Are you a single parent of a tween and need some advice with raising them? This article offers advice on how to better raise your tween, bond with your tween and more. If you need help with your tween, continue reading.
Single Parenting
Being a parent is no piece of cake and raising children is probably one of the hardest jobs there is yet and it is commonly underrated. What’s harder than being a parent is being a single parent. Being a single mom or a single dad is no small issue and being able to raise a child all on your own is something worthy of acknowledgment. The toughest part that a parent has to struggle with is usually when the child goes through puberty, and things start to change between you and your child as they are on their way to becoming a teenager. So what can a single mom or dad do to help raise a tween? This article will offer advice for raising tweens of single parents.
Communication
In any relationship, communication is the most essential ingredient to keep the parties in the relationship on good terms. Not only can you see this in employer / employee relationships or lover and lover relationships, this is as important in parent / child relationships too. Allowing each other to let out their opinions and feelings is a great form of respect. It also means that regardless of age, there is no discrimination in expressing oneself.
Time and Space
Because tweens and teens tend to be more sensitive at this time in their life, forcing them to spill the beans or talk about things that they’re obviously not ready to open up about will only push them further away from you. Allow them to have their space and give them time for themselves to think about whatever it is that is on their mind. Giving them time and space will earn you their respect and trust so that eventually, they will open up to you more. I know waiting and patience can be very frustrating at this time in their lives, but this is something we must do or else your child may end up blowing up on you and rebelling.
Set Boundaries
Oftentimes, we feel guilty about not being the perfect parent and this is usually the case with single parents because they tend to feel that the child is in a broken home because of their wrongdoing. This should never be the case. What happens with this mindset is that we will try to make up for our mistakes by letting them do what they want and giving them everything they want. This is only spoiling them and this has never been on any list of parenting tips.
No matter what, always be sure to remind your tween who the boss is. Sure you allow some things and you let them get away a few times maybe, but it should be well understood that there is a limit that is set in the house and because you are the boss, they should learn to obey your set of rules.
Bonding Time
No matter how busy you are with your job and with keeping the house tidy, spending quality time with your tween should be done at least once a week, if not more. Your tween might find this awkward, especially when they are about to go through the phase of puberty, but if you have established a bonding time between you and your tween, it should be observed at all times, except only if some unavoidable circumstances come up. There’s only you and your tween and you should help strengthen and show each other love by spending quality time together. You can plan trips or activities once a week. This can be a movie marathon, playing the Wii, or jogging in the area. Something that the both of you enjoy.
Self-Care
Single parents can become too preoccupied with work and with raising a child solely and therefore forgetting to care for themselves. Not caring for yourself could lead to potential health problems, and when it does, who’s going to take care of your tween and the house? Then that is going to be a bigger problem. Be sure to maintain a healthy diet which you should not only practice alone, but include your tween as well, maintain regular physical exercises, and have enough social time to unwind yourself and be surrounded with your friends.
Dividing Responsibilities
As soon as your child is able to, you can give them household chores and tiny bits of responsibilities. Developing habits can take time and the earlier you start to train you child, the better they will become at it as they get older. Because a tween is now capable of a lot of things, you can divide household chores that you and them can do. Doing household chores together is also a great way to bond as well as keeping things in order around the house.