In a couple of weeks, my youngest turns 13. Which means I will soon be parenting four teenagers. Which means my prayer life is thriving.
As some parents of tweens chatted with my husband and me last week, I recalled some of the best advice given to us for parenting teens: Keep them talking. Keep the relational bridge open.
It’s great advice for all of parenting, right? But at times with each of my kids, that’s required supreme effort.
This week, I’m working through the final interior design and whatnot on my own parenting book (due out this October: Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids’ Hearts. #shamelessplug). And there are moments in real-life parenting when I’m whispering to myself, “Maybe we should retitle this thing I’ve Got Nothin’.”
But those moments give me all the more reason to get excited about other parenting books genuinely trying to step in with practical ideas to help us connect and shape and love well. So I’m tickled pink to be offering two copies of Becky Harling’s How to Listen So Your Kids Will Talk (Bethany, 2021).
For ideas on how to make the most of these questions, see the first interview.
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7.If you could go to any time in history, where and when would you go?
7.If you could go to any time in history, where and when would you go?
7.If you could go to any time in history, where and when would you go?
Click here for post #1 and the thoughts behind this series.
Got the ideas. The relationship. I even have the time.
But sometimes I lack the intention to just sit down with my child and “cuddle up” with their hearts, so to speak, even if they’re getting a little huge to cuddle. For a few weeks (and depending on how much you like them!–the ideas, not the kids), I want to give a few ideas you could use while you share a snack or favorite drink with your child, or just sitting on the porch swing or on a walk.
The idea is that amidst all the things we do for our children, we just take the time to know them a little better, to win their hearts. (After all, our obedience from God comes out of a heart of love, too.) An excellent resource from FamilyLife (Passport2Purity® Getaway Kit by FamilyLife – Version 3) once counseled that, like a shuttle reentering the atmosphere, we align our relationship with our child before we go into a period of time where we lose our ability to communicate (like the teenaged years can be). Making time and a secure space to talk about what’s real in our lives does more than improve our relationship now. It develops a firm bridge for us to walk on when things get rough.
![Now You're Speaking My [Love] Language](https://www.janelbreitenstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/love-languages-text-1.jpg "Now You're Speaking My [Love] Language")
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