“How was school?”
(Shrug.) “Fine.”
“What did you do?”
(Shrug.) “Nothing.”
“Anything fun happen today?” (Side eye. Sigh. And…Shrug.)
If this sounds familiar, join the club! Not only do I have two teenagers, but I’ve interviewed and surveyed about 3,000 of them for For Parents Only and other books, and discovered that the condition homo teenagesapiens silenticus (otherwise known as “being a teenager who is uninformatively silent”) affects many members of the adolescent species. Often, when we most want them to share! But I’ve also discovered that there is a way to crack open the floodgate of words. Actually, there are lots of ways . . . . more than we can cover here. But two crucial understandings make a huge difference. Without these, it will be harder for any other efforts to work. With these, you have a much greater chance of hearing what’s in your child’s heart over time.
Here are 2 secrets you need to know when you want to successfully communicate with your teenager:
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