Sure Fire Tips When Your Teen Starts Dating

In every parent's life, there comes a time when they are faced with the difficult situation of dealing with their teenager as they begin to date. Here are some tips to help you better handle these situations.

Meet them

Make it more than a few times. As a parent, you should encourage your teenager and their interest to first spend time at your home before they begin to go out on dates. This will allow you to get to know them and make sure your son or daughter is spending time with a good person. Of course, you will never be able to find out everything about that person, but this way, you will at least be able to familiarize yourself with them.

Know the parents

Along with spending time with your teenager's interest, it is also a good idea to establish a good line of communication with their parents. Down the road, this will allow you to keep better track of where and what your teenager is doing and will help you ensure that they are not doing anything that they are not suppose to do. It is a good idea to invite their family over for dinner or meet them at your local restaurant.

Lay ground rules

Make sure you explain to your teenagers what is acceptable and what is not. Are you okay with them spending time in each other's bedrooms? What if they keep the door open? Take the time to explain to them what is okay to do and what is not in these situations so that there are no surprises from either side.

Let them date at public places

When they are ready to go on dates, make sure they only go to public places. Places like the movie theaters, restaurants malls are popular places that teenagers will enjoy attending and you will take comfort in knowing that they will not be able to do things that they are not suppose to with people around them.

Set Times

Set specific times when you expect them to be home by. If they go to a movie and you expect them back right after, make sure you explain this to them clearly. If they continually return when you ask them to, you can take that as a sign that you can start to trust them more and gradually allow them more leniency. If they do not respect your rules, you should take this as a sign of disrespect and work to rectify that situation.

Ask them to check in with you. Now that everyone has a cell phone, it's easy for your son or daughter to give you a quick call or text so that you know they are okay. Depending on how long their date will last, ask them to check in with you every few hours.

Have the talk

This goes without saying and in most cases, your teenager will have reached the age where they are already aware of the birds and the bees. In case they are not, however, it is important that they understand the birds and the bees and what they should expect. Make sure to clearly explain to them what certain actions may create. As uncomfortable as this may be, a better informed teenager will be better able to handle certain situations and will be able to make better decisions at a time when their hormones are going haywire.

Always be there for them

There are simple ways to help make a teen's first date a little less nerve wracking. They may take a walk for a half hour ahead of time to work the nervous energy out of their system before the big moment. It might also help them to avoid any caffeine or sugar on the day of the date since these will just help increase the anxiety they feel. They may even find that watching a good comedy that causes them to laugh out loud will help the nerves as well. Be supportive, dating anxiety will always be an issue for teenagers but there are ways to overcome some of the worst affects it may have on their lives.