Dear Parents and Guardians of our Parish's Middle and High School Teens,
Hello! This is the 13th issue of our Online Parent Ministry! I hope and pray that the OPM is useful for you! I encourage you to try one of the "Family Experiences!"
Each week, the OPM Emails include a theme, links to articles, conversation starters, videos, and much more to help you know more about your teen's world.
One permanent feature of our Online Parent Ministry is the "Family Experiences." Click on the link below and then click on whatever grade your teen is in this school year. You will find a few downloads including a page called "the Development Guide" that details all the physical, spiritual, and social changes your teen will experience at that particular age. It's full of good information! The other pages will help you plan that year's "Family Experience."
I was talking to a parent of one of our amazing teens after Mass last weekend, and she told me her family celebrated their son's 18th birthday using the "Manhood Ceremony" posted in the 12th-grade Family Experience. She said it was "fun to plan with her husband and son." She also added that it was "one of the best family experiences they had in a while - we loved it! We were all in a puddle of tears by the end of it!"
Please reach out if you have any suggestions or if you found a great resource for parents and families that you think I should include in future OPM emails!
Peace,
Parents! Please make every effort to attend our parish's Lenten Mission! Click above for more information!
Today's Online Parent Ministry email is all about how to have a strong and healthy relationship with your teen!
Many teens seem to want to distance themselves from their parents, but they really need you now more than ever! Check out this week's OPM resource below!
Dear Parents and Guardians,
As our teenagers move through their adolescent years, they naturally start to move more towards independence and further away from us as their parents. But, if we’re not careful, they will get to their young adult years, and we won’t have built any real relationship with them at all. I get it; building strong relationships with teenagers can sometimes be tricky to navigate. And, if we are honest, there are times when cultivating thriving relationships with a teen can prove to be downright exasperating.
However, if you long to build a healthy and thriving relationship with your teenager that will stand up through trials and the test of time, it’s going to require a strong relationship with God, intentionality, and a lot of investment from you as the parent. Building these relationships isn’t always going to be easy, but the ROI will pay rich dividends for you, your teens, and your entire family!
With that in mind, we want to provide you with some ideas, tools, resources, and a little needed encouragement to help you navigate building strong, healthy, and thriving relationships with your teenager.
School counselor and child and mental health advocate, Ruth Oelrich, theorizes that just as a child develops from a young child to an adolescent, the way the parent communicates with the child must change over time. Watch it and grow in your parenting!
Here is another way to deepen your faith this Lent! One of my Team Members shared with me a great resource - it's great! I want to share it with you! It's called "OurDailyVerse.com" Every day you get a beautiful graphic of a verse from scripture that you can share with others on your social media. There is a beautifully written devotional and prayer as well! Sign up today and check it out! Please share it with your teen!
Sunday Alive! is another resource that will help you and your family be more present and prepared to receive the message of the Mass! Read the readings before you come to Church, and take a look at the rest of the "Sunday Alive!" handout. It also contains the Saint of the Week, discussion questions for the family on the message of this Sunday's Gospel, and much more! Enjoy!
Please reach out if you ever have any questions, personal needs, or even suggestions for our Online Parent Ministry! I will send our usual weekly email on Thursday, Have a great week!
