Bill Corbett

Connecting with a teen is much different than bonding with a child.  It requires having a strategy to get through the outer emotional layer created by a condition many teens suffer from known as PARENT ALLERGIES.  It also requires having patience and being persistent with their knack for deflecting a parent’s attempts to connect. Case in point, I was away for several days recently, conducting lectures in another state.  When I arrived home my teenage step daughter Olivia was sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen doing her nails. I stood on the opposite side of the bar and greeted her whole heartedly.  In her typical teenager tone of voice she responded with the word “Hi” as if she was asking a question.  I asked her a few basic questions such as “how was school,” and “what’s new.”  She answered with single words like “fine,” or “OK,” still in the disgusted question sort of tone.  After a few moments of silence while maintaining my gaze and stan...