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31 What’s the most important thing parents should consider when raising teens? (03/29/2023)
As their children get older, parents have to offer more independence and responsibility towards them. One example is that they are allowed to go outside on weekends by themselves, but they have to do their own laundry from now on. They are one step closer to being full-fledged adults. You can also make your kids cook dinner and see how that goes. They will probably burn the food, undercook it, over season it, and almost burn the kitchen down but that will be fine.
Parents should start talking less and listen more. They have to allow their kids to start expressing themselves whether its about how their day was to how they are actually feeling in regards to stressful situation or things they are embarrassed to talk about like relationships and trying to be an adult.
Last but not least, parents should reduce their filter and be more brutally honest with their kids as they get older. The real world isn't going to lie to make you feel better, it will just show reality straight at your face and our parents should to. I think every parent should get their kids sitting down on a chair after their 18th birthday and allow them to ask any question and answer almost all questions truthfully and with almost no filter. Being a human is complicated and when we learn both the good and bad things about our parents, we too learn that we its fine to be not "normal" ourselves.