Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
Looking for the best preteen advice? Here are some ways to ensure you are raising preteen girls who make smart choices.
Hey my friend,
Let’s have a chat today about preteen girls advice.
Have your kids reached that age where they aren’t really “kids” but they aren’t yet teenagers?
If so, you might be facing very different issues than you were when they were little.
These pre-teen years usually takes place between the ages of 9-12 years and provide a little bit of a sneak peek into what’s in store for you in the years that follow.
Now for the good news:
As a parent, you can definitely help your tweens make smart choices.
Yep, it’s true.
Not all of your advice will fall on deaf ears and if you have special advice to share with your kids, now is the time to do so.
Here’s the thing: Children often grow up SO MUCH faster than their parents would like or expect them to.
For me, I feel like it happened in a blink of an eye.
One moment they were babies and then toddlers and then preschoolers and then suddenly in middle school and embracing their tween years.
Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
One thing to note is that your tweens probably live in a less sheltered and less reserved world than you did when you were growing up.
Because of this, they’re exposed to all kinds of experiences and some of this stuff might really surprise you.
Most of this is due to advances in technology and obviously the Internet and it is important to keep their access to these things in mind.
As a parent, you want to keep your kids safe, but at the same time you also don’t want to keep them from enjoying all that life has to offer.
At this age, they need both guidance and freedom.
This can feel a bit like challenging balancing act at times to pull off, but just know that it is possible.
Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
Relationships with Friends and Loved Ones
Helping your young tweens navigate relationships is just one of the important duties you’ll have as a parent of a child who’s almost a teenager.
The peer relationships that adolescents have can be volatile at times.
If you haven’t been warned before now, consider this to be your warning!
Best friends can seemingly hate each other overnight and then go back to being best friends a few days later.
I swear, this can be difficult to wrap your head around.
Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
To help your tween with relationships that don’t involve a dating or a “crush” component, there are several things you can do, including:
Ensure your pre-teen has someone to talk to.
- This might be you, a trusted family member, or another adult in your spiritual community. Who can they talk to that will listen with a loving and non-judgemental heart?
- Be willing to listen with zero judgement, even if you don’t always agree with their opinion. This may be hard to do but keep practicing. The better you become at listening without judgement, the higher your chances are of your child continuing to come to you again in the future.
- Try not to judge your tween’s friends too harshly unless there’s obvious danger. You may not like them all. You may not connect with them instantly. But that’s okay. There could still be a loving yet shy friend existing inside that body that you haven’t yet discovered.
- I think it is super important for tweens to have a variety of friends, not just the ones from school. As a parent, you can make time for other loved ones to be part of your child’s life, like cousins, old family friends, other relatives, especially those who are aging such as grandparents.
Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
ADVICE Relationships with the Opposite Sex
In the years right before a child becomes a teenager, the idea of a boyfriend or girlfriend will probably start to appeal to them (maybe, maybe not!).
For some tweens this is a serious issue.
For others, it’s not even an interest.
Either way is normal so don’t assume that your child has a problem based on his or her level of interest in having a romantic relationship.
For these kinds of relationships, parents can be both a help and a hindrance.
Too much pressure to avoid these interactions can mean that your tween might feel smothered and consequently try to rebel.
Too few limitations may encourage your child to do something they’re not yet ready for.
Once again, we are looking for a healthy balance that keeps your child face.
Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
To avoid these extremes, consider these tips:
1 – Allow your tween to spend supervised time with his or her “love” interest, for example while at the movies with a large group of friends.
2 – Talk frankly about relationship issues, including respect for their body, at the appropriate time.
3 – Avoid activities that provide unsupervised time with their romantic interest.
4 – Ensure you know where your pre-teen is and what he or she is doing.
I know that this can sound super scary but do you remember what it was like to be a tween?
For the most part, you want to stay safe and do the right thing.
Of course, it’s impossible to know what your tween is doing every single second of the day, so you still need to pay attention.
But it’s best to do this out of love rather than a sense of needing to control their every move.
Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
Ask yourself instead these questions:
How can you support your child during this stage?
What do they need from you?
How can you maintain an open communication line with them?
The truth is that at some point, you will need to have trust in your child.
You will need to have faith that you have raised them well.
The truth is you can’t be everywhere with your tween all the time but that doesn’t mean you need to worry incessantly.
Consider placing some trust in your tween instead, especially if it has been earned.
Preteen Girls Advice – Raising Switched On Preteen Girls
In the end, staying emotionally close to your tween can be tricky during this pre-teen stage but it’s important to keep the communication lines open now.
Keep them open wide!
I promise, this effort is important and worth your time, especially if it continues to serve you well during their teenage years.
Do your best to stay involved in your tween’s life – as a parent, not just a friend.
Don’t back down on issues that you really feel strongly about and they will eventually learn to respect your decisions.
Note: They might not always LIKE your decisions, but there will be an understanding that abiding by them is required.
All in all, consistency in your parenting approach can go a long way toward helping your tween make positive choices now and in the future.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck!
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I’m Frances Vidakovic – a mindset & action coach for quietly ambitious women who want to stop overthinking and finally take aligned action. I help women achieve their goals and follow through on what matters, without sacrificing their sanity or soul.