You have certain responsibilities as a parent of teenagers. You have a busy life. You can be a hero, or a goat depending on how you handle these responsibilities. It doesn’t matter if your last week was a hero (by remembering that you went to your daughter’s afternoon game) or if you are a goat this week (by forgetting that her soccer practice is at 5:00PM and not 5:30PM).
While you have the responsibility of remembering information about your children’s schedules, communication tensions between parents and kids can be both yours. I often hear about meetings, events, or meets from parents that are later than is ideal for me to schedule them. Children are naturally narrow-minded and see the world through their eyes. They will tell you that they need a ride at 5:30 PM today because they have to, and not because they needed it three days ago. It would have been a good idea to plan your day around such an errand.
These are common tensions. You will need a tool to help your children keep track of their calendars. It will also allow you to look into their schedules and make their events yours if you wish. Centralized calendaring, which is akin to project management, seems to be the best tool for the job. You may not need to know the times of your son’s track practice, but you will need to know when and where the meets are taking place so you can cheer on your future Olympian. You may not even need to see your daughters. You may not need to see your daughters for tests. However, you might be able to look into her schedule and help her to study.
The Solution
Calendar software such Google Calendar and Yahoo! Calendar software such as Google Calendar or Yahoo! You can also subscribe to calendars maintained elsewhere, such as your children, colleagues, or to view their events and calendars alongside your own.
ClearSync allows you to not only see other calendars you subscribe to but also to add events to your own calendar. This ensures that you don’t duplicate a crucial game with an important company meeting. This feature is not available in most calendaring systems.
If you are a coach or troop leader or any other activity leader, you can help parents be heroes to their children by creating an on-line calendar that they can also subscribe to. Parents will be more informed and their participation rates will increase. This will reduce tension between parents, children, and their involvement.
What are your thoughts on this parent-teen tension? What are your goals for being a Hero? status? Are you looking for tools to help you communicate with your teens? How can you keep your calendars synchronized when working on shared projects
Note: This article is not affiliated with any of these programs.
