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When our children enter their teenage years, it seems as if our sweet mama-loving babies are replaced with borderline psychotic monsters. Sometimes as parents, we turn into monsters ourselves as we try to navigate their developing brains. Joining us today on The Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast is the incredible parenting coach, Maureen Spielman, to talk us through parenting teens because all parents fall victim to erratic teenage behavior (even if you are convinced it won’t happen to you). In this episode, we discuss why we have to learn how to parent again during this time, how teenagers trigger us as parents, how to combat those triggers, why our children experience more anxiety than we did growing up, and the challenges social media has presented for teenagers today. Maureen also helps us differentiate between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ teenage behavior and even explains how we can create a safe space for our teenagers to explore their risk-taking side. We also discuss the importance of accepting our roles as our children’s guides rather than as their rulers before talking about how our emotional trauma is reflected in the way we raise our children. Teenagers' emotions and behavior are a direct reflection of something they desperately need and Maureen explains why we need to hold space for them, listen to them, and give them the opportunity to make choices. Finally, Maureen gives us some tools to connect with our teenagers during this difficult time. To hear all this and more, tune in now!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The difficulties all parents go through as their children enter their teens. 
• How teenagers trigger us and why we almost have to relearn parenting as they hit that age. 
• Why the era of social media makes raising teenagers more challenging.
• The importance of remembering the stress and anxiety that our kids experience. 
• Maureen explains ‘normal teenager behavior’ and how to handle it. 
• How to identify concerning behavior in teenagers. 
• How to balance allowing teens to explore their risk-taking side while protecting them from real danger in the world.
• The importance of listening to your teenagers, holding space for them, and giving them choices. 
• How our own emotional trauma shows up in our parenting. 
• What Maureen suggests parents do to combat their triggers when it comes to their teenagers. 
• How we can connect with our teenagers. 
• Why we should be our children’s guides rather than hierarchical dictators. 
• The importance of acknowledging the needs our children are expressing through their emotions and behavior.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Maureen Spielman

Maureen Spielman on LinkedIn

Maureen Spielman on Facebook

Maureen Spielman on Instagram

The Blessing of a B Minus: Raising Resilient Teenagers

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