I know how you as a parent feel when you want to help your teen so much when they are struggling.
I know what it feels like to be grasping at anything that will help them.
Sometimes we get frustrated when they won’t just get out of the car and go into school, or to their lesson, or to their friends, or into a store.
My son used to be so anxious about going and putting gas into his car.
Such a simple thing to a lot of us.
All the things that could go wrong and all the what if’s would be going through his mind.
So many things could go wrong.
What if he drives up to the wrong side of the pump?
What if his bank card doesn’t work?
What if drives too close to the pump?
What if the pump doesn’t work?
What I would suggest is have your teen go through their what if’s.
They may not want to go over them with you because they do know a lot of them are unrealistic to you but seem very real to them.
Have them answer them all with IF THIS HAPPENS…….THEN I WILL DO THIS………
Then I want you to hand hold them a little.
Drive them to the gas station and have them pump the gas.
The next time you have them drive the car and you sit in the passenger seat.
The next time you can tell them you will drive a separate car and wait for them in the parking lot while they get gas.
Small steps until they know they can do it themselves.
When they do it themselves they know they can do it and then they usually are fine.
This is what I found with my own son.
I think I only had to go with him once and then he was doing it no problem.
When he did it once, he knew he could do it and he had evidence that he could figure it out.
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