Parenting: Preteens & Teenagers Community
Parenting preteens and teens is a new challenge. Should you worry about peer ... more
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I do promise to get a regular member name and stop in from time to time. It won't be Louise--they retire mod names like beloved sports players or something.
The thing that I want to remind you as I head off to a new adventure--YOU are the community, the heart and soul of the community. You each lead every time you post. You welcome, you show empathy, you share views, you share your lives, and those actions make this community special.
Most of all love those teens and tweens. Help them grow to fly away. Remember they balance at that time where they want all the privileges of adulthood, but at the same time they fear it. Pick the important battles. Leave the rest, but in that leaving, make sure your child still knows you care. Too soon they grow into adults who still need their parents but in a different way. You long for the days of loud music, slamming doors, and a kid turning up her nose at dinner or a family activity.
These children--incredible--each of them and you as well, since you care enough to find information, find support, look for fellow wanderers making their way through the minefield of parenting teens and tweens.
Thank you for indulging me in my sharing of teen/tween stories and questions. Thank you for sharing yourself and your children with me.
Do take care.View Thread

Something that helped and still helps with my teens (three of my kids are now adults) is having them help plan meals with me. We get the cookbooks out. We make a list of family favorites. We discuss budget. We then use post it flags to note which recipes they want to try. After that, we go through and see how many of us agree to try the recipe.
With our now 20 year old, who went through a rough phase with food, we put her in charge of the entire menus and food budget/grocery list for the month. She also had to make the meals for the family. This really opened her to some new foods and let her see the balancing act involved in putting a meal on the table that was healthy and balanced.
MyPyramid.gov is a great place to get the basics on what foods she needs to eat daily.
I encourage you to make a trip to her doctor for a check up and advice. You need some professional assistance to nip this in the bud.
Here is a calculator and information on Healthy Weight for Children and Teens from the CDC.
Our expert, Elaine Magee, on our Food and Cooking community is intimately familiar with teens and eating disorders and encouraging healthy eating habits. Ask over there as well for ideas on how to help your daughter.View Thread



Look in the phone book for organizations that can advise you as to your next step. You need to do something today.View Thread

We found a similar note involving my 20 year old at 14--we fretted. (Goodness! What will her father do?) In the end, we left her privacy alone and she got older and started to become interested in boys again. At first they were a year or two older than her--then once she got older they have tended to be about the same age.
I would be more concerned about a boy, just because the bullying tends to happen to gay boys (or boys suspected of being gay) more often than the girls.View Thread

Is there something about the bathroom that feels dirty, uncomfortable, or unsafe to him? Does he have to share it with a lot of people?View Thread

"In young children, masturbation is a normal part of the growing child's exploration of his or her body. Most people continue to masturbate in adulthood, and many do so throughout their lives." from our guide to masturbation.
If your son is having discomfort or irritation, you might want to schedule a trip to the pediatrician to rule out an infection of some nature.View Thread

On this community, you are lucky to have Lainey joining you as moderator. For the next two weeks, she will shadow me here getting to know the community-piping in here and there.
Please welcome her and Lainey, if you will, introduce yourself.View Thread
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