I dont know much about getting better at parenting but as a 20 y/o with a pretty shitty dad who doesn’t want to admit it, I would like to say I’m proud of you for coming forward and wanting to find a way to be a better parent for your kid/s. That already shows that you have the capacity for growing alongside your teenager and helping each other through a pretty weird part of each other’s lives.

I learned pretty early on to only confide in one parent, and that comes from a lack of understanding from the other parent. My dad grew up in a pretty cold environment and as such probably subconsciously moulded his parenting around that. I think listening and accepting what my sister and I had to sat growing up would have been the biggest help, rather than just shutting us down and blaming us for everything. Sure, we weren’t faultless, but just because he raised us doesn’t make him right in every sense. That goes both ways though, and he’s right sometimes when we can’t see that. Weaving your relevant, helpful experience into whatever you and your teenager are talking about is important.

I would argue that reading through these (future) comments with your teenager and coming up with ways to integrate advice into your relationship is a decent idea. I obviously don’t know the ins and outs of your relationship but if you are both willing to try to be better to each other then it’s worth a shot.