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Category: Parent-child communication

Screwed, Blued, and Tattooed

Screwed, Blued, and Tattooed

10/17/2011 I truly don’t know what to do about this current situation. If you refer back to my post about the lies my daughter has told me thus far, I wrote that post while in a tongue-in-cheek mood, as if I was only “looking back” on bad times and that they were over. Well, I just bit my tongue and it hurts. There was a big juicy lie on that list—the one that says she doesn’t have a tattoo; after all, she said,…

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The Biggest Lies My Daughter Has Told Me (Thus Far!)

The Biggest Lies My Daughter Has Told Me (Thus Far!)

8/24/2011 I admit it, I’ve been duped a thousand times by my daughter, and despite knowing it, I continue to fall for her lies. I think it’s wishful thinking that “this time,” she is finally being straightforward and I have nothing to worry about. I catch her in lies all the time, but 50% of the time I can’t really prove anything and 50% of the time I punish her in some way but it doesn’t change her behavior. She’s either…

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Rolling My Eyes, Which Are Swirling Out of their Sockets

Rolling My Eyes, Which Are Swirling Out of their Sockets

8/8/2011 I  am a mother in despair, in a crisis emotionally and it’s taken me two days to process why I had another lost weekend, time I will never get back. As usual, there’s a long, involved reason. Last week, my “troubled teen” had her final (??) day in court, for what they call a pre-adjudication hearing. Essentially, she had to plead guilty for a shoplifting charge, apologize for it, and they would formally drop all the other pending charges. Then…

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40 Annoying Things Teens Say to Parents

40 Annoying Things Teens Say to Parents

7/14/2011 1.  Whatever.2.  You’re old what would you know?3.  Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean I’m stupid.4.  I’m a kid, it’s not my fault.5.  Shut up.6.  No.7.  Talk to the hand cos the face isn’t listening.8.  You don’t understand me.9.  I hate you.10. I wish I’d never been born.11. I want to leave home.12. Can I have some money?13. Can I borrow your car?14. When you die do I get the house?15. When are we going to be there…

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20 Things Teens Say to Set Parents Off

20 Things Teens Say to Set Parents Off

7/14/2011 Written by Ronit Baras (2008) Last week, I wrote about the things that parents say that turn off communication between them and their teens. Today, I would like to talk about the buttons teens push to set their parents off and “make” them lose their minds. From their early years, kids have an inherent sense of their parents’ weaknesses. They learn it by themselves – they do not need to go to school to study what works and what does…

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Get Out! Sneaky Kids and Prying Parents Make a Toxic Mix

Get Out! Sneaky Kids and Prying Parents Make a Toxic Mix

7/11/2011 Do parents who pry know more about their teen’s lives? Published on April 11, 2011 by Nancy Darling, Ph.D. in Thinking About Kids I knew my youngest was entering adolescence, when my daily mucking out of his backpack was met with a yell. “Get out!  That’s MINE!” One of the hallmarks of adolescence is that teens demand—and parents grant them—more privacy.  Children have few expectations for privacy from parents. Adolescents expect more. Late adolescents and adults expect a great deal of control over what information…

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What Cellphone Calls Say about Parent-Teenager Relations

What Cellphone Calls Say about Parent-Teenager Relations

7/2/2011 Do cellphones help teenagers feel more independent, or are they an electronic leash? Poor communication is a common complaint when it comes to parents and teenagers. What happens when you throw a cellphone into the mix? At least 75 percent of American teenagers today have a cellphone, often purchased by their parents so they can stay in closer touch. And parents are more likely than other adults to have a cellphone, for the same reason. “The phone is now…

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