Working full-time with a teen can be quite a bit to take on at the same time. You are going to have to find a balance between thriving professionally and parenting. You want to act as a good example to your teen as parents along with friends are who most teens model their behavior on. Working full-time can lead to a bit of imbalance for some parents. Teens want to spend time with you at certain points and want to avoid you at others. Do not take this personally as it can be such a confusing time to be alive as a teen. The following are issues you need to watch out for when parenting a teen and working full-time simultaneously.
Substance Abuse
Substance abuse is one of the nightmares that parents have for their teens. Addiction can wreck a life in a matter of months due to decisions that are being made. You don’t want your teen to fall deep into addiction so taking a proactive approach of educating your kids on drugs and alcohol is imperative. Alcohol might be a regular part of your life so explaining that moderation is important cannot be underestimated. Simple arrests can lead to trouble over time if you child has been arrested for drunk in public or receives a underage drinking ticket. There are so many different avenues to get drugs that monitoring social media is important. The number of people selling drugs online is immense with law enforcement struggling to find a way to stop a majority of them.
Issues With Falling Into The Wrong Crowd
The wrong friends might be an issue for one reason or another. Bad influences need to be considered those teens that try to take your teen down the wrong path. Dressing in a certain way does not mean anything as the behaviors and how your teen’s friends treat others is most important. Too many parents have judged on appearances leading to lost friends. There are friends that might look great from the outside but are nothing but toxic to your teen. Trust your teen’s judgment for the most part as you likely will never see the true dynamic of a number of their friendships.
Don’t Miss Important Events For Work
Work is always going to have another project while your kid might have a limited amount of big games or other events. Missing these types of memories can lead to resentment from a teen. It can be difficult to explain to a child or teen the importance of work over something that is extremely important to them. With remote work available, you might never have to miss another important event for your children due to your job. Using PTO wisely is also important as not using these days to look good for the company is just shorting yourself of guaranteed benefits.
Do not let your job make you a lesser quality parent as being a parent is your most important job. Use the tips above to help you identify issues before they worsen as these are common with teens.
