolescent years. This and a few other factors can help parents navigate their child through these surly tween and teen years. On top of raging hormones and body changes, children are also experiencing independence and autonomy. This can be excruciatingly difficult years to parent. In her book, Fledge: Launching Your Kids without Losing Your Mind, Brenda talks more about this natural and God given desire for independence. Social pressures from peers, media, and culture are also bombarding teens these days with thousands of mixed messages about how they should act and what to believe. All of these factors (biological, autonomy, social pressures, media messages) can be overwhelming for a tween/teen and cause them to behave differently than they normally would have. They may make stupid choices, speak disrespectfully, suddenly withdraw from family, throw temper tantrums, etc. Difficult as it may be, parents must try to empathize with their teen whose world is upside down at the moment. Brenda urges parents to take an assessment of their child, themselves, and the situation. Is there something triggering the behavior? Does it seem to occur once a month?Sometimes even, our child's disrespectful attitude triggers our own insecurities which adds to an already stressful situation. For parents in these tough teen years, Brenda offers some practical, healthy responses that will help parents build up a positive relationship with their child. Every child/parent/situation is different so please seek professional guidance if behavior/situation is significantly worsening. We'd love to hear from you! Please leave a review wherever you listen to the Life Beyond the Picket Fence podcast. Reviews help us reach more people with sound wisdom, biblical truths, and parenting advice! Thanks so much, we appreciate you listening!