How do I cope with backchat, grumpiness or general rudeness is one of the questions I get asked the most by parents and caregivers of older teens and adult children. Our children are not always like this, of course, in adolescence. Most of the time I find teens can be joyously full of uplifting energy but the transformation of adolescence is a hugely difficult task so it also brings about some testing behaviours too. These may come as quite a shock when our children get older and we some times take it personally or see it as a reflection of our parenting skills or our relationship with our children.
So we need a few skills in our parenting toolbox to rely on to move through the more challenging times and this is where award winning parent coach Anita Cleare of the Positive Parenting Project comes in.
Anita’s brilliant book How To Get Your Teenager Out of Their Bedroom is super helpful (you can get it here ) and you can also book one to one sessions with her. I’ve quote her expertise many times in articles and in my parenting book.
Anita is an expert on family harmony; her tips are practical and easy to follow and she is so good at explaining why we feel the way we do as parents. In our video interview here she explains:
