When your choice must be upheld

"But," you exclaim. "I am firm. I do insist. I keep on insisting. All in vain. He keeps on going his own way and disregards me."

Again you may need to check yourself. Have you slipped back into your own old way? Have you been disregarding your teen-ager? Have you been neglecting to accept his feelings? In your effort to have him regulate his acts, have you been turning your focus onto his behavior alone?

He likes a certain friend. She likes a certain dress. You have good grounds to disapprove of both. Do you listen nonetheless to know how your children feel about them?

And when you differ and ask that your adolescent act in accordance, do you expect him to accept this sweetly? Or do you think back on how you used to feel when similar things happened to you in your adolescence? Did you feel sweet?

Remind yourself once again to expect your adolescent to rave or gripe when you gainsay him, remembering that there will be more chance of his accepting what you say about how he should act when you have accepted what he says about how he feels.