subject: Parenting Tips - Ways to Spend Quality Time With Your Teen [print this page] Parenting Tips - Ways to Spend Quality Time With Your Teen
Spending time with your teen can be very difficult to arrange - everyone is so busy! So when you do find time to be together, make sure it's really special. Here are 4 key steps to follow when planning quality time with your teen.
Step One - What To Do?
The first and most important step in planning quality time with your teen is to ask THEM what they want to do! Always make it about them. This selfless act may be the best part of your time together as it will show your teen that you love and respect them and that they will always be #1 when you're together.
Step Two - Time to Plan!
Now that you know what they're interested in, it's time to plan your outing. Make sure you engage your teen in this process too. The focus of the event is to find a unique way for them to see, learn, and experience something different relating to their favorite activity. You want to encourage and nurture their curiosity and interest... so build your outing with that goal in mind.
Here are a few examples of ideas for time with your teen:
They love sports or cultural arts: call your local college and ask to meet with staff who can share personal experiences related to your teen's interests.
They love to cook: pull out a cook book, pick a new (or favorite) recipe, purchase the ingredients, and prepare it together with no one else in the kitchen!
Have a Show and Tell Session: Have them talk about their passion, and even show you specifically what they do and why they love it so much. Let them lead the conversation... let them be in charge. This level of sharing is priceless!
Step Three - Make It Exclusive!
When the day arrives and you're together, make sure you both agree to take cell phone calls and/ or respond to text messages only when absolutely necessary. Also... don't run other family errands (groceries, dry cleaning, etc). This shows mutual respect and reaffirms that you both want your limited time together to be truly QUALITY time.
Step Four - Take Pictures!
This may sound corny, but it will be a lot of fun for both you and your teen. Grab your camera (or pick up a disposable one) and snap at least 3 photos, including one of the two of you. Then, when you're together the next time, create a mini scrapbook, or even a single page just to hang on the refrigerator. This will show everyone in the family how much fun you had.
In Summary
Make sure your time together is all about an activity that your teen selected and helped plan. Don't allow any distractions. Finally, take pictures and create a mini scrapbook or even a single scrap book page for you to record and remember your quality time together.
If you'd like to see a sample of a memory page for a special day with my son, click the underlined words Quality Time With Your Teen
I hope you'll try the project idea presented in this article. If you'd like to see more paper crafting articles, check out my entire article library - Articlesbase Author Leanne Gorsuch - by clicking this link.
Copyright 2011 Leanne Gorsuch: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links and this copyright notice remain intact.
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