In the Middle of It with Amy Kelly, The Ish Girl
Parenting Teens - My 3 Best Takeaways
Welcome to Episode 50 of The Podcast!!
I’ve reflected a lot about why I started the podcast in the first place – and how I want it to impact you, and your teens. I know all the reasons I began, and why I keep showing up, but I don’t always lay it out there and share with you guys.
And sometimes talking about it just feels weird, because
It feels a little self-promotional and icky and I just don’t think about it. It’s easy to get into a rut where you assume everyone feels the same way you do, or knows what you know, or believes what you believe.My Bestie to the Rescue
This week, I thought it would be fun to invite my best friend on the podcast, to interview me about why I started it.
Claudine Phillips has been my dear friend and soul sister for 12 years. We met at a Bible Study and quickly developed a friendship. She and her husband moved away from Dallas 7 years ago, and we’ve been very intentional about staying in touch – usually daily! (Just a side note - we use this really great video texting app called Marco Polo.)
Our friendship has survived numerous trips together, lots of truth-telling, a pregnancy (hers, not mine! 😉), tons of laughter, a few tears, some hard-core venting, and immeasurable love and encouragement.
Claudine recently started her own podcast, The Claudine Phillips Show, that focuses on Wholistic Wellness. She’s a registered dietician, a yoga instructor, and an amazing human being. I’m proud to call her my friend.
Our Conversation About Parenting Teens
Mentors who are a few steps ahead of you in parenting are SO important. Teens develop at different rates. The main message of the podcast is that it is worth it to try to connect with your teen. If every teen was known and understood by an invested, connected adult (a parent or teacher), it would change the world. There’s a pervasive negativity toward teens in our culture, but they are capable and worthy of connection. Even when they’re at their worst, we still love our teens and want to connect. It takes a toolbox of many different strategies to try to connect with teens, and it’s a constant exercise of trying to find things that work. Young adult books are great tools to add to your toolbox and can help you show up for your teens. Cultivating trust is SUPER important – pretty much every decision either builds trust or breaks it. Teens are amazing human beings!PARENTING TEENS - MY 3 BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS:
It is POSSIBLE to have a great connection and relationship with your teen – and still hit rough patches. It’s not going to be PERFECT – it’s all about how you come back together when you hit those rough patches. It’s not PERSONAL! Even though it can feel like a personal attack, what’s happening is developmentally appropriate for your teen. They are going through the process of separating from you.
Thank YOU!
Again, thank you so much to Claudine for rocking that interview. And just so you know, our conversation was waaay longer than 25 minutes, so you’ll be hearing all the other things we talked about on an upcoming episode.
I want to thank you guys as well – you are the reason I’m so passionate about this podcast. It’s not an easy thing to parent teens, and I want you to feel understood, supported, and encouraged whenever you tune in.
Now, let’s talk about . . . .
The upcoming CNP Summer Book Club!
I’ll be doing a FB Live next week to reveal the first book, so stay tuned to find out what we’ll be reading and where to sign up. Like last year, I’ll be providing discussion questions, and doing FB Lives to talk about the book together. I can’t wait, and I hope you’re excited too.
If you’re one of my email subscribers, I’ll be sending out an alert before I go live, so be on the lookout for that. If you’re not one of my subscribers, sign up! I don’t want you to miss out on a single thing, and I share things in my emails that you won’t find anywhere else.
So, until next time, just remember, it’s all about connection, not perfection.
Referenced in this Episode:
Ebook: How to Be the Grownup They Need
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