Little ears.
They hear a lot more than they let on.
Talking to Younger Siblings About Prom and Graduation
It can be tough too… being the youngest.
Not that I can speak from experience… OLDEST CHILD REPRESENT!
*I am a blogging ambassador for Ask,Listen, Learn and am being compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.
But I am the mother of 3 which means there are 2 younger siblings in my home, and as their mom I walk alongside them in their struggle.
Yes. Your brother gets to watch that movie. He is 16, you are 11.
I’m sorry, honey… You can’t sit in the front seat. You’re not 13.
Your bed time is the same time as your sister when she was your age…
I know your sister gets to walk to the store by herself.
It has to be hard watching your older siblings experiencing SO MUCH MORE of life while living under the same roof. It’s that fear of missing out. The oldest kids didn’t necessarily know they were missing out on so much because they didn’t have to watch anyone living it!
Enter: PROM and GRADUATION season.
It’s all just so exciting! There is talk of dresses and corsages and dinner reservations and the color of ties and vests and caps and gowns and parties and… alcohol.
With a graduation ceremony, younger siblings get to see the end of years of hard work being celebrated.
Shopping with Big Sister for a prom dress, Little Sister learns some lessons about style and fashion.
…And hearing Mom and Dad talk to the big kids about the harmful effects of underage drinking also has an impact.
There are things we want to protect the younger kids from… maybe it’s a PG-13 movie when they are 10. However, it’s not too early to start including younger siblings in on the conversations about the harmful effects and consequences of underage drinking. In fact, it’s a GREAT time…
Conversations should not only include the negative impact that underage drinking can have, but the POSITIVE impact of keeping good friends and surrounding oneself with peers who make good decisions and encourage their friends to make positive decisions.
It’s not just about telling our kids to say, “No”.
These conversations are an opportunity for the younger siblings to hear how their older brother or sister can avoid getting into situations where they are even put in a position to say no. They can even be play a role in these “practice” conversations…
Little Sister, “Hey Madison. There’s a party at Brad’s after graduation. You should come. His parents won’t be home and…”
Big Sister, “Thank you SO much for letting me know! You know what? I already made other plans.”
Sure. It’s seems cheesy.
But think about when you, as an adult… are put in a spot where you WANT to say “No”, and you really SHOULD say “No”, but you are not prepared. It can feel so awkward, and HARD. It’s hard just saying no to little requests or temptations as an adult with a fully developed frontal lobe!
How much harder for teens and the pressure they feel? Not only is working with them to develop some answers for how they will say “No” a great way to help them feel socially successful when saying “no”, but it is also great ahead-of-time practice for the younger kids.
Practice makes perfect?
In this case, we sure hope it does.
Fortunately for us, we have resources like Responsibility.org’s Ask, Listen, Learn program. Parents, the site is bursting with valuable resources as you tackle this topic with your kids:
