Recently we sat down with dozens of parents from across Colorado to find out more about their relationships with their youth.
What we learned:
Nearly all of them have concerns about how well they are doing at raising their growing kids and face difficulties staying connected to them.
Here is what some of them shared — proof that, if you face challenges as a parent, you’re not alone.
“It’s minute-to-minute. I can see three different people in a four-hour time span. I’ll come home, and he’s happy and talkative and wants to share and hang out. And then an hour later, I’m like, ‘Dude, what do you think about this?’ And he’s like, ‘Get away.'”
“I could tell something was off with my son; he was sad and withdrawn. He stayed in his room all night, mostly just sleeping. He did not want to eat either. I am not overly confident that I know the right thing to say most of the time. One of the biggest challenges during these times is not being able to get my son to tell me exactly what is wrong. A lot of the time he just says ‘Nothing.’”
“I really think the lack of time in the day makes it more difficult to build a better relationship. With today’s economy, we end up working so much that I feel it takes away from valuable family time.”
“She has felt isolated when drama with friends comes up. The hardest thing is not knowing exactly how to help or what they really need. ‘Do I need to listen only? Do I need to offer advice? Do I try to fix things myself?’ Lots of things go through my mind and finding the right thing in the moment is hard.”
“I feel that I don’t have enough time that I would like to be with him. Between work and chores, I feel that I have limited time and have to choose between myself or my son.”
“Both boys when they started going through puberty went through a dark time. I am not sure I will ever know what was going on internally. There were outward signs and statements – different behavior, different personality. It was very concerning.”
“He will talk with me about school or sports problems, but he does not tell me about problems with a girlfriend or friend groups, even though I ask. When we are driving to school, I try to initiate conversation about general things. When he is tired, it is hard to get him to open up.”
