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Learn more techniques about how to help your children grow up wise.  Here are a few tips and pointers that may help you with this process.

The Importance of Communication

 I know, I know, you’ve heard about it everywhere. “You need to SPEAK to your child.” But it’s completely true, and I can’t stress this fact enough! Now, I understand that it can be very difficult to talk about certain issues, but it’s these very issues that NEED to be talked about! Take a few cues from what you’ve learned about your child so far. Now, I feel a great need to reiterate this point, though: Think about what you know about YOUR CHILD. Don’t think about what you know about children in general from all those books and such. While I can’t say one way or another as to their ability to help a family in need, I CAN say that the author doesn’t personally know YOUR CHILD. That is the most important part. When a kid becomes a teen, they want to be treated like an adult and they want to be treated as AN INDIVIDUAL. That is why you are the second best source of info on the subject. Who’s the premier source for information? Well, the adolescents themselves. Your kid is the only one who knows what everyone else doesn’t know. While this may seem like I’m simply stating the obvious, it goes much deeper. First of all, maybe your child’s friends know a different side than you know. This is actually quite common as they enter their teenage years. They want privacy because adults are generally allowed privacy, right? There’s more to it than that, but I feel it’s a standup comparison. Second, and possibly most importantly, what your child doesn’t tell ANYONE could quite possibly be something they are uncomfortable expressing. Do you like to tell your most cherished secrets to someone who’s virtually a stranger? I didn’t think so. Well, that’s the importance of communication. You shouldn’t expect to know everything right away if you’re only now trying to speak to your adolescent, but given time, you can expect to become much closer. We will talk more on this subject later. We wish you lots of luck!