A few ways (sigh of relief here) you can detect your teenager is growing up into a respectable person. All the points apply to both genders:
- The parent hears frequent use of “please” and “thank you” from the teen even if the words are not specifically aimed at the parent.
- Unsolicited gratitude is expressed and there’s no sign (or at least that you can detect) of manipulation at play.
- Showering and all acts of personal hygiene happen without the parents having to insist they occur.
- Dirty clothes are acknowledged as such rather than worn again and again in perfect denial of their foul state.
- Homework and school assignments are tackled and completed without complaint and without a parent’s involvement and without cutting and pasting answers off enabling websites.
- The use of electronic devices and games require no external parental monitoring – it’s become an inside job.
- However it’s happening (online, on paper, or in the head) a calendar is kept and he or she is remembering commitments and showing up for them.
- Sentences like, “I’ve got to get a really early night tonight because tomorrow is going to be a long and demanding academic day” and he or she goes to bed early.
(Hope is eternal! – my sons are now 16 and 20)
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