“Co-Parenting Teens” on the Next “Co-Parenting Matters” Show

Parenting adolescents is hard work in general, but what unique challenges come with parenting teens across two households?  We’ll explore this question on Sunday night’s episode of “Co-Parenting Matters” on BlogTalk Radio.

We’ll be joined by Annie Fox, an educator, award-winning author, and online adviser to teens and their parents. Annie helps teens get what they need for healthy social/emotional development.

We’ll also be joined by Samantha Gregory, mom of a 14-year-old daughter (and younger son), who foundedRichSingleMomma.com to empower her fellow single mommas to overcome personal obstacles and to become joyful and prosperous.

We hope you’ll join the conversation as well!  That’s Sunday night, 9/12 at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT on BlogTalkRadio (call in 646.378.0580, chat, or tweet with us @coparentingshow!)

Courtesy of Annie Fox, we are giving away a copy of Book 1 in her Middle School Confidential Series, “Be Confident in Who You Are!” There are 2 ways to enter the giveaway:

1) Leave a comment below sharing one of your middle school memories…happy or horrific.

or…

2) Answer this trivia question: Name one of  Annie Fox’s tips for teaching your daughter relationship smarts.Visit anniefox.com to find out.  Those posting correct answers  in the comments section below will be entered into the drawing.

You can enter right up to Sunday night’s show.  We’ll announce the winner on air and in Twitter.  Enter as often as you’d like!

Check Out “Drama Misty”

Don’t miss Drama Misty, the latest blog post from WeParent Connect member, Sara Shay Sullivan in which she poetically ponders the wonders of parenting a thirteen-year-old on the front side of womanhood.   Check out this excerpt:

Today Drama Misty decided for the third time in as many months that she’s, “never going to tell me anything again.” And after checking with Merriam-Webster for the definition of “never”, which for the record is synonymous with “tomorrow” in thirteen-speak, I realized we were headed to Act II, Scene 1 of the lifetime dramedy that is her life.  

Read the rest on WeParent Connect…

Help!–The Trouble with Teens

So, I have two demanding full time jobs, yet the thing that takes most of my mental energy and makes me question myself more than anything else in my life is my performance as a father. I am a college professor and a lawyer with my own practice. Despite the energy and pressure associated with both of my “jobs,” I end up late at night praying and wondering if I’m doing the right thing most often after sending my eleven-year-old sixth grade daughter to bed early yet once again. It may be the fifteenth eye roll of the night or the mumbling under her breath or me having to ask for her to put her dishes away SEVEN times that precipitated the early bedtime; but the cause of the consequence is inconsequential, it’s the aftermath that’s most important. The aftermath is my sheer frustration and confusion. It goes like this:

 

ME: Damn, did I overreact? What just happened? How did things escalate so quickly?

VOICE IN MY HEAD (since I don’t have a wife to bounce things off of):  Well, you probably didn’t need to send her to bed early just because you had to ask her to put her books away a few times.

ME: A few times???? Is seven a few?

VOICE IN MY HEAD: Well, she’s 11. This is normal. She is struggling too.

ME: Yeah, but I am not going to have a self-absorbed little girl in this house. There are too many people suffering for her to expect the world to revolve around her.

VOICE IN MY HEAD: Well, that’s understandable, but step back, take a breath and get some perspective. You have an amazing, powerful, intelligent, funny, beautiful little girl. So, she may be insolent from time to time as most girls her age are, but she is a good girl.

ME (calming down): Well, she does do excellent in school. She loves to read, does her homework without issue, plays sports with enormous heart, is very funny and has developed a feminine wisdom that has steered me in the right direction numerous times. (Guilt begins to kick in). Yeah, but she needs to be humble.

VOICE IN MY HEAD: Well, be careful about that. She is at a vulnerable age. We need our young sisters to maintain that confidence, the belief in themselves. Not only the self confidence, but also the self-esteem. So many times society will tell our young girls to quiet down, not laugh so loud, don’t always comment, don’t be so disagreeable, go along with the program, etc…

ME: Good point. So, where is the balance? What do I do?

And that is the question, I find myself asking so often. What do I do?

So, as a parent, this is my current state of struggle. Being a Dad has been the greatest joy I have experienced in my life, without question. It is my role as Dad that has given me my greatest sense of purpose and sense of belonging in this world. Up until about three months ago, it has been relatively easy and made a lot of sense. Recently, as described above, things began to get confusing.

For my inaugural blog, there were many wonderful things I could have written about to encapsulate my walk as Dad. However, I felt that expressing my confusion and challenges was most appropriate to start the conversation. As we move forward in our dialogue, you may see from me more questions than answers, but I firmly believe through these conversations, we as parents, will, and must, get better. Let’s discuss the loving moments…and the challenging ones too. Let’s learn from each other, grow together, vent, share, laugh, cry…and…grow! I look forward to the discussion, and so I say in advance…hello, nice to meet you and thank you.

Whitney Traylor, J. D.

Whitney Traylor is a professor, attorney, author and single father of an eleven year old daughter, Kameelah.  He is a Professor in the Management Department at Metropolitan State College teaching employment and business law.  He is also the Senior Attorney at his law firm, the Traylor Law Group, LLC.  The Traylor Law Group specializes in employment discrimination.   Whitney has enjoyed a great deal of success as a litigator having never lost a trial in Federal or District Court.  Whitney has also written a book entitled DAD Under Construction, and is currently working on his second book, In Search of Spirit. Whitney is a graduate of Morehouse College, Cum Laude, and Emory University School of Law.

In addition to his law practice and teaching, Whitney is frequently sought out to deliver speeches on various topics including youth violence, fatherhood and parenting, law, race, and motivation.  He has given hundreds of speeches to audiences of less than ten to over two-thousand.

To learn more about Whitney or to order a copy of his book, please visit his website at www.whitneyspeaks.com.