In part 1 of “Parenting and Expectations with Teenagers”, we discussed what is reasonable for you as parents to do when pushing your teenager. We talked about GPA, and its importance in measuring your child’s success. The second point I want to make today about, what makes a good parent, is preparing your teenager to become an adult.

Since you are reading this article you probably are a parent and you have already experienced and learned many lessons about adulthood. My question to you then, is do you want your teenagers to suffer through the same mistakes you went through on your way to adulthood, or, are you out to help them navigate through the waters?

What makes a good parent is finding ways to bring your teenager to adulthood as painlessly as possible. In part 1, we talked about doing well in school and using GPA as a measuring stick. Now let’s talk about living life with integrity.

Living life with integrity is easy to say, harder to do. Don’t you agree? Teaching it to your teenager is yet even harder. What makes a good parent is bringing the living by integrity lifestyle into the home. Here are some basic points to follow:

1) Keeping your word.

Following through with what you say you are going to do and teaching the value of this concept to your teenagers is one of the best gifts you could ever give to your teenager. The ease with which people will say anything with no follow through is a real virus in society today. Look no further than our present economic and political environment.

Berney Madoff cheated rabbinical schools of money for 10 years. These schools are the primary religious training facilities in the Jewish faith. Even more disgusting is that behind this, the government regulating boards, which were notified no less than 28 times of his scam, over a 10 year period, did nothing and no one seemed to care.

What makes a good parent is living by your word so when your teenager doesn’t follow through with chores, school or even being on time you can lead them by example. It’s important when they are keeping their word that you acknowledge them for doing so.

Living with integrity is one of the most important gifts you can give to yourself and your teenager.

Please read the continuing portion of this article in Part 3.

Sincerely,

Dr. Bocknek

The Problem Solving Expert for Parents and Families

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Dr. Robert Bocknek is the problem solving expert for marriage, parents and families at www.takebackthehome.com and www.keyboard-culture-parenting.com.  He can be reached at bocknek@takebackthehome.com. He is author of the “Take Back the Home course” and the “Learning how to Learn course” which can be seen at www.takebackthehome.com.

     

More on Topics: Family, Integrity, Teen Parenting, Teenage Parenting, What Makes A Good Parent

Tags: Family, Integrity, Teen Parenting, Teenage Parenting, What Makes A Good Parent

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