Talk to Me

 Read more from Eva-Maria here.

Found on a UK teen's desk:

"All I want you to do is to talk to me.

I know I'm grumpy sometimes, but I'm not grumpy at you. If I was angry at you, I wouldn't even be sitting there listening to what you have to say, right?

I know I'm not easy to get along with, but I have so many things going on that overwhelm me – I don't have a girlfriend, I don't know what to get Oscar for his birthday because I don't have a job and I don't want to bludge money off you again, my pimples ruined my week because everyone looked good in the class photo, apart from me. Again. I don't hate you, I promise – I just have so much going on, and if I'm not deep in thought about one thing, I'm worrying about another. So I'm sorry if I snap when you ask a question out of the blue.

But please talk to me.

I'm not an alien. You say you were my age once, and you turned out okay. Please talk to me like you talk to each other. I wouldn't know how to start a conversation – I try sometimes, but you're both busy, and I get that. But please talk to me when you can. Don't give up on me yet…"

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After this heartbreaking letter, I've decided to come up and share a few easy and quick ways you can stimulate that conversation with a teen even during a busy day!

ONE

Write them a note if you're leaving early, and leave paper and an envelope for them to reply to it.

Try the same with drawings or sketches if your teen is 'arty'. While my uncle was visiting, he has a cool way to write letters – instead of letters, he'll draw a picture of something, that begins with the letter he needs. For example the word 'hello' will have a sequence of drawings of: Hedgehog, Egg, Lamp, Lollipop, Owl. Takes aaaages to write a letter like that, but so worth it to read!

TWO

When you're in the car, either turn off the CD player completely, or keep it off until every person in the car has shared interesting news they found out today/yesterday.

THREE

Whenever something exciting or interesting happens to you, TXT them. Seriously, random TXTs from adults about something weird are so COOL!

FOUR

Plan for an activity every other weekend (if possible), and go somewhere where you can talk while doing something – a nice walk down the waterfront, biking, rowing, etc.

FIVE

Remember what you give is what you get. If you won't talk to them, don't expect them to talk to you more after that. 🙂

Eva-Maria