Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Prepare for a School Day

Preparing for a school day... what does that mean, you might ask. This is how to pack a bag, what to do in the morning to fall into a routine... that sort of stuff.

Anyway... here's what you do. When you've finished homework and (hopefully) private study, pack your bag for the next day. This includes returning all textbooks, notebooks, pencil cases, etc. to your backpack and if you have a sports lesson the next day, packing your gear for that, too.

You might like to create a checklist (like this one) including everything that you need to pack for the next day.

Now, when you wake up in the morning, here's a good routine to follow:

1. Jump out of bed. Don't do the '5 more minutes!' routine - get out of that bed, sleepy head!
2. Go and grab some breakfast. This will wake you up if you're still tired.
3. Brush your teeth! It's important to do this before getting dressed as you probably won't feel like doing it after.
4. Go and get dressed. That's important.
5. Free time, then get to school!

Have a nice day. When you get to school, prepare your books for your first class(es) and head off to where you are supposed to be!

Dealing with Difficult Parents

Hi there. In this tutorial I'll give you some important tips on how to deal with difficult parents if you don't get your way, or how to ask for something when you think they'll say no (like a cell/mobile phone)

1. If you think your parents will say no, compile evidence on why this particular item will benefit you. Think like a parent, for example, a cell/mobile phone might make you safer if you're out alone.
2. Compile this evidence into a Word document; make it look professional.
3. Present this evidence to your parents in the form of a speech and at the end, hand a fresh copy of your report to your parents for their consideration. Ask your parents to talk about it.
4. If there's no response after two days, ask your parents again about it.
5. After one week, call a 'family conference' where you get to talk about the problems. Don't nag or you'll get a straight no.
6. If your parents say no, ask them why. Ask for a list of objections they have to the item and try to dispel them one at a time. For example, if their objection is the price, scout around the Internet looking for cheaper prices and ways to keep the costs low.
7. If your parents still say no, it might be best just to accept this. You'll be showing your parents that you are mature enough to accept a rejection and if you ask again in about 3-6 months time, you might get a yes this time. If you get a 'no' again, reflect on the past family conference with them and ask whether their objections were sufficiently dispelled last time. If you still get a declination, repeat step seven again. After all, they are your parents.

I hope my guide helped. I wrote it from pure experience. I realised about a year ago that if I continually nagged for something, I would continually receive the word 'no'.

Ready...

Edit: I think I should put this at the top. I will also give tips to other beginner teenagers, such as how to deal with annoying parents and how to earn money. Now, enjoy my first post!

The pistol is raised, the finger is on the trigger...

Parents hate the terrible teen period. They long for the days when parties were at the local bowling alley.

Mine long for the days when a so-called 'drama king' didn't 'over-react'. If age is the only barrier separating those days from the teen years, the gun is about to be fired.

Follow me as I travel through my teen years right from the word 'go'. Look through the archives in years to come to find out my personality at age thirteen. Laugh at my mistakes if you wish, but remember, you were (or still are) a teen!

Check back often (from about February 1 2008) to follow my escapades. I'll post my tween adventures too for your enjoyment. Please post comments as well!