A Parent’s Survival Guide to Teen Boys
The teen years bring on a multitude of parenting challenges. Most often we discuss teen girls and their hormones but did you know teen boys have hormone changes as well during this stage of adolescence? They most certainly do! And if you are seeing your son grow a foot taller, start being less communicative and sometimes explosive, then you may need to continue reading this parent’s survival guide to teen boys so that you both can survive these overwhelming teenage boy years.
The first step is to realize your teen boy has a new urge to start being independent from his family. This is a time for him to figure out who he is, how he feels about the world and who he wants to be when he “grown up”. The stress placed upon him during the teen years is tremendous, and combine that with the hormone changes also known as puberty, you are bound to have a teen boy who is moody. It may even feel at times as if he he doesn’t like you. Remember, your teen does not hate you, and teen boys have a knack for making even the calmest of parents go into a frustrated spiral. Step back and breathe when your teen boy is giving you a hard time. Keep trying to talk to your teen boy without being too pushy no matter what. This shows them you care about his feelings and that you are around anytime they want to chat. When your teen boy comes around to chat, try to listen without judgement. Repeat back what he is saying to make certain that you are understanding what he is trying to express. Do this without lecturing or judging.
During this stage, mothers need to keep in mind that their son is only hearing up to 10 words at a time, so keep conversations brief and to the point when trying to convey any message to your teen boy. Now is the time to also make sure that fathers are being a good role model, to ensure their teen son doesn’t make bad decisions before they go on to adulthood. The teen boy years seem to be the most important years for the son to have a solid male role-model that sets the example for them to look up to. Remember that your teen boy won’t admit he’s looking up to his parents, but reality is all that parents do sticks in the back of their minds and influences them greatly. So always set a good example, whether you are a mom or a dad.
The overall trick to surviving the teen boy years is to make sure that both parents are on the same boat, sit down with your partner and discuss boundaries, rules as well as consequences for bad decisions. Both parents must remain a solid, united front as a means to avoid any extra flak from your teen boy. When you work together as parents to keep an open mind, listen to your teen boy and allow him to express his own opinions, whenever he’s ready to, you will find that surviving the teen boy years isn’t all that difficult.
What challenges are you facing with your teen boy?
