I’m sharing how my teenage daughters and I stay active thanks to Playtex® Sport® and a few of the things we do to foster a strong mother-daughter bond as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars #PlaytexSportSquad.
Sometimes it astounds me that I’m the mother of three teenage daughters. What a responsibility! I remember the time that they were all little so clearly – like it was yesterday. And yet, here I am…with one who just finished her first year of college, another one winning awards singing in an all-girls quartet at her high school, and another running for student body office at her middle school.
The days of being a mother to little girls may be long gone, but I wouldn’t trade what I’ve got now as a mother to teens for anything. As much as I have always loved little kids – and as much as teenagers have always scared me – having a house full of teens has been a fun and rewarding adventure.
While I don’t claim to be even close to anyone’s definition of a perfect mom, I know that I’ve done at least a few things right, and I’m proud of the relationships that I’ve developed with my maturing daughters.
How to Build a Strong Mother-Daughter Bond With Your Teen
Here are a few things that we have done to foster a strong mother-daughter bond:
Schedule Mom-Daughter Time
Whether it’s planning to see a movie together in the theater, snuggling up in bed to watch Netflix together, sneaking away for a lunch date, or shopping for groceries together, making sure that we each carve out a little time in our busy schedules to fit in some one-on-one time is critical. It doesn’t matter so much what we do, as long as we make sure that it’s happening regularly.
Learn Something Together
It’s always more fun to discover new talents and hobbies with another person. Why not learn something as a mother-daughter team? Whether it’s taking a class together in the community, learning something together at home from YouTube or a book, or sharing a personal skill with each other, the time you spend learning something together is priceless.
Find a Common Interest
One of the most exciting things about being the mother of teenagers is seeing their “adult” personalities develop. As my girls have gotten older, they have found their own little niche of interests and talents – the things they feel most passionate about. I’ve enjoyed learning about each of my girls’ interests, and I’ve also found a few new passions and interests of my own through them. I will often look into the things they love (whether it’s a new TV show or music that they’re listening to or a new hobby that they’re interested in) and discover that I really like it, too.
Read Books Together
When I asked 2 of my daughters what some of their favorite mother-daughter bonding activities were, my youngest daughter said, “Reading together!” Don’t think that just because your kids are no longer reading picture books that they don’t want to snuggle up under a blanket and share a book with you. My kids love reading out loud and we’ll often switch off reading chapters – one of us will read while the other braids hair. Honestly, the hair-braiding/reading swap is one of my favorite activities ever as a mom.
Find a Physical Activity You Both Enjoy
I’ve spent many hours driving kids to sports practices and sitting through games on the weekends, but I’ve found that carving out time to be active together has been an extremely rewarding experience for me and my girls. Two of the activities we have enjoyed through the years have been long Sunday afternoon walks together (great for having long, deep talks!) and playing Just Dance together on the WiiU (great for loosening up and laughing together).
Text Each Other Regularly
When I was asked recently to share a parenting moment that made me smile, the first thing that came to my mind was testing with my teens. I love the convenience of texts, and I love that my girls will text at any time of the day to tell me news or ask a question. While I wouldn’t trade texting for face-to-face time, I’ve found that making myself accessible via text has opened up a ton of conversations and kept our relationship alive.
Openly Discuss Feminine “Issues”
Speaking of being available for conversations, I have always been of the mindset that there’s never anything that is taboo to talk about between us. If they have a question, a concern, or something they’re excited about, I hope they know that they can always come to me. Since my first daughter started her period about 6 years ago, we’ve had a lot of frank talks – sometimes silly and sometimes serious. Womanhood is something to celebrate. I always want my girls to feel comfortable talking about periods and pads, cramps and moods. It’s all a part of life!
Featured product: Playtex® Sport® Pads
Imagine a house with a mom and 3 girls over 12….that’s my world! Thank goodness we’ve got Playtex® Sport®, our pad of choice. Here are some of the great features of Playtex® Sport® Pads:
- FlexFit™ design so the pad moves with your body
- Anti-leak absorbent core
- Patented technology pulls moisture away and allows air circulation
- Ultra-soft, cottony cover
- Delivers on promise of “Sport®-level protection”
Are You “Fit To Play”?
What is your perfect fit? The “Fit to Play” quiz takes you through a series of questions to determine what your perfect sport fit is. The quiz also suggests a femcare product as your perfect product fit. You can then sign up for free samples within the quiz experience, too. Take the quiz HERE.
Connect with Playtex® Sport®
- Website: PlaytexPlayOn.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/playtexsport
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlaytexSportandGentleGlide
- G+: https://plus.google.com/104456896289544915621/posts
© 2015, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
Great post! I don’t have girls but still important to have a strong relationship with the boys too! Just in a different way!
we’re not at the phone level yet but i will text my daughter regularly too. actually both my daughters. i WANT to be close with them. i want communication!!
I’m so glad you have a great relationship with your teen. Not every mom can say that. We got lucky. :)
Summer is a great time to add some activity in with your daughter. You’ll have fun and create memories together…and if you’re consistent, you’ll create some great habits together, too!
These are really great ideas! I do a lot of these with my oldest daughter, but we could both be more physically active together. I’ll have to make that happen this Summer!
Love this post so much. I have a great relationship with my teen, and we use lots of these tips. Great post for moms!