There’s a shift that happens between parents and children around the early teen years. Mom and Dad move from mainly providing to actively preparing.

There’s another shift that happens, as well. The child begins to move into abstract thinking and a desire for independence. Many times these growing pains are accompanied by confusion, strife and distress. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

When your children reach adolescence, create a special time when you formally recognize the transition to more responsibility and maturity. Mark a change in the way you relate to them—no longer as children, but as young adults.

If you don’t make the shift proactively, you will more than likely be forced to make the shift at a point of conflict!

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