My Well-Being

There may come a time when your teenagers let you know that, while they love your family traditions, they are just too old and too cool to participate in them anymore. Rather than stressing over coming up with entirely new traditions, there are some little things that you can do to alter your current traditions. This way they appeal to your older children, without having to change the traditions completely. With a few simple steps, this can be an easy process that you and your children can continue to enjoy your traditions into the future.

• Change Your Tune.
  Literally, change the music. If you have a family tradition that involves music, have your teenagers decide what music to use. Perhaps you have a "school's out" party at the end of the school year where you play yard games. Your teenagers would probably love to plug in their music devices and blast some tunes that they enjoy. Do you listen to music on road trips? Let each of your kids decide on a list of songs for each leg of the trip and they will be more likely to enjoy spending long hours in the car with you.
• Let Them Invite Some Friends.
  While you may want to keep traditions as a family gathering, there might be a few teenage years when it could benefit you to give in and let your teens invite a friend to participate. By fighting the friend factor, you might drive your children to not participate at all, but if you allow them to have a friend over, they might enjoy their time a little more, while still associating it as “family time.” Not to worry; many teens will outgrow this and eventually enjoy just being with their family for some fun family time.
• Have Your Teens Choose The Activity.
  There are some traditions that you might be able to keep, but with a different activity. Perhaps you have a birthday party game that you play at every birthday party. It may have been fun for smaller children, but perhaps your teenagers don't enjoy it. Let your teens choose the game they want to be the new birthday party game. You will still have the same game at every party as the tradition, but it will be geared more towards your older children's interests.