Best parenting tip ever

This is the one thing we keep coming back too especially in our work with parents of teens. It's incredibly simple, but not always easy. It is to factor in a "pause" if you are having a tense moment with your teen. Take a breath or two (or 10!) and wait until you feel able to respond instead of reacting and maybe saying things you wished you hadn't. This also gives your teen the chance to be calmer and teaches them good skills. Sometimes we need longer than a few breaths, we may need 10 minutes to get outside and calm ourselves, that's fine too. We all get triggered especially as we are dealing with so much in the world right now and this will help enormously. Finally be kind on yourselves and if you don't manage to get that pause in, keep trying!