Raising teenagers can be quite a challenge. Having three, I find it to be a rather enjoyable challenge! Teenage boys and girls are different in many aspects. I think they tend to be more different than alike in most ways. Here are 9 tips on raising teenage girls that you might find useful if you yourself have a female teenager in the house.
When your daughter feels comfortable talking to you about almost anything, she’s less likely to be secretive in her actions. The line of trust must be established early on in life. Waiting until your daughter is a teenager to begin talking openly and trusting one another can be difficult.
Not only do you have to be a good listener to what your daughter is saying, but you also need to be able to decipher things she isn’t saying directly to you. Be aware of little comments she might make about things that seem rather insignificant at the time. There might be a reason for her comment that won’t be made apparent until much later.
Using shopping as an excuse to get your daughter alone so you can have a serious discussion with her will make her more wary of your intentions later on. Once you use shopping as an excuse to give your daughter the third degree, it will be hard for her to accept any more invitations from you. She will always fear that the trip will turn into a griping session instead of just being fun, the way it should be.
As much as you want to protect your daughter and make sure she doesn’t get hurt, there comes a time when you have to let her make her own decisions. The closer she gets to adulthood, the more you will have to allow her to do all on her own. Most teens learn how to become more responsible when they are allowed to decide things for themselves.
I remember the days when I thought my parents didn’t have a clue about anything. They would offer advice and I didn’t always listen to what they had to say. There are a few instances I can recall where they actually had very good advice to give, mostly because of past experiences they’d had as teenagers, and I might have benefited had I listened to them. The times may change, but teenagers are still teenagers.
No parent wants to see his/her child pushed around. As long as you provide your teenage daughter with all the right tools, she should be well-equipped to stand up for herself. Show her how to be confident, assertive, and voice her opinion successfully.
Too many magazines and television shows revolve around women being viewed as sex objects. Don’t dwell on hair and makeup routines that will cause your teenage daughter to do the same. She has enough peer pressure at school. There’s no sense in causing her to become any more self-conscious than she probably already is.
Praising your teenager on accomplishments shows her you noticed how hard she’s been working. This praise will also instill a bit of pride in her about what she has achieved. Patting your teenager on the back when she does something fantastic will also boost her self-esteem, which is something that many girls need.
Trust me, there’s no way you can possibly win every battle you and your teen get into. If you haven’t already figured this one out on your own, then you might be in for a big surprise. There are times when you have to let the little battles fizzle before they ever begin and only choose to compete in the ones that truly matter.
Chances are these 9 tips on raising teenage girls will come in handy some day. You might not need them right at this moment, but there just may come a time when you will recall one of these tips and find it to be extremely useful. What tips can you offer to parents raising teenage girls? Do you find girls easier, harder, or about the same as teenage boys to raise?
Top Photo Credit: Bahman Farzad