Teaching Responsibility - Communication is Key
Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? My wife and son are on a collision course and I need help with handling this situation.
Denise’s thoughts: I would set a time to all sit down and talk, like a family meeting. The first thing I would do at the family meeting is schedule the next one and schedule something fun for the family to do together within the next week. This will help establish that these talks will become part of the normal family routine. Next, talk about your concerns, not all of them - don't pile up the frustration - pick a few and take a proactive approach with him. How does he think he can do better? What would help him remember to put his rubber bands in?
Here are a few articles that may help:
- How To Help Your Teen Form a Useful Habit
- Talk to Your Teen
- How To Delegate a Responsibility to Your Teen
From our community of parents: Do you have more advice to offer this father? What has worked in your family? Share your opinions and advice on the forum or in the comments area.
Talk is cheap,when it comes to teens…we did that family meeting, but it sounds like you have a teen like ours..in one ear out with the other.I’m gonna do what I wanna do teen. So when we went to the den. we asked the doc. if he could help our teen understand. He(the Doc.) took us aside, and gave us a postcard to place over the bathroom mirror, on the postcard was a before, during,and after shots if taken care of right, and if taken care of wrong. We are happy to say he has NEVER forgotten to take care of his braces/teeth again.
Oh and 1 more thing, try a point sheet, hand out points for everything he does right, like chores, being respectful…and have him pick, either money or xbox time, our son helped us fill the sheet out so he knows if he takes out the trash that equals 10 mins of play time, if he washes the dishes that earns him money, make sure you have a cut off time,(ex: 7pm) so that he can enjoy the reward of the xbox points, don’t get on him about NOT doing something, he should know, either he gets this, or he won’t it is up to him….that might help as well.
I too was butting heads with our son, but after the point sheets, we seen a change in him. He is doing more to help around the house, more then what we expected…now their is laughter all around here. Best of Luck!
We are having the exact same problem with our 15 year old. We just took everything away from him cell phone, mp3, ps2, just to show him the things he takes for granted and have him doing chores every day after school, we will do this until we see a change in his attitude at least a month. its definately not easy getting through the teenage years,
for them or us!