It’s been said many, many times that parenting a teenager may be the hardest thing you ever do. It can sometimes seem like a thankless, hopeless endeavor. You have your dream – to help your child grow up to be a strong, independent, happy, successful adult. But most of the time, it may seem as if your best efforts aren’t working.

The next time you feel this way, remember this quote:

“When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” 

– Jacob Riis, American journalist (1849-1914)

It may be that you have to invest some time in improving your parent-teen communication skills. It may be that you have to do what you know best consistently with no visible impact. But like the stonecutter who pounds the rock, the results you seek aren’t immediately visible, and someday what you’re trying to do will bear fruit.

Don’t give up.

More hope: helping your child develop vital thinking skills is perhaps the best way to prepare them for leaving the nest. My new book: How Your Teen Can Grow a Smarter Brain.

More about the book…

You can grow the bond with your child through better listening. Download the FREE ebook, Listening to Understand.