New member? Introduce yourself here!

[taokat]

Welcome @backup! What an awesome reason and meaning behind your username. Love your thinking! That is a fantastic adventure for your daughter! 

It's lovely to meet you and to have you in the forums.

[taokat]

Hi @Ginger, welcome to the forum. It sounds like you have a lot to deal with at the moment. I hope your appointment with CAMHS is coming up soon. Does his father go to these appointments with you? It may be something to suggest to him if you haven't already. The CAMHS team can maybe help him with his understanding of it all. 

It's so sad when we feel we are losing our good relationship with our kids. There are some awesome threads on here about communication you may find helpful. 

You have come to very supportive place. Sometimes life does suck! Being amongst others who understand has been a great help for me. We're very happy to have you here 

[Trapet]

Hi I'm mum to a 19 year old with OCD and a 17 year old who suffers with extreme anxiety and paranoia last year things got so bad with the youngest he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 3 months things were slowly improving and we have now not been able to get him back to school for the last month ( he was only doing two subjects) we have tried long distance ed but he struggled without a teacher I'm terrified daily for him and his future I'm exhausted trying to work and raise my family I have some great people in my life but they just keep saying stay strong your great etc but after over 6 years of this I don't know how to keep being strong I googled support for parents and you guys came up I feel it's exactly what I need hearing from others in same situations people who truly understand

[Ngaio-RO]

Hi @Trapet Welcome to ReachOut Parents!! I'm so sorry you've been doing it so tough for so long. You're clearly a devoted and loving parent but it doesn't mean it's not exhausting. There are many parents here who describe that feeling of being bone-tired and weary beyond belief. 

So if hearing from other parents who have 'been there' then you are absolutely in the right place!!

My suggestion is for you to start a topic about your situation so it doesn't get lost in here with the introductions.

If you click here it should take you straight to a page to begin on.

We're so happy to have you. We hope you stick around.

[Piccola]

Hi Everyone,

1) I'm a single parent of two teenagers - 16 and a 15 year old. They constantly make me laugh (sometimes intentionally, other times out of frustration :])

2) Laughter is key to getting through stressful times of which there has been a bit of particularly regarding my son. Thankfully in my household we have the ability to laugh at ourselves 

3) I've really benefited from ReachOut's services such as the online parenting coaching and would like to help other parents

4) There is help out there and sometimes just speaking with other parents who are non judgemental can really help. Every child is different and so there's no one size fits all approach to parenting teenagers even within the same household

5) No schedules, slow cooking, binge watching or reading!

[Ngaio-RO]

Welcome @Piccola So wonderful to have you here.

I've wanted to start a topic on coaching for a while now. How would you feel about kickstarting it by sharing your experiences? If you're up for it, just click here and let rip. No stress if you're not.

We're very happy to have you here!

[Sophi-RO]

Welcome to our newest members:

@mavia @unica-hija @Oceanentity @Westy & @MamanPlease let us know a little more about you by answering these:

1. How old are your kids and what is one thing they've done recently that made you laugh?
2. Parenting can be really stressful - how do you try to keep those stress levels down?
3. What led you to ReachOut Parents today?
4. Whats your top tip for parents whose kids are about to enter teenage years?
5. Whats the best thing about weekends?

[Ngaio-RO]

Welcome new parents to ReachOut Parents Community!!

Hi @Gander  @Dearson  @Prigaw0612  @Jayne-Gullick and @mamimu  So happy to have you here!

We'd love you to say hi and tell us a bit about yourself and your teenager/s.

[Purpleiris]

Hi ... A bit about me:

i have three kids aged 20, 18 and 16.  My ex and I still have regular family dinners with the kids, and sometimes the sum total of conversation is the kids reading out random stuff from Reddit, like the boy who will rate out of 10 the taste of anything eaten over rice.  

I deal with parenting stress by talking to my friends and when I can, spending unstructured time on my own with absolutely nothing to do.

I've been raising my kids in a co-parenting arrangement with their dad for six years now, right through the teenage years, and somehow we've managed to make it work.  I'd be happy to support others if I could as it's the support of friends that gets you through.

My advice to parents whose kids are becoming teenagers is to sit and actively listen to what they say to you, listen carefully to their words cos as they get older they say less and less about their true feelings. Give them the chance to say what they think without interruption, cos they are learning how to express themselves like adults and it takes a long time to become good at it!  I wish I had been given that advice that sooner.

Best thing about weekends is sleeping in ... in my dreams that is :-)

[St_George-]

My wife and I are older parents (55+) with a 13 yr old daughter who is almost permanently angry, disrespectful and verbally abusive toward us. She has been difficult since she was 5 or 6. We've been to counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists... She is testing the boundaries all the time (of course) but now she is refusing to hand over her electronics at night. Every night is fraught with tension.
To reduce stress I swim every morning and practise transcendental meditation; my wife does Pilates.
Weekends? People are more relaxed.
Laughter? John Oliver's show.
Top tips? Ha. Maintain a sense of humour and grab laughter where you can.