Author: Chaithali Pisupati

Boys change and act differently during puberty.  A few conversations with some doctors and counselors gave me some insight on what changes pubescent boys go through and how we as parents can help. Communication As a mother of an adolescent boy, it is important for us to adjust to their new communication style. There will no longer be stories and sharing, now it will be more of what you need to know so his needs are taken care of, like, ‘I need to leave early tomorrow’, which means ‘I need my stuff to be ready’.  Any attempt at conversation...

These are my daughters, I suppose. But where in the world did the children vanish? – Phyllis McGinley, Ballad of Lost Objects, 1954 Quite likely this is what goes on in our heads as our children turn into tweens.  Tween is a word coined for children aged between ten and twelve. Mine has a favourite line these days, ‘You won’t understand these things!’  Every time she says that I have new found respect for my mother. This is an age, in the words of a very old chocolate advertisement, when they are too old for toys and too young...

A teenager is bound to be very conscious of her body image. Body image is how you view your physical self, including whether you feel you are attractive, and whether others like your looks. While we can blame the exposure of the media, movies, internet and the fashion spheres for this kind of mind-set, as parents there are a few things that we can do to make our daughters more secure about their bodies. Instil Confidence and Encourage A Healthy Way of Life Weight is the top concern on any teenage girls’ mind. Most teenage girls, even the ones...

As a girl becomes a teenager; her internal physiological changes and that can bring on several physical and mental manifestations.  Here are a few issues that can concern a teenage girl. Some of these are linked more strongly to social and psychological issues, than to physical health, but can turn into health issues, if not taken care in time. Weight Weight features top on any teenage girls mind. Most teenage girls believe that their weight is not appropriate and that they are fat. Unfortunately even the ones in the adequate weight range believe so as well. As mothers, we...