Dealing With Grumpy, Hormonal Teens Calmly and Coolly

Happy Friday, happy summer solstice! What's the surest way to know I have a guest writer, class? When the post is about kids - when I allow guest posts it's usually to cover topics I don't or to give friends some space. I love some kids, but writing about them is not my lane. My friend Jessie from across the pond is picking up my chosen Friday slack today to talk about parenting teens going through hormonal changes, also known as a portion of my life I am happy to never have to live again. Enjoy the read and enjoy the weekend!
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It was bound to happen one day: your sweet little angel has turned into a stroppy teenager. They no longer want to cuddle with you on the couch in the evenings. Now they lock themselves in their rooms and exchange the odd grunt and groan at the dinner table. As your children are getting older it can be very difficult to deal with their changes in behavior. You want to know about every single thing going on in their life, but they seem like a closed book to you. As a parent, you need to understand that their behavior is no reflection on you. Teenagers go through hormonal changes at a rapid rate, which mean their mood swings are out of control. You need to learn how to deal with these sudden changes in emotion so you don’t encroach on their privacy too much, but you are still protecting them. Here are some useful techniques that might help you to deal with your grumpy and hormonal teenager in a calm and cool manner.


Keeping an Eye on Their Online Activity
As your teenagers grow more and more distant parents in this day and age start to wonder what they are getting up to online. Your teen probably has their own mobile phone, computer or tablet, so you want to keep an eye on their online activity. With an android parental control app you can have peace of mind that your youngster is totally safe online. You can track where they are, the websites they are visiting, and their text messages. Of course you don’t want to invade their privacy completely, but this will help you to relax a little bit as your trust grows stronger and stronger.

Respect Their Space
Believe it or not, teenagers love their own company - they're learning who they are and need some space to do so. As much as you want to chat to them all night long about how their day was, they probably just want to play computer games or read a book or watch the latest reality television program. At times like this, you need to respect their space and give them the privacy they need. If you start becoming too overbearing they will only push you away even more.

Open Up the Lines of Communication
Having a chat and opening up with your teen helps you to check in with how they are feeling. Although they might be totally reluctant to express their emotions, you can gauge how they're doing by their actions a lot of the time. If you are ever worried about the health or safety of your child you should definitely seek out the advice of a professional. Sometimes distant behavior can lead to worse scenarios, so keep an eye on them if you can.

Don’t Take Things Personally
When your child doesn’t want to talk to you or open up, try not to take it too personally. To them, parents are pretty embarrassing and they would rather keep you in the background when their friends are around. They will soon grow out of this way of thinking and you will have them back in your arms in no time.

Allow Them to Grow Up
When it comes to raising a teenager, there is no right or wrong answer. You need to allow them to spread their wings in their own time without being too overbearing. Assess your teen as an individual and you will soon get to grips with how you need to respond as their parent.

As you raise your children you will start to discover that they are completely different to each other. Your best friend might have had the smoothest journey with their teenager, but you could have had the rockiest ride ever. Now you know that everybody’s experience is unique to them, so you will never be able to compare and contrast the two. Deal with your teenager in a way that feels right for you personally. If it is important for you to monitor their online safety, you should take special measures to do so. If you think it is more useful to give them space, do that. You know your child better than anybody else so you will know how to handle each situation as it arises. Raising grumpy and hormonal teenagers will never be easy, but you can get through even the darkest days with a little bit of positivity and bravery.

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Anything to add, parents in or who have survived the teen years?