How to Bond with Your Millennial Teenager?

Teenage is the transition period between childhood and adulthood and is probably the most positively tumultuous period of a person’s life. It's in this period that a personality hardens and a child gets to know itself better, but this period sometimes proves to be quite difficult for parents to negotiate successfully. The communication gap definitely widens in this period because from now onwards, you can't direct/lead your child towards certain actions because now the child will become more profound in acting as an independent entity.

However, this seemingly period based parental issue becomes a lot more complicated if you are dealing with a teenager who belongs to the millennial generation. The millennial teenager is highly different from teenage children from previous generations in the sense that it is being raised up in an environment that boasts of global connectivity, access to every piece of information and more rights and awareness. This makes it quite hard for parents to find common ground with the teenager and relate to its world.

So to strengthen the bond and make sure that the relationship flourishes, you, as a parent, need to keep up with your millennial teenage child and know more about its world.

Be Tech savvy:

The millennial teenager is growing up in an age where technology has grown in leaps. Likes are the new social acceptance criteria and cat ear filters are the new fun thing to do with friends in this world. Your teenagers can now even go “Live” just like a football match on television and it’s a matter of time before things like Artificial intelligence based things like home and mobile assistants become more commonplace too.
To relate to the millennial teenager, a parent definitely needs to be in the know of what’s trending in the tech led social space so that there is definitely something to talk about at the dinner table. This will allow your teenager to view you as someone just like it, making it easier for him/her to relate to you and start developing a bond.

Maintain your health on a high priority basis:

Being fit and healthy is highly important for any person but when it comes to the importance of doing that as a parent of a millennial teenager, you are definitely in for a high-stakes task. The preferences and inclinations towards being healthy is almost like an obsession in younger people nowadays as a study pointed out that youngsters below twenty years of age are more likely to spend more on healthy products than their predecessors.  

This health conscious generation would obviously not like people who are not concerned with their own bodies and health, so it's imperative that parents start getting fit themselves as well by following the same agendas as their teenagers. Being more like them will also be beneficial for your own health as well, and despite a tight schedule you can still get in shape easily if you are in for being as good at fitness as your own sons and daughters.

Being environmentally conscious:

The millennial teenager of today is more conscious and aware of what’s happening around it due to the massive explosion of information that it is exposed to each day, making it highly conscious of anything that’s wrong. One of the highest priority agendas of millennial teenagers is to be and act in a friendlier manner to the environment. Millennials are now willing to spend more on environmental products consciously and the trend is likely to become more and more strengthened with the passage of time.

As a parent of a similar teenager, you need to know, take care of and be involved in the issues that your child has a greater interest in, making it easier for them to identify with you and view you as someone that understands and respects them. You can make your teenager learn more about how they can help the environment and make him/her see that you too are actually concerned about something that they holds an interest in, helping the bond to become stronger.

Parenting is a never-ending job, replete with challenges and complexities, but you do love your child at the end of the day and you want to be with him/her at all the stages of their life. A teenage millennial child of today might be different in a lot of ways than you, but you still need to try and make sure that you are never far away from them or their views and opinions. Your valuable support will help them grow more maturely and learn to see you as someone who will always understand what they have to say.

“Brooke Whistance is a passionate health and lifestyle blogger who loves to write about prevailing trends. She has been living in Los Angeles, California with her family including, her parents and two siblings. She is a featured author at various authoritative blogs in the health and fitness industry and currently associated as a blogger with Hourglass Express, providers of quality waist trainers, belly bands, and other weight loss products. You can always follow her at @IamBrooke94.”