As parents it is NOT our job to remove or avoid obstacles; this is impossible. We must help our child work through them. This will promote maturity.
How Do We Encourage Maturity?
- Step 1: Attunement or putting work into your relationship and BUILDING THE CONNECTION. This will allow your child to feel safe, no matter what, in their relationship with you.
- Step 2: Limit Setting (within the context of attuned relationship) means the connection stays safe for you, since you get to set the rules for engagement. This will also set your child up for dealing with the “real world” and the expectations that others will have for us.
Setting limits within the context of an attuned relationship insists on and nudges teens towards developing maturity; it is the recipe for growing successful kids.