Thank you might for downloading the Focus on the Family Parenting Podcast. You can find more helpful advice at focus on the family.com

slash parenting podcast. You might be struggling with your teenager and it might feel like these days are never going to end but I can tell you from experience the teen years go by really quickly and while we look forward to our kids growing up and becoming more mature,

we're never going to have as many opportunities to spend time with them like we do right now when they're in the home.

I'm John Fuller along with Danny Huerta. He heads up our

parenting and youth department here at Focus on the Family and Focus President Jim

Daly and I spoke recently with Dr. Ken Wilgis, an author and licensed psychologist, and he gave us some really

practical advice about guiding your teen and also giving them some space along the way.

Here he is Dr. Wilgis as he interacts with our audience.

Well thank you for what you said. My name is Rebecca and I'm from Colorado Springs. So the question

I had is I know as young people start to get older one of the things their parents hope probably that they'll do is get married.

So what are some ways that parents can help their kids navigate relationships

while still also giving them some freedom to figure things out for

themselves.

I like the way you put that because it's a funny side note but for 30 years I very commonly would ask an adolescent

do you think you'll get married and if you do what age do you think you'll be

when you get married and I won't ask you guys that but I can tell you that it used to be

most of them wanted to get married but I'm gonna wait until I'm 22 or 23 and now as you know it's

30 is almost the average I don't know what are y'all gonna do And now, as you know, it's 30.

Is almost the average, I don't know what are you all going to do all that time.

My old life got started when I got married.

I was born, I did some stuff, then I got married.

It's the best thing ever.

...