HOME

BOOKMARK

NEWSLETTER

Join our newsletter to receive news of offers and discounts

Search

AS FEATURED IN...


Lucy Siegle On Eithical Living: Sunday March 5, 2006 The Observer

Weight Watchers®.co.uk. Now with an online plan.

Navigation


Parening Books

Search Now:
Amazon Logo


Parenting Your Teenager: But everyone else gets to do it!


Q. We are getting to the stage with our kids where they are becoming teen-agers and are asking for more and more privileges. When we believe we need to say ``no,'' our daughter says, ``But everyone else gets to do it. Why can't I?'' We get stuck. We don't want to be too strict or too lenient. How do we handle this stage?

A. That's a really good question, because many parents get baffled by the everyone-else-gets-to-do-it-why-can't-I maneuver.

My own parents' answer to my ``David gets to do it. Why can't I?'' was this: ``If David stood on his head in the middle of the street in his underwear at 3 in the morning, would you?'' I probably would have. And I never did figure out what that answer had to do with wanting to go to the movies.

Anyway, what my parents had stumbled onto with this saying of theirs was that they were simply not going to get hooked by the bait I was giving them.

Trying to argue against the everyone-else-gets-to-do-it maneuver is a no-win situation.

This is because many teen-agers are 15 going on 25 and 15 going on 5, all at the same time. Parents are faced with an I-want-what-I-want-when-I-want-it 5-year-old with the brains of a young adult who can put together a fairly convincing argument.

Master Manipulators

This combination is part of what makes teen-agers what I call ``master manipulators.''

What happens is this:

Parents get hooked into the manipulation by believing that ``why can't I?'' is a legitimate question worthy of a legitimate answer.

But the reality is this:

There is no answer you could give that would make your teen-ager say, ``Hey, that's a really good reason! Thanks for sharing it with me. Now I no longer want to do what I was asking about.''

It just doesn't happen.

Another way to handle the everyone-else-gets-to line is to check it out.

Call up the parents of your teen-ager's friends and see if they really do get to do all these things. Chances are the real story will be different from the one you are hearing at home.

Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 10 day e-program on how to enrich your relationship today, from relationship coach and expert Jeff Herring.


MORE RESOURCES:

ABC News

Autumn Babies More Prone to Asthma
U.S. News & World Report, DC - 16 hours ago
21 (HealthDay News) -- The season of a baby's birth may help predict that child's risk of asthma, new research suggests. Babies born in autumn -- about four ...
Fall Babies May Have Higher Asthma Risk ABC News
Autumn babies at greater risk of asthma: study Reuters
Autumn Babies Are More Prone To Childhood Asthma eFluxMedia
WebMD - MedPage Today
all 131 news articles


guardian.co.uk

Study: Forward-Facing Strollers May Harm Babies Emotionally
FOXNews - 15 hours ago
Pushing babies in forward-facing strollers may harm them emotionally due to the lack of face-to-face contact with the parent pushing them, a British study ...
Are modern buggies bad for babies? guardian.co.uk
Study: Away-facing strollers stress babies CNN
Babies' strollers could affect development ABC7Chicago.com
AFP - Mom Logic
all 72 news articles


Los Angeles Times

A safe haven for whom?
Baltimore Sun, United States - 1 hour ago
The 2002 law was an attempt to prevent the dumping of newborn babies in trash bins. It's an imperfect law; children are still being left in dumpsters - and ...
Troubled US children abandoned in state haven The Age
all 14 news articles


Babies Stressing Strollers Study
kypost.com, KY - 10 hours ago
The study actually calls for the redesign of baby strollers. Beverly Smolansky, a child psychologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, says not so fast. ...


eFluxMedia

Early HIV Treatment Best for Babies
U.S. News & World Report, DC - Nov 19, 2008
19 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finalizes research that changed guidelines around the world regarding when HIV-infected babies should begin drug therapy. ...
Rapid care 'cuts baby's HIV risk' BBC News
Treat HIV-positive babies from the start Science News
Early HIV Treatment Cuts Babies’ Death Risk eFluxMedia
Business Day - Reuters India
all 66 news articles


Baby shower connects mothers-to-be, agencies
Oxford Press, OH - 3 hours ago
Melissa attends parenting classes with Kristen, a pregnant 16-year-old sophomore at MHS, and they attended the Help Me Grow baby shower Thursday, Nov. ...


'Take care of my babies,' suspect pleads
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - Nov 20, 2008
"She said, 'Take care of my babies,' " said Darlene Wakmunski, who spoke by phone Thursday with her sister. "She felt bad for the agent and his family. ...


Hospital Welcomes ‘Miracle Babies’ Home
Queens Tribune, NY - Nov 20, 2008
By Nicole Alibayof The monitor was showing a flat line and the baby wasn’t breathing. Nineteen minutes later the doctor was still trying to resuscitate him ...
Infant child care is scarce in Central New York The Post-Standard - Syracuse.com
all 2 news articles


Miley doesn't want babies named after her
Times of India, India - 15 minutes ago
Teen actress Miley Cyrus is appealing to new mothers not to name their babies after her. According to thesun.co.uk , the Hannah Montana star wants to be the ...


SmartAboutHealth

In vitro babies have more birth defects
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Nov 18, 2008
A new study released this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that babies conceived through in vitro fertilization are two to ...
Babies Conceived With Fertility Treatment Have More Birth Defects dBTechno
Birth Defects More Likely For Babies Conceived With ART SmartAboutHealth
Infertility Treatment Babies Have More Birth Defects eFluxMedia
National Business Review - Chicago Tribune
all 111 news articles

babies - Google News