Who Gets the Last Word

As tempting as it may be, trying to get the last word is a waste of time! Pre-teens/teens are a different type of person to deal with. Sometimes I wondered if they were even human. I had one who argued over everything and one child who was just quiet and sullen. A child with an in between temperment would have been desirable, but that is not how it worked.

Trying to get something out of a child who doesn't want to talk is just about impossible. I found that the best way was to catch him after school. Give him something to eat and sit down and have a chat right then and there. Mini chats were the only way to get info out of that kid. He's a 27 year old family man now. He is still a fairly quiet guy. But, I think I get him. No worries there!

Then there is the arguing child. Uggg! This is where the battle of the last word would take place. When I finally realized that I wouldn't win that battle, I just walked away. He would keep on talking, but I wasn't listening. No point in giving in to that type of exchange. It would lead to frustration and anger. I just refused to play his game.

What I found were moments in the car, dinner time, and mini conversations to convey what needed to be conveyed to the akward teen.

One goal was to eat dinner at the dining table, no television on or even in the room, all together.  We had one rule. There were no off limit topics. The kids could bring up anything. Yes, it could be uncomfortable at times, but mostly we had great conversations and cleared up lots of topics.

My kids are great! We had good times and bad times. But mostly we got through those tough teen years in one piece. We have some fond memories as a family. I hope that they learned how to treat their kids during that akward period of life. They'll have a bit more to figure out because they have girls.

Enjoy those kids!