Sharing adolescence with our children is truly an exhilarating and adventurous experience. Those wondrous teen years offer parents an extraordinary education and countless rewarding opportunities. This age of youth presents teens as our greatest tutors, role‑models, and mentors. As adults we have much to profit from this time of wonder and their talents, merely by recognition. Many of life’s important lessons can be learned from these intelligent and intuitive creatures. It is through the wisdom of the adolescent that we can gain a true perspective of the genuine treasures in living and realize a profound appreciation for the relationship between ‘sharing life’ and the designations of our parenting roles.
Stereotypical training or authority does not dictate good parents and good children. The framework for this good, we so desperately seek to attain, can only be achieved through the life experiences we share and the capacity to remember. Remembrance offers us the wisdom and compassion to relate to youth. Having the capabilities to identify enables us to fully comprehend their positions, perspectives, and potential. The shared experiences promote mutual growth and respect while cementing solid bonds.
It becomes important to recognize that the responsibilities of parenting reach far beyond giving birth and child rearing. Achieving and maintaining success in our parent/teen relationships involves avid participation in the growth and learning experiences with a realistic and holistic approach. So too is a willingness to view ourselves with honesty and humility. Teaching and the willingness to be taught, guiding and remaining open to being led, will offer the positives we demand from our parenting position. Realizing that we can and do make mistakes, as well as admitting them, has proven to be a vital quality of the good parent. Recognizing that our teen might hold many right answers, would not propose any disrespect or failure, instead it captures success.
Children should be seen and heard and their value explored. Acknowledgment and appreciation play major role in the design of our parenting resume’. Acceptance of the individual our teen has become and placing his unique qualities in high esteem will provoke positive end results for both. It is through acceptance that we gain insight and wisdom. We can find knowledge, understanding and patience in the recognition of the beauty and capabilities of our teens. In this renewed cycle of discovery and evolution, we learn about valuable judgments and contentment in life’s offerings.
Our children are not best served by strategies to control their situations, by buying love and respect, or through manipulation and domination to achieve our own end. Seeking counsel from “How‑To” materials, which dictate through stereotype and portray someone else’s perception of how life should be, will usually not afford us any evidence of harmony. Moreover, expending energies pursuing a place as “authoritarian” or taking advantage of the innocence and vulnerabilities of youth will not present an appropriate means to reach our goals. Rewards are tendered solely through the living and sharing of life in our own encounters. No other person can propose or dictate how we are to live with or provide for our children. Guidance comes through the loving, learning and sharing we do in our daily lives. We are each too distinct in personality and character to be stereotyped by any dictate of ‘one rule for all’. Attaining our goals comes through active participation in our individual life situation.
Our parenting lessons are best learned and successes achieved through discovery and acceptance. There are no “rules” or sovereignty. Harmony comes naturally with discovery of self and acceptance of others. Greatness is achieved by providing an environment for greatness to grow.
