How to Be Cool Around Your Kids
Dress appropriately., Listen to your child., Learn about youth culture., Respect privacy., Offer to give your child and a few friends a ride home from school rather than making them ride the bus., Reward good behavior., Protect your child., Treat...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Dress appropriately.
Buy some cool new clothes.
Cool does not mean the whole rapper outfit.
For example, instead of wearing your floral shorts and your old, torn up "The Monkees" shirt, or trying to dress like a rapper with baggy shirts, falling off your butt jeans and a gangster hat, wear nice, darker dress shoes, darker, well fitting jeans and a plain white dress shirt if you're a father.
If you're a mother, try cute flats or cute high heels (Just don't wear hooker boots), flattering jeans (Any color, and, if you can pull them off, skinny jeans) for your body, a nice, fun-but-stylish-and-mature shirt (Pick a color that compliments your hair color, eye color, skin color etc.), and maybe a cute necklace and/or a bracelet.
Hair doesn't really matter, just have a clean but fun, stylish cut, with a nice colour (In other words, not a strange color.
Either dye it an average color, or let it be natural) so that, all in all, you are stylish.
Those outfits are cool and stylish.
You can be stylish and mature at the same time.
Don't wear high socks or short shorts.
You don't want to embarrass your child when you drive him or her to school. -
Step 2: Listen to your child.
Understand what he or she is saying.
Get to know the vocabulary, like the following
- Like, hey, wassup, yo, dude and others.
Your child does not want you to sound like a teen, but you must understand what is said when talking.
You can use some of the language in moderation, but, you know, don't greet your kid's friends saying "Yo, wassup, radical dude?!" Because that isn't how anyone cool talks.
That's just freaky.
Also, remember that words/sayings come and go as being cool.
Even if the saying "He-ey" was cool in the 70's, it really isn't now. , Look up on the internet about new things.
Learn about teens from the newspaper or on television. , Develop trust and responsibility with your child.
Talk without prying into everything.
If he or she wants you to know something, your child will tell you.
Do not talk about your child to other children unless you have their permission first. , As you ride, try not to talk about their private life.
Talk about school, new movies and new music. , Buy them a small gift for being nice to their little sister.
Buy the little sister a small gift when she is nice to her big sister. , Provide a secure and stable home environment.
Be a responsible adult role model as you support your child.
Your child must know he or she is safe because you will always be there. , Make sure everyone has equal access to the living spaces, but that each also has a purely private space.
Treat them with the same degree of respect you would require if you were sharing a house with non-family members. , A kid may seem like they want nothing to do with you when you drop them off in your '84 Cadillac with Oldies playing full blast, but at the end of the day, when something goes wrong, they come to you for help.
You are their first love, and they will always return to you for your aid and advice if you let them know you have it and will provide it. -
Step 3: Learn about youth culture.
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Step 4: Respect privacy.
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Step 5: Offer to give your child and a few friends a ride home from school rather than making them ride the bus.
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Step 6: Reward good behavior.
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Step 7: Protect your child.
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Step 8: Treat your teens as house-mates.
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Step 9: Be a good parent.
Detailed Guide
Buy some cool new clothes.
Cool does not mean the whole rapper outfit.
For example, instead of wearing your floral shorts and your old, torn up "The Monkees" shirt, or trying to dress like a rapper with baggy shirts, falling off your butt jeans and a gangster hat, wear nice, darker dress shoes, darker, well fitting jeans and a plain white dress shirt if you're a father.
If you're a mother, try cute flats or cute high heels (Just don't wear hooker boots), flattering jeans (Any color, and, if you can pull them off, skinny jeans) for your body, a nice, fun-but-stylish-and-mature shirt (Pick a color that compliments your hair color, eye color, skin color etc.), and maybe a cute necklace and/or a bracelet.
Hair doesn't really matter, just have a clean but fun, stylish cut, with a nice colour (In other words, not a strange color.
Either dye it an average color, or let it be natural) so that, all in all, you are stylish.
Those outfits are cool and stylish.
You can be stylish and mature at the same time.
Don't wear high socks or short shorts.
You don't want to embarrass your child when you drive him or her to school.
Understand what he or she is saying.
Get to know the vocabulary, like the following
- Like, hey, wassup, yo, dude and others.
Your child does not want you to sound like a teen, but you must understand what is said when talking.
You can use some of the language in moderation, but, you know, don't greet your kid's friends saying "Yo, wassup, radical dude?!" Because that isn't how anyone cool talks.
That's just freaky.
Also, remember that words/sayings come and go as being cool.
Even if the saying "He-ey" was cool in the 70's, it really isn't now. , Look up on the internet about new things.
Learn about teens from the newspaper or on television. , Develop trust and responsibility with your child.
Talk without prying into everything.
If he or she wants you to know something, your child will tell you.
Do not talk about your child to other children unless you have their permission first. , As you ride, try not to talk about their private life.
Talk about school, new movies and new music. , Buy them a small gift for being nice to their little sister.
Buy the little sister a small gift when she is nice to her big sister. , Provide a secure and stable home environment.
Be a responsible adult role model as you support your child.
Your child must know he or she is safe because you will always be there. , Make sure everyone has equal access to the living spaces, but that each also has a purely private space.
Treat them with the same degree of respect you would require if you were sharing a house with non-family members. , A kid may seem like they want nothing to do with you when you drop them off in your '84 Cadillac with Oldies playing full blast, but at the end of the day, when something goes wrong, they come to you for help.
You are their first love, and they will always return to you for your aid and advice if you let them know you have it and will provide it.
About the Author
Martha Price
Writer and educator with a focus on practical hobbies knowledge.
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