I'm not writing about my illness tonight. I thought I would write about my teenagers and disciplining them. I have a 16 and 14 year old. They are good kids. Not on drugs. No one is pregnant. Good grades. Respectful, say please and thank you. However, I know they are NOT angels! They are teenagers. Dumb, think they know it all, teenagers.
My husband and I are not their friends. We are their parents. We are not afraid to make them mad. If they hate us, oh well, they will get over it. We are not afraid to look through their phones. They know this too. I have pulled it right out of their hands and went through their text messages. Mad? So. Pull up their internet history? Sure...low and behold. Some one has been on a chat site after they have been told not to. That was not a good day for the teenager. Goodbye phone. Goodbye internet. Goodbye Xbox. Goodbye DS. Goodbye friends coming over. Hello more chores. Was that teenager mad because we stripped everything away? Yes. Do I care? No. Did we do it because we love them and want to protect them? Absolutely! Again, we are not their friend, we are their parents.
We don't expect straight A's in school. But we do expect them to do their best. If they tried their hardest and got a C, great. If they screw around, don't do the work and get a D, time for change!
Now, don't get me wrong. We do not think we are the parents of the year. We are not. I am sure we have made mistakes. But we do make our kids accountable. We want them to choose the right path to succeed.
Don't try to be your child's friend. Don't worry about making your kids mad. Pull the cell phone from their hands and go though it. Look at the internet history. Use the GPS phone trackers. Iphones come with a free one called Find my Iphone .Mobile spy is also a great one. About $100 per year but wow check out the demo here . For Androids Life360 is a great one and it is free. I really like this one because it will show you a trail where they have been. Check on their grades a few times a month. Ask them, how their day was or if they have homework. Tell them everyday that you love them. Give hugs and kisses. No matter how old they are. (A little back hand never hurt either)
Jenn!
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