A chauffeur is a person who is employed to drive and transport people around.
If you have a tween that is going through a stage or moment where they do not want to confide in you what is going on in their lives then, be a chauffeur. This means acting like one- keeping your thoughts to yourself and your mouth closed. You will be paid in the knowledge that you earn.
My daughter tends to forget that I am in the front seat driving when she is in the back seat with her friends giggling about this and that. That’s when I find out who likes who, or what happened in Science today. Now don’t get me wrong, my daughter tells me quite a lot every night at dinner time, but she tends to leave things out.
That’s when I take the advantage of being the chauffeur to find out what is going on in her life.
Do I feel that I am ease-dropping or overstepping my limits a a mom? No, I don’t. There is too much going on in this world these days to let anything go without paying attention too. My daughter got mad at me recently and walked off into a very large crowd in the evening one night. Everywhere there is a problem of human trafficking, but especially in south Florida which is what started a very serious conversation once we got home.
I believe that you should have a good relationship with your child first but there are always times where your child may not want to divulge certain aspects of their lives. This is when the Chauffeur comes into play.
Many times we are just being a parent and driving kids around is just part of the job, but if you are one of those parents that tends to let other parents drive, jump in and volunteer. Who knows what you will learn on your trip.
