Involve Your Teen

In my first post here at CWAHM, I offered five general tips for parenting teens while working from home. In May, we zeroed in on #1: Be Accessible. June was about #2, Setting Boundaries. This month we’re looking at:

#3 Involve Your Teen.

You’re busy. Your kids are bored. Why not blend the two concerns into a win-win situation for all of you?

Maybe you’ve considered hiring an assistant or you wished you could. Maybe you have stacks of work you just can’t seem to get to. Why not ask your teen to work with/for you? Not only will she feel valued, but it will be something that connects the two of you. She’ll get to earn some extra cash; you’ll have help with the packaging, shipping, labeling, etc–win win!

As I look at my own workload, there are many things I could delegate to my teens…and maybe a few others in the neighborhood!

• Packing and shipping
• Maintaining contact lists
• Sending out marketing mailings
• Sending out reminders of radio interviews to guests
• Doing my follow backs on Twitter
• Recording expenses from receipts
• Making copies, collating, stapling packets for classes or events
• Making coffee (lol)
• etc. etc. etc.

Here are some tips for involving your teen:

• Pay what you would an outside hire or it defeats the purpose and your teen feels used.
• Give regular feedback on a job well done.
• Set a schedule and hold her/him to it. Teach responsibility and commitment.
• Let your teen do a personal evaluation at the end of the week. You’ll be surprised how honest they are about their own performance.
• Ask about what they’ve seen you do that looks interesting to them. Let them stretch their limits and learn.
• Pay on time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nicole O’Dell, founder of Choose NOW Ministries and host of Choose NOW Radio: Parent Talk and Teen Talk, is a youth culture expert who writes and speaks to preteens, teenagers, and parents about how to prepare for life’s tough choices. She’s author of YA fiction, including the popular Scenarios for Girls interactive fiction series and the Diamond Estates Series (with the 4/1/12 release of The Embittered Ruby), and non-fiction for teens including Girl Talk, 2/1/12, which she wrote with her two daughters based on their popular advice column. Hot Buttons, O’Dell’s non-fiction series for parents (6/1/12, Kregel) helps pre-empt peer pressure by tackling tough issues. Visit www.nicoleodell.com for more info.