Stay Under Your Own Umbrella! Modeling Healthy Boundaries for Your Teen

Biggest Takeaways: You have your own umbrella (so does everyone else) and underneath it are your own thoughts, feelings, values, etc. You are not responsible for what is under anyone else's umbrella – and no one else is responsible for what's under yours When you try to take responsibility for anyone else's thoughts, feelings, values, etc., you are under their umbrella, not your own When you're under someone else's umbrella, it means they don't have to be responsible for their own stuff – because you're doing the job for them Our teens have their own umbrellas and trying to control their thoughts, feelings, values, etc. will backfire When we dialog about what is good, loving, and healthy rather than what makes me happy, we can have more productive conversations When you have teens, there are lots of gray areas, and sometimes you hold conflicting values – you have to figure out what value has priority in that moment and situation My responsibility as a parent is to train, model, and reinforce with the hope that my teens will adopt my values and beliefs – they have the freedom to adopt or reject them You can join the Umbrella discussion here on FaceBook. To listen to other discussions between Tami and Amy, check out Episodes 9 and 10. Sign up here to receive Amy's weekly email.