Minimalist Parenting Techniques for Parents of Teens

These tips for Minimalist Parenting Techniques for Parents of Teens has really become important in our family. As your child reaches the teen years, it’s time to start thinking about how you are parenting and teaching your children to self-monitor and make good choices for themselves.  Raising a young man to learn how to live his life morally and with integrity is one of the most important things we can do in our lives. These methods have helped us considerably in making decisions that impact the future.

Minimalist Parenting Techniques for Parents of Teens

As your child gets older, hopefully, you have already worked to teach your children the best character traits. A solid foundation makes a minimalist approach easier to manage as they get older. The tips below are some that have worked well for our family and are worth considering for your own family. Make your decisions based on the maturity level of your child or teen, as not every teen will have the same emotional ability to make safe choices for themselves as others.

Sit back and let them lead.

When it’s time to make choices about their activities, expenses, or even jobs, it’s time to sit back and let them lead. Yes, it may feel a bit out of control, but the result of this is more important than your comfort at the moment. If your child has shown responsibility already, then it’s time to let them loose to begin making more choices for themselves. Some of the ways you can do that are below.

• Let them decide what sports programs they can manage alongside their academics.
• Allow them to set up their social schedule including outings, dates, and weekend sleepovers with friends.
• Let them choose their bedtimes and the number of activities over weekends.
• Give them freedom to use their allowance or income as they see fit.

Let them suffer consequences.

The flip coin to letting them make choices is that there will be times consequences happen. This is a fine line for you as a parent. When should you allow them to continue in a pattern that could lead to consequences, and when should you step in and stop them?

Consequences for staying up too late and being tired at school are one thing I wouldn’t have an issue allowing my child to suffer, as long as it didn’t become a long term habit. However, if their grades started slipping, then it would be time to step in and put more restrictions in place.

There is a point where you should use your judgment and put a stop to kids’ choices. Set limits with your child when you set out to give them freedom. When they overstep those lines, it’s time for you to step in and make changes with how they handle

Show them what has happened with other poor choices.

Before you set out to allow your teen more freedom with their choices, you can show them some instances where others made poor choices and how it changed their lives. This isn’t a time to shame others, but to show constructively as a warning for your child to not make the same mistakes.

More Parenting Tips & Life Skills to Teach Children

• How to Do Laundry
• Basic Cooking Tutorials for Kids
• How to Balance a Checkbook
• What Teens Should Know Before Applying for a Job
• How to Handle Bad Influences in Your Teens Life
• The Dangers of Teenage Vaping
• How to Teach Compassion