Speak the Language

I gave up shouting up flights of steps long ago. If I want my teen's attention, I either text message her on her cell, or send her an instant message. These are where she 'is' so it just makes sense to 'find' her by seeing if she is on AIM (AOL instant message, her IM of choice), I have a much better chance of reaching her and having her respond. This is the best way to catch her, as I can see if she is online, so it's harder for her to 'not hear' me than a text message she can simply ignore.

There are also some fun ways to communicate with a teen. If your teen is on Myspace or Facebook, there are many applications (my favorite is "Flair" on Facebook- named after the Office Space movie character Jennifer Aniston played who is forced to wear "Flair" on her suspenders at Tchotckes restaurant) that you can 'send gifts' to your teen on- and you can also use the IM feature on one of these social networking sites with your teen. Just be careful not to comment on photos and embarrass them! (I can't help but do this once in awhile!)

Wow, much simpler when they are little, isn't it?! You just say "Lunch, honey!" and they come running!