Sometimes it can be a mystery when it comes to knowing how to deal with teen girls, and knowing how to communicate is no exception. They don’t have to be a mystery, however, but I can say from experience that they certainly need to be handled with care.
So often teen girls get a bad reputation for being moody, whiny, and emotionally challenged, but these things don’t have to be the norm. By fostering a close, loving, and accepting relationship with your teen daughter, you can proactively head many of these issues off at the pass.
Following is a list of frugal and relatively simple things you can do right now to deepen the relationship you have with your teen girl.
- Send her an email or text telling her that you are so glad she’s your daughter
- Write about the first few days or your pregnancy with her in story from
- Take her out to a local coffee house on a school night
- Surprise her with something new to make her feel pretty like a scarf, new lip gloss, etc.
- Write a list of at least 10 things that make her beautiful on the inside and out
- Buy her some fresh flowers for her room, something that could later be planted like tulips
- Put a picture of a special family memory in a frame for her room such as a family vacation
- Help her do her hair or nails by having a spa night at home
- Plan something fun to do together after you save for it – a concert, a night painting pottery or canvases, or a trip to get pedicures
- Find a book for girls and moms to read together, and read it, faithfully together
- Look through home magazines, dreaming of her dream home with her
- Let her do your makeup, and then wear it for the rest of the day (it will be ok, I promise)
- Treat her to a bubble bath complete with bath salts, music, and candlelight
Having a teen daughter can be trying at times, but it can also be truly rewarding. I find it so helpful to remember what it was like when I was a teen – dealing with peer pressure, friendship woes, changing body, acne and other awkward things about physical appearance, growing responsibilities and expectations, and the list goes on and on.
It is important to do whatever we can as moms to proactively equip our daughters to feel good about themselves, to feel loved, and to feel accepted. Knowing how to communicate love to our teen daughters is key.
Looking for more on teen girls? You may like 4 Things You Must Know as the Mom of a Teen Girl and 4 Things You Must Do as the Mom of a Teen Girl.
