Remember when your teenagers were young children who actually wanted to spend time with you?  Now, it seems that in the blink of an eye, they morphed into surly kids who are more interested in their friends and the Internet than talking to you.  Although frustrating for parents, this is a normal stage.  So what do you do?  How do you talk to teens so they don’t tune you out?  And how do you get them to talk to you?

Ask as few questions as possible.  Questioning teens tends to close them down. Instead, make statements that don’t demand a response, such as, “I’ve been wondering what you think about your new coach.”  If you get an exceptionally brief response, that’s OK, because you were just wondering aloud.  Now that they know you are interested, they may tell you more later. Read More