How Do You Help Your Teen Daughter Deal with a Crush?

Many moons ago I wrote about my teenage daughter's crush on a boy, Jimmy M., at school. She was so gaga over him that she had trouble eating, sleeping, concentrating (and I thought it was just the ADHD!), and remembering to do her chores (a real stretch, but you know teenagers - any excuse). That particular case of unrequited love remained just that...unrequited. Allison never mustered up the courage to chat with Jimmy M. during track practice or after band rehearsal. She just admired him from afar...this went on for quite a while...until Francisco came along...
Poor Allison, she's got it bad again...and I can't blame her. She "likes" him with a capital L. Once again, she's lost her appetite, her focus in school, her ability to read more than a few pages of her favorite books at a time. She's generally distracted by her overwhelming crush. This morning she confided in me a dream she had...I know...wait for it....she dreamed about two squirrels quote on quote, "doing it". Great. Help!
So we had a long talk about respecting one's self and others by not throwing ourselves at the objects of our desires and coping mechanisms for dealing with crushes. Here are some strategies I found on Google for helping your teenage daughter deal with her crush:
- 1. Confess your crush to your friends and ask them to distract you.
- I kept her so busy this weekend she didn't even have time to stalk him on Facebook.
- 2. Throw yourself into schoolwork to make sure you don’t fall behind (and who knows, maybe by standing out you’ll catch your crush’s attention).
- Any parent would love this one--it's very optimistic. Maybe unlikely, but hey, a distraction's a distraction.
- 3. Take up a hobby that will get your teen out of the house and get them moving.
- Good advice in general and much easier said than done...but it can be done. I have Allison in Civil Air Patrol, martial arts and hip hop dance classes.
- 4. Give yourself enough time to fantasize about your crush, but don’t let it interfere with your real life.
- This is not as easy as it sounds.
Does your teen have a crush? If so, what are some strategies you advise for dealing with them...or do you say "go for it" and encourage your teen to express their feelings to their crush? Share your thoughts in a comment!
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I feel satisfied after reaindg that one.
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