When your teen messes up big time … what in the world do you say?

Hi, I’m Mark Gregston … with Parenting Today’s Teens.

Well, Mark Twain said, choose your words carefully! He said, “The difference between the exact right words and the almost right words is like the difference between lightning bugs and lightning bolts.”

Hey, it’s easy to love your teen when everything’s going well. But it’s a whole lot different when they bust your rules, trounce over your boundaries, and still have the audacity to ask you for cash.

So the next time your teen makes a royal blunder, don’t say something that’ll jeopardize your relationship. Don’t resort to toxic remarks and judgment.

Instead, tell your teen exactly what he needs to hear: “There's nothing you can do to make me love you more, and nothing you can do to make me love you less.”