Ways to Bond with Your Teenage Kid Being a Working Mom

Parenting a teen is not a piece of cake. There are a lot of arguments, punishments, and boundaries involved but more than that working mom a teenager needs to have much patience to handle their tantrums.

Teenage is a crucial time in any kid’s life and not only for kids, it is equally crucial for a working mom as well. It is the mental and physical growth stage involving the puberty period. Also, the major transitions in the kids’ lives take place during that period such as education, employment, and moving from one stage to another.

So, it is not wrong to say that teenagers need their parents at this age the most, especially mothers. Mothers are the pillar of their children’s development. And when you are a working mom, parenting becomes a challenge whether the kid is a teenager or a small baby.

Are you also dealing with a teenager and struggling with how to maintain a healthy relationship to guide them well? Don’t worry this article will help you get through the hardest time and develop a healthy bond with your kid if you have lost it over the years while focusing more on the work.

But you need to accept that the moodiness and rebellious behavior are going to be there. You cannot question their actions but you can guide them with the consequences. You just need to take a deep breath and remember that they only have you for the right guidance and the rest is bad influences everywhere around them.

When a child is going through their teen years, there are various emotional, physical, and mental changes and they do not have that much control over their actions and reactions. However, parents can maintain a good relationship by showering all their love and dealing patiently.

How to bond with your teenager

Here are some tips that will help you maintain a bond with your kid:

Talk to them

Firstly, stop expecting that they will be always around you when you come back from work. It is very common to find them in their rooms, so do not lose your cool. The best way to start a conversation is by keeping it causal and in relaxed mode.

Many parents fail to understand that when they simply ask their kids how their day was, the kid feels comfortable to open up in front of you. Also, you can keep talking about their friends casually and their interaction with you would give you an idea of what’s going on in their life. Kids have a lot of things going on like their studies, sports, and hobbies. You can pick anything that would interest them and they like sharing things with you.

Make sure that you do not make them uncomfortable by picking out anything that they are struggling with. Make these discussions on a regular basis and try to keep things fun and enjoyable. But you must remember that when they share things with you, do not let it turn into an argument or scolding session. The kids would eventually stop sharing things with you.

So, look for the right time when the kid is in a whole cheery mood and talk to them. If you feel that your kid is constantly irritated or angry, you must take the help of Neuro-linguistic programming to get professional help or understand their mindset better.

Be a good listener

Being a great listener not only helps you with friends but also helps you with your kids. When kids have confidence that they can share anything with them, they start telling you things and unload from their minds the things bothering them.

No matter how much time you are spending at work, if you spend a few hours with your kid and listen to them dedicatedly, the bond would never fade. However, it becomes difficult sometimes to remain patient while your kid is telling you about some terrible thing they have done. But it is quite essential to deal with the situation smartly, your wrong reaction can make your kid hide things from you in the future.

Set some boundaries

While being open with your kids and listening to them is crucial, at the same time it becomes necessary to set some boundaries. Teaching values and acceptable behavior is equally important for the parents. You have to make them learn about the consequences they might have if they do anything wrong.

Setting rules in the house is the easiest way to deal with a teenager. It’s completely understandable that work pressure frustrates you and handling your kid becomes a task sometimes. But you need to understand that your frustration if comes out as screaming or shouting at your kids, will set a very example for you and the teenager would reciprocate the same behavior.

Spend quality time together

Life is hectic when you are daily meetings and workload make it hard to spend time with family. But having family time would make your family feel important and also you will have a break from the daily hustle.

When you are too involved with your work, your teenager might feel ignored and isolated. So, have a weekend away from home and spend some time together to make them feel important, loved, and valued.

Remain a parent

In the desperate need of bonding with our teens, we often erase the thin line that helps us differentiate between a friend and a parent. We have a mindset of having a better relationship only when we are being friends with our kids.

But it is a myth, we need to understand that our kids have friends already. They need a parent to guide them toward the right path and help them differentiate between the right and wrong things in life. There could be some arguments if you are trying to teach them something but you have to get on their level and understand their state of mind instead of just trying to prove your point.

In the end, a parent has to be a forgiver but at the same time, they have to teach their kids a lesson about not repeating the same mistake again. You have to be emotionally available to your teenager and understand their mental state. Being a working mom means you have a love connection with your kid but you have to be their supporter and not let the bond fade away.