Teens & Tweens Round-up: Learn & think

It’s quite scary that we have already reached the final round-up of 2017. It was quite an eventful year for young people. We heard some frightening statistics about teenage mental health. We read about the effects of social media on teen self-esteem, school work and exercise. Student finance was in the news and a significant number of our young people found their political voice during the general election.

Thank goodness we have a lovely band of bloggers who continually produce amazing articles to get us through the highs and lows of parenting tweens and teens. This month I have selected some posts that will give practical advice on the lead up to Christmas (the informative posts) and some posts where bloggers share their thoughts on some important topics.

Informative blog posts

Anyone who has ever tried to buy a Christmas present for teens or tweens will know just how hard it can be. Instead of resorting to vouchers (which let’s face it is the easiest option) there are some other ideas that won’t break the bank. Here are some blog posts that you may find useful:

• I have compiled a gift guide for students which is packed with ideas for items that students will love and which all cost less than £10. Check out my 10 amazing Christmas gifts for students for under £10 if you want to save yourself time and money this Christmas! 
• Liberty on the Lighter Side has a super useful post for those of us struggling to find a gift for teen boys whilst not wanting to be ripped off. 20 Quality Christmas Gifts for Teen Boys that Won’t Break the Bank will give you heaps of ideas.
• Old House in the Shires helps us out with some lovely natural gifts for those of us who feel that promoting sustainability and environmental friendliness is important. My Top 10 present ideas for Tweens and Teens this Christmas is just what you need to give you some environmentally-friendly inspiration.
• If you are looking for a new board game to play with the family this Christmas, I have a great review of a perfect game to play with older teens (14 years plus). Board games for teens review: Ginger Fox Which One? may be just the inspiration you need. 

Bloggers share their thoughts

I have always thought that there is no point in re-inventing the wheel when it comes to raising kids and nowhere is this more true than in parenting teens and tweens. Here are a few posts that I have hand-picked because they deal with issues that are common to many families.

• The Mad House of Cats and Babies shared a very useful post called Helping my tween to not make the skin mistakes I made which will be essential reading if adolescent skin problems have just become an issue in your family. 
• Hello cuppies shares a frank post called My 12 Year Old Son is Driving Me Nuts! which is something that I’m sure all parents can relate to.
• Me and the Mini Mes has a powerful post called Hide and Seek where he shares a personal experience of a 17 year old ‘running away’ and what that means.

I really hope that you enjoyed reading these as much as I did.  If you have a blog post that you think will be useful for Mums and Dads of tweens, teens or young adult children I would love to read it. You can submit it for consideration by emailing me at sharon.parry67@gmail.com. Have a great Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!