#043 Back to the Routine: Set Yourself up to Have a Great School Year

Power Your Parenting: Moms With Teens

Today we are going to talk about the "4 Steps to Creating the Routine You Want". This is crucial to establish routines that work for you and your family this new school year.

It's easy to think that you are starting your year off with a blank slate, but it is never a blank slate. Here’s why. The truth is that the same issues and struggles that drove your crazy last year are going to reappear this year. And why is that? Patterns repeat. Your son and daughter will do what they normally do and then you and your partner will typically react like you normally do. Over time these verbal and behavioral exchanges become predictable patterns of interactions. These interactions are often unconscious and on autopilot and can be triggered with an eye-roll, disrespectful comment, or the infamous slammed door. And then your last years amnesia has shattered and you remember the draining teenage drama from the past.

You don’t want these unconscious patterns of interactions to become your “automatic routine” for your new year especially if they were fraught with drama.

Many parents fall into routines or patterns that are not working for them or for their teens. You may be aware of some routines and not be conscious of others. Because the fall semester is busy, it’s easy to go on automatic pilot and just tolerate disrespectful behavior day after day. And this becomes routine.

The good news is this year doesn’t have to be a repeat of last year. But things won’t automatically change you have to be intentional.

Listen to find out the "4 Steps to Creating the Routine You Want".

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