How to handle your overly ambitious teenage kid By Urvashi Gandhi

Teen years are often believed to be the most formative years of a child’s life and rightfully believed so. I often meet parents worried beyond all measures about their teen kids. What I very firmly assert to all of them through my counseling sessions is that that when they have been through the 3 a.m. feedings, toddler tantrums and school blues, teenage is comparatively much easier. What we as parents need to understand is that teenage is not merely about physical changes. The teens come with their own emotional baggage, more often than not too much to handle for your young kids.

Through my counseling sessions, I emphasize on certain aspects of teenage life which parents tend to overlook or exhibit a lack of understanding about. This blog is solely dedicated to those parents who worry that their teen kids have stopped eating properly or their teenage son is getting into bad company or their daughter is dating a smoker, yada yada yada.

Many adults are very anxious about their kids entering teenage. But we need to understand that teenage is not restricted to casual flings or long lasting crushes, there’s much more to this much hyped age. Teenage is very energetic, thoughtful and idealistic. Your kids begin to develop their own sense of right and wrong which may not match with yours. It is a time of difficult conflicts between you and your little teenagers but do keep in mind that this is the time when they develop most of their individuality. Be there for their support but never overdo things. Teenagers don’t really listen to parents who constantly nag.

Puberty and adolescence are two important terms for you to understand and differentiate between. Puberty is to do with more physical changes whereas adolescence is more about the changes in behavior patterns. Adolescence is about the emotional changes which your kid goes through alongside the physical ones. So, we might be more supportive of puberty changes like breasts, menstrual periods, pubic hair, and facial hair but we need to more receptive and understanding of the changes of adolescence too.

One of the stereotypes which have gotten attached to teenage is the spirit of rebellion. There is a very thin line between being rebellious and asking for more independence. Parents need to willingly accept the need of space by their child and not tag it as rebellion.

Remember one thing always, the more space you give, the more they will respect you. But keep yourself informed of the company they keep and the things they indulge in.    

Root out stress from your child’s life with Urvashi Gandhi

We live in an era where everybody is occupied in many things and where we ultimately end up finding ourselves is in the quagmire of stress. But as adults and as parents, we don’t often realize that our stress seeps down to the younger generations. The primary way of learning is through imitation and as children observe their parents’ lifestyle, what they learn is nothing better than being stressfully caught up by the tick-tock of the clock. And another thing with children is that often their tender hearts and minds may take minute things more seriously than what actually as adults might appear to us. So what becomes the need for every parent to fulfill is to make sure a right growth for their kids. 

Here are a few steps which parents should take heed of while raising the tender and impressionable minds for tomorrow:

• Motivate the kid to face his fears: Facing one’s problem is the solution to it. Running away from the problems only further contributes to anxiety as it offers no permanent solution to it. Make your child follow this simple truth from the very start and provide him the comfort level to share his mistakes.

• Arrange relaxing activities: Spend time with your child and arrange for some simple activities like painting, playing games or just being there for him. It would be better to keep it noncompetitive as it avoids the stress which the whole world is brimming up with. Children are already under the pressure and stress to beat others and win the race against their friends and competitors. So keep it simple and relaxed!

• Inculcate healthy sleeping habits: A good sleep is a map to healthy lifestyle. It not only refreshes one’s mind, but also significantly helps with fighting anxiety. You just have to inculcate the thought of going early to bed and early to rise, which will definitely make the kid very healthy and wise.

•  Promote optimism: Being positive solves half of the problems. The positive energy of staying calm and optimistic also boosts the stamina and fight with many other internal diseases. So it’s better to teach the children to be always positive and cherish the present moment.

So keep these points in mind while you raise those receptive minds and keep stress away from their lives, at least a 100 miles. After all, what we cherish the most is our kid’s smile and their laughter keeps us going too.