Parenting Teens: Knowing how to choose your battles

Okay, let me start off like this. If you are going to be picking your battles then the first thing you're going to need is ammunition. Of all things that could make for good ammunition this is the best: KNOW YOUR CHILD. Next will come a fort or stronghold, but we'll jump off that bridge when we come to it.

You will notice that as your children grow and mature they will go through so many amazing and sometimes strange changes. You will see this beautiful baby grow and turn into a wonderful, independent person. It's what happens during those "teenage" stages is where it can get ugly. Whatever the cause of the dispute between yourself and your child, you AND they have to know that there is a love there that is literally unbreakable. No matter what happens, no matter how serious the results of an out and out battle, you know that the bond is still there. It's all in how you handle certain situations that will depend on whether or not there will be a battle. Knowing how to pick your battles with your teenager comes down to knowing your children.

If your children now are, or are soon to be teenagers, then you should know by now what makes this kid tick. I mean seriously, you HAVE to know that just because Mary told Jennifer that Steve's best friend told Todd that he didn't like your Daughter; this is not the reason behind a complete and total melt-down on your child's part. You also should know by now that just because that red sports car (price tag 20 Grand) that your Son has been saving up (by working 10 hours a week at the local Burger Palace) to buy ALL summer long isn't on the lot any longer, is also not the reason for an angry outburst; or shameless incoherent words muttered under his breath. Is there a possibility that something else is bothering them? Perhaps they've had a bad day at school, or one of their friends is acting weird. Leave it be, this isn't the time for a battle. They are just upset and perhaps unbearable to be around, it happens to grown ups too. Instead of reacting to their moods and spitting it back at them, try explaining that you are always there to listen if they should ever need to talk. Be there FOR them, not AGAINST them.

If however, you teenager is being disobedient, disrespectful, or not following the house rules; then you can pick this battle right up. NO-ONE living in a home that they share with others should be allowed to act in such a manner. They

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