How to Talk to Your Teenager: Five Steps to Success!

There once was a time when your child couldn't wait to come home from school to tell you all about their day. You knew who their friends were, what groups they listened to and what they liked to do for fun. Now you're over the moon if a general question about their day fetches an eye roll or a sigh. If your adolescent is responding to initiations for conversation with one word answers, the solutions outlined below just might be what you need to develop a closer relationship with the distant young adult who has taken over the body of your once precious child.

1. Speak their language: For the love of all that is good, don't start talking like P Diddy or Ludacris even if you know who those people are. What I mean is, teenagers are communicating much differently than you and your friends did -- by way of email and text messaging. I encourage you to text message them with little tidbits of information or messages such as "hope you had a good day at school" ... or "let me know if you need a ride to practice later". They may not respond at first but they will know that you are thinking of them, and better yet, that you aren't embarrassing them by calling their cell phones in front of their oh-so-important-and-cool friends. The same goes for email, things that your teen may not want to say to you directly they may feel more comfortable sharing over email. Better yet, let them know that you are willing to only communicate about certain topics over email for their comfort and won't bring up say, their most embarrassing moments, over dinner.