: North Texas Kids : Your family guide to raising happy, healthy kids

Holding Teenagers Accountable for their Behavior

Do you enable your teenager’s poor behavior?

A woman I know named Mary had a teen son with anxiety issues. Things escalated with him and he began to refuse to go to school. Eventually, he was placed in an outpatient program through a psychiatric hospital and also attended group sessions with other anxious kids. His life improved and he returned to school. However, a few months later he began skipping school again. The woman decided to get some help for herself. After learning some important things she began to realize that she had been contributing to her son’s anxiety issues. Mary was able to see that she had always seen her son as ‘fragile’ and treated him that way. She had ‘let him off the hook’ over and over again throughout his life, thinking he was incapable of being responsible, towing the line, learning from his mistakes. Her vision of him was a weak one, and it was very perceptible to him and others. Therefore, his vision of himself was a weak one, creating lots and lots of anxiety within his psyche.

Helping Your Teens Set SMART Goals for the New Year

How SMART Goals help determine what should be categorized as a goal.

I really don’t like the word “resolution” – and I never set any New Year’s Resolutions for myself. The way I see it, if there is something I need to change about myself, I’m not going to wait until January 1st to make that change … I’d better get on with it right away! If you realize you’re eating too much cake, or that cigarettes cause cancer, you should make those changes immediately.

New Year’s Resolutions just don’t seem to stick. The unfortunate truth is that it’s become completely normal and accepted to flake out on our New Year’s Resolutions – the gym is packed to the gills in January, a little less crowded in February, and then back to only the regulars in March.

However, I do see the value in setting goals. Goals have a different feel than resolutions do. Resolutions have a negative connotation, don’t they? New Year’s Resolutions usually mean that you need to stop doing something you shouldn’t be doing.

Talking to Your Teenager About Dating and Sexual Assault

How to Talk to Your Teenager About Dating and Sexual Assault

The greatest way a parent can help reduce the probability of a child being sexually assaulted on a date (you can’t 100% prevent it) is to teach your child about asking first, respecting boundaries, and letting him/her know you will ALWAYS be there if anything happens.

Understanding the Power Mean Girls Have Over Your Tween

Understanding Why Queen Bees are Able to Hold Court: The Reality of Tween Mean Girls

There is a lot of discussion out there about ‘mean girls.’ This focus is indeed warranted, as girls tend to be judged, and judge themselves based on their ability to engage in relationships. We use the term ‘relational aggression’ to describe the kind of connection forming that involves coercion or intimidation. Queen Bees are identified as the champions of this sport. Specifically, they are the girls who wield power over others. They are both respected and feared. With a simple comment or direction a queen bee can ensure that one of her disciples is either admired or shunned.

How to Talk to Teenagers

A Simple Tip for Better Relationships with Teenagers

by Amy Egan

Parenting teenagers can be a slippery slope. It is something frequently talked about, voraciously written about and dreaded by most parents. But does it really have to be awful? Is it a given that we all emerge from it fried, dyed and laid to the side? Or is it possible to get through the teen years relatively unscathed? I believe that it is – with a few helpful tools!

In this article I will be discussing the tool I believe is the most important. And it has to do with our communication strategy.

Poor Behavior: Who’s the Lazy One, You or Your Child?

Are You Contributing to Your Child’s Poor Behavior?

by Nancy Rose

At a recent parenting workshop, a mom asked for advice on what to do about her “lazy” teenage son. Not an uncommon issue for parents of teenagers, but I needed more information before I could help. I asked her to describe what his laziness looked like.

Tips for Raising Happy, Healthy Teenagers

How to Raise Happy, Healthy Teenagers

by Abigail Clark

Successfully raising kids and transforming them into well-rounded, responsible, and productive members of society is no simple task. It takes years of careful guidance and patient teaching to raise kids who can care for themselves, standing on their own two feet. Most importantly, your goal is to raise them to be healthy and happy, above everything else. Here’s a look at some insightful tips on doing just that.

Remember the Big Picture

As easy as it is to get caught up in the test scores, dating debacles, moral conundrums, and attitude adjustments, remember what you’re working for. The overarching goal is for your kids to be happy, healthy, and productive members of society, and ultimately fend for themselves someday.