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Tuesday, August 29, 2017

How I Enjoy My Teen Girls

I already wrote about it before... I love having teenagers! I really, really love this season of my life. I like the way my relationship with my kids have evolved throughout the years. I am able to develop the love, trust and transparency in our relationship. The older my kids become, the more I like being with them.

But I know there are parents who consider the teen years to be scary, and it truly is a lot of hard work. Our teens are learning to deal with their hormones which makes our relationship with them characterized by so much deep emotions.

For now, I have two teenagers, my youngest son will still turn 13 late this year.



No one is perfect. It's not that we don't get upset with each other; I still get BV, they still get BV. On bad days, we are frenemies... minsan friend, minsan enemy. Hahaha!

I like how my relationship with them is slowly evolving. I used to have a lot of rules to provide them with structure for their daily routine. I have stopped demanding obedience less and less. Instead I have encouraged them to discipline themselves. I need to help them strengthen their decision-making based on their inner moral compass. I hope the foundation that my husband and I have set when they were younger still remains.

They share stories about their friends. I try not to over-react when they share something that they heard is disturbing. Instead, I use the time to discuss values and difficult issues. Sometimes, it's something similar to what I heard when I was their age, as well. So I use that point to share what I feel about the issue, and then I ask them what they think about it. Minsan, ang hirap hindi mag-react. I tend to feel passionate about certain topics, and when they hear a slight rise in my voice or a change in my tone, they tell me right away, "Mom why does it seem like you're mad at me." And then I put my own emotions in check and apologize.

I invested a lot of time in my relationship with my kids, so much so that I know that my opinion carries so much weight in their decision-making. They know my opinion on certain matters, but I always tell them it's up to them to make the final decision.

I enjoy spending time with my girls. We often go on spa-dates, like what we did recently when we visited the Thai Temple Spa along J. Abad Santos in San Juan. We pampered ourselves with a luxurious body and foot massage. My reward for them for studying well for their quarterly exams.



Thai Temple Spa has affordable rates which makes taking my girls out on a date 
wallet-friendly, shempre kase times three kami. 
To know more , visit them in Facebook Thai Temple Spa



But more often than not I have to double the effort in keeping up with my teens. Kahit sa chat, kailangan i-context clues minsan. When they say, "she's so sad!" Akala ko sad as in not happy. Yun pala they mean sad as in loser. We are all talking in the same language, but in different context. Hahaha!
Game din ako to try snapchat filters with them.


It's the same thing when we use electronics. I try to be game when they ask me to take a photo using their Snapchat filter. I even opened my own account, but I really have a hard time understanding the interface. Di sya mashadong friendly sa mga titas!

Kids these days can naturally maneuver through technologies because they grew up with it. These kids are digital natives who process electronic information faster. As a parent to 3 digital natives, part of my effort to keep up is by connecting with them on social media. Let's face it, what better way to connect with them than be where they are all the time, di ba?

If your child born after the year 2000, he/she is already part of the generation we call GenZ, also known as the zentennials. With their global perspective and digital savvy, the zentennials have the potential to be one of the best, if not the greatest generation on the planet given the right opportunities to grow and nurture their talents, interests and skills.

If you would like to know more about raising our zentennials and helping them reach their full capabilities, let's see each other in this whole-day conference dedicated to our teens and tweens, brought to us by Mommy Mundo.

Raising Gen Z: The Making of the Greatest Filipino Generation 
happening September 9, 2017 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Taguig. 
Click here for more details.


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