5 Ways for Moms to Connect with Their Teenage Children

If you are a mom, that might be a huge part of your life. Many mothers feel like the children they have are a part of themselves they put forth into the world. Their kids are like the walking, talking legacy they leave.

If you feel this way, you probably go out of your way to be close to your kids. You might do all kinds of activities with them, and maybe you manage to stay close for many years. However, that might change when your kids become teenagers.

The teen years can be challenging for moms because that can be a time when your kids will want to drift apart from you. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and you can even consider it natural. That being said, if you are on entirely different wavelengths now, you might feel sad about that.

You can find some methods to stay close to your teens if you get creative, though. Let’s talk about some ways that moms and teens can stay close, so you don’t lose track of what they’re doing and who they are.

You Can Take a Family Trip

If you’re a mom and you feel like your teen kids go to school and you work all the time, you might feel like ships passing each other in the night. If you arrange and go on a family trip, though, you can reconnect that way.

If you drive, you get to spend that time in the car together. On the way, you can talk to them about how they’re doing, how their schoolwork is coming along, what’s going on with their friends, and so forth.

You might decide to go to Branson, Missouri, for instance. There are lots of places to stay in Branson, and it’s a popular destination spot because it’s not that expensive as compared to some other desirable destinations, like Los Angeles or New York City.

Wherever you do decide to go, make sure it’s somewhere that appeals to all the family members. You do not want anyone to feel left out, so talk about it as a unit and determine what destination sounds best.

You Can Teach Them to Drive

You might not have thought about this before, but as a mom, teaching your teen to drive when they get to that age can be a great excuse to spend some time together. Your teen will doubtless want to learn how to drive. Getting their driver’s license is part of their path toward independence that we mentioned earlier.

You can get in the family car and take them to an empty parking lot or find a deserted neighborhood. There, you can teach them the basics, like three-point turns, adjusting their mirrors, and so forth.

This time together serves a practical purpose, but it also puts the two of you in the same location at the same time, and that’s a bonding opportunity. If they need to learn how to drive, they’ll probably need your help, and you will likely relish that rare time together.

You Can Go See a Movie Together

Your teen might not want their friends to see you in public with them once they get to a certain age. Moms embarrassing their kids seems like a rite of passage, a tale as old as time.

You might ask them if they would like to see a movie with you somewhere a little further afield from your house, where their friends are not as likely to see them. That should alleviate any potential embarrassment, and it’s a chance for the two of you to have some alone time.

You can attempt to convey to them that you want to stay close with them, and if your schedules don’t allow you to see each other very much, this can be a deliberate way for you to reach out. You can mention that you want to spend more time with them because you’re not seeing as much of each other, and hopefully, they will understand and comply.

You Can Take Them Out for a Meal

You can always go out for a nice meal with the whole family, which can save you from cooking for one night. However, you might also ask your teen occasionally if they would like to go out to lunch or dinner with you, just the two of you.

If you tell them that you two can go to their favorite restaurant, that might be enough to get them to agree. Again, you can emphasize that you want some alone time with them if you two seem to be on different schedules.

If you have other kids, you can tell them that you’ll arrange special times for you to go out with them as well, but you want to remain close with each of them individually. This will hopefully stop any jealousy if they feel like you’re giving one of them preferential treatment.

You Can Have a Spa Day with Them

You might also set up a spa day with your teen. You can go and get massages together, or you can get facials and manicures.

If that doesn’t appeal to your teenager, maybe you can arrange for the two of you to go to a sporting event together. If there’s a local sports team they like, you can get good seats and enjoy the game, just the two of you.

The event that the two of you can do together will all depend on what they like to do. If they’d prefer to go to an art museum or a play instead of sports or a spa day, that’s fine too. The point is that you two have some quality time together.

If you make it clear that you want to stay close with your teen, they should respond favorably. They might want their independence, but they probably still love you just as much as they did when they were younger.