Parenting through the social and emotional changes of our kids

I have a couple of teens in my house right now. I have counselled lots of teens before. I have read a lot of research about best practises, about behaviour, about changes to the brain as they develop, about hormones and physical changes and how they affect their behaviours and about how to keep connections strong during these sometimes tumultuous times.

For those of us that need some reminding of some of the changes that take place with our kids as they hit adolescence, I am going to summarise a few of these pre teen developments. Reminding ourselves of the changes our kids experience can be a really useful way of helping to get inside their heads, when we at times think it is only limited to the odd grunt, the rolled eyes or ‘too cool for school’ attitude. Not every child experiences them to the same extent. But for the parent grappling with the transition, here are a few ways you may be noticing a slight or a steep transformation.