Maintaining a Good Relationship With Your Parents

by Weilin

Parents! They can be insanely hard to get along with. Most of us take a while to learn from experience, and in the meantime continue making all the mistakes that could have been avoided if someone more experienced had just said something about it. Some of that experience is embedded in this article, and may be able to help you learn without the scars of experience.

Have you ever quarrelled with your parents and ended up feeling upset? Or ever felt that your “parents are a pain”? Have you also felt lonely and forlorn because your parents don’t seem to understand you at all? Well, this article seeks to address the problems a teenager may face in a parent-child relationship.

Every family is different, with diverse personalities, customs, beliefs, and even different ways of connecting to one another. There is no one "right" kind of family. Whether parents are authoritarian or lenient, boisterous or quiet, home has to be a place of love and encouragement, with acceptance of each other’s feelings.

I’ll be honest. My parents and I do not share a wholly perfect relationship. We have disagreements sometimes, yet I love my parents very much. A relationship with your parents is something that should be treasured, especially since parents will not be around forever.

So how do we maintain a good relationship with our parents?

Keep communicating
It is a good idea to keep the lines of communication open. You don’t have to have “deep” discussions about current affairs. This means talking regularly about what is happening in your life and how you feel about it. It is important to be honest and trusting, these are ingredients for a healthy relationship. When people share their opinions and feelings, they develop a greater understanding of each other's likes and dislikes. This helps your relationship with your parents to grow ultimately.

Try to be accepting of differences
It is not uncommon to have a parent who has vastly different ideas, interests and opinions from your own. This is especially so because of the generation gap between our parents and us. And yes, it is indeed difficult trying to sort out our differences. It may be helpful to calmly discuss those differences. Respecting someone else's choices and opinions may help them to respect yours. You may choose to:
Respect their right to an opinion but not accept their opinion
Understand your parent’s point of view
Accept that your opinion needs to change
We are all different and the world would be really boring if we were all the same. Trying to accept differences, especially between you and your parents, can help make you and the relationship healthier and stronger!

Respecting each other’s spaces
As much as your parents would love to lend a listening ear to your problems, it is paramount to understand that they have to work as well and may not be free all the time to help you. So we need to respect each other’s spaces sometimes. Also, remember that parents are not only your closest friends; they have to carry out the role of disciplinarians too. Laying down rules for the household may seem restrictive at times, but this is for the benefit of the entire family. For the foundation of a good relationship includes respecting one another’s principles, and similarly the foundation of a fine family includes respecting the regulations of the household. Therefore, the keyword is respect!

The three strategies above are but my ten cents’ worth of what makes up a good relationship with your parents. Yes, trying to strike up a proper conversation or simply maintaining a good relationship with your parents appears to be daunting tasks. Yet, it would be a shame to live your life without really getting to know the people closest to you. Maintain a good relationship with your parents so that you will live life with no regrets. Start now!