#54 What Do You Expect?
This episode focuses on expectations and parenting. To be human is to have expectations. Our expectations can help us feel hopeful. They can help us get through hard times and transitions. But they can also cause parents a lot of pain and be the impetus for drama. Recently, one mom told me, “I have been so much happier lately. Since I have adjusted my expectations, things have been so much better between me and my teenage daughter.
This got me thinking about how big a role expectations play in parenting. They have a big impact on you and your teen.
We will explore realistic vs. unrealistic expectations, no expectations vs. high expectations. We’ll explore why teens have immature expectations. And why competing expectations between parents and teens can be a big source of drama. This is especially relevant in the holidays.
Parenting is difficult because every day there are conflicting and often unexpressed expectations between parents and teens. The daily battle is often the competing expectations between immature expectations of the teen and the mature expectations of the parent.
I close the podcast with some tips for managing these competing expectations in the holidays.