Connecting with Your Tween and Teen Takes Less Time Than You Think and Is Powerful

Connections with big kids only take a few minutes.

I sat in my lawn chair, the warm sun nudging me to relax from my busy day as I watched my son’s Ultimate Frisbee team warm up before their game. Two brothers, my son’s teammates, tossed a frisbee, the disc gliding like a swan between them.

Then.

Fresh from work, still in his uniform, these boys’ dad jogged over and raised his hands, ready to catch. I saw the sons light up. Just a little more energy, a touch more speed, they tossed the frisbee, back and forth it zipped.

For just a few long minutes.

Connecting with your tween and teen can be fun with these 200+ ideas.

Then the dad walked back to his chair, joining the rest of the parents in the audience. And the moment was over.

Parents.

It’s strange how short intentional moments of connection work through our lives like yeast in dough to revive our energy, renew our spirit, and fill us all the way up.

We’re all in the busy years of our lives. Parents carry the extraordinary weight of jobs, bills, parenting, and midlife responsibilities. Sometimes, we’re all so focused on loving our families through making dental appointments and filing our taxes on time, we must remind ourselves how much our souls need us to take a second to delight in the people we are doing these things for.

Through…

Texting a thought, idea, or funny meme in the middle of the day.

Bear hugging our big kids and telling them how proud they make us.

Lingering over a bowl of ice cream.

Pausing to really listen.

Cramming into a booth for hamburgers and fries, and then relaxing there for a while.

Or throwing a frisbee.

Because those kinds of moments are so doable. They’re so simple and take hardly any time

Truly.

Connections with big kids only take a few minutes. And the impact stretches and grows and stays in our hearts…

For so much beautiful longer.

Connect with your family over these 400+ conversation starters.

Talk more about connecting with your tween and/or teen. Join this community of moms raising big kids…

Your brain bounces between your day at work, what time(s) your kids need to be at practice, your teen’s missing school assignments, that you haven’t called your mom lately, the load of the laundry to be switched, “What’s for dinner?” and “Why are 3 of my brain-tabs frozen?”

You are raising tweens and teens and college-age kids – the unique parenting phase where everything gets easier…and harder.

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Cheryl Donely

Cheryl is a mom of 3 boys, wife, speaker, high school teacher, and author of Empowered Moms & Kids. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is passionate about learning and teaching. On www.empoweredmomsandkids.com you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for moms raising tweens and/or teens. Read more in the “about” section of this page.