Spend Quality Time with Your Teen: 5 Ways
Spend quality time with your teen. Many parents find the teen years to be tough years to stay connected with their kids.
Between their school schedules, social lives, and extra-curricular commitments, parents may only see their teens in passing or during a rushed meal. Families lose connection with each other quickly. No more dinners together. No more sitting down as a family and asking how each are truly doing.
Spend Quality Time with Your Teen
Here are five helpful ways to stay connected with your teen.
1. Cook together
Not only does cooking together provide 1:1 time together with a teen, but they can also learn valuable life skills. A parent does not need to be a chef to teach a teen how to cook. Part of the quality time is reviewing and selecting recipes together. Rather than just boiling water for pasta and adding a jar of sauce for spaghetti, consider cooking activities that require talking, planning, and helping each other out.
For example, making a home-made tomato sauce or preparing a special blend of spice mix using a recipe can lead to interesting discussions around the ingredients used. Also how ingredients are grown or made. Their country of origin and what could make the recipe taste better in the future,
2. Drive together
You may feel until your teen has received there drivers license that your a taxi driver for them. No matter which the case use this time to be with your teen. Don’t try to force conversation. Simply talking about the news on the radio or the music being played opens up dialogue with a teen. One important caveat, however, is a no-phone rule in the car in order to encourage conversations. That goes for both parents and teens.
Equally interesting can be when driving a teen and their friends to an event. Hearing how a teen interacts with their friends provides a lens into their world outside of home. As well, this provides an opportunity to better know their friends.
3. Grocery shop together
Shopping for groceries together is a win-win scenario. Not only does it provide time together, but it also helps to ensure that there is food in the house that they like. Getting groceries together encourages life skills such as comparing prices and teaching your teen to budget. Helping to educate your teen at a young age to eat properly is a great gift.
4. Plan routine family time
Carving out regularly set time together with a teen can provide them with a sense of stability when their lives may feel chaotic. Whether it’s a daily, weekly, or even monthly event. knowing that there is time planned together ensures teens know that they are loved and cared for.
Ideas include movie night, card playing, old-fashioned board games, video games, walks, or any other activity both teens, a parent, and possibly an entire family can enjoy together.
5. Pre-schedule outings together
Teens can be fiercely independent and have their schedules easily filled up with all of their social, school, and extra-curricular plans. To be fair, give teens a heads up when unexpected plans are being made that they are expected to be involved in.
For example, if an out-of-town trip to visit relatives is made or a family dinner invite is accepted, let a teen know well in advance. This can prevent resentment from teens from needing to cancel their own plans and allow everyone to enjoy some time together.
Having teens make time for their family can be challenging. However, with some planning and foresight time together can happen. Staying connected with teens as they experience the drama and hurdles of these impressionable years is beneficial for maintaining an emotional connection with them. This goes a long way in building a strong bond.
Be Present For Your Teen
Remember that even though your teen may have a hard exterior and give off the impression that they don’t want their parents involved in their life, this can often be a bluff.
Sometimes just going into their room and sitting there. Don’t fire questions at them. Let them be curious and they will crawl out of their shell.
Teens are still exploring who they are. They still have insecurities and fears. Hold the space for them.
Spend Quality Time with Your Teen
Seek Help For Your Relationship With Your Teen. At High Expectations Counseling we are a group of talented therapist. We understand the importance of the bond between parents and teens. Meet the team, choose which therapist you feel would be the best fit for you and your teen.
