How to deal with teen mood swings

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Hope everyone is having a brat summer! We don’t know what that means or if we’re using it correctly but the kids are saying it and sometimes, it does hurt to ask. So we’re just rolling with it! Join us, won’t you?

Mood Swings or Something More?

Teens are moody. And yes, we know we win understatement of the year with that one. It’s wild—your kids could be thrilled to see you one minute and demand that you drop them off three blocks away from school because they’re mortified by your very existence the next. Anyone else have whiplash?

But it’s important for parents to know the difference between classic teen angst and actual troubling behavior. Is it hormones, or is it something a little deeper? How to know the difference → 

• It’s important to consider other factors like their stress level, self-identity, mixed feelings about their growing independence, potential neurodiversity, etc. Knowing what your kid’s dealing with helps you spot the difference between regular and irregular behavior.

• And regardless, it never hurts to encourage healthy sleep, exercise habits, and even a creative outlet for them to channel their frustrations.

As always, an open dialogue will make all the difference. Here’s a great list of tips to help you start the conversation and manage your child’s fluctuating moods.

Tackle Bedtime with Netflix Jr.’s Popular Podcast

• Made to help kids drift off to sleep

• Created with a childhood development expert

• Features stories from Netflix series like StoryBots

Listen to Bedtime Stories.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Moving is a logistical nightmare stuffed in a cardboard box. And? It can also be tough on kids.

Turns out…frequent moves during kids’ formative years (after the age of 10) can throw off a child’s sense of stability, heighten their stress level, and negatively impact their mental health. Kids who move twice or more are 61% more likely to develop depression. 

Sometimes moving is beyond our control—finances, divorce, being relocated for work, etc. So if “book moving truck” is on your to-do list in the near future, consider these resources for helping establish a homebase for your child, no matter where they’re living:

• Parents on Reddit share their POVs (and success stories!) for navigating a move with teens

• 6 tips to make moving with teens easier

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Remember silence? Neither do we. But it’s important that all parents are able to indulge in some self-care. These moms get it…and share the helpful ways they split the workload with their partners so that they’re both able to take a little time for themselves. A few examples:

• The 15 minute rule: When one parent is feeling overwhelmed, they clock out for 15 minutes to, as one mom puts it, “cry, sit in a tub, listen to music, whatever!”

• Designated days: Pick one day/timeframe per week that is your designated time away—a Saturday morning workout class, a weekly trip to the farmers’ market, doing absolutely nothing for an hour…whatever works for you.

• Divide and conquer: Splitting up household tasks makes everything run smoother and leaves more wiggle room for you and your partner’s respective hobbies.

Caring for yourself (and your partner) shouldn’t stop when you have a kid.

We’ve come a long way when it comes to deconstructing stereotypical gender roles. But our work is nowhere near done. 

Consider this: One-third of boys report feeling like society encourages them to suppress their feelings of fear or sadness. The pressure to be “tough” is unrelenting. So it’s on us to teach our boys that true mental toughness is rooted in being brave enough to be vulnerable. Here are some tools to help facilitate the conversation: 

• For our Common Parent fam, Dr. Brendan Kwiatkowski’s words of wisdom when it comes to encouraging your teenage son to express his emotions (sign up for a free trial to the Common Parent if you haven’t already!)

• How to talk to teen boys about their mental health

• Decoding Boys by pediatrician (and friend of our podcast!) Cara Natterson is a thoughtful, well-researched guide to help parents raise emotionally intelligent young men