A fellow parenting blogger asked me recently what the biggest challenge of parenting teenagers is compared to the younger years. My answer was quite simply, learning to give up control. I say learning because it does not come naturally as a mother to let go, it takes not…
Christmas is a time for family. What does your family mean to you? Can you put a value on it? Do you put them above anything else and where do you draw the line in terms of loyalty and commitment? After all we all have a breaking point.…
Debate, discussion and disagreement – are the dreaded 3D’s that come with the territory of parenting teenagers. More frequent, more intense and without doubt louder and more animated. How to navigate them successfully can only be described as work in progress and remains a mystery for us all. …
Did you ever feel left out as a teenager? My teen years are long gone but I still vividly remember those days when I was struck by the FOMO curse and agonised silently about not being part of the cool crowd. I am sure we all know the…
How do you talk to teens about cancer? The teenage years are historically filled with emotional ups and downs, add to this the knowledge that a family member has cancer and things can become particularly difficult. Millions are spent on cancer research every year and significant inroads in…
Parenting teenagers is an emotional rollercoaster. Throw puberty and the menopause into the mix and you have a toxic cocktail of hormones which is guaranteed to involve a lot of tears, tantrums and door slamming. There is something quite cruel about the twist of fate that places the…
University students are heading home, the school holidays are on the horizon and the party and festival season is warming up, which for parents of teenagers and young adults serves as a pertinent reminder that it is time to reiterate a few health and safety messages, not least…
Exam season is here again which means only one thing – revision and lots of it. Seven hours a day was the recommendation of one leading school head for all those facing GCSE’s and A’levels this year. Opinion is divided on whether this is necessary but hard work is…
