Читать книгу Yes, Please. Whatever!: How to get the best out of your teenagers - Penny Palmano - Страница 17

Have we all got such short memories that we have forgotten what we were like as teenagers? Or more to the point, are we horrified at the thought our own children will behave the way we did at that age? Now that is scary.

Depending on your age (and preference), your teenage years may have passed head-banging to Jimi Hendrix, The Doobie Brothers or the Bay City Rollers (okay, it’s true, you can’t head-bang to them). Whichever it was, I can pretty much guarantee that at some point a parent was shouting at you to ‘turn that bloody music down’, and we promised ourselves that when we had children we would never behave like that. We were all positive back then that we would always play music at decibels that left your head ringing. So what happened? We finally turned the music down, not because our parents told us to, but because it was too loud and we finally grew up. Your children will, too; the way they act and behave as adolescents is not how they will be as adults (hooray!).

So you’re probably wondering why we all have to go through five years of stress. It is often reasoned that teenagers need to argue and battle with their parents on their journey to becoming an adult. Perhaps so, but is it really necessary to make everyone’s life a total misery in the process? No.

It’s all about the struggle for control – parents have it and children want it. It’s the way we the parents deal with it that will make the difference to everyone’s behaviour and sanity.

Parents’ handling of their teens basically falls into one of five different categories. It’s not rocket science to choose which one to aim for.